Gather 'Round for Gathering Photos - Part I

The only thing nearly as good as being at our Winter Gathering is looking at some pictures from our Winter Gathering.

Enjoy, and pretend you were here! (Or if you were here, pretend you're here again now! Or don't pretend at all and just remember being here. Or, really, look at the pictures in whatever way you'd like. That's probably the best policy.)

AND, since Winter Gathering has already occurred, in the past, that means that now, in the present, POLAR BEAR REGISTRATION is open! So go ahead and sign up for Camp early and often to get our best rate and the very first pick on classes and sessions.

We had secret messages across multiple Camp ornaments!

We had Santa hats on animal signs!

We had a winter time choice rec!

Featuring a Camp Program tour!

Featuring a sample of our brand new disc golf course!

With T-Nivi demonstrating!

And then everyone else giving it a try!

There was winter hike!

Over a winter log!

With the help of a winter Samalander!

Nothing is more helpful on a hike than a Samalander.

Winter Hike photo op.

Woodrow was happy to have hiking company.

He's missed his Camp friends too.

Then the bell rang! As the bell tends to do. 

And we all stopped what we were doing...

Reunion-ing outside...

And starting reunion-ing inside.

Inside a festive dining hall!

Gathering around the roaring fires.

Making special Campership ornaments!

Each one represents a donation toward a campership!

Decorating cookies!

 (Real cookies).

And decorating cookies.

(Tree cookies.)

It's the winter Dining Hall!

Our new official tree cookie portrait artist.

We even had a Winter Order of the Oars! Is it your birthday?! No?

Is it YOUR birthday? Also no?

Then it must be your birthday.

Yup. Third time is always the charm. 

We even had registering for Summer Camp, right there at the Gathering! Well done, gentlemen. 

And that was it. That was the Winter Gathering.

Wait.

That was it?

But what of all the other Camp-crafty-winter-ornament-decorations!? 

What of the lights when it got dark?

What of the tree, man, what of the tree!?

Worry not. 

That's why this is just "Part 1". 

Check back tomorrow!

This guy's excited for the Gathering!

And we hope you are too.


See everyone tomorrow!

See you at the Gathering!

The Wreathes are hung!

The Tree is up!

Come have one of your season's first holiday celebrations with your Camp Family.

See you the day after tomorrow!

Gathering Schedule!

Yes, THIS Saturday, it's finally here, our Second Annual Winter Gathering!

You should attend! Here's how your day would go.

2:00 - Show up! Enjoy the drive down Struble rd, view our leaf-less Stokes Forest, and get excited to be on Camp again.

2:15 - Say hello! Look, your Camp friends are here. Say "hi" to some counselors, some senior staff, and campers you know. You could even say some stuff like "Good to see you!" or  "How was your fall?" or something else entirely of your own choosing!

2:30- Winter Choice Rec!  Join us for a Winter Hike! Play Hole #1 of our New Disc Golf Course! Get a head-start on decorating some cookies! Or, did you bring someone new to camp? Take our Summer Camp Program Tour! Or just hang out around our Lakeside Campfire. 

3:30 - Camp Ornaments, Arts and Crafts and Tree Decoration. We've got a bunch of great craft stations lined up, feature fun seasonal takes on some classic camp crafts. Make some ornaments to decorate Camp, some ornaments for to take home, and some ornaments to give away! Bring some Summer Camp charm to your holiday decorations.

4:30ish - Tree lighting! Cause it gets dark super early now. We'll light the tree, sing some Camp songs around it, and it will mark the official beginning of registration for Summer 2016!

Then we can hang out a bit more, enjoy the well decorated Dining Hall, and slowly depart. Saying things like "Nice to see you!", "Enjoy the rest of your December", and "See you next summer! Not long now!"

So that's how the day would go.

All that's left is to actually experience it by joining us at the Winter Gathering.

Drop me an email to let me know you and your family will be attending, or check it out on our facebook page.

See you this weekend!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BONUS: 

So, a couple days ago I was trying to take a picture of our new head-bandy-ear-warmy-hatty-things  via the camera on my computer. 

Then, yesterday, the computer sent me a message and said, "hey, without asking you, we made an animation of several of those pictures incongruously put together and here it is! Do you want it?"

No, computer. Why would I possibly want that?

Computer, I hope your listening (I'm typing on you, so you sure should be.) 
Never make me anything like this again.This is a resounding argument for our tech free Camp policy, right here.


See you at the Winter Gathering! (You, as in all you Camp humans reading the blog. Not you, computer. We're fighting.)

A Lot to be Thankful For at Camp

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! 

I hope everyone is looking forward to a couple days off from school/work/whatever-it-is-you-do and all prepared for a nice long weekend with family and friends.

Up here at 4-H Camp, we've got a lot to be thankful for. We have a great Summer 2015 season behind us, and we're now looking for to an even better Summer 2016. We're also thankful we'll have the chance to see a bunch of the Camp Family at our Second Annual Winter Gathering, next Saturday December 5th. (And we hope you can make it!)

But today, mostly, I'm thankful that of all the campers out there, at all the camps anywhere and everywhere, our campers are the best campers there are. Period.

Need proof? Here's a random email our camper Tehya dropped in my inbox this week:

So, as you begin your holiday weekend, I'll leave you with Tehya's wonderful description of our opening campfire. As you enjoy your meal with your family, you can remember your Camp Family as well, which is never any more than a single campfire away.

Opening Campfire

The fire crackled, momentarily interrupting the camp director's words. It was July thirteenth, 2015 on a warm, cloudless afternoon. Campers sat facing the camp director on the forty smooth long wooden benches which slightly smelled of new wood. If anyone moved their feet, small gravel rocks would create a faint grinding sound in the air. Additionally, a lingering smoky taste was left in many of the mouths sitting near the fire. Behind the camp director and cozy fire, Lake Shawanni glistened like a mirror with the reflection of countless trees on the water. In the branches above and around, birds attempted to sing sweet melodies over the exploding laughter. It was the opening campfire, the eager start to a new week at L.G Cook 4H Camp. Friendships were being formed along with the unfinished friendship bracelets that hung with duct tape attached to knees. Smiles were glued to all faces and eyes sparkled with glee. Eventually the sun's light was gone from the lakes, the hills and the sky. As the once raging fire died down, all was well in camp as campers safely rested after enjoying a perfect night.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Seriously, Come to our Winter Gathering! (Cause we've got more things that are almost hats.)

Our Winter Gathering is now less than two weeks away, on Saturday December 5th! 

We hope you'll join us for this free event that is open to all Camp Families (and anyone they'd like to bring along).

As if you needed any MORE reasons to attend than the fact that it's Camp reunion filled with a winter-time dose of summer-time fun (You didn't! That's reason enough.), we've got even more to offer!

And that more is more...hats!

Well...kind of hats.

Head-bands?

Ear-warmers?

Hats without those pesky hat tops?

Whatever they are, we've got them. 

And they're pretty sweet.

See! These things!

They're nice! All right. Again. We all agree. We need someone else to model these not-quite-hats.

Someone who isn't the Camp Director.

Better.

Best.

We'll see you at the Winter Gathering!
Unless these nice new knit head-band things are covering our eyes.

------------------------------------------------------------


OUTTAKES:

------------------------------------------------------------
HOW TO GET
THE DOG
TO WEAR SOMETHING
 THAT ISN'T QUITE A HAT.

Step One: Woodrow, sit. Stay. If you do, you'll get this treat.

Step 2: Quick! Put that thing that's not quite a hat on the dog!

STEP 3: All right. Give him the treat. Let's take that sweet head-band off him. He does not seem wild about this whole situation.