Word From Wildwood

Family Camp: It's a Day at the Beach!

And a day of tie dye, herp hunts, early morning bird walk, ropes course, canoeing workshop, wildflower walk, frisbee golf, fishing, dusk walk, campfire, live bird presentation, games, and more. And then we do it all again tomorrow! Whoo-hoo!

We had a beautiful day to play and learn at Wildwood today. We saw a number of bird species today, beginning with two common loons that were calling from the early morning hours. Just after dinner, an osprey, sat up in a dead tree for several minutes just behind the dining hall before flying out right over our heads and then over the edge of the pond.

Today was a great day to spend in and around the water, and tomorrow promises to be just as nice. It's a beautiful night tonight, with a full moon that will be fully eclipsed by the earth early tomorrow morning. A couple of us are planning on getting up before dawn to take a peek.

We'll let you know how we made out! Sorry you all can't be here with us!

Posted by Bob Speare
Osprey picture by Misha Grigoriev

Cooler Days at Camp

Well, I'm sure you've been feeling it at home too, but we've had a few cooler days and really cooler nights here recently. I've seen lots of sweatshirts and hats being worn throughout the day. But it looks like we've made it through this unseasonably cool period and we're ready to head back into warm weather!

Although the temps have been down in the upper 60's during the day, a few brave souls have headed to the waterfront for OATS and still like to get in for a swim. Sailing, canoeing and kayaking have remained popular as well. However, we've offered lots of other interesting activities off of the waterfront too, so there's always plenty to do.

Yesterday, one of our afternoon DGs was water rockets, and participants spent part of the time building their rocket from a 2 liter bottle, some cardboard, and of course, duct tape. Then they had a blast as they took off, reaching heights a little higher than the trees! It was very cool!

Our young naturalists have been doing very well, finding bird's eggs, frogs, salamanders, and even a snake. They'll have a lot to report on when you see them for sure.

I spoke to the LIT group tonight by telephone, and they are busy paddling down the Connecticut River along the New Hampshire/Vermont border. They had reached their campout area by early afternoon, so they have been moving along very well. They've spotted quite a few ducks, and a bald eagle as well. They should reach their final destination tomorrow, and will be back on camp for dinner. It will be great to hear more about this trip when they return.

Tomorrow is our special day - "Wildwood Survivor - Camp Edition" with lots of really neat activities planned. Stay tuned for a complete report on that.

We're all still really appreciating all the wonderful cards, letters, email, and care packages you're sending. It's hard to believe it, but just a few more days! Think Warm!

Posted by Bob Speare

A Weekend of Camp Trips

Well, we're all back on the Monadnock Conservation Center property again, after a wonderful weekend of camping and canoe trips. Every camper here at Wildwood got to travel to another place to experience a change of place and a change of pace.

On Friday, the Carson girls hiked out to First Point, where they spent the entire night singing songs, playing games, cooking their own dinner, and finally going to sleep inside their tents. Meanwhile, the Fossey gals loaded up into a couple of the camp vans and headed to Greenfield State Park and the shores of Otter Lake for their own overnight camping trip. Again, they had to set up their own tents and cook their own dinner and breakfast the next morning. Also on Friday both the Dillard and Abbey units headed up to Mt Monadnock where they spent two days and two nights discovering this famous location. It was Boys night in for Leopold and Thoreau, and they had a bunch of fun being the only ones here at camp.

On Saturday, Leopold switched with Carson and headed out to First Point, while Fossey came back and Thoreau headed out to the site at Greenfield. It was Girls Night In on Saturday, and although much of what they did was a secret and cameras were not allowed in ;-) I heard they watched a movie and even had ice cream sundaes. These girls know how to have a girls party!

On Sunday, I had the great pleasure of heading out with the LITs to  Nubanusit Lake and Spoon Pond in Hancock, New Hampshire for an all-day canoe trip. The site is absolutely beautiful! We heard (and saw) loons, and even a bald eagle nest. It was a great day together. A great big thanks to Larry Pottebaum for leading us to this wonderful location.

(click on any image to see it full size)

Today, we all settled back in our cabins an our regular camp routines. We started our new IG choices, and enjoyed working with the LITs on our afternoon Dgs. Tomorrow, the LITs head out on a three day canoe trip on the Connecticut river! That will certainly be a memorable experience.

We'll be back with more exciting news soon!

Posted by Bob Speare

The Fun Goes On!

The last two days have been full of discovery and good times. Our IGs are in full swing, and we've been learning about birds, pond critters, sailing, plants, and insects. We've also enjoyed the ropes course, outdoor cooking, building shelters and more.

The afternoons have been full of exciting DGs and lots of fun stuff during OATS. I even got to go on a herp hunt, where we found 4 species of frogs, some salamanders and a snake!

Last night was unit night, and after each unit did their own activity, they all got together for a fun all-camp marshmallow roast. It was really cool and delicious!

Today was crazy OATS with lots of great stuff at the waterfront, and also tie dye, and sidewalk decorating. It was a beautiful day and an excellent afternoon to spend around the waterfront. Tonight's evening program was one of everyone's favorites; Heffalump Hunt!

A group from the South Shore Sanctuary is visiting Wildwood for the next couple of days and will visit Mt. Monadnock tomorrow.

Another great day is planned for tomorrow, before we begin heading off on our overnight camping trips over the weekend.

Keep writing! We love to get your letters.

Posted by Bob Speare

Can it be Session 5 Already?

It sure can! Today was our first full day for Session 5 at camp. It was a beautiful morning and we started to do camp tours, health checks and swim checks. We also conducted our Interest Group skits, which help campers decide what program they will be involved with each morning from 9:00 - 11:00 for the week.

We had a brief shower just after lunch, and although it cleared up nicely, there was some thunder in the distance during OATS, so we couldn't use the waterfront to swim or boat this afternoon. Oh well, it looks like we'll have a nice day tomorrow, and they'll be plenty more chances over the next two weeks.

Instead of swimming, our campers found plenty of other activities going on, including gardening, fishing, playing lots of games in the field, getting started on some letters home, relaxing under a tree to chat with a friend, or a game of cards. After a delicious dinner and a fire drill, we all got to play a great game of Predator Prey.

click on an image to see it full size

It was a very good first day! Tomorrow, the IGs begin and it's Letter Home Day!

Write to us soon!

Posted by Bob Speare

"Wild"wood Days!

Wow, what a gorgeous day it was today at Wildwood. We spent every minute we could outside today it was so beautiful. We had sailing, kayaking, bird-banding, hiking, ropes course, and cool science experiments, and that was just the morning!

The afternoon was filled with more fun DGs and then CRAZY OATS! We had all kinds of goofy fun water games, including one of my very favorites; canoe slip-and -slide. Here are a few of the faces that I caught in action. Can you tell who they are? Click on them to see them full size.

After dinner tonight, Mark put together a great activity called Pioneer Night, which featured butter-making, baked apples, pioneer games like Corn Field Tag and more. It was a lot of fun. The LITs lent a helping hand with these activities again tonight - Thanks!

It's hard to believe just one full day left. We'll be busy tomorrow making the best of it!

Have a wonderful Friday!

Posted by Bob Speare

A Bit of Rain and an Afternoon of Sunshine

Hi folks,

Today we woke up to heavy rain that continued through the first half of breakfast (which was french toast - yum!). We got a short shower or two for the rest of the morning before it cleared up, giving us a great afternoon for DGs and then OATS.

The zip line was open this morning and afternoon today, which gave a lot of campers a chance to fly through the air on the ropes course. Project Adventure was here completing two new ropes course elements too, so we'll have some new things to try over the next two days!

Up at the garden we picked a bunch of ripe cucumbers. There's a lot more that are almost ready too. The peppers and squash won't be far behind.

The afternoon got quite muggy, so the waterfront was the place to be. Lots of swimming, canoeing and kayaking, and jumping off the iceberg too!

The CITs from the nearby Sargent Center spent the day with our LITs here at Wildwood. They played a bunch of neat games, visited a local conservation property here in town, did a service project at camp, and learned a bit about the ecology of Hubbard Pond.

The trekkers are having a great time in Acadia. Today they went kayaking for a while until the threat of thunderstorms pulled them in. They told me it had cleared up nicely and they were heading to Cadillac Mountain to watch the sunset.

Back here at Wildwood, just as we were heading to dinner, the sky really opened up with a five minute downpour. Five minutes after that, the sky cleared and we had a beautiful night. Just what we needed as tonight was Heffalump Hunt, with heffalumps hiding out throughout camp. They all have specific requests, and if you are able to give them what they want, they will give you their signature. But look out for Mamalump, who could steal them all away from you. It was lots of fun. Tomorrow promises to be a beautiful day. We'll let you know how it goes.

Have a great day tomorrow!

Posted by Bob Speare

Here Comes Session 4!

Well, actually we're a couple days into it now, and boy are we having fun! Yesterday was a bit rainy from time to time, but we all got our swim checks, camp tours, and IG skits in. The folks from Drumlin Farm brought a couple birds of prey for us to see up close in the afternoon, and we finished the night with a big game of predator prey. Not too bad!

Today was a beautiful day. It began a little overcast, but with the loons giving their haunting call across the pond, we didn't notice much. By the end of breakfast the sun was out and it got pretty warm. Our interest groups got underway at 9:00 this morning, and they included;
Sailing
Wetlands
Wildwood Sampler
Wild Woods
Outdoor Living
Things with Wings
Science
and Ropes.
A nice variety indeed.

After unit time and lunch, campers went to siesta and got started on their letters home that they needed to bring the dining hall tonight. We'll mail them all in the morning.

After that we enjoyed our DGs, where Misha and I got to take a dozen campers out sailing. For the most part, these were campers that had little or no experience in the boats, but you wouldn't know it when we got out on the pond. We zipped around like pros.

After DGs we enjoyed OATS with lots of campers swimming, boating, and of course, the iceberg!

Here's Siobhan life guarding with style!

Tonight was Unit Night, so all six units were doing their own thing - from night hikes to games in the field.

Wow, what a couple busy days. Let's do it again tomorrow!

Click on an image to see it full size.

Have a great night!

Posted by Bob Speare
Sailing images by Amy Patterson

Spy Day!

OK, you need to hum the theme song from Mission Impossible as you read the following...

Here we were at Wildwood this morning, minding our own business, having a nice breakfast in the dining hall. Kayla stands up in front of the entire camp and holds out a big bag full of microwave popcorn and a DVD and tells everyone, this is what we plan to do tonight for evening activity. A huge cheer roars out from the approving crowd of campers. Suddenly, out of nowhere, about four ninja-type intruders slip in and spread out across the dining hall, wreaking havoc with the campers. Just as quickly as they entered, they slipped out again, with a number of items - including the popcorn and the movie!

It only took us a few minutes to figure out how to get it all back. This was going to be "Spy Day!" "Theme song a bit louder now..."

Campers were divided up into groups and had to endure special training and tactics which would help them pick up a clue. They learned how to get through seemingly impossible mazes and obstacle courses, move sunken boats through the water, and carry mattresses quickly over the terrain. Once all the clues were collected, we were able to unscramble the final large clue which lead to the place where all our goods were stashed - Nurse Lizards House.

Then we all enjoyed a late afternoon swim to cool down and celebrate our victory over these crooks. After dinner, we popped that popcorn and watched, what else, "Spy Kids"

It was a really fun special day!

The trekkers were out at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum today, and we'll have to find out whether got onto the lake in canoes or a large dory. We'll be ready to welcome them back to camp tomorrow afternoon.

Also the LITs arrived back on camp after a three-day 33-mile canoe trip on the Batten Kill River in Vermont. They had an awesome time - but they looked a little bit tired!

It's hard to believe that we start wrapping up this session tomorrow, but hey, that's one more whole day of fun left!

Here's a nice picture of a mural that will be up in the dining hall when you arrive on Saturday. Our Service Project I.G. completed this yesterday.

Have a great evening and stay cool tomorrow!

You can stop humming now.

Posted by Bob Speare      
Spy Day Pictures by Amy Patterson