By the time Guider Kathy, Guider Stephanie, Amanda and I had arrived at Field, Guider Susan had her tent all set up and the groceries were in the fridge! Field is a large open site, with a few beautiful tall trees, an open shelter with several picnic tables and a building about the size of a single car garage with a counter, some cupboards, a refrigerator and utensils and cooking pots.
We were expecting 22 girls out of a possible 27. Eight of these girls were third year Guides, fourteen of them Pathfinders. As the girls arrived we suggested that they find their tent teams, grab a fire bucket and set up their tents. All their food had to be organized, and we had to discuss the Patrol Boxes.
A Patrol Box, in a unit I had worked with in Calgary consisted of a large plastic box with lid, filled to the top with the things that a patrol needs to cook and clean up safely during a weekend long established camp. I store the unit's patrol boxes (we have three, I have one of my own, and we share one with a Guide Company in the District) in my garage. So before going to camp I opened the Patrol boxes to make sure that they were 1)packed properly, 2)clean and 3)had everything that my experience had shown we needed. We also have a box we call the Common Box and it holds things that you don't need to have one for each tent, but one or two for the whole camp.
In the past we had just handed out the Patrol Boxes for the girls to use, but had not checked upon their return. One of the Boxes had been returned wet in the fall, and I had spent a bit of time cleaning and replacing things that I shouldn't have had to do before I got ready for camp.
This year, the Patrol boxes were signed out, each Tent Team took one, it was noted which number and they were inspected before they were put back in my van to come home. (One bleach bottle had a broken lid and had overturned, so one Tent team had to do some extra work, but the box had been clean and dry before the bleach bottle had spilled.)
We talked about fire drill and where we would meet and how it would be signalled. The girls rolled their eyes, and we explained that we hoped that we would NEVER need to do a fire drill because of a real fire, and that we HAD to do one, whether we all really knew what to do or not.
The girls signed out their Boxes, and ran the program that they had planned during the preceeding 5 meetings.
Because we do our Bronze, Silver and Gold Camp Evaluations in the Fall, for most of the girls this was to be a 'fun' camp. (Now, the following is a SECRET! Don't tell the girls - however, because of these FUN camps in the Spring, the Bronze, Silver and Gold camps are MUCH easier in the Fall. This is because all of the girls already (by the time they come camping in September or October) know how to wash dishes using the three sink method, they already know how to pitch and strike their tents, they already know how safely light a campstove AND a campfire AND they already know how a fire drill works at camp! All that, and they have FUN too!)
We did have two Pathfinders doing their Bronze camps, because they had not been able to attend the camp in October. Guider Susan is our Record Keeper Extraordinaire! At every meeting and at every camp, Guider Susan keeps track of which challenges the girls have completed. During our camps Guider Susan has created a form that she posted for everyone to see as the camp progresses. This form (one for Experienced Camper Badges, and one each for Bronze, Silver and Gold Camp Emblems) is checked off by Susan as the girls finish each challenge. This way, the girls are always aware of what they have to finish, but also of what they have completed already. This is important as the process of being evaluated is pretty intimidating to start off with, the sheer amount of items to be checked off looks pretty difficult too. Each girl also has a copy of this form in her book, which Guider Susan checks off as they go too.
This year we had 8 third year Guides with us as it is our habit to hold an early Advancement for the Third year Guides and have them come to Pathfinders for at least 4 meetings, and to our FUN camp in the Spring if they so desire. (Four of these girls were working on their Guide Experienced Camper Badge.)
For the past two years we have also had our Enrollment at the Spring Camp, however we will have to rethink this. In the old program, if a Pathfinder wished to earn her Canada Cord, she had to earn all of the Gold Emblems, and all of the Be Prepared Emblems. This included the Gold Camp Emblem. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it!) some girls don't like to camp. This might have contributed to making Pathfinders less than appealing for many girls. However, the new (1998) Pathfinder Program includes a new emblem, the Leadership Emblem and the girls may earn their Canada Cord by earning all the things that they had to do before except that either the Gold Camping Emblem OR the Gold Leadership Emblem was required - not both. Our unit works on both emblems over the course of the year. However, holding a camp enrollment only works if all the girls joining the unit like to or want to (or can) camp!
Friday evening was cool-ish. I forgot my thermometer at home, but it had rained very hard on Thursday and the ground was quite damp on Friday evening. I had trouble sleeping. Saturday, however, dawned bright and warm. The sun was gorgeous. The girls set about making their breakfasts. The Tent teams were all made up of girls with varying camping experience. Guider Stephanie and I wandered around and made sure that stoves were set up and lit properly and that the baking soda was out on the tables (they were all SO good - everything was perfect). The girls had been told that they were to plan program for Friday evening, Saturday morning and evening and Sunday morning. One girl had offered to plan the enrollment on Sunday afternoon with Guider Susan's help, and Guider Susan and Guider Kathy had planned the Saturday afternoon program.
The girls had chosen to work on the Ontario Arts Challenge, Tall Peaks, and Guider Susan had all kinds of great ideas to use - she got most of it ready, and Guider Kathy brought extra things. Guider Jane agreed to teach a new song.
Any groups who wished to go on a hike were asked to ask a Guider to go with them. So I got to go on a hike on Peggy's Trail in the morning. They even shared their snack with me, which was very nice. The Trail is longer than I thought and loops around in an odd way, but we had a nice walk and didn't get lost - thanks in large part to the signs posted along the trail, with maps on them.
By the time we were back at the site it was nearly lunch time. Everyone was busy with food prep, eating and cleaning up. I remember when I thought that that was all you did at camp. Get ready to cook, cook, eat, and clean up. Then it would be time to start the next meal!
After lunch Guider Susan and Guider Kathy got out all their things and we started the challenge. We decided to do it under the shelter because it was SO hot and sunny. We made sure that every one had their water bottles full and we started. Guider Susan had cut out fun foam slate boards for everyone, and we had fabric paint to put a 'wooden' border around the edge and our names in the middle.
Then we did a line dance, to music that Guider Susan had brought with her on a cassette. That was neat and the whole 22 of us fit in that space to dance!
I used the cassette tape to play the CM'99 tape and we learned "The Alberta Hiking Song" which is just gorgeous. We will go over it again when we are back at our regular meetings in the fall - it is such a pretty song we would like to add it to our repetoire.
Then we did sewed a little bonnet as a hat craft. Guider Susan and Guider Kathy had collaboratd on that one. I related the story about the Quilt that I had seen that was made of all these little round pieces - I believe the pattern is called Silver Dollars. So the girls were impressed to have made something that perhaps their Great Grandmother's would have used to make a quilt top with.
Then we did a drama activity. The girls were asked to make tableaus - that is they would (in their Tent Team) decide on a scene from the past - and then they would become part of that scene, and 'freeze' in the positions, and the audience would guess what they were doing. It was very inventive and they did a terrific job!
At four o'clock the program was back in their hands and they had planned a Water Fight. Everyone had a good time. And the water was a good way to cool off, it was a lovely hot afternoon!
Guider Kathy cooked our supper - and it was fabulous. Guider Kathy comes from the Guide Company every spring when we have our early advancement, since we don't have enough Guiders for ratio, especially at camp after the Guides come up. For the afternoon she had a beautiful pioneer dress, apron and bonnet that she wore during the Tall Peaks Challenge. And the bonnets that we made for our hats, some of them matched the fabric of Guider Kathy's bonnet.
After supper, the girls were given time to prepare a campfire and skits. Some of the girls lit the campfire as it started to get dark, and we were all gathered around it as the stars came out. What a beautiful evening. After campfire, some girls wanted to do a short night hike. Guider Stephanie thought that would be fun, and she collected up her flash light and went with them. Many of the girls had planned a snack, and an early bedtime seemed like a plan too. It wasn't long before Guider Stephanie came back, and everyone got ready for bed. Unlike the night before, I was cuddly and warm and fell asleep without a problem.
At some point in the night, before midnight I believe, I heard some voices outside our tent. "We think there is a horsefly in our tent," came the whisper. Guider Kathy (who generally sleeps like a LOG) was awake in a flash. The report, when she got back - the fly must have gotten out when they did, everything was fine now. Guider Pillowhead, oops, I mean, Kathy, placed her sleepy head on her pillow once again and was out like a light!
Sunday was another lovely day. The girls had their breakfast and we held a Guides Own around the campfire pit. The two girls who were working on their Bronze Camp Emblem planned it, and did a lovely job. Over the course of the morning, the major packing and cleaning was done. The Patrol boxes were returned and inspected, and packed into my van. The tents were taken down (DRY!!) and packed up. All of the girl's equipment and gear was stacked inside the shelter just in case the weather changed unexpectedly (it didn't!) and the final portions of the program that the girls had planned was done. Lunch was prepared and eaten. And the parents of the third year Guides began to arrive.
Enrollment was planned by Amanda - and she did an AMAZING job! The Pathfinders performed the Pathfinder Vee. The Guides made their horseshoe. Four of the Guides had earned their Guide Experienced Camper Badge, and two Pathfinders had earned their Silver Camp Badge. Then the enrollment started. Amanda had provided us with a script, and had made hand outs for the girls as they were enrolled. Their development in Guiding was likened to the development of a tree. From the little sprout of a Sparks, to a small sapling of a Brownie, to the growth spurt of a Guide, to the nearly adult sized Pathfinder. The eight girls were enrolled, with many pictures. All of the girls received a crest for surviving and enjoying our FUN spring camp. And in the excitement of getting everything packed into wheel barrows and taken back to the parking lot, the cake was forgotten in the kitchen! So ended Pathfinders for another Guiding year!
