Scads of kids catch their first fish at Camp Howard’s Sporeen Pond! The pond is stocked once or twice per year with farm trout which are fed daily as evidenced below! Once the Purina Fish Chow hits the water, the fish are on it creating a swirling frenzy at every feeding! Sr. Michael Francine fed the fish this summer to take one job off the hands of Property Director, Karen von Borstel. Feeding time provided some great photo opportunities!
Every few years, a seasoned group of young camp leaders graduate from college and move on to their careers leaving spaces for new individuals to fill and gain experience in leadership. The Unit Directors, Program Director & CIT Director make up the youth leaders at Camp Howard and most are pictured below with Camp Director, Nora Gravengaard, Asst. Director, Shawna King and Health and Safety Director, Leila Blakely.
Left to right: Maggie Miller (yellow), Anthony “Fergie” Fergusson (blue), Paige Alie (Orange), Emily Cochran (Gold), Hannah Duffy (Green) and Madie Parvankin (Orange) made up the leadership team. Not pictured, Colleen Rooney CIT Director)
They all put some new “tools” in their personal toolboxes throughout the seven week experience at Camp Howard! From the look of the smiles, they had a good time doing it.
Leila is a Camp Howard fixture. She is in charge of Health and Safety which means she and her helper make sure fresh water is put out at several locations daily, checked on, replenished and cups replaced, daily. She supplies materials to restock the restrooms and makes sure the restrooms are cleaned properly a few times a day. She and her helper haul garbage sacks from the units and other points around camp to the dumpster daily to keep the garbage in the proper place and away from the pesky crows! She supplies food from the kitchen to the outdoor white tents where the overflow campers ate until the new Mary’s Lodge was opened. She oversaw the safe food handling procedures for all outdoor meals. She checked that the pool was properly facilitated which includes cleaning the filters, checking the ph of the pool, applying the proper chemicals to the pool at the proper time. She checks to make sure the pool is locked when not in use. She does much more than this but you get the idea!
Most of the time you are going to get a smile and a genuine laugh from Leila. If you “done wrong” you are going to get that look over the top of her glasses with a face that asks, what were you thinking?
A precious, no-nonsense, get ‘er done, sort of employee, Leila is the type of person that helps makes things go smoothly, safely and correctly because she is “on it!”
Colleen Rooney, Counselor in Training (CIT) Director, oversaw the raising and lowering of the flag this year at Camp Howard. Every day a different cabin had the opportunity to raise and lower the flag, to learn about how it is folded, unfolded, raised and lowered. A time honored learning experience at camp!
The first meal in the new Mary’s Lodge will long be remembered by the campers who ate the last meal in Gimpl Hall and the first meal in Mary’s Lodge! One cabin group helped set up the dining hall for the first meal. The Unit Directors sent the campers in groups by unit after they washed their hands in the new hand washing station! Campers entered the building, eyes wide open looking at the newness of the facility while finding their seats for the morning meal. As we checked on the kids during the meal our expectations were satisfied. They loved it!
Wednesday August 8, 2018 we opened Mary’s Lodge for the first time and served the campers a very special pancake breakfast. The campers love pancakes and it was a great meal to test the new equipment. The pancakes all cooked at the same temperature, the new “combi” oven, a combination of heat and steam made for very moist and tasteful sausage links, strawberries, whipped cream, it was a great first meal. No one went away dissatisfied! Even the dishwashers were happy with their new equipment which includes a pot and pan cleaning station prior to going through the dishwasher!
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A unit at Camp Howard is made up of several cabins 5 or 6 to be exact. I had the joy of watching the Unit Director (Maddi Parvankin) and her faithful staff go over the cabin rules for their Greenwood campers (boys up to and including 10 years old). They had the drill down to a precision as each member of the unit took on a topic ranging from the buddy system where you always take someone with you anywhere you go at camp to how you treat the cabin. It was wonderful. The boys knew exactly what the expectations were and conducted themselves accordingly the rest of the week. I then followed them to their first campfire of the week. Great group of kids and staff!
One hundred feet of sliding downhill and across the lawn can only spell one thing…FUN! Water soaked plastic on a bed of sand with a super cushion as a coaster enhances the speed and joy as one floats across the surface trying to outdo the distance of the last person!
Your friends help you out by pulling you up to the launch point on the giant swing. You hit the disconnect and are sent swinging into the wild blue yonder at Camp Howard. The spectacular view of the Bull Run along with the impressive location of the giant swing, up against a steep hill, helps add to the awe of the ride! Once is never enough!
The Camp Store is a favored place for campers and this year is no different. The Camp Store Director has changed however as Cheyenne Cunning graduated from college and began her work career, “Sister Mike,” has stepped into the role and has had a lot of fun creating her own vision of the space. Each director brings their own flavor to the store but one thing doesn’t change, it is a daily function for campers to experience the store and find those items that will enhance their camp experience!
Sister Michael Francine is thrilled to be a part of the Camp Howard staff and grateful for the helpful staff who have kindly made her learning experience much easier!
Sister Mike is a Sister of St. Mary of Oregon (SSMO) and has a special devotion to St. Michael the Archangel.
CYO/Camp Howard 