Monday, May 11, 2009

District Camp: WOW!



























































(photos are Top=Fri and Bottom=Sun) Photos: 1: Guides putting up tent Friday evening 2: T: What is this stuff? 3: D. 'defusing the bomb' (actually unwinding yarn!) 4: K. eating Sat. morning snack 5: K. & K. learning how to do invisible writing and then read it 6: A. & T. making fingerprint people 7: Our Guide Group (the 5 girls who went to camp)...very silly group photo 8: Cpl Nielson & A/Cst doing really great Canadian CSI Presentation...here discovering evidence to solve the crime 9: More CSI Presentation 10: Our Saturday evening Campfire 11: Our 5 Guides all ready for Camp Closing 12: K. receiving award for 'helping cleanup without being asked' 13: Our Guides (and one Guider) and our VERY neat pile of gear
District Camp was great: we were blessed with great weather, and our Guides were great Campers. We leaders were very glad we had the girls tent during our April Camp, as it was much easier for them to put up/down the tent, and to manage sleeping together in the tent. Several Pathfinders volunteered to help the girls with the up/down, which was nice.

Friday evening: arrival, set-up, welcome/rules, nametags, mug-up, bedtime.

Saturday: Breakfast (ok, but not great) after which Sparks joined us and girls were broken up into 4 Groups for the morning. Morning centres included Costume decorating; Outdoor activities ('bomb defusing'; scavenger hunt; snack); Kitchen CSI Activities; Crafts (Periscope). After Lunch (which we picked up in the Kitchen and ate out in the sun) the Sparks went home and everyone else had 'Flat Happy'...not much quiet or flat, but the girls were happy! Afternoon activities were with our group levels, so both Cedar & Chase River Guides were together. Our activities included a Moorecroft Service Project (raking/tidying around the Playground/pathway and planting some bedding plants in the entry garden); a Craft (painted mirror for Mom); and an Outdoor Camp Activity (with paid Moorecroft staff at the Archery Range - archery and a game). The afternoon was nice and relaxing, which the girls seemed to enjoy.

About 5pm our RCMP guests arrived, and after checking out their location and 'setting up' they joined us for Dinner at 6. After dinner everyone went down to Kennedy Hall for our RCMP/CSI PRESENTATION..which was a huge success. They did a 'mock crime', using 3 Guiding members of different ages - and I was a part of the beginning, calling 911 to report the crime, stopping it, and being the first witness. Everyone enjoyed it, and there were lots of great questions. Cpl Neilson and the A/Cst (along with his daughter, who knows some of our girls) definitely added to the CSI THEME. I thanked them, and gave each a box of Cookies.

After the Presentation, we went up for MugUp which also included an ice-cream-cake for one of the Pathfinder's birthday. Following MugUp everyone made their way to the Campfire Circle on the Point where we had a very good Campfire. Noreen had put up a list at the beginning of Camp with space for songs/song leaders - every group was well represented, making Campfire very inclusive. After Campfire, quick stop at the Washroom (Moorecroft calls it the Splash House!) we headed to bed. Our Guides were very, very tired, and when everyone was in bed we leaders could only hear muted talking for a short time!

Sunday: Up around 7, some packing before Breakfast which was 8:15ish. Breakfast Sunday was definitely the best meal, enjoyed by all I think. Because it was Mother's Day, we had Belgian Waffles & Strawberries, plus the usual extras. Many of us went back for seconds, me included. After breakfast up to the tents for final packing and taking down the tents. With a bit of help from several Pathfinders the girls did a good job of taking down their tent, and Heather and Gillian took down the leader tent. We were very, very proud of our Guides because they all did a good job of their own packing, and we all walked down together with all their gear and the two tents. (We leaders had already taken our own gear down and put in our cars). Our Guides either were well packed bedroll-style, or backpack-style...no garbage bags!!!

Camp Closing - One of our girls got a ThankYou prize for helping to clean up without being asked after MugUp...great work, K.!



All in all, a great District Camp, and of the 3 District Camps I've been to, I think the best one. I took a lot of pictures, and will be posting some in the next few days.



Guides:

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