Theme Weekend: Behind the Scenes

Theme Weekend is a highlight of every Camper’s experience at Camp. Take a look behind the scenes of a tradition that helps make Onas such a special place, and learn more about how the magic comes to life.

Theme Weekends are when counselors come up with a storyline from a movie, TV show, book series, or video game on which they base the schedule and activities. One Week Sessions have Theme Days, which are similar to Theme Weekends, but pack all of the fun into just one day. Sometimes, a two-week session will have both a Theme Weekend and a Theme Day! 

This summer, we had a Minecraft Theme Day in First Session, and the Theme Weekends were Inside Out, Camp Olympus, and How to Train Your Dragon. The Third Session weekend, Camp Olympus, was not based on a book or movie, and was a story the counselors created on their own using Greek mythology. 

There is a lot of creativity and teamwork in the process of putting on a Theme Weekend. The planning officially gets underway during Staff Orientation, though it’s not uncommon for staff to arrive at orientation with concepts they’ve worked on for over the year. 

This summer, staff decided to introduce consensus as a way to agree on the themes. Consensus is a process often used in Quaker decision-making that allows all parties to be heard and ideas be talked through, ultimately ending in all participants agreeing on the decision. 

Cormac R,. a first-time CIT said that he felt, “the conversation was very professional and a great way to come to a decision in a productive way at Camp.” 

Chance L., a senior staff member, commented on the mindset that allows consensus to work at camp. “It requires everyone to consider their needs in relation to their community’s needs.”

The crew got right to work on Minecraft, since the first session theme day is just a few days after the start of Camp.

On Friday night, Onas staff transform the Dining Hall with decorations and hand-painted posters. Often, they add set elements for skits and reconfigure the tables, too. 

Theme Days and Weekends follow a different schedule than usual, starting when costumed counselors run onto the Blue and Gold Sides to reveal the theme, often performing a short skit as their characters. 

Counselor and first-time Theme Day crew member, Malin G., talked about her excitement participating in the Minecraft wake-up. “The wake up specifically is like a childhood dream come true. It was a whole production - we had a smoke can, a cardboard computer and water dumped all over us.” 

Malin then reflected on her time as a camper, saying, “I’ve seen counselors drive onto the sides on the flatbed since I was 9 and I was so glad to be able to do that myself.” It was so fun to see Malin enjoy her first crew experience as she played “Alex” (who is one of the main playable characters in Minecraft).

There was a lot of excitement among staff for Inside Out Theme Weekend! Tatum S., Co-Head of the Gold Side this summer, talked about why she was excited to be a part of the crew: “It’s a movie that I think has a really important message and overall moral; that all of our emotions are important and work together to make us who we are.” 

Staff begun the prep work in Arts and Crafts (A&C) Wednesday night of Second Session, completing all the posters and decorations Friday afternoon - just in time for dining hall set-up. 

Even though First Session was a week long, with only one day immersed in a fun story, the prep work that goes into it is just as much as a two-day Theme Weekend. Overall, Theme Weekends/Days require a lot of work and creativity to plan and execute, but are so exciting and rewarding to experience!