Closing ceremony at Zoar Valley

If you have read any of my posts about Zoar Valley, you probably have a clue that I really, really treasured the time I spent at camp.  Camp started on a Sunday, and ended two weeks later on a Saturday.  On the last Friday afternoon, each camper and counselor would spend part of the afternoon making a little boat out of natural materials... frequently, a piece of bark decorated with leaves and twigs and flowers, or a small woven raft decorated with flowers.  After dinner, all of the campers would hike a short distance down to the Cattaraugus each carrying a little boat.  (I remember one of my last years there, probably as staff.. we held the ceremony at the creek that ran right through camp.  But as a kid... I remember walking on the rocks, hiking down to the river.)

The ceremony was always incredibly bittersweet.  "Each campfire lights anew" "Peace of the River" "If there were witchcraft."  And of course, most tear-inducing....

I want to linger
A little longer
A little longer here with you

It's such a perfect night
It doesn't seem quite right
That it should be my last with you

And come September
I will remember
The happy days I spent with you

And as the years go by
I'll think of you and sigh....
This is goodnight, but not goodbye.

I want to linger
A little longer
A little longer here with you

Each of our little boats was decorated with a small candle.  At the end of the ceremony, each unit walked down to the water, each candle was lit, and each camper carefully launched her small boat.  I remember trying to watch for my boat amidst all of the bobbing lights... they said that if your candle was still lit when the boat went around the curve.... well, it meant that you would come back to Zoar, or it meant that your wish would come true... something like that.  Anyhow, I remember tearfully watching my little boat sail away, marking the end of another wonderful session at Zoar Valley.