Creating the Spark

Yesterday morning we hit the ground running, ready for another great day at boys camp! It was a beautiful morning, and we fueled up with a hearty breakfast: scrambled eggs, bacon, warm biscuits, fruit salad, yogurt, and granola. After another exciting Morning Assembly, everyone headed off in their cabin groups to enjoy the first activities.

Cabins 33 and 34 were in Outdoor Skills Certified (OSC) for their first period. In OSC during the longer sessions, boys learn outdoor skills and tips for surviving in the woods, as well as basic camp craft that they can use on overnights and trips. The activity location is in a beautiful clearing in the woods below the lower dam, right next to a peaceful creek. Boys can work on skills essential for any outdoorsman, including fire building, making rope from natural fibers, reading maps and navigating with a map and compass, identifying harmful or helpful North Carolina plants, building outdoor shelters, and more. During this activity period, Wyatt was leading the fort building with one group by the creek, while Clint and Carson were teaching the other group boys about traditional methods of starting fires. Halfway through the activity they would switch so each group got to try both.

First in the fire starting group, Clint showed the boys how to use the ferro rod with the striker, which is similar to the classic flint and steel method. It differs slightly because the material of the ferro rod is Ferrocerium instead of flint, which is typically a combination of 70% cerium and 30% iron. It generously sparked when he struck the rod, prompting all the boys around the table to say, “whoa!” After showing them how to use it properly, Clint let all the boys take turns creating the sparks themselves. “You mean we get to make it spark now?” asked Jack enthusiastically. Boys love starting fires, because it feels slightly dangerous and exciting, especially when trying a new lighting method like the ferro rod.

After they had all had time to practice, Clint said they would have a fun contest to see if anyone could light the tinder on their first try. Each of the boys took turns, and though none of them were able to get the sparks to catch, they were loving every second of trying. In many ways, this whole session acts as the spark for each boy’s journey at summer camp. They come for the week-long session, many for the first time away from home, and are able to try a sample of all that camp has to offer. Though it’s not the same level of free-choice and trips that our longer sessions have, this session is a great starting point, introducing boys to the camp experience. Once they’ve got this “spark,” many of them will choose to fan the flame by returning for longer sessions, building on their skills and experience each year, and continuing to grow here individually and socially.

Speaking of growing, there has been a lot growing in the garden beds at the F.A.R.M. this week! F.A.R.M. stands for Food, Animals, Repurposing, and Manpower, which are all crucial parts of that program. As I walked up to the F.A.R.M. yesterday, I thought the chickens had escaped because there were boys running around yelling, “here, chicken chicken!” Instead, Cabins 7 & 8 were playing a game of “chickens and farmers tag”, where everyone starts either as a chicken or a farmer. The chickens have a little extra time to go hide, and then the farmers try to find them and catch them. If the “chickens” get caught, they turn into farmers too, and the last chicken standing wins. The boys seemed to be enjoying it a lot, and had been able to hang out with the real chickens in the coop earlier that period. Barnes was interested in seeing what was growing, so we walked around and checked out what was in the raised beds.

The most impressive thing for me was the huge watermelon, which was already the size of a football! We also admired the tomatoes, okra, eggplant, bell peppers, and even the squash that seemed to pop up overnight. Barnes and I picked basil and oregano, and crushed it so we could smell the difference - he liked the basil the best. Though it’s only a week-long session, these boys are also experiencing a lot of growth during their time at camp. They’re getting to try new activities, make new friends, and see what it’s like to be away from home for the first time.

Yesterday evening we ended the day with a game of Capture the Flag that spanned the property! Instead of being limited to just a ball field, teams could hide their flags anywhere inside their boundaries, making for a much more exciting game. We can’t wait for more summer camp excitement that awaits today on this Wednesday.