Scouts on Safari makes triumphant return

Courtesy Photos The G.S. day camp, “Scouts on Safari” made a return this year, welcoming more than 40 Girl Scouts. The scouts learned various outdoor skills, learned how to use resources wisely, and spent time doing other fun activities including games, crafts and cooking.

After a couple year hiatus due to COVID and construction at G.S. Camp Woodlands, girls were once again wandering the woods in this year’s G.S. Day Camp, “Scouts On Safari,” held June 11-13. This year’s camp serviced over 40 Girl Scouts age Preschool through 9th grade, with scouts in grades 10-12 helping more than a dozen volunteers throughout camp.

Each year G.S. volunteers select a theme, driven by girls’ ideas and develop it into a program to teach girls outdoor skills, such as fire building, cooking, shelter, basic safety, proper use of knives and camping tools, and orienteering. They also are taught to use resources wisely and leave no trace. Each day started and ended with a flag ceremony.

Scouts also spend time doing craft projects, singing, learning new games and activities while experiencing theme-related fun. This year, the scouts made tie-dyed shirts to identify their unit as a respective “animal,” Daisy-Lions, Brownie-Tigers, Junior-Giraffes, and Cadette-Zebras.

The various groups had age-appropriate activities including skill bead bracelets, trail sign swaps, scrapbook with jungle prints, bucket sit-upons (with hand woven cushions), rain sticks, totem pole, jungle man puppet, compass jungle hike, rock formations and much more while learning survival and Safari skills.

Others did advance outdoor cooking including stick, bean hole oven, Dutch oven, and solar oven. Many of the girls were also able to learn and participate in archery.

An older girls unit created a “Safari Challenge,” where girls individually tested their confidence and perseverance navigating the course, which included a monkey maze (web crawl under heavy jungle brush), javelin thrower, the zebra zip rope obstacle, the Lion’s Line – balance beam, and who could forget the elephant bucket walk.

Next year’s day camp will take place June 24-26, 2022. Camp runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cost for the three days will be approximately $50 or less with partial scholarships available.

The theme will be Galaxy Quest, a fun trip into the far reaches of outer space with special activities featuring the sun, stars, moon, planets and all things intergalactic. It will once again be open to girls in preschool through 12th grade. Girls will need to be a registered Girl Scout to attend camp, but, once registered, they can participate in day camp and other scouting activities throughout the year.

Anyone interested in signing a girl up for Girl Scouts can contact Dani Ayotte at 989-464-0023.

Questions regarding G.S. Day Camp can be directed to Day Camp Director Cindy Ranshaw at 989-464-6022.

: Courtesy Photos The G.S. day camp, “Scouts on Safari” made a return this year, welcoming more than 40 Girl Scouts. The scouts learned various outdoor skills, learned how to use resources wisely, and spent time doing other fun activities including games, crafts and cooking.