The weather is starting to get warmer, the flowers are bloomed, the trees are covered with leaves, and the pool is a pretty blue. Camp is in the air! Shortly the sounds of laughing, singing, and cheering will be filling the air and speaking for everyone at the center we are excited!

    The staff arrived last Monday and headed off to state-staff training. State staff training is an event that happens every year where all the summer staffs from all six centers get together to share ideas and learn all the important parts of camp. This year state-wide training was held at Jamestown 4-H Center. The staff came back with new songs, new ideas for programs, and a bunch of new friends

    This week is our center training where the staff learns all the ins and outs of the center, from procedures to where the light switches are. So far they have been creating lesson plans, practicing skits and coming up with new program ideas! This is also the week where they earn their nicknames, but that information will have to wait for another entry, because it must remain a secret until Thursday night.

    Friday is when the staff usually goes to the James River for a canoe trip, however with all the rain recently we are not sure how possible that trip will be this year, the water is really high, but who knows what could happen by then.

    Even though the staff has only really know each other for a few weeks, they seem to be getting along like old friends. It will definitely be a rock awesome summer! There are only 2 returning staff, Spiderman and Packet (who skipped 2 years but is back), 2 used to work at the South West 4-H center and the rest are teens who have been to camp before, so everyone already know what camp is about and are here for the right reasons...the kids!

    Camp officially kicks off Monday morning with the arrival of Family Campers! Family Camp is a prety unique camp, instead of just sending the kids, the WHOLE family comes, from grandmas to baby brothers. It is a lot of fun, pretty laid back, and a great way to start the summer by giving the summer staff practice for when junior camp starts!

Here is the schedule for the summer:

May 25-29    Family Camp
June 1-5        Louisa
June 8-12        Albermarle/Nelson
June 12-14    Cloverbud Camp
June 15-20    Forestry Camp
June 22-26    Prince Edward/Buckingham/Charlotte
June 29-July3    Appomattox/Lynchburg
July 6-10        Fluvanna/Greene
July 13-17    Brunswick/Lunenburg/Mecklenburg
July 20-24    Campbell
July 27-31    Amherst
Aug 3-7        Amelia/Cumberland/Nottoway
Aug 9-13    4-H & NRA Shooting Education Camp