Following the wonderful CCBS pit-roasted turkey at Thanksgiving, the boys spent the day picking,  cutting and decorating  the Cherokee Creek Christmas tree. This was originally a 25-foot pine growing on the property (it didn’t look that big outside) and the boys gamely felled it with a saw and dragged it to the lodge . It sure makes things feel like the holidays seeing their handiwork.

Next up will be the menorah to celebrate Hanukkah. Ari’s suggestion of one “as big as a disco ball, hanging from the rafters” is under consideration …

Here’s hoping we see you soon and you can admire the boys’ decorating expertise soon here at the “Small School with a Big Heart!”

The Red Hawks had an off campus adventure to Clemson’s Outdoor Lab last weekend. Trek Counselors Royce and Jesy took them on a high climbing adventure to a wall which was 55 feet high.

“Our main goal was not to die,” Ari said laughing.

“It was really hard, but it was a great workout,” Angel added.

Enjoy the pictures of some of the participants below. Happy climbing!

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CCBS came to Westminster and our boys blew  away the 14 and under competition in the annual 5K Apple Fest run.

Eddie and Ari sport their new medals.

Ari, Eddie, Barron, and Sam A. took the top four places  in their age group, all finishing in 31 minutes or less.

Coaches Josh and Kayla ran with our own Family Center Coordinator Debbie Wallace, all finishing around the 34 minute mark. Weekend Coordinator Andrew Stevenson, who will take over cross country coaching responsibilities from Josh, finished 15th overall and third in his age group.

The next official race is during Octoberfest and the boys will continue to train hard to sweep those medals as well. Congratulations CCBS Cross Country team!

Official games start this evening and Cherokee Creek Boys School would like to invite all parents available to travel to the area to join us in the cheering section.

Zach goes in for a slide tackle in a recent scrimmage

The directions to all the fields can be found using an online search. Sertoma Field is in Walhalla,  Gignilliat Field is in Seneca, Fair Oak is in Fair Play, and Pickens is in the town of Pickens, and Nettles Field is in Clemson, SC.

Hope to see you there!

Thurs., Sept 6th — 6:30 p.m. at Gignilliat Field

Tues., Sept 11th — 8 p.m., at Pickens Field

Tues., Sept. 18th — 8 p.m. at Nettles Field

Thurs., Sept 20th — 7:30 p.m. at Sertoma Field

Mon., Sept 24th — 7 p.m., at Fair Oak field

Thurs., Sept 27th — 8 p.m., at Nettles Field

Mon., Oct. 1st — 6:30 p.m. at Gignilliat Field

Tues., Oct. 2nd — 7 p.m. at Nettles Field

Thurs., Oct. 4th — 7:30 p.m. at Sertoma Field

Nick shows great form -- and dance moves -- on the field

Mark Warren, naturalist, composer, writer and Director of Medicine Bow, A Primitive School of Earthlore in the North Georgia Mountains, recently visited Cherokee Creek Boys School. He shared stories and artifacts as well as taught the boys to make cordage and make fire from sticks.

Below are pictures from his visit.

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Members of CCBS staff gathered Saturday to celebrate the wedding of Flex Counselor Nick Droll as he married his longtime girlfriend Anna. They were joined by recent graduate Sam who got a little “carried away” by some of his favorite staffers at the festivities. Pictured from left to right are Flex Counselors Andrew Leviner, Johnnie Sinclair, Andrew McGarvey, the groom, and Ryan McGarvey. Best wishes to Nick and Anna!

CCBS Counselors and recent graduate Sam

The CCBS Bears are well into practice and Coach Yanic McDowell arranged a fun scrimmage against Shepherd’s Hill Academy. It was all in good fun as we loaned a few players to SHA in order to round out their team. Enjoy the photos of a very rainy but entertaining game…

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Cherokee Creek Boys School hosted  Lisa Kiser, Executive Director of the Blue Ridge Arts Council this week. Lisa is a jewelry artist working in fine metals and stones, but brought her love of all things artistic to campus for four days of art lessons.

Ms. Kiser demonstrates Quilling for the boys

Monday and Tuesday the boys worked in the ancient art of “quilling,” in which paper is shaped into spirals and shapes then glued into a design onto another medium. The boys painted canvases as backdrops for their beautiful designs in black paper.

Wednesday and Thursday the activity was “painting with wool.” Ms. Kiser brought dyed llama and sheep wool which the boys then pulled into a design, flattened between two grids and somehow (we’re still not sure how it magically, yet scientifically, happened) turned them into felted pieces of art.

Soccer practice is well underway with Coach Josh and Coach Yanic at the helm of this year’s Bear team. The competition for most unique pair of cleats has also begun. Does anyone else remember when the choices for soccer cleats were black with white stripes and black without any stripes?

Go Bears!

Nos encanta el helado!

Students of the Spanish Class got a sweet treat for great classwork when teacher Karen Peterson took them to La Concha, a Mexican style ice cream parlor in nearby Walhalla, South Carolina. Michael, Loucas, Alex, Nick and Sam thought the place was amazing.

“They had different types of flavors like caramel popcorn and pistachio. My favorite was strawberry shortcake,” Nick said.

“It was kind of cool because it had weird flavors of ice cream like corn which tasted a little like popcorn,” Alex said.

“The corn flavor actually had corn in it. (Andrew) Leviner ordered it and said it was really good. There was a Spanish soap opera on the t.v. It was a pretty cool place,” Loucas added.

Spanish class continues through the summer and with the continued great efforts of the boys, more field trips to interesting cultural experiences are sure to be found!