The wondrous Chewonki Winter Olympics began on a slushy Saturday morning. The night before, we had made flags with our dish crews and coordinated what we’d been wearing. My dish crew decided on wearing flannel, which everyone owned. After a delicious breakfast from our chefs, we were energized and ready to win. The games started off in Orchard field due to the ice being melted on the Frog Pond. The first event was announced after a dramatic torch lighting ceremony (we used flashlights) and Annika playing the trumpet. Everyone stood in anticipation, and finally, it was said that the game was human curling. Each team was given a chance to practice until the event began, which unfortunately did not go well for us.

Following this, our Head of School, Lise, announced we would be doing ice dancing, something we were all excited about after watching 2 hours of it the day before. Our dish crew confidently entered the barn, ready to pick a song and choreograph for the 10 minutes we were given. After perfecting our amazing dance moves and Flynn nailing his air guitar solo, we felt ready to go outside and show everyone what we had prepared. This was the moment I had been waiting for my entire life. We waited for a couple of groups to go before us, but eventually, it was our turn, and we danced perfectly, amazing everyone with our moves. Nothing compared to dish crew 4’s moves, even though the judges thought otherwise. 

The Olympics were cut slightly short due to the amount of time we had taken on each event, so the only one left was speed and glide sledding. Except this sledding was not on snow, it was on slick ice, perfect conditions. I was placed on the gliding group, which started very well. I sped down the hill and glided very far. I ended up being in a group with the last six people, but this was when my skills began to decline. I raced down against Levi but ended up heading straight for trees and a bush. Luckily I remembered to roll out and was safe from any scratches. I thought it was over for me, that I would be out of the running, but Levi also whipped out, meaning a redo. We went again, and I thought this time would be different. Instead, I headed towards the metal bench on the field and had to roll out once again. That was it for me, and I was out of the running.

After a long day, we ended with the official ceremonies, which I helped present and create awards for from bottle caps we found in the trash after a bit of dumpster diving (don’t worry, we had gloves). That night we awarded individuals their medals on the podium and finished off the Chewonki Winter Olympics! Even though I was completely drenched after the day, and we only placed 4th out of 7 groups, I loved every minute of it!

Adele Brown, Greely High School, Cumberland, ME