Camp Hearties 2019- Week 4

 Camp Hearties Week 4- Sharing is Caring

Judged by: Ben Rosenbaum

Guest Judge: Chris McNally

Here we are at the end of camp. It was a great year! It was different only having 3 teams, but just as much fun! I have heard from the teams that they had a great year as well and friendships and new families have been made! That is why I do camp and why I will continue to do it! To bring Hearties together, to build friendships that may never have come to fruition without this crazy Camp run by a pair of pants! I wanted to focus a lot on kindness and community this year and I really enjoyed the result! Teams embraced this and it made these pants proud! Here are the tasks teams had to choose from this week!

Mandatory Tasks:

1)      Team Mascot Task- It’s GAME NIGHT at camp and your team mascot is the host and should be dressed to impress!  Each team must provide their snazzily dressed host with a poster announcing their game! Mashup WCTH with your team’s favorite game show!

2)      Kindness Task- I love that we have been spreading kindness every week at camp! We’ve cheered up children and shown love to hometown heroes. This last week of camp I would like to bring some joy to the elderly.  Have someone in your team bring joy to either a neighbor, a relative, or even to a nursing home.  But find someone who needs a smile!

Optional Tasks: Please pick 3 of the following tasks. These are all different attributes that are taught by our wonderful Hope Valley.

3) Helping Others- Bring awareness to a real charity that is dear to your team.  Please provide a link so that I may share it on the blog.

4) Laughter- Hickam is in the wrong place at the wrong time! A prank gone awry! What happened? Who is behind it?

5) Love- Carson is setting up a date for Faith. Without the Coulters help this time, but he will NEED YOURS!

6) Hope- Gowen, even though he has found oil, seems a bit down on hope for second chances.  What would your team like to see happen for Gowen in the next season!

7) Friendship- Hearties are an amazing group, the best fandom out there! Spotlight a Heartie friendship and show how it formed and grew! Faces can be shown if consent is given by individuals in photos.

This week we had a guest judge! The talented Chris McNally, whom we all know and love as Lucas Bouchard on WCtH.  All of Chris' comments will be in green. And our beloved judge, Ben Rosenbaum, has done a phenomenal job of judging this year. Always fair and kind! Ben's comments will be in blue.

First off, here are this week's Ben's Brownie Points, and S'more Points given by Chris.

Ben's Brownie Points

Originality- Elizabeth's Entourage

Humor- Hope Valley's Dips & Sprinkles

Layout- Women of Wonder

Quality- Elizabeth's Entourage

Chris' S'more Points

Originality- Women of Wonder

Humor- Hope Valley's Dips & Sprinkles

Layout- Elizabeth's Entourage

Quality- Elizabeth's Entourage 

And before we continue with the entries, here are some comments to all the teams from our judges. 

Ben: I want to start by saying thank you to Chris McNally for joining us in camp on the final week as a guest judge! And a big thank you to

@LeesPlaidPants

for organizing another great Hearties summer adventure at camp. Well done to all the groups! I was thoroughly entertained these past four weeks by your talent and creativity. I hope you had a lot of fun and made new friends at camp! Thank you for once again allowing me to participate and share in the summer camp fun. Chris: Well done everyone… I love that you all chose the same optional tasks! Great minds think alike ;).  I also want to give a big thank you for spreading kindness to those in need - whether it was with family, at a seniors home, or a children’s hospital - it’s a beautiful thing. The entries: Elizabeth's Entourage

Ben: Sharing is indeed caring—especially when you’re sharing a dog! More on that later though.
What a fun looking game night! And fabulous mashup title. Thank you for hosting a fancy game night at the saloon! I’m sure Lucas will appreciate the extra business. I’m going to need an N, an I, a G, an E, and a T on the board please Vanna! Honey (Hunny?) Bunny and Squidget for the win!
Look at that blissed out dog and all those happy people! That brings me a lot of joy myself! Thank you.
This friendship looks like the real deal! It has survived cold winters in the snow and A VISITATION FROM A GHOST?! Seriously, who is the mustachioed man behind you in the bottom left picture? I really needed something to calm me down after that definite ghost siting and the WCTH + Twitter = #Hearties math equation was just the thing to return me to a wonderful reality!
Looks like Carson managed to throw together a classic date. It looks very romantic! I’m not sure what the list is about, but I have to assume it’s a shopping list for Faith’s next trip to Cape Fullerton for medical supplies 😂. j/k I’m sure it’s just as romantic as the rest of the date.
The National MS Society is a wonderful organization and a great cause to support. Thank you for shining a light (and for sharing your personal connection which makes it all the more meaningful)! Chris:I think your team has created a fantastic layout and design.  Love your color scheme!  I also love the Wagon Wheel of Fortune… very fitting for Hope Valley.  I think Lucas needs to bring Wagon Wheel of Fortune into the saloon! Link to Elizabeth's Entourage's charity-https://www.nationalmssociety.org/ Hope Valley's Dips & Sprinkles

Ben:The community is what it’s all about for sure! And Carson is going to have to invite the community to join he and Faith if he hopes to eat all that food!😂 It looks like a fantastic date filled with tasty treats (and honestly probably not too much food now that I take another look at it tbh).
How wonderful! A visit to the grandparents! I bet they loved it! I mean based on their emoji faces they REALLY loved it, that’s so nice!
This Hearties friendship looks like so much fun! Did you really go to Disneyland together after only having met in person once before? That’s amazing! When you know you’ve found someone special you just know. Friend at first sight!
I love your “I love someone with Down Syndrome” t-shirts! Thank you for spreading that love and awareness!
Scoops Delight makes me smile every time! Back at it again with the stylish shades! And game night is a classic trivia challenge made new with HOPEARDY! Nice mashup! It looks like you’ve even adjusted for inflation by making the difficulty levels into cents? Nice attention to detail! I’ll take “The Many Pants of Lee Coulter” for 20¢ through 100¢ all at once please, Scoops—“What is plaid?” Chris: This poster made me laugh - I love the emoji and ice cream faces… well done.  I would like to participate in a Hopeardy hosted by the one and only Scoops Delight!  Link to HV's Dips & Sprinkles charity-http://halifaxnsdss.ca/ Women of Wonder

Ben: I love this story of the smiling man in the grocery store—what a wonderful opportunity to spread joy! It was meant to be. Dogs are great!
It’s so fun to see the friendships and groups that find each other through their involvement with the Hearties, and it sounds like this is a very supportive group! I’m so glad you have these friendships, and I can tell how meaningful it is for you because you’ve put it right into your design: “We aren’t just friends, we are family.” That’s lovely!
Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital looks like a wonderful and worthy organization! Thank you for bringing them to our attention.
My favorite Camp Hearties helpers are back in full super hero gear! I love this game day idea! I’m sorry to say the adults don’t stand a chance against these kids, they look like they came to win. I’d like to learn how to play the pencil/cup game, though I wouldn’t dream of challenging Wonder Woman and Spiderman. Burgers and watermelon just to round out a great summer day of fun!
It looks like Carson has pulled together a gardening date for he and Faith? How nice to get outside and enjoy the HV fresh air! Chris-I’m a fan of three-legged races and am therefore very onboard with this camping game!  Adults vs kids is always a great time.  Also - the story of being friends for ten years and finally meeting last January is amazing!  What a great end to a great camp! I want to thank Ben Rosenbaum again for the time and commitment he gives every year! I also want to thank all the teams for participating, having fun and sharing kindness! I hope you will return next year! Congratulations to Elizabeth's Entourage for coming First in the 4th Annual Camp Hearties! They put out a beautiful and creative entry every single week!

I hope to see many Hearties back again next year for camp! Camp Director, Lee's Plaid Pants

Camp Hearties 2019- Week 3

Week 3- Marshmallows & Mounties

Judged by: Ben Rosenbaum

Teams had fun this week as they embraced Hope Valley's new Mountie and even had some fun at Sheriff Bill's expense.  There was also a jail involved for one team, the best kind of jail there is! And kindness for our hometown heroes! Continue on and join the fun of week 3 of Camp Hearties! Below are the tasks that teams had to choose from. 

Mandatory Tasks:

1)      Team Mascot Task- Being the new Mountie in town was tough on Nathan. Jack left big shoes to fill and a grumpy Sheriff who doesn’t like to share.   Now your mascot needs to prove themselves around camp! Send your mascot to a grocery store, to Aisle 3 and have them find an item that will be helpful around camp. Don’t forget to document!  

2)      Kindness Task- Spread kindness to our hometown heroes! Have a team member bring a treat to local law enforcement or fire house. Remember to snap a picture and let them know that Hearties love Heroes!

Optional Tasks: Please pick 3 of the following tasks.

3) Your team’s take on a new brunch menu for the Café that Bill left behind at the jailhouse.

4) Mountie Nate’s niece, Ally, needs help with her science fair project! Just please don’t blow up camp!

5) Sunday night is Mountie Nate’s night off to spend with Ally. Let’s see their snacks and game choice!

6) See how many team members can get into Twitter Jail using #CampHearties #Hearties and #JudgeBen! Maybe pick a time that works for your team to tweet together, who knows what shenanigans can arise! Screenshot of post failures as evidence!

7) The library wants artwork to spruce up the walls! Send in artwork showing your best Hope Valley spirit!

 Onto the judging brought to you by the always kind and gracious, Ben Rosenbaum! Ben's comments will be in blue. 

Ben's Brownie Points

Originality- HV's Dips & Sprinkles

Humor- Women of Wonder

Layout- Elizabeth's Entourage

Quality- HV's Dips & Sprinkles

Elizabeth's Entourage

 Ben-Awesome job on the popsicle stick Trojan horse! And this Trojan horse contains a great lesson hidden inside a fun activity! Perfect!
Please tell me you actually played that game of chess! I love chess! This looks like a really fun time, and once again there seems to be a focus on Nathan sharing the power of the brain with Allie in a fun way.
Bill’s Brunch is great! “Eat it or leave” is the perfect tag line. I’d never heard of “Angels on Horseback,” so I did some research and I’ve gotta say it looks like Bill decided to get fancy for one item on the menu! Bacon wrapped oysters… I hope Bill is able to have Lucas get him some fresh oysters! Or maybe he hopes a dose of mild food poisoning will end this whole brunch fad all together!😂

What a beautiful cake presentation! I just love it, and I’m sure the firefighters were very appreciative to get a treat and a visit from such a cute little delivery person. This is a very well documented trip to aisle 3, Squidget! Nice job!
Great camp illustration at the bottom! Hope Valley Dips & Sprinkles

 Ben-Hope Valley Shenanigans here I come! I love it already.
You’ve made such beautiful artwork for the library! So colorful and fun, I think you’ve perfectly captured the spirit of Hope Valley while staying true to your team style! Great job! I think the modern/abstract stuff would really blow some HV minds.😂 Wow, you really went to town on Twitter (and then to jail of course!). Now I finally understand all the #JudgeBen

tweets I was seeing last week! Nice dedication! I love that you used each team member’s emoji to represent them in the HV jail—nice touch!
Nathan and Allie are going to have stomach aches with all that candy AND Candy Land the game!
You brought cookies to your local fire department! That’s wonderful! I love the Camp challenges that bring joy to people in your communities! It looks like someone got a fun ride in the truck too! Win-win!
You found grits! Probably a good thing to eat something other than ice cream and candy… I never get enough of your mascot’s ice cream mask and proud smile. Delightful!

Women of Wonder

Ben-Yes! Your patriotic mascot and her adorable helper strike again! It looks like you guys found a well balanced camp meal: sweet and savory! I’m not sure if the shoes are meant to be Jack’s and Nathan’s, and in that case I don’t know whose would be whose… but I appreciate the visual aid!

That snacks and game night looks fun! Just like a lot of sleepovers I had with friends when I was a kid… though if I’m being honest we were more into video games than checkers, but this looks like the 1910’s equivalent!
Decorating a library with the covers of great works of both fiction and nonfiction really helps to remind visitors what they came for, and maybe even offers helpful suggestion if they’ve already reached the end of their summer reading list! Very thoughtful. This menu is perfectly bland for Bill’s idea of brunch.😂 In fact I have a feeling Bill would probably object to the existence of a meal between or combining breakfast and lunch! So I think the effort level represented on this menu is exactly how much work Bill would put into it. You hit the nail on the head. Nice job!
Life guards are certainly heroes too! And probably don’t get as much recognition as they should. Bringing them water was a very kind thing to do. That’s thirsty work!

Only one week left for our teams! I have loved all the creativeness and kindness that has been put out by Camp this year! Here are the stats at the end of week 3. Congratulations to all the teams, they are working hard! Join us next week for the final week of Camp Hearties!

Camp Director, Lee's Plaid Pants

Camp Hearties 2019- Week 2

Week 2- Saloon Swoon

Judged by : Ben Rosenbaum

This week teams embraced one of the newest residents of Hope Valley, Lucas Bouchard. Their creations from the tasks were so creative! So, welcome to our new Saloon owner!  Below are the tasks that teams had to choose from. They had to do 5 of them. 

Mandatory Tasks:

1)      Team Mascot Task- Lucas Bouchard was often overheard on the phone.  Send your mascot out into their community to find a Pay Phone or Phone Booth! Leave a Hearties calling card that would make Brian Bird proud and snap a picture proving that the mascot and the card were there.

2)      Kindness Task- Learn a magic trick and perform it for a child who may need some cheering up. Find a creative way to capture this task with a picture while still staying anonymous to the Hearties!  

Optional Tasks: Please pick 3 of the following tasks.

3) Create a new Mocktail for the Saloon.

4) Build a house of cards. Think outside the box! Does it need to be a house, or cards!?!

5) What your team believes rules for the Saloon set by the Fabulous Florence and her trusty sidekick Ned Yost would look like!

6) Show what Lucas was REALLY hiding in that trunk!

7) HV Kids have a lot of adventures. Design a book cover (including title) that Elizabeth writes inspired by their antics!

Now, onto the judging and comments by our Camp Judge, Ben Rosenbaum! All Ben's comments are in blue.

  Ben's Brownie Points

Originality- Hope Valley's Dips & Sprinkles

Humor- Elizabeth's Entourage

Layout- Hope Valley's Dips & Sprinkles

Quality- Elizabeth's Entourage

Elizabeth's Entourage

Ben-Well I am charmed by your old timey saloon theme. Very well done! And the Saloon Swoon is a perfect title in honor of the inspiration for this week’s challenges: Mr. Lucas Bouchard.
These rules are very funny, and so accurate! I’m so glad Florence and Ned aren’t in charge of the saloon. Lame!
What an adorable picture of the magician and her assistant! Thank you for the detailed instructions for this trick—I was able to follow along and do this trick myself, and I’m happy to report a great success! My audience member was not a kid, but she was nonetheless delighted.
What a tasty sounding mocktail! It sounds very sweet and refreshing, and would even be allowed in Florence and Ned’s saloon which is a real bonus.
Lucas’ mystery chest is hilarious. The truth is that these devices really are hidden all over set during production! The residents of Hope Valley would be dumbfounded, and Fiona would be out of a job!
You found a phone! and what a perfect note to leave behind! I wish there was some way to find out how many people tune in because of it. Way to spread the word!

Hope Valley's Dips & Sprinkles

Ben-Well this is delightful. The whole theme of a child’s birthday party invite by the ice cream crew is fantastic! And starting things off strong with a beautiful mocktail that will be without a doubt the saloon’s best seller all summer long. It looks delicious!
I like this house made out of greeting cards (and math flash cards?!), I hope they’re Hallmark cards! Very nice construction regardless.
I can tell it’s Lucas’ trunk because of the Queen of Hearts on top, nice touch! It’s the perfect twist to both the question of the contents of Lucas’ trunk AND in the storied history of Elizabeth and Abigail’s bubblegum wars! It’s also the perfect answer for what would be in that trunk at baby Jack’s birthday party.
Those kids look positively shocked by that trick! And who doesn’t love a mint-in-a-cola explosion?! Very exciting and fun stuff. Science can be like magic!
Wow! Your mascot found a pay phone! I have to assume that when the phone rang you found that it was THE HEART CALLING on the other end?!?!?! Hahaha that joke will always be fun. Women of Wonder

Ben- Wow! Such dedication to the cause taking that adventure in pursuit on a pay phone! They’re tough to find, but I hope you had a good time at the zoo! I love seeing your mascot Wonder Woman with her special shield out in public, I’m sure she spread a lot of joy!
Your kindness magic yielded a curtsy from a princess, so I have to assume it went VERY well! Nice job!
I really like that the pattern of your peach colored background makes repeating W’s! Women of Wonder represent!
Unfortunately I can’t really see the details of a couple of your tasks (The letter in Lucas’ trunk and the house of cards), but I think I can see enough and I’m assuming that your “house of cards” is a doll house that contains cards?! So it is a house that cards live in? A house of cards. The title “Exhibits” makes me think there’s a museum angle here though, so I could be way off. Regardless it looks cool! I wish I could see it better!
Your book by Elizabeth looks like the coffee table book that should reside on every coffee table in Hope Valley! It is so lovely! It makes Hope Valley look like an ideal summertime experience. *After judging had already been completed I was able to get the original pictures from the team captain. I am putting them here so that all the Hearties can read them and see all the work that went into this. They have also been sent to Judge Ben.

We are now halfway through Camp! It's going too fast! I can't wait to see what the teams put out for next week's Marshmallows & Mounties! Here are the standings as of week 2! Congratulations to all the teams and the hard work they are putting in! S'mores by the campfire tonight!

Camp Director,

 Lee's Plaid Pants

Camp Hearties 2019- Week 1

Week 1- Team Building

Judged by : Ben Rosenbaum

Camp this year has gotten off to a great start! Although we are small in numbers, 23 Hearties spread out over 3 teams, we are big on enthusiasm and creativity! Here is a map showing the placement of our camp members across the country and the world! Canada and Australia representing our International Hearties! 

We did things a little differently this year due to scheduling. Registration and Week 1 happened at the same time so teams only had to complete 4 tasks. But all the teams got their entries in early, so maybe I shouldn't have gone so easy on them! Here are the choices they had for the Team Building Week.

Mandatory Task:

1) Team Task- Pick a teammate to be your team mascot!! Find a way so that your mascot will not give their identity away in their tasks. You can use a mask or have a certain mascot shirt and block the face in pictures with an emoji or some other object. You could have a hat that covers most of the face. Be creative with it! But this year the mascot is going to have to do more physical tasks, so make sure this teammate is up to going out in their community and capturing it with their camera!

Optional Tasks: Please pick 3 of the following tasks.

2) Create nicknames for teammates.

3) Team Flag or Crest- fun if you have team members from different states or countries.

4) Plaid items your team members already own that they can pack for camp!

5) Create Emojis for teammates 

Teams did an amazing job! But before we get to their entries ( I know, you are at the edge of your seats!) Let me go over the judging as it has changed this year. I spoke with Ben Rosenbaum, who is returning as judge for the 4th year in a row! We decided that to make judging more clear and cohesive we would break the criteria into two categories, IDEA and EXECUTION. Then have two objectives under each in which to judge. Here is what we came up with.

Here are the entries for week 1 of Camp Hearties 2019! Ben Rosenbaum's comments will be in blue.

Opening Comments to all Campers from Ben:

It's so nice to "meet" all of you! Thanks for including me in the fun for another summer at Camp Hearties. It's always such a pleasure to see the creative ways you express yourselves through these weekly challenges. And every year I'm so excited by the friendships that form out of these teams that are assembled across great geographic distances! It's so cool! Great start and let's have some fun!

Ben's Brownie Points

Originality- HV Dips & Sprinkles

Humor- Elizabeth's Entourage

Layout- Women of Wonder

Quality- Elizabeth's Entourage

Elizabeth's Entourage

Ben: What a beautiful presentation! The background and the professional looking logo! Very nice first impressions happening here. Looking at your team Bitmojis I'm struck by the fact that it looks like you have two teammates who are really stressed and overworked and the rest of you are in full recreation mode just relaxing and having fun: I see reading, having a laugh, a coffee enthusiast, a nature napper, TWO WOMEN WITH LITERAL STRESS SWEAT FLYING OFF THEIR FOREHEADS WHILE THEY MULTITASK LIKE CHAMPIONS, and someone enjoying the fun and exercise of hockey in street clothes

Wow that flag is gorgeous! Such a beautiful crest (and that great logo again!), and great unity in your color scheme.
Squidget! I love Squidget! Way to get out in the world and party like a Heartie! Perhaps in a location that looks similar to the HV water tower? Or am I making something out of nothing?
You all have a pretty solid collection of plaid, I'm sure you've made the Camp Hearties host very proud.

Hope Valley's Dips & Sprinkles

Ben: Wow! This looks like an advertisement for an awesome ice cream shop! It all works together so nicely! Really great job blending it all together into one unified idea.
I'm seeing lots of hearts all over the place. Even in the team name! Nice repetition of the Hearties favorite shape!
I really like your crest with all the locations of your teammates (I assume?) and the many references to ice cream as well. So fun!
It's such a pleasure to meet Scoops Delight! Which is also a great name for a investigative reporter who only does uplifting puff pieces

. And I'm assuming Scoops either owns a selfie stick or asked a VERY tell friend to take her picture in that real life ice cream shop. I dig the Ice cream sunglasses/mask. I have to know: Scoops, did you buy some ice cream during that visit?!
I'm assuming that the ice cream flavors with the Emojis are your team nicknames and personal Emojis to match? Very clever once again within your ice cream shop theme! My goodness I've written "ice cream shop" a lot. I'm also guessing (because these all seem like real world ice cream flavors) that your nicknames are based off of each teammate's real life favorite flavor? These are some great choices. I gotta say if I were placing an order right now I'd go with the peanut butter fudge swirl. Wow, now I've gotta go get some ice cream! The HV Dips & Sprinkles ice cream shop better hope a whole bus load of kids under 10 doesn't roll up at once to collect those free cones! They'll put you out of business!

Women of Wonder

Ben: I'm sensing a super hero theme here. I'm not sure exactly what put that idea in my head, but I'm really getting a strong vibe in that direction

. The wonderful Women of Wonder! Such a bright and fun presentation! Clearly you ladies are ready to kick butt and take names. I love that your crest includes your different states! That's so neat to see. And the crest is wielded so fiercely and well by the actual Wonder Woman herself! I've heard Gal Gadot is very tall so I can only assume that means your mascot is like 10 feet tall?! Or maybe that's not Gal Gadot, maybe that's your mascot's very helpful granddaughter. Thanks for joining us and great job!
Nice continuity with the super hero theme and your nicknames! I hope you all are willing to share your comic book collections with everyone at camp!
Are some of your plaid items material for making things? Things like clothes perhaps? That's so awesome! They're just sitting there waiting to become the pants they was always meant to be!

Thanks Ben for your comments and judging! Here is the placement for week 1!

At the end of the week Elizabeth's Entourage is in the lead, but by only 1 point, and with only 3 teams, anyone can be in the lead next week! Stay tuned for next week as the teams complete tasks for Week 2- Saloon Swoon!

Camp Director,

Lee's Plaid Pants