Girl Scouts, ahoy.
This year's annual Day Camp at Camp Woodlands is set to take place Aug. 8-11 and features a Camp Castaway - Shipwreck Survival Adventure theme.
Participants in grades first through eighth will build a shelter and fire, create shipwreck meals, and learn knots and compass skills. They will practice survival team building by playing games and creating treasures. Their travels also will take them to the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center to spend a day learning how to locate, identify, research and protect shipwrecks.
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Girl Scouts at last year’s Day Camp work on a craft. The crafts at the 2011 camp will revolve around a Shipwreck Survival Adventure theme.
"The Day Camp is how we expand the horizons of girls to give them experiences in life," said Day Camp Director Cindy Ranshaw. "Last year the theme was Galaxy Quest and we flew in a guy from NASA. This year, we're going underwater instead of up in the air to discover the beauty and mysteries we have right here."
Cost for each camper is $70, but a number of full or partial scholarships are available. Girls still wanting to sign up for the camp should contact Ranshaw at 354-5590 or alpenagirlscouts@aol.com.
Participants don't have to be a current member of Girls Scouts to attend the camp, but they would need to pay the $12 Girl Scout registration fee on top of the camp fee. Brownies (girls in second grade) and older also will be able to take an overnight faux island adventure for an additional $5.
Fact Box
Girl Scout Day Camp
Theme: Camp Castaway - Shipwreck
Survival Adventure
When: 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Aug. 8-11
Where: Camp Woodlands and Great
Lakes Maritime Heritage Center
Ages: Girls in grades 1-8 as of
September
To register: Call 354-5590 or go to
alpenagirlscouts@aol.com
At the camp, each unit of Girl Scouts based on their age level of Daisies, Brownies, Juniors and Cadets will be named after a real island located in the waters off of Alpena. The units will learn the history of the island that they will be "marooned" on and about a shipwreck located near their particular island.
"They will learn about what they would do if they were shipwrecked on an island. How would they survive? They would have to know how to make a shelter and fire and how to cook," Ranshaw said.
When it comes to preparing their food, the girls will do the expected kinds of camp cooking such as items cooked on a stick over a fire, one pot meals and foil dinners placed in hot coals, plus foods fixed in Dutch ovens and reflector ovens.
"They also will be given old clothes to redesign into their own like on Gilligan's Island," Ranshaw said.
For the final day of the camp, a Castaway Reunion will be held as a closing party with lots of fun activities, including a fashion show to model their new outfits.
On Wednesday, the third day of the camp, instead of meeting at Camp Woodlands on Indian Reserve Road, the Scouts will head to the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center for a full day of age-appropriate activities there.
Girls who opt to spend the night on Wednesday will get to watch the adventure movie, "Swiss Family Robinson." A representative from the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary also will be on hand with more fun activities and lessons that expand on what they learned earlier in the day at the sanctuary.
Twenty-eight adult volunteers and five youth volunteers will be working to ensure that the camp experience is a good one for all participants. Among those in attendance will be Ranshaw's daughter, Jessica, who as a Cadet is looking forward to working on another badge, plus some of the fun activities.
"I like doing the badge work," Jessica Ranshaw said. "I also like some of the games and food."
Each girl enrolled in the camp will ultimately leave with a bag of treasured items they made and a patch in celebration of their memorable voyage.