Keep On Meeting the Staff of Summer '19!

Yes, Happy Nearly-May-Monday! Let's celebrate the occasion by meeting some more staff!

Like our returning for a THIRD summer counselor, Phoebe Plunkett!

Here's my Camp Coat of Arms- a true masterpiece, I'm sure you'll agree. (* Director's Note: I don't think Phoebe intended  for that first line to be included in the blogpost, but I couldn't resist.)

My camp superpower is eating the equivalent of my body weight in camp foods- mealtimes are one of my favourite parts of the camp schedule! 

My camp goal is to be more like, and to learn a lot from, my EE coordinator Kuba- as you can see I've been practising his signature pose over the off season.

My role at camp is the only female British counsellor this Summer, alongside being a big sister to my cabin girls and an EE counsellor, of course! 

My spirit animal is an Ostrich, because I think the length of their legs would probably rival mine, and the resemblance between my face and the ostrich's is just uncanny. 

And like our ALSO RETURNING FOR A THIRD SUMMER counselor, Michal!

My power - I am always smiling and create smile at others' faces

my goals - create and share with others a good, positive time at camp

animal - owl

role - E.E. Counselor

Nothing can be more than three summers! Unless it's FOUR summers, so let's meet our new Community Coordinator, Chelsea, as she returns for her fourth year at 4-H Camp!

Camp Super power: Making it sunny all the time so rain doesn't affect our fun times in the outdoors! 

Camp Goals: Bringing in new ideas to help expand and strengthen our great camp community! 

Spirit Animal: red panda

Role at Camp: Senior Staff/Community Coordinator

And enough of counting up, let's start counting down, because our long time camper Miranda is finally joining us for her very FIRST summer on Staff.

Now, we've met 12 staff. 12 staff is enough to meet, right?

Right?

Right.

Right.

WRONG. Tune in next time to...you guessed it, Meet More Staff.

Only FIVE Spots Left For Summer 2019!

Yup, we've got

ONE

more sold-out session!

Which means we have just

ONE

session left,

which is of course,

Session #

ONE!

And, 

(ditching the ONE theme entirely),

we just have 

FIVE 

bunks (for male cabins only) available.

So, IF you're still looking for a bunk, AND that bunk is for a male camper, AND you're free the week of July 1st-6th, sign up for Session #1 now!

OR if you're hoping to join our Lantern Program and have a friend who happens to meet all the above criteria, have them sign up for Session #1 now!

OR, if you're just tired of seeing posts about how we're almost sold-out and want to get to the post about how we're COMPLETELY sold-out, just go out into the world, and find someone to sign up for Session #1 now!

Home Cooking!

We all think about different parts of 4-H Camp as we look forward to next summer - the sights, the sounds, and yes... 

The tastes.

It was this last sense that was forefront on our camper Alice's mind when she sent along this email: 

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Hi! I am a camper at 4H camp and the amazing kitchen staff make peach cobbler every week. I love it so much and want to make it for my class party. Do you mind sending me the recipe or maybe it’s a secret recipe? It’s fine if it’s “secret” information lol. Thank you so much! 

p.s. I miss camp so much and can’t wait until the summer!!! Please say hi to the counselors for me!

Sincerely,

Alice 

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Yes, first of all, you'll see Alice waded right into a fervent 4-H Camp debate:

Which is the greatest of the Camp desserts? 

Traditionalists will tell you hands down that it has to be apple crisp. 

Our campers who respect a pre-Talent Show burst of sugar will argue it can only be  Freak-Out.

But I, for one, agree with Alice - Camp dessert doesn't get any better than our peach cobbler.

And, second of all, that's not the ONLY thing Alice was right about! She was also right that the Camp Peach Cobbler recipe is indeed secret.

However, just because it's a secret doesn't mean that Alice can't be IN on the secret. 

So I immediately got in touch with our Chef Carl...

Pictured here. (On the right.)

...and he made the executive decision that yes, Alice could in fact have access clearance to view our beloved Peach Cobbler recipe. 

Below, straight out of the Camp Recipe vault, is what he sent along (slightly edited for public release - Alice got to view the original):

----

CARL’S TOP SECRET 4-H CAMP PEACH COBBLER RECIPE

(Blacked Out Sections Are Redacted to Secure the Top Secretness of the Most Top Secret Parts. Which parts are those? That’s Top Secret.)

Okay it's one stick of butterto one box of yellow cake mixmix till it is a crumbly cookie dough. If it is too dry add a little bit more butter. The filling is just any fruit piefilling or canned peachsin syrup with a little Cinnamonand brown sugarand a little cornstarchor if they can find a instantthickener. Spray pan add fruitcrumble dough mix ontop bake covered at 350degrees for 25minutes then uncover and bake 15 to 20more minutes till the crumbsare brown but not burned. Don’t forget to fhhfhgkdhfkhfkhfahkdlhdand always ljlsjlkjdsg!!! Enjoy!!

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How'd it turn out?

Like this:

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Hi again! Thank you so much for the recipe and I finally made it today. Instead of making it for the party, I baked some for my family and everyone loved it, here’s two pictures of it.  

(can’t wait for camp!)

Sincerely,

Alice

Yum!

Looks like Carl and the rest of our amazing kitchen staff would be proud.

Thanks for sending along the pictures, Alice! I now expect you to mail me some of the cobbler too.

Let's Meet Some MORE Staff of Summer 2019!

Meet more staff on a Monday morning?

Agreed.

Meet more staff on a Monday morning.

And now! To meet more staff on a Monday morning:

Like our returning counselor, Damelis!

"My camp super power is being a morning person! I'm so excited to get the days started right with lots of energy! My animals are poodles and Bob Ross, picking anything else would be lying and doing my hair an injustice. It has an aura of peace and confidence, like Bob and poodles. My goals for the summer are to be more organized! My time could definitely be spent better hanging out with my cabin instead of running around looking for my backpack. And I'm so happy to be back for my third year as a Rec counselor and so ready to teach my favorite and new classes!"

Like returning to Camp, new to Senior Staff, Aaron!

*Aaron's Camp Super Powers are skipping stones, building fires, and other such outdoorsy traits he has honed over many summers as an EE Counselor. His goals are to help folks in our community along, and to get both his and everyone else's feet as muddy as possible. His representative animal is a snake, because he is comfortable in cool, dark places and sheds his skin every six to eight months. We are proud and excited that his role at Camp this year will be as our Counselor in Training Coordinator, and as a senior staff member he finally gets to carry around a walkie talkie.
 *Director's Interpretation of Coat of Arms

Like brand-new (but been waiting for this moment for a long while) counselor, Katelyn!

"Camp Super Power- S'more maker and frog finding friend. 

Camp Goals- to have positive energy, happy experiences and to help everyone enjoy the waterfront. 

Animal- sea turtle. 

Role at Camp- Lifeguard! (But also friend and support system.) 

Can't wait for summer!

And of course, like our returning counselor, Sara.

*Sara's Camp Superpowers are many and varied! She hikes with the best of them, and she loves all plants, shrubs, and other living growing things great and small. She's also quite the dancer. Don't believe her? She'll prove it at the Camp Shcmance each and every Friday night. Her Camp Goals are to support the 4-Hs that are the pillars of our community, and to ensure that we're all one Camp Family by the end of the session. Her animals are the rabbit (remember, she loves plants), the dog (remember, she cares about family and a good loyal-we-all-take-care-of-each-other-pack-mentality), and the giraffe (remember, she's surprisingly adept at reaching high, hard-to-get-to places.) After last summer supporting us in the Kitchen (and all over) by being sure we were all well-fed and healthy, we are thrilled to have Sara (The Neral Neral) back in the cabin and joining our Environmental Education Department.
 *Director's Interpretation of Coat of Arms

Can you run a summer camp with just eight staff members?

Maybe!

But we don't. 

We'll see you back here soon to MEET MORE STAFF OF SUMMER 2019.

That's More Like It!

Time to check-in on the final, last, slow-melting pile of snow on the 108 acre wood...

And it's in good shape!

In fact, the final pile of snow...

Is EXACTLY the size you'd like it to be...

Come springtime. So now that THAT'S over with...

So let's start talking about springtime things!

Springtime things like how we've only got:

17 OPENS SPOTS FOR SUMMER 2019!

Session 1:
2 spots for females!
7 spots for males!

Session 2:
1 spot for females!
7 spots for males!

                                     

So, if you still don't have your bunk, OR are hoping to join our Lantern Family Program by referring a new camper, you've still got a chance (but not more than 17 chances)! Sign up online now.




And, of course, whether you're already joining us this summer or not, you can still join us EVEN EARLIER, this spring, for a little Summer Camp for the whole family:

Yes, we've already got a great group signed up for our Spring Family Weekend, and we've got room for a few more families to still join us. 

Details and registration available here!

So to sum up our good springtime things:

1) No snow!

2) Summer Camp very nearly almost full!

3) So come celebrate that and all other springtime things at Spring Family Weekend!

Time to start MEETING THE STAFF OF SUMMER 2019!

Yes, it is that wondrous time of year!

That time of year when we are close enough to Summer Camp (87 days and counting!) to start our multi-multi-part process of MEETING THE STAFF OF SUMMER 2019!

No Camp day is the same, no Camp week is the same, and no Camp summer is the same! How is that possible!? Because each year we have a brand-new team, a once-in-a-lifetime assortment of summer staff helping to create that particular summer.

Some are returning staff who have been with us for years, some have been campers for countless summers and are now finally joining the ranks as counselors, and others are brand-new to 4-H Camp entirely!

Where better to start than by meeting our ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: "The Samalander!" 

Sam was a counselor here for Summer '14 and '15, and we're thrilled she's returning in '19 to help lead our Summer Camp Program. We're also thrilled she invented the method that we'll be meeting ALL of our staff this year - by seeing their CAMP COAT OF ARMS:

"My Camp super power is "tiny creature finder"! My animal is river otter! My role at Camp is the Assistant Director, and my goals are to enjoy the peace and positivity of living in nature at 4-H Camp!"

And who better to follow it up with than long time camper, returning counselor, DONASIA:

"My superpower is my freakishly big heart. My camp goals are to promote friendship, to promote respect of yourself, others, and camp, and to promote self confidence. My role at camp is Craft Shop Fanatic and my animal is the wolf because they are loyal, passionate, and they tend to be aggressive when they don't need to be. Can't wait for this summer!"

Next we're on to a former camper whose coming back home to 4-H Camp as a first time staff member...meet our Kitchen Counselor, YAHIA!

"Camp Super Power: Besides having the ultimate power of filling up everyone's stomach with food, I have the ultimate super power of dodging dodge balls. 
Camp Goals: I want to take this time at camp as a time to grow physically and personally, so I want to expand my brain as much as possible.

Camp Animal: Like a hedgehog I am quiet, active, entertaining, and low maintenance

Job on Camp: Making sure we all eat good and get this bread together." 

And brand-new to our Camp Family for Summer 2019, meet NATALIA!

"My Camp Super Power is my sense of direction. I can find my way around easily in a new place and usually I am a good navigator.

My Camp Goals is do my best to make the summer of 2019 unforgettable experience, to help others and to make everything go according to plan. As a Support Counselor I will be responsible for doing housekeeping and helping in the kitchen. While I was doing some serious research (that is, doing online quizzes) I found out that my  animal is a doe which is associated with gentleness, loving people, being sensitive and intuitive."

Though we surely could create a wonderful summer camp with these four staff alone, we think we can create an EVEN BETTER summer camp by bringing in a few dozen MORE staff to help them out, so stay tuned! We've got enough Summer Staff to meet to keep you busy on this blog all springtime long.

More Snow!?!?

Oh no! I should never have tempted fate (as much as I tried to avoid it) with last week's blogpost!

I thought we were safe from an early-spring snowstorm!

An early April snowstorm!

An April FIRST snowstorm!

...Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

...Just kidding.

Sorry. Kidding. Sorry.

Happy April. Thanks for your time. Back to what you were doing. Sorry.