As one enters Starlight’s revered Dining Room, bunk plaques, created by campers new and old since 1947, swarm the ceiling. Bunk plaques are a time honored tradition at Camp Starlight. The words, the designs, and the feelings inscribed help campers appreciate the traditions and camaraderie that came before them. The memories that campers mark on these plaques showcase unity, adding upon the foundation of the plaques.
Bunk plaques allow campers to pay reverence to the tradition and realize how these plaques shape Starlight’s past, present, and future. As campers look across the Dining Room ceiling, they travel through time via plaques of different decades, representing the rich history of our camp. One realizes that although Starlight has changed, bunk plaques have remained a constant tradition that began in 1947 and pays homage to the camp founders. Seeing the plaques helps current campers understand how Starlight has shaped the lives of those who came before them.
Each bunk plaque has a different story to tell. There is an array of plaques each with a different story, a different set of campers, and a different memory. Although some plaques make little or no sense to those who view them in retrospect, they seal a place in history for some of mine and my bunkmates’ most defining camp moments. In order to create these plaques, campers have to come together as a unified bunk to capture the most significant moments. The time campers spend creating the message, painting the interface, and presenting their plaque are some of their final moments of the summer together. When campers depart from Starlight every summer, they leave a part of the laughter, the smiles, and the tears they shared with their bunk plaques. This is part of the thematic glue that holds this community together, and that campers old and new have come to cherish. The Dining Room, which is the center of Starlight’s campus, is the home for these plaques. They are a way to insure that, as time flies by and campers grow from Juniors to Upper Seniors, their time at Starlight will never end. The flame they’ve ignited due to their intricate role in our community can never die. Campers and counselors live on forever at Starlight, and they can always call this place their second home because a part of who they are will always be present in Starlight’s Dining Room.
By Blake
