Our first camp of the year was held during the (Canadian) Thanksgiving Weekend. We camped in tents at the Ottawa-Nepean Municipal Tent and Trailer Park.
At this camp, the girls who were able to attend, were evaluated for their Bronze, Silver and Gold Camp Emblems. All the girls completed their emblems. We were really proud of them.
The weather was terrific. Out of our 11 girls, 8 of them were able to attend the camp, and we had one guest from another Pathfinder Unit! We had 4 tents between us, and were set up on three sites on a ring at the Camp Ground. The Silver girls were together in one tent, two tents were set up for the Bronze and Bronze/Gold girls, and a final tent for the leaders.
We set up tents in the dark; quite an adventure considering some of the girls had never set up that specific kind of tent before!! Coleman lanterns were a big help! Despite these set backs we were ready on schedule and had mug-up (snack) before bed.
On Friday night the sky was clear and we had the most spectacular Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) show I've ever seen! It was so gorgeous that Susan and I asked some of the girls to come out of their tents, where they were ready for bed to look! It was breath taking, and many of the girls had not seen the Northern Lights before.
Saturday we performed our Flag Ceremony, done by the Bronze and Gold girls. After breakfast, which was cooked and eaten in tent teams, we started our program work. The girls who were new to our unit set up environmently friendly washing areas, sketched a safe campsite and played games about first aid and preparedness on a camping trip. The Silver girls did their duties, went on a hike, and tidied up their site.
The menus were different for each tent team. Our lunch was really good, and the Bronze girls did a great job of cooking it. They had never lit Coleman Stoves before, so that was an adventure. The girls planned skits for the evening campfire too. After supper, we played a night stalking game that Guider Jane had gotten off of the Guider Zone! It was called Night Lines. We had a lovely campfire after the game, the girls performed their skits, we ate our snack and went to bed. It was quite chilly, but I forgot the thermometer AGAIN!
Sunday morning dawned clear and beautiful. Another glorius day! The Silver girls performed the flag ceremony and did a wonderful job of it. Breakfast was great, and we quickly got packed up and cleaned up. After the clean up we finished evaluations, although there wasn't very much left to do. The girls were great. They wanted to earn their emblems.
After lunch we did a quick litter check, and a nice closing ceremony. Guider Susan and I had decided that if all the girls completed their Emblems, then we would hand them out at the Closing, and we did that. Two of the Bronze girls had also completed their Bronze Home Emblem as well. The Silver girls also completed their Be Prepared in the Outdoors Emblem, which has to be finished in order to earn your Silver Camping Emblem. We were really proud of the girls, they had all done a super job!
Our next camp will be in January - but not in tents!! Keep your eyes open for more entries!!
