Building a Solid Foundation

If you’re a young boy, it’s not every day you get asked to help build something with power tools. In woodworking and at the F.A.R.M. though, boys were doing just that. Today at the F.A.R.M., several boys had signed up to help build a pallet shelter for the pigs, and using power tools to do so was one of the highlights. Danny and Zeb were helping each group of boys build a shelter; one for Marvin, and the other for Wilma. The structures were simple: just a three sided shelter with a roof, made mostly out of 4 pallets, plus some extra wood as reinforcements. Guinea hogs are accustomed to a wide range of weather and temperature conditions, and are a very hardy breed. Still, we thought it would be nice to give them the option to keep the rain and sun off their backs.

Securing Marvin’s pallet structure shelter

Henry C. was using the drill to connect the top pallet to the left side pallet with a screw. “I’ve never used a power tool before!” he said, and was enjoying the opportunity to build something new. “You have to apply a lot of force to get the screw to ‘bite’ into the wood,” Zeb explained to him. “Here, want me to help?” Ransom offered, holding the end of the heavy drill so Henry could push down on the screw more steadily. The boys worked together to assemble the little structures, despite the drizzly rain that had been sprinkling throughout the afternoon.

Ryan M. and Charlie H. were helping assemble the pallets with Ransom and Henry, ensuring that Marvin (our boy pig) had a sturdy shelter, while Danny’s group worked to secure Wilma’s (our girl pig). Between turns hammering and using the drill, boys were trying to entice Marvin and Wilma into letting them pet them. Will B. was crouched down in the grass, calling to Wilma. She came right up to him and sniffed, hoping he had some food hidden on him somewhere. The pigs have only been here a few weeks, but they have already become more used to the boys and eager to say hello. Hopefully they’ll be even more social after they see what a good job the boys did with building their shelters.

Locke making sure Wilma’s shelter is coming along

Meanwhile at the wood shop, boys were working on the finishing touches to their projects. Taishi and Kaido were busy building a board to play on with their Magic cards. The board had a playing card sized indention in each of the four quadrants of the board, with the top left quadrant split into four smaller divots. “This box is for the deck,” Taishi explained, pointing to the bottom right indention. “This box next to it is for the discard pile, and this other box is for the exiled cards. The little boxes are for the dice,” he told me. They were proud of their card board because it was not only something they had come up with themselves, but it was also functional. They played the trading card strategy game, Magic, often, and now they were excited to have a board to keep their cards from getting dirty when playing outside.

Working on his Magic game board in woodworking

Grayson was sanding his candle holder, getting ready for Campfire on closing night. Tomorrow evening, we’ll gather for our Ceremony of Light, the memorable night of Candlelight Campfire. “I put this tack in the bottom of my candle holder so the bottom of the candle would stick to it and it wouldn’t fall out,” Grayson showed me. Warner was also making a candle holder. “The coolest thing I made this year was this bull face,” he said, holding up a chiseled picture of a bull’s face that he had carved into the wood. “Next year I want to build a sling-shot,” he planned.

Building a chair in woodworking

Wood projects aren’t the only thing we’ve been building during these past four weeks at camp. More importantly, we’ve been building less tangible things that will last a lifetime. During this Main Camp session, we’ve been building friendships, confidence, independence, and skills, through a variety of different camp experiences. Camp builds a good foundation for life skills, giving boys an edge when they’re back home or at school. When they return home, they can build on the foundation that they’ve started here at camp, drawing on the experiences they’ve enjoyed and lessons they’ve learned, away from their parents and in a setting that can be both supportive and appropriately challenging.

Tonight we’ll continue to build on our camp experience even more with a night in the woods as cabins. Our older cabins in Tuscarora and Iroquois headed out for their overnights tonight, while our younger Cherokee and Catawba cabins stayed behind for their turn to have a cabin pizza picnic. The afternoon rain let up just in time for overnights this evening, and the older boys enjoyed chicken fajitas around the campfire. The younger boys submitted their “pizza orders” to our incredible kitchen staff, who prepared two pizzas for each cabin, complete with all their requested toppings. After tonight’s discussions over the campfire, an evening spent making s’mores, and falling asleep to the sounds of cicadas and bullfrogs, we’ll look forward to having everyone back in camp for breakfast in the morning. Tomorrow is already the last full day at camp, and we’re going out with a bang!

-Annie Pharr

What a backdrop!

More Highlights From This Wednesday

• We celebrated Hueur’s birthday today at lunch with cake and singing!
• Manu and Manuel both earned Ranger at Archery
• Harrison, Walker L., Jacob B., and Ryder B. All earned Ranger in Horseback
• The “White Tiger Staff-of-the-Week” award was given to John Czabala, our Tuscarora assistant tribal leader, for his constant positivity and helpfulness.
• Breakfast: pancakes and bacon with a grits station, and a fruit, granola, and yogurt bar.
• Lunch: build-your-own subs, with salami, ham, turkey, and cheese, plus tomato and lettuce, macaroni and cheese, sliced peaches, steak and rice soup, and cherry cobbler for dessert.
• Dinner: Chicken fajitas over the fire for boys on their cabin overnights, or build-your-own pizzas for our younger cabins.

Practicing fire building with flint and steel in OSC

“use your indoor voice” is never a phrase heard at camp!