Going Green Christmas Camp
Cecillia Taylor is the Recycling Queen! She brought so many things that most people would just throw away, to be used to make ornaments, games and many other things. The campers used lids to peanut butter jars and old Christmas cards to make ornaments for the tree and toilet paper rolls, old wrapping paper and tissue paper to make candles for the windows. She also was in charge of the Trash Toys class. The campers played games with old buttons, egg crates, lids, bleach bottles and so much more. They learned about what could be recycled and what can be reused, and she gave them very creative ways to reuse things that would normally just end up in a landfill somewhere.
The students all made dough that they would use later to make Christmas cookies to be served at the Christmas Party. The dough had to chill before they could roll it out and cut it out. They also made treats for the birds out of cheerios, peanut butter, and bird seed. They hung them up on Sunday during their Winter Wonderland Hike. On their way back from the hike they noticed that many of the treats had already been eatin, they assumed by the birds until they saw Hershey eating one! Well they did make them for the wildlife!
After lunch, the rest of the classes were held. There was a gift bag class, where campers made reusable tote bags for gift bags. They decorated them with paint and stencils. They learned that gift bags are better because you can reuse them, instead of just throwing away wrapping paper. There was also a Christmas Conservation class where campers learned about conserving things like water and energy. They also learned about there impact on the earth and had a pollution demonstration.
The campers and adults, I think, really learned a lot about recycling, reusing, and conservation. They were given chores after every meal that included things like composting, laundry, turning off all lights, and cleaning up after the meals. Because they had to do it themselves they really appreciated what it takes, they all worked really well together and they all did their part. We used cloth napkins and towels instead of using paper napkins and paper towels so the campers helped us do all the laundry.
This was a really successful camp, the participants learned while having fun and thats really what we are all about here! This program was a success because of all the planning that went into it (Thanks Terry, Jinx and Tamara) and for all of the adults and teen leaders that volunteered their time (you know who you are).
Amherst County~British Invasion
Amherst County's British Invasion
Group Names
Def Leppard
The Police
The Yardbirds
The Beatles
The Who
The Rolling Stones
Highlights of the Week
- Meeting the girl from Finland was cool. She taught me how to say "I love camp" in Finnish ~Freak Show
- Battle of the Bands totally Rocked on Friday. Each group performed a song from their band. The Rolling Stones won! The staff rocked out to AC DC Back in Black ~Freak Show
- There was an intense game of "Bring Me" on Monday. The kids chased on adult around trying to get a hair from his leg. And they had to find someone with fangs. All the campers tried to get Hampster to smile because they saw his fangs.
- The baby opossums are growing! ~Salmon, Freak Show, Chicken Little
- All of the campers in our class climbed! And they did an AWESOME job, even Deputy Dogg! climbed! ~Salmon & Hampster
Campbell County ~Journey to the Ancient World
Theme for the week Journey to the Ancient World
Group Names
Mayans
Romans
Vikings
Indians
Spartans
Aborigines
Persians
Egyptians
Highlights of the Week
- Between classes I was walking to my office and a little girl had a rabbit skin with like 6 holes in it and she pointed to it and said, "Dang rabbit just wouldn't die!". I thought it was really funny. ~Salmon
- It was awesome having Smalls for a TAP! ~Freak Show
- The tie-breaker chant off for the spirit stick on Friday between the Vikings and Indians. Vikings Won! ~ Suga
- Campbell County is an awesome camp. They really know how to have fun. ~Freak Show
- Campbell County Parks & Rec brought rock band and guitar hero and it was AWESOME and the kids had a lot of fun. (I think they missed technology) ~ Salmon
- Taking care of the baby opossums was so much fun and amazing! They are just so cute. Its cool to watch them play and grow! ~Salmon, Chicken Little, Mayo, Freak Show
- The whole week was awesome. the enthusiasm was great and overall the campers were great.~Feats
- I came in nervous to this experience but was welcomed with open arms at the door. ~Smalls
Brunswick, Mecklenburg, Lunenburg~Mythology
Mythology Theme
Group Names
Athena
Zeus
Herceles
Mecury
Mars
Neptune
Highlights of the Week!
- During the talent show some members of the drumline class performed. Pretty sweet! ~Hampster
- A teen leader sang the National Anthem during a flag ceremony and I thought he did a really good job!
- Many of my beginning swimmers jumped off the high diving board for the first time and swam to the ladder by themselves. ~Wall*e
- The talent show went over great.
- I got to know some of the campers really well and we got to hang out all week. ~Freakshow
- One little girl made a thank you card for the staff because she had such a great time at camp. ~Freakshow
- The staff all taking part in the talent show.
- Once again, the "clap-slap" game that I brought to the Holla Holla was a hit! ~Badge
- They played a lot of different types of music at the dance and it was fun dancing with all the campers. ~Salmon
Fluvanna/Greene ~ The Greatest Camp on Earth
Highlights of the Week! Circus Theme!!
- The talent show was full of very interesting talents. Spiderman and Colleen (teen) did an awesome step routine.
- There was a dance off between Wall*e and her sister Colleen...Wall*e Won!
- The carnival was very exciting. There was popcorn, lemonade, watermelon, and snow cones for sale while the campers played various games.
- The Dining Hall was the most exciting place at camp. Rusty and Hampster usually lead the entire camp in an energetic song or beat.
- Wednesday night campfire was led by the teens, and they did an awesome job keeping the campers involved and entertained.
- By the last day of camp the kids were leading songs on their own and singing until many lost their voices. (~Freakshow)
Appomattox/Lynchburg~Disney
Appomattox County and Lynchburg City arrived Monday at around 10 am. The have a Disney theme!
Group names are:
- Incredibles
- Goof Troop
- House of Mouse
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Lion King
- Toy Story
Some highlights so far :
- On the first day of climbing wall class we played a name game to get to know the campers in our class. One girl asked if that included nicknames that they had, we said, "of course!" (thinking nicknames like CJ or Chris would be said.) We went through the names and had the basics and then a girl said her name and then said,"I want to be called Simply Salad." It was really funny. (~Salmon & Hampster)
- To try and ease the fear of heights we tell the campers the max weight the harnesses can hold, which is 5,000 lbs, well when Hampster said this, without missing a beat, Simply Salad said, "Well darn I weigh 5,001 lbs." She is so quirky and funny and I don't even think she realizes. (~Salmon & Hampster)
- The low ropes class was playing "Steal the Bacon" and one kids took the pool noodle and started hitting me with it. (~Freak Show)
- One camper stood next to me just because he wanted to be next to me! (~Freak Show)
- Wednesday we made recycled paper with wildflowers in them in Nature Crafts Class. In nature class we caught 3 baby catfish in the stream with the dip nets. (~Chicklen Little)
Prince Edward, Buckingham, Charlotte ~Going Green
Prince Edward, Buckingham and Charlotte counties arrived last Monday! The theme was "Going Green" They had a fashion show where only duct (duck) tape and recyclables were used. The kids also decorated their cabins in the "Going Green" Theme, the winners recieved a suprise. It was pretty awesome! There was a sports tournament, a ice cream social, campfires and pool parties!
Here are some highlights of the week; (from the staff)
- During low ropes class the kids sliding on the ground playing Red Light, Green Light. (got a little intense!)
- In the performing arts class kids wanted to sing Miley Cyrus's "The Climb" and were really good!
- Two of the beginning swimming participants learned how to swim extremely well, jump off the diving board and also dive. At the beginning of the week they couldn't swim at all.
- The staff dominated the teens during a Staff vs. Teen Volleyball challenge. These staff members included Badge, Rusty, Wall*e, Waldo, Mayo, Freak Show, and Zing!
- Seeing the kids singing songs they were taught all on their own.
- Both campfires! It didn't rain at all, like weeks previous, so we got to have both scheduled campfires!
- The dairy delight class was awesome, the delievered home-made ice cream to all the staff members.
- The duck tape creations class was full of very creative creations! I saw a ninja, bat and ball, wallets, purses, someone even made a sling!
- It was cool to so the Soil and Water Conservation District come out and teach the campers about composting. They even gave us our own compost bin.
The teens, campers, and adults were ALL AWESOME! This week was a lot of fun.
Louisa County
Monday morning the buses rolled down the hill! Campers from Louisa were sent to the amphitheater and from there sent to their cabins. The theme this week was 4-H Friends with groups like Batman and Robin, Lilo & Stitch, Tom & Jerry.
Lilo & Stitch won the spirit stick!
After everyone was moved in the campers came back to the amphitheater for the opening assembly. The staff intro is awesome and fun, each staff member has a 30 second clip of a song that they dance to and then introduce themselves. Then the staff went over the rules while the teen and adult letters met with Nate and Spiderman in the dining hall.
The new dining procedure is still taking some getting used to but it seems to be getting better. We were running a little behind on Monday but we got back on schedule after the health checks, swim test, and watermelon break.
They brought this huge water slide!!! It was awesome! They set it up right beside the pool and campers went back and forth between the pool and water slide during free recreation.
The rain held off until Thursday afternoon, so it didn't interrupt any of the classes. We had to have an indoor campfire, but because everyone was enthusiastic it was still a great campfire.
The teens, campers, and adults were awesome this week and Jenny Thompson did an awesome job. The staff did a good job by being flexible and working together with each other and Jenny to make sure that this week was a good week for the kids.
Family Camp 2009
Family Camp arrived last Monday! It was really nice to see familiar faces!
Family camp is unlike junior camp in many ways. Instead of having a camp full of kids we have a camp full of families, from Mom & Dads to children & babies we even had a Grandma here this week (and if I do say myself did an AWESOME job on the high ropes course). Because most public schools are still in school most of the kids are home schoolers. The families have more free time then junior campers and only three classes instead of four. These families come from all over Virginia from Charlottesville to Fairfax. In past summers we have had families from Florida, however those 2 families were unable to come this summer and they were definitely missed.
The week started out with a registration and check in, the cabins are for the most part, first come first serve, so families start lining up at the gate hours before it was time to check in, just to get the cabin of their choice! Then the usual camp things happened like health check and swim test.
The early evening program was class sign ups. Each family picked a number out of a hat and were called into the dining hall to pick their classes. While the other families were picking classes the rest were enjoying some watermelon. The late evening program was carnival. During training week the staff revamped carnival and came up with a bunch of new games and were definitely prepared to lead them. Then it was time for bed.
Tuesday through Thursday there were classes in the morning and then free rec and more programs.
Other activities that campers participated in included;
Night swim
Campfire
Dance
Teen Surprise (Game show, are you smarter than a staff member! It was awesome!)
Talent Show
Lake Canoeing
James River Trip
Climbing Tower
3D Archery
Land & Water Olympics
and tons more!
Everyone had so much fun with the family campers. There were a lot of crazy characters who we cannot wait to see next year. It was a good learning experience for all the new staff members and even the returners. It was really sad to see them all leave but 24 out of the 25 families paid their deposit to be back next year!
Nicknames!!!
Well Thursday night all the new staff were given their new names for the summer! As part of their emergency procedure training they all participated in a scavenger hunt that hopefuuly helped them remeber where all the severe storm locations are.
Their reward was their nickname. The rerturning staff pay close attention to the new staff and watch for little quirks or funny mistakes and "BOOM" nickname. All the staff have a story to go along with their nickname and no one will mind telling you it! All are funny! All you have to do is ask.Returners included: Gadget, Salmon, Spiderman, Chicken Little
We now have:
Cobbler
Badge
Waldo
Wall*e
Freakshow
Rusty
Feat
Zing!
Mayo
Hamster
Feat
Suga
Everyone was worried about what their new name might be, but all were embraced immediately! As soon as everyone recieved there name it was like they had been called that for years, responding quickly on the radio to their new name and using it when they introduced their selves!
