I was a Grey Squirrel

I was thinking about camp experiences this morning. Not that I have a lot of experience at summer camp, but I do have the 4th Grade Camp Hickory experience.

I was 8 years old; it was the summer of 1978. I was a Grey Squirrel. I am glad I wasn't a Woodchuck. This is how I remember it.

All the elementary schools in the Northern Garrett County area had connections with Camp Hickory, and after your 4th grade year, you got to spend an entire week there in the summer with all the other 4th graders. Even though the campground was only about 3 miles from my house, it felt like 100 miles. I was ready for adventure, and I hoped, mystery.

Kids piled out of cars with their suitcases, duffel bags, and pillows. I thought I was ready for this, but there were so many kids I didn't know. The adventurer in me wanted to hide. Where were my friends? I searched the crowd of excited, giggling, talking kids, and then I saw a pair of familiar braids. Jencene was here and I would be okay.

We were split up into cabins and given cabin names. I was a Grey Squirrel and all those in my cabin wore a necklace consisting of round piece of wood with the name on it. (I kept that necklace in a box with my other treasures for a long time after camp.) Following our counselor to our cabin, we learned how to make our bunks, complete with hospital corners. Looking back, sleeping bags would've been easier, but we brought sheets and had to fix our bed everyday. Of course, learning the skill, nay, the art, of hospital corners, may have been the whole point.

In the main hall at Camp Hickory, the groups would meet for all the meals, and we would have lessons on nature, like recognizing footprints and tracking, conservation, types of leaves, etc. Lining the walls and shelves around the perimeter of the room were deer heads, squirrels, foxes, a weasel, a beaver, snakeskin, and other taxidermy delights. They watched you eat. Creepy.

The afternoons were spent trying our hand at archery, group games, and swimming. At Camp Hickory, I learned to not be so afraid of the water and mastered the Dead Man's Float. With names like that, is it any wonder I was afraid? I remember a girl named Candy, with her lime green swimsuit with a hole cut out right where her belly button was. I thought she was cool.

We were allowed to bring money for snacks to camp. This was a big deal for me because just having money for a snack, just for me, was not something that happened very often at my house.  I bought a new kind of candy bar, a Whatchamacallit, a peanut-flavored crisp covered in milk chocolate. This became my new favorite kind of candy bar and to this day, when I see them, I think about Camp Hickory.

Summer Camp. What a memory. There wasn't really any grand adventure, and definitely no mystery, but it was fun. Pure and simple fun. New friendships were forged, old friendships strengthened, and I could track a black bear if I wanted to. I learned that archery is great fun. I may not have been the best shot, but I liked feeling like Robin Hood.

Summer Camp. Let's do it again.

Love,
Grey Squirrel