Our church in West Stephentown had a Pioneer Girls Club. (I assume they also had the parallel Boys Brigade.) It was similar to the Girl Scouts, but it included Christian teachings.
I was in the youngest group, the Pilgrims (grades 3-6), and graduated to the Colonists when I reached 7th grade. Our uniforms were beanies and sashes. (I still have them in a box-somewhere in the attic.)
We each had a log book, which told us how to earn badges. I earned quite a few. We could do craft projects or participate in a sport. (I also have a scrapbook of various sewing stitches.)
One summer, I attended Camp Cherith with my friend, Penny Williams. It was the first time I had been away from my parents that long. The first day, we had a swim test. (to see if we would be allowed to go out to the float) We stood on the dock and took turns swimming to a rope. Not knowing how deep it was, I jumped in the water and had no problem swimming to the rope. Penny dived in and swam across. She had a crooked leg and had trouble kicking, but swam to the rope. The instructor let Penny go to the float, but not me--because I didn't dive! I wasn't too happy about that. Penny stayed in the shallow area with me, just because she was a good friend.
I loved archery and earned one badge while at camp. (I later discovered that my name, Yvonne, means archer.) Our counsellor took us on a hike one day just before lunch. We hiked to this HUGE boulder--the size of a house. She decided to take a shortcut back to camp, but got us lost(and missed lunch). We all earned our 10 mile hike badge, besides the 2 mile one we had planned on earning.
My favorite time was going to the snack bar and buying Sweet Tart straws, then eating them during quiet time in our bunks. One night, our cabin had a chance to sleep in the teepee. I had my first s'more.
(I also got very homesick that night.)
It was an experience I'll never forget, although I enjoyed camping with my family much more.
1 comment:
More of Vonnie's early years. Love it:)
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