Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Happy ThanksGATHERING

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from us and ours here at Lindley G. Cook 4-H Camp.

A legit Camp turkey. Though this picture is from the summer, we've spotted this bird quite recently. We can vouch it will be spending it's Thanksgiving in Stokes Forest and not on someone's dinner table.


However, you'll notice that the title of this post dwells not just on the upcoming event of Thanksgiving, but the the event upcoming right up after that...our Winter Gathering! Yes, Thanksgiving means our Winter Open House and Summer Camp Reunion is just over a week away.

See the details here, RSVP here, and have a Happy Thanksgiving right where you are (or wherever you're going to be).

Friday, November 21, 2014

Lakeside in Progress: Volume I

We've been dreaming of our Lakeside amphitheater for years now (especially whenever folks in the back rows would have to stand up to see what's going on down front OR when the older campers would accidentally knock over the benches moving up for teen time every single Monday night...you know who you were), and we are thrilled to finally have construction underway!


See the previous post on this here blog for more details on both the project and how to donate to be one of the forty founders of our new Lakeside Fire Ring.


The ancient Lakeside of the good ol' day in 2014. Back when we just had benches on the ground. The stone age. How in the world did we manage back then?


Step one. Get rid of all those benches. Mission accomplished.


Step #2: Now there's a pile of dirt. And a string on the scene! We are underway.

Positioning the very first pieces of lumber on the very first row. (This was an exciting day.)


Who are those gentlemen? Those are Joe, and those are Jeff. You didn't think those benches cleared themselves? You didn't think that lumber moved itself,  that dirt piled itself, or Lakeside measured itself with it's own string, did ya? And our new awesome project sure isn't going to build itself either. Nope, we need Joe and Jeff for that.



When Lakeside is done, you're gonna hear a lot of people saying things like "Wow. Joe and Jeff did a really nice job on this." You can start practicing saying that now.

Building a rustic camp fire amphitheater is work!
Work involving dump trucks!

Work involving tractors!

Work that we think will be well worth it when the project is completed.




As you can tell from the "Volume I" in the title of this post, we'll be keeping you up to date on all the impressive work Joe and Jeff are doing.

Oh, and if I haven't mentioned it yet, we need further funding to help complete this project! If you're interested in being one of the forty founders of Lakeside and want to sponsor a  bench all of you own (complete with a plaque!), please get in touch with the Camp Office.

AND, if you are planning to attend the Winter Gathering, you can get a sneak peek at the project live and in person. (RSVP here.)

Monday, November 17, 2014

Live from Lakeside

A big part of what we do here at Camp is trying to keep things as they've always been, attempting to offer the same classic Summer Camp experience we have since 1951. But sometimes, sometimes we drop that goal entirely and go completely the other direction by trying to improve Camp with something brand-new.

Y'know. Making the best better, if you will.

With that thought, I would like to introduce our new facility improvement at The Lakeside Fire Ring.


The very first steps in constructing our new Lakeside Fire Ring.



WAY back in the old days of 2006, we moved our fire ring from deep in the woods out to the pleasant and hospitable lakeside shores of our dear Shawanni. We are now looking to complete that move by building a permanent tiered seating structure, a 200 seat amphitheater around our fire ring. 

Cool, right? We sure think so.

What you see below is only the beginning of the first row and the first bench, There will be nine more rows behind, each with a half foot raise in elevation so there won't be a bad seat in the house. 


And here's where you come in! We are opening each of our forty lakeside benches for sponsorship. For just $400 you, your family, group or organization could have a plaque on once of these benches and more importantly be one of the forty founders of this awesome project.

Friend of Camp Tyler "T-Nivi" Nivison is heading up a fundraiser for our first three benches. One will be a gift from the Staff of 2014, and two will be dedications to former Staff members Charlotte Lafean and Rob Hart. If you'd like to donate to any of these benches, go to Tyler's fundraising site here. If you (or anyone you know) would like to donate for a bench and become one of the forty founders of our new Lakeside Fire Ring, get in touch with us either online or by calling the camp office.




If you've ever wanted a plaque on Camp, now's your chance! 
Below is our fundraising letter. Please pass it along to any interested parties. We aim to sell all forty benches to support what will be a new iconic centerpiece of camp.

For more information, to be sent a copy of the letter, or to donate please contact the Camp Office.





Friday, November 14, 2014

First Snow

This would be pretty if it weren't so outrageous that it was already snowing.












See, look at that! Even the  the climate  is busy at work preparing for our Winter Gathering in three weeks. 

If you plan to attend and haven't RSVP'ed yet please do so! We can't wait for everyone to join us and share camp in the winter time. (And from these pictures, it seems like winter time is now.) 

Monday, November 3, 2014

Winter Gathering

You're invited to our very first ever Winter Gathering!






Mark your calenders! Saturday, December 6th from 2pm-6pm.

This event is free and open to all of our Summer Camp campers and their families. 




It'll be a great chance to have a reunion with your Summer Camp Family and get excited for the 2015 season! When we light our tree near the end of the event, it will mark the official start of Summer Camp registration. 

If you're looking to join our Lantern Family Program for 2015, it'll also be a great opportunity to show off camp to some prospective campers you'd like to bring along.

RSVP by emailing, calling the camp office, or attending the event on our Facebook page.

See you here in less than a month!







***There is no guarantee that camp will be covered in lovely snow like in all these pictures. However, camp always looks this way in the winter in spirit if not in actuality.***