Kamp Kiwani reunion ~ faces!

Anne (Kanga), Cedar and me.

Cedar is well-loved by the hundreds of girls and staff who have spent summers at Kiwani.

Cedar directed camp and waterfront for many years.

Now a retired teacher, Cedar loves camp and is dear to our hearts!

Group photo!

It was fun to gather by "era" and snap some photos.

Girls of the 70's!

This is Pat. She has a huge heart for Kamp Kiwani

and its girls. "Always about the girls!" she told us.

Pat is special to my sister and me because she

knew our mother and worked with her as a Girl Scout volunteer.

It was precious to hear her memories of Mom.

Oh, Donut! I can't begin to express how special it was to

see you standing at the trading post, hug and then catch up on

each other's lives. Thirty-five years is a lot of catching up.

You're amazing, you're like a sister; love you!

And dear sis, thanks for pushing me to meet you at Kiwani.

I loved it ... and love you!

Day is done, gone the sun,

from the lake, from the hill, from the sky.

All is well, safely rest. God is nigh.



Kamp Kiwani ... Soapstone Falls and waterfront

A group of us old-timers set out on Saturday morning of our

reunion at Kamp Kiwani.

We were sillier and louder than 50-something women should be,

but did we ever have a ball.

We were in search of Soapstone Falls, a favorite destination of campers and staff.

Kanga found a map to the falls in an old camp manual in the "museum" at the Thunderbird.

Perfect! Off we paddled.



We paddled up a finger of the lake, pulled the canoes up, and slogged through the muck.

Laughing all the way!

We did stop long enough to notice these awesome mushrooms.

Our merry little band ... crazy, all of us!

And by golly, we found the "falls."

Water does still course this way, when there's rain.

And best of all, there's still a good supply of soapstone,

the soft, gray stone found in layers along the walls.

I carved a poem on one of those stones for

the sweet guy who became my husband.

He still has it.

On the way back, we spotted Pudd'n, trying out a funyak!

Sliding in to shore, we pulled up the canoes and headed to lunch.

A grand morning on the lake!

At last, my sis got to take out a sailboat. How she loved it!

Here we are together. What a ball!

Next: faces of the Kiwani reunion weekend.

Saturday at Kamp Kiwani

Kamp Kiwani is nearing her 50th year.

She was not even 10 when I first saw her.

Much has remained the same: the Thunderbird where campers and staff eat and gather,

the units of light green cabins and troop houses nestled in the woods,

main camp featuring the trading post,

and the waterfront where I spent many days teaching girls to swim.

But Kiwani is much more heavily wooded now, having 35 years to fill in with

hardwoods and pines. It feels like it needs a little more TLC than the Girl Scouts can afford,

in the way of forest management and trail upkeep. But 1,000 acres is a lot to maintain.

The unit by the lake was altered to include this fire circle and benches and it's beautiful. We all enjoyed a campfire and singing here on Saturday night.

The boathouse by Lake Okalowa. It hasn't changed a bit!

I stood on those steps all through the summer, handing out

life jackets and dribbling rubbing alcohol in girls' ears!

Love the boathouse ...

... love my sister, who insisted we go back to Kiwani!



Though my sister Anne (I mean Kanga) is a sailor,

she agreed to canoe with me. A group of us wanted to find Soapstone Falls,

a favorite destination of campers and staff.

Tomorrow: you'll see what we found!

Kiwani reunion, arrival on Friday



I think I speak for most of the reunion weekend's 75 participants that we were instantly transported

back to our days as Kamp Kiwani campers and staff.

Girl Scout camp staff go by nicknames and right away we reassumed those names.

I was Locket and my sister was Kanga. 

I had no idea these gals, among my best camp friends, would be there! Speedy, 2nd from the left, was artistic and cheerful.

Donut, in the middle, was friendly, funny and sang every camp song beautifully.

I worked in units with both of them.

And Pudd'n, 2nd from right, beside me, directed Kiwani for several summers.

Pudd'n always seemed kind of gruff to me, but she's a charming, funny lady.

Pam, far left, was on staff, too. Here we are just before flag ceremony:

a long-standing Girl Scout tradition.

Pudd'n posts the colors on Saturday morning.

There's the Thunderbird, the camp's beautiful dining hall that

is exactly as I remember it 35 years ago.

We settled  in to our cabins on Friday evening and enjoyed a spaghetti

dinner together. As night fell, we put on jeans, grabbed our flashlights and headed back to the Thunderbird to watch "Follow Me Girls," an ancient Girl Scout promotional film. We all laughed and applauded.

And though most of us didn't sleep well on our cots that night, we fondly remembered our days at

camp as the owls and coyotes sang us to sleep.

Tomorrow: Saturday at camp: fun on the lake and a quest to find Soapstone Falls.

Kamp Kiwani reunion!

It all started over a year ago and for months it lingered in my mind,

but I always brushed it off.

Reunion? I've never done reunions. Not school reunions, ever.

And I'd never heard of a camp reunion.

But on the day of the registration deadline,

one week out, my sister called.

"Come on, we have to go. I'm registering!"

So what could I do but follow suit?

One week later, we met in Jackson and wound the rural roads of southwest Tennessee,

arriving at the gate. Kamp Kiwani.

For three summers in the 1970's, Kiwani was my home.

Camp counselor and waterfront staff.

Who could love such a job? Stifling heat. Homesick little girls 24/7. Giggly, clingy girls.

Mosquito and chigger bites. Squeaky cots that offered little rest.

Sand between the sheets, sweat running down my back, and towels that never dry.

But they were the best summers of my life, shared with other college students

who became closer than sisters.

And so last weekend, we were invited back to an alumni reunion:

any campers and staff  who'd ever gone to Kiwani could come spend a weekend

at their beloved camp.

At the last minute, I joined them.

Tomorrow:

Arriving at camp. Cedar, Donut and Speedy!

camp!

My good friend Patti emailed this photo yesterday and the memories came flooding back. It was summer 1979 at Girl Scout Camp Welaka in Jupiter, Florida. Patti (front and center) was camp director and I (right of Patti) served as her assistant. I think I have that right! We were both 24 and my mother had just died in May. I doubt I was totally focused on camp that summer.

It was my second summer at the camp ... I remember the sandy trails to the units, palmetto trees, mosquito nets draped over our cots, the extreme heat and midnight beach trips to watch the nesting sea turtles. And the squealing, giggling, energetic girls. I loved camp and spent six summers working at Girl Scout camps. 1979 would be my last.

Those were summers of discovering my strengths and weaknesses, forging friendships, and learning a lot about children and myself. Without a doubt, working at camp helped prepare me for motherhood.

Gratitude challenge day 4 - How grateful I am for friends like Patti, who befriended me so many years ago, taught me much, and took time to send this photo!