Hello, campers, stewards, SIT’s, and families! I’m Coltrane the turtle. You may recognize me if you’ve ever visited my tank in the Activity Center. If you’re not familiar, here’s a photo of me:
Just when I was getting used to it being quiet around here, over 50 stewards and SIT’s came here to Tollgate on June 15 for 24 hours of training, activities, and animal chores (none of which involved me).
It all started with this “farm fruit challenge” that the edu-leaders cooked up. From what I saw, the stewards and SIT’s formed eight groups, and each group went to a different area of the site. From there, an edu-leader read a limerick and the kids had to guess what the last word was. Then, they participated in some sort of challenge to “earn” a fruit for a parfait. Here in the Activity Center, Garden Kitchen Leader Leah challenged everyone to build a tower of toothpicks and grapes.
Other stations included:
After the activities and a scrumptious dinner of hotdogs and chili, we had my favorite part of the night: the square dance! I didn’t dance (because I’m a turtle), but I could hear the music all the way from my tank, and there were some great tunes.
After the dance, everyone gathered around a nice big campfire and sang some songs. My favorites were “Boom-Chicka-Boom” and “Tarzan the Jungle Man.” By then, everyone was pretty tired, so we made last minute adjustments to our tents, and then crawled in for the night.
The next morning, after a yummy breakfast, it was time for animal chores!
After the animals were accounted for and taken care of, everyone split into three groups for stations. The activities in the rotation were canoeing, fishing, and fire-building.
Both days were a blast, and I have to admit that it got me in the mood for camp. Good news for me: it starts next Monday! Now, I’m off to swim a lap or two. See you soon!