God's help with Cub Day Camp
Whew! Cub Day Camp is done. What a crazy ride.
It all started at Roundtable in February. The previous Day Camp Directors could not do it again and volunteers were needed urgently. Since I had retired the previous April, and since Dave and I still hadn't finished our mission application, I figured I would have the time to do it. I knew that I was best suited to be Program Director, so that's what I volunteered for.
The theme of the camp was "Cubs in Shining Armor" or "Cub Scouts of the Round Table" or some such. Definitely a theme I could work with. I also got a Director I could work with...Melissa Shaw volunteered about two weeks after I did.
So I started researching and planning. I immediately started hitting deadlines. After all, planning for Day Camp usually starts in the fall. All through the process, it felt like I was just barely making deadlines. I was doing my best and that was barely enough. A sample schedule needed to be turned in? There that should be sufficient for now...and that was the basic schedule we actually used. Our first walker training will be at the May Roundtable? Here's a preliminary agenda...and that was what we used for all the subsequent training sessions as well. I never felt quite comfortable about the pace, but I got done what HAD to be done.
I wanted to tell stories to support the Ideals of the Knight's Code. Even though that was kind of a minor detail, I came across stories early in the process, jotted down the titles and never had a chance to do further research. I told "The Sword in the Stone" for Honor, "Young Robert Asks for Help" for Faith, "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" for Courage, and "Boots and the Glass Mountain" on the last day (because I couldn't find a better one for Kindness).
AND I had so much help, people volunteered to paint and cut fabric and sew and drill and wash buckets and make banners and I-don't-remember-what-else. Still, I felt behind and if the Lord hadn't made things happen Day Camp would never have worked. For instance, the last special lunch program was nailed down about five days before camp started!!! EVERY lunch program was a crowd-pleaser. Monday - Magician Gerald Edmundson; Tuesday - Juggling by Parker Luke (Eagle Scout) and Furs and Skulls by Kelly Lauderdale of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept; Wednesday - A Ballista and Armor presentation by Suzi Moore from the Society of Creative Anachronism; and Thursday - Diana Mason, PhD, Chemistry presenting (let's call it) BOOM.
Through it all, I felt the blessings of the Lord in so many ways. Here is one example. I had been at the Camp all day and was planning on leaving at 3:30 to drop off some staves that M.A. was going to drill holes in. Just as I was getting in the car, someone drove up to drop off some paperwork. That slowed me down, so that I was still at camp when my husband called to say that my special order was in at Hobby Lobby. So I headed for Hobby Lobby; I didn't need to make a special trip to pick up my order. Picking up the order took longer than I expected it to...making me late to M.A.'s house to drop of the staves, right? Nope. She was running late also. I actually got to her house just before she did. So even though it was an hour later than we had originally agreed to meet, the time-table worked out perfectly for both of us.
I got so used to things just working out; and I felt that the Lord loved me and wanted this Day Camp to work. I think He was teaching me to trust Him because He knew that the roof was about to fall on me.
1) The week before Day Camp a volunteer offered/insisted on a separate Webelos program for an hour or so each day...thus upending my schedule. (AND she wanted me to be grateful)
2) On the Thursday before Day Camp, it was determined that learning about real horses would not be a good activity while waiting for archery. It was also determined that Wrist Rockets needed to be moved from the location I wanted it back over next to BBs.
3) On the Friday BEFORE Day Camp, I needed to take someone to two doctors' appointments, taking up most of the afternoon.
4) On the Saturday BEFORE Day Camp, Melissa (the Director) got sick, really sick. The schedule and map were not yet done, the name tags weren't printed, tables were not moved, canopies were not set up, training for chaperons and youth staff was going on. We hadn't even designated set-up areas for Packs.
5) On the Sunday (the Day BEFORE Day Camp) the person that was going to do my Science session, making windmills quit.
6) On Monday, the first day of camp it rained...so we went to our alternate location instead of Hills 'n' Hollows.
ALL of these disasters (except Melissa getting sick) were a blessing.
We had originally planned on about 300 cubs coming...we had closer to 200 sign up. Of my 20 sessions, I only needed to run 15 each day. So each session leader got one day off. Almost every one of them helped me by manning another session instead! Which was good, since I had six stations that were not staffed.
On that Friday, while waiting for doctors' appointments, I had uninterrupted time to work on the schedule, which got a LOT less complicated when the horse lady agreed to come for three days, thus making horses a regular session.
Because the schedule and map were not yet printed, I could add horses where it needed to go AND Webelos where the volunteer insisted.
Melissa had divided the campers into 14 groups, with the Webelos separate from the other cubs. Two blessings came from this. When the Science leader quit, I moved the Webelos groups to the "Science" session and renamed it Webelos and gave it to the volunteer. The Science session was "off" on Tuesday anyway, so that gave me two more days to staff it.
The other blessing became evident on Monday morning when two whole packs showed up who hadn't been on our paperwork. I had 15 sessions running each day. There were 14 groups. I put the extra packs together as the 15th group, and they just took the blank spot on the schedule.
Since we were indoors on Monday, some groups missed out on Archery, Wrist Rockets and Water Slide. I adjusted the schedule so that they went to those events instead of "Science" later in the week. It meant that sometimes there were two groups at Archery, Wrist Rockets and Water Slide, but they were easily able to handle the load. So we never had a "Science" session at all. Now my only problem is what to do with the supplies.
Things worked out. Some things did not "take off" liked I hoped they would. Dens didn't make banners or come up with yells. The staves never got customized. Some of the waiting activities for Archery and BBs never happened because the supplies didn't get hauled out to the sites. The schedule assignments were not clear enough, partly because I never had time to put the schedules in the binders, I just tried to hand them to the correct people on Monday morning.
BUT dens went on "quests" by finding, doing and reporting on good deeds. Cubs promised to act with Honor, Courage, Faith and Kindness. The cubs had fun and the adults (staff and chaperons alike) MADE IT WORK.
By Wednesday, Melissa was back (she'd had strep throat), just in time for Inspection. THANK YOU, LORD. We were inspected by the Texas State Department of Health as well as BSA Camp Accreditation Team.
Thursday was the Craziest Day I have ever had at Cub Camp. We thought about moving back to our alternate location, but the prediction was that the squalls would move through and we would have a beautiful day. We had flag ceremony indoors and then went to the first session. When we started getting thunder and lightning close by, everyone came in to the pavilion. We had stories, skits and songs for about 45 minutes. Weather reports kept changing slightly. Finally it was announced, there will be a lull in the rain for about 15 minutes, then it will get bad again for 45 minutes, then everything will clear up and we will have a nice afternoon. We told Pack leaders that if they wanted to take their boys home, they could do so, but that we intended to stay. About 1/3 of the boys went home.
At about 10:30 we decided to take an early lunch. Our lunch program (Diana Mason from UNT's Chemistry Department) came a little early, and did not object to setting up in full view of her audience. After a loud and bright program which the boys thoroughly enjoyed, the weather was beautiful. So..should we go to the 1:00 session at 12:00 and the 2:00 session at 1:00? Someone suggested a radical idea, and it was adopted. Let the cubs choose to do whatever they wanted to do, as long as they had their leader with them! BBs, Archery and the Water Slide were crowded, of course. Surprisingly, cubs came in to do some crafts that they had missed. No one chose Juggling. It was the craziest day of Day Camp. AND those who stayed enjoyed it a lot.
SO, it is done. I feel a little bit at loose ends.
It all started at Roundtable in February. The previous Day Camp Directors could not do it again and volunteers were needed urgently. Since I had retired the previous April, and since Dave and I still hadn't finished our mission application, I figured I would have the time to do it. I knew that I was best suited to be Program Director, so that's what I volunteered for.
The theme of the camp was "Cubs in Shining Armor" or "Cub Scouts of the Round Table" or some such. Definitely a theme I could work with. I also got a Director I could work with...Melissa Shaw volunteered about two weeks after I did.
So I started researching and planning. I immediately started hitting deadlines. After all, planning for Day Camp usually starts in the fall. All through the process, it felt like I was just barely making deadlines. I was doing my best and that was barely enough. A sample schedule needed to be turned in? There that should be sufficient for now...and that was the basic schedule we actually used. Our first walker training will be at the May Roundtable? Here's a preliminary agenda...and that was what we used for all the subsequent training sessions as well. I never felt quite comfortable about the pace, but I got done what HAD to be done.
I wanted to tell stories to support the Ideals of the Knight's Code. Even though that was kind of a minor detail, I came across stories early in the process, jotted down the titles and never had a chance to do further research. I told "The Sword in the Stone" for Honor, "Young Robert Asks for Help" for Faith, "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" for Courage, and "Boots and the Glass Mountain" on the last day (because I couldn't find a better one for Kindness).
AND I had so much help, people volunteered to paint and cut fabric and sew and drill and wash buckets and make banners and I-don't-remember-what-else. Still, I felt behind and if the Lord hadn't made things happen Day Camp would never have worked. For instance, the last special lunch program was nailed down about five days before camp started!!! EVERY lunch program was a crowd-pleaser. Monday - Magician Gerald Edmundson; Tuesday - Juggling by Parker Luke (Eagle Scout) and Furs and Skulls by Kelly Lauderdale of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept; Wednesday - A Ballista and Armor presentation by Suzi Moore from the Society of Creative Anachronism; and Thursday - Diana Mason, PhD, Chemistry presenting (let's call it) BOOM.
Through it all, I felt the blessings of the Lord in so many ways. Here is one example. I had been at the Camp all day and was planning on leaving at 3:30 to drop off some staves that M.A. was going to drill holes in. Just as I was getting in the car, someone drove up to drop off some paperwork. That slowed me down, so that I was still at camp when my husband called to say that my special order was in at Hobby Lobby. So I headed for Hobby Lobby; I didn't need to make a special trip to pick up my order. Picking up the order took longer than I expected it to...making me late to M.A.'s house to drop of the staves, right? Nope. She was running late also. I actually got to her house just before she did. So even though it was an hour later than we had originally agreed to meet, the time-table worked out perfectly for both of us.
I got so used to things just working out; and I felt that the Lord loved me and wanted this Day Camp to work. I think He was teaching me to trust Him because He knew that the roof was about to fall on me.
1) The week before Day Camp a volunteer offered/insisted on a separate Webelos program for an hour or so each day...thus upending my schedule. (AND she wanted me to be grateful)
2) On the Thursday before Day Camp, it was determined that learning about real horses would not be a good activity while waiting for archery. It was also determined that Wrist Rockets needed to be moved from the location I wanted it back over next to BBs.
3) On the Friday BEFORE Day Camp, I needed to take someone to two doctors' appointments, taking up most of the afternoon.
4) On the Saturday BEFORE Day Camp, Melissa (the Director) got sick, really sick. The schedule and map were not yet done, the name tags weren't printed, tables were not moved, canopies were not set up, training for chaperons and youth staff was going on. We hadn't even designated set-up areas for Packs.
5) On the Sunday (the Day BEFORE Day Camp) the person that was going to do my Science session, making windmills quit.
6) On Monday, the first day of camp it rained...so we went to our alternate location instead of Hills 'n' Hollows.
ALL of these disasters (except Melissa getting sick) were a blessing.
We had originally planned on about 300 cubs coming...we had closer to 200 sign up. Of my 20 sessions, I only needed to run 15 each day. So each session leader got one day off. Almost every one of them helped me by manning another session instead! Which was good, since I had six stations that were not staffed.
On that Friday, while waiting for doctors' appointments, I had uninterrupted time to work on the schedule, which got a LOT less complicated when the horse lady agreed to come for three days, thus making horses a regular session.
Because the schedule and map were not yet printed, I could add horses where it needed to go AND Webelos where the volunteer insisted.
Melissa had divided the campers into 14 groups, with the Webelos separate from the other cubs. Two blessings came from this. When the Science leader quit, I moved the Webelos groups to the "Science" session and renamed it Webelos and gave it to the volunteer. The Science session was "off" on Tuesday anyway, so that gave me two more days to staff it.
The other blessing became evident on Monday morning when two whole packs showed up who hadn't been on our paperwork. I had 15 sessions running each day. There were 14 groups. I put the extra packs together as the 15th group, and they just took the blank spot on the schedule.
Since we were indoors on Monday, some groups missed out on Archery, Wrist Rockets and Water Slide. I adjusted the schedule so that they went to those events instead of "Science" later in the week. It meant that sometimes there were two groups at Archery, Wrist Rockets and Water Slide, but they were easily able to handle the load. So we never had a "Science" session at all. Now my only problem is what to do with the supplies.
Things worked out. Some things did not "take off" liked I hoped they would. Dens didn't make banners or come up with yells. The staves never got customized. Some of the waiting activities for Archery and BBs never happened because the supplies didn't get hauled out to the sites. The schedule assignments were not clear enough, partly because I never had time to put the schedules in the binders, I just tried to hand them to the correct people on Monday morning.
BUT dens went on "quests" by finding, doing and reporting on good deeds. Cubs promised to act with Honor, Courage, Faith and Kindness. The cubs had fun and the adults (staff and chaperons alike) MADE IT WORK.
By Wednesday, Melissa was back (she'd had strep throat), just in time for Inspection. THANK YOU, LORD. We were inspected by the Texas State Department of Health as well as BSA Camp Accreditation Team.
Thursday was the Craziest Day I have ever had at Cub Camp. We thought about moving back to our alternate location, but the prediction was that the squalls would move through and we would have a beautiful day. We had flag ceremony indoors and then went to the first session. When we started getting thunder and lightning close by, everyone came in to the pavilion. We had stories, skits and songs for about 45 minutes. Weather reports kept changing slightly. Finally it was announced, there will be a lull in the rain for about 15 minutes, then it will get bad again for 45 minutes, then everything will clear up and we will have a nice afternoon. We told Pack leaders that if they wanted to take their boys home, they could do so, but that we intended to stay. About 1/3 of the boys went home.
At about 10:30 we decided to take an early lunch. Our lunch program (Diana Mason from UNT's Chemistry Department) came a little early, and did not object to setting up in full view of her audience. After a loud and bright program which the boys thoroughly enjoyed, the weather was beautiful. So..should we go to the 1:00 session at 12:00 and the 2:00 session at 1:00? Someone suggested a radical idea, and it was adopted. Let the cubs choose to do whatever they wanted to do, as long as they had their leader with them! BBs, Archery and the Water Slide were crowded, of course. Surprisingly, cubs came in to do some crafts that they had missed. No one chose Juggling. It was the craziest day of Day Camp. AND those who stayed enjoyed it a lot.
SO, it is done. I feel a little bit at loose ends.