Well this weekend was a fun one, though tinged with sadness. My sister, serina, and I, set off to Tolland Mass for an Alumni Camptastic Weekend at Camp Timber Trails
Our camp is closing! My sister grew up here, and the camp director reached out to make sure we were both coming. So I, not very keen on the great outdoors, packed up a change of clothes, a sleeping bag, and my Bunny (dressed in full scout regalia) and headed north with my sister.
Day One was a lot of fun. As all scout events do, we began with an opening flag ceremony. We say the pledge, and the Girl Scout Promise. The promise goes as follows (you hold up your middle three fingers, and the pinky and thumb come down in the palm)
On my honor, I will Try
To serve God
And my country
To help people at all times
And to live by the Girl Scout Law
Our motto is that we "learn the promise,
live the law." The Girl Scout Law is in the photo here
Our Flag ceremony was out-of-doors, and our fellow scouts raised the flag high above the camp. It was gifted to Timber Trails and had flown over Afghanistan. It was due to be retired at the end of Alumnae Weekend, a ceremony I partook in. But, we'll get to that.
I think what makes Camping so great is the food! After opening flag, we were treated to lunch, which consisted of the standard fare; hamburgers, a healthy fruit option, Bug Juice, and Cookies! What's Bug Juice? Well, we thought it was Kool-Aid, because it was pink. (For those of you that don't get it...it's fruit punch)
Then came what has always been my favorite part-unsupervised free time! The archery range was open, the waterfront, the smallcraft area, and arts and crafts!
Serina and I went out on the water in Kayaks, and I tried Archery for the first time since Camp Oj. Notice I didn't do too badly! No one died, anyway. That counts.
We went out on the water, although I unfortunately do not have any cool photos of that. For obvious reasons, I didn't particularly want to take my phone out...in a kayak. We traveled behind Blueberry Island, and out to the very edge of the lake. Afterwards, we went ahead and got ourselves settled into our bunks...um, dorms...um, cabins.
We also did our fair share of arts and crafts.... I love friendship bracelets, and No fleece was safe from my no-tie-blanket SWAPS
Dinner was served in true Timber-Trails style, with singing, Grace, and passing of the food. We had a "hopper"-someone who goes and gets the food, helps set the tables, and otherwise is the "head of household" for the night.
Later that night, we gathered around the campfire at our campsites with other troops and alumane who had also come to make s'mores and remember the best things about Timber-Trails. I have to say, I roast a mean marshmallow.
The next morning consisted of an early wake-up to retire the flag that had flown over Timber Trails for years. The flag flew over Afghanistan in February 2012, and was presented to the Girl Scouts for the Centennial anniversary of Scouting. We were going to partake later in a flag retirement ceremony. As they told us, this was not a burning of the flag-this was the retiring of a symbol. It's cut into pieces to ensure a complete burning, and to make clear it is no longer a flag when it is cut. Each Scout participating received a piece of the flag, and a small quote about what that stripe, or star meant, or a founding principle. Out of respect for the solemnity of the ceremony, there are no pictures of the Flag retirement. However, a sample of what each Scout said can be found here. I was a stripe.
This was my stripe.
Before the flag retirement was a quick Lunch in the dining hall, much less formal than dinner and breakfast. (Breakfast having been another fun Timber-Trails style affair 😊) Lunch consisted of hamburgers, watermelon, and my favorite memory of Girl Scouts-GIRL SCOUT COOKIES! (No All Abouts or Tagalongs, unfortunately, but we did have the classics-Thin Mints, Trefoils, and the new Cookie of the season-S'mores, which really wasn't that bad)
After that, it was time to head to the beach! Unfortunately, this wasn't such a party, as a last chance to tell the other scouts, our fearless leader, Ms. Val, and Timber Trails herself what this place meant to you. We wrote down our memories, we sang songs, and lastly, we burned the Timber Trails T's. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start with some music!
I had some treasured memories from Timber Trails, though I was never personally an overnight camper, and as we gathered round to memorialize our memories in our beach campfire, I snapped a quick picture to be sure I remembered them.
As the sun set, There were two T's-for the initials "Timber Trails" that were set up in the lake, waiting to be burned into eternity.
Following our small campfire, we set our wish boats out on the lake... They were made of sticks, twigs, leaves, and adorned with a candle, symbolizing sending our wishes out into the world
The next morning was a last chance to say goodbye. I took up my chance, and walked through the camp, snapping photos as I went. Some pictures from that morning...
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| The Director's Cabin |
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| The Play Field |
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| This is the Camp Site Serina Called home, and the one she requested for our stay. I went back to get a solid Panoramic View. This is Rocky Knoll, and it's WAAAYYYY behind everything else. It was an adventure to find! Thankfully, I had a good tour guide. I wanted to get this picture exactly as you'd first see it as you walked in. I hope you get the same feeling I did. |
And so, We bid goodbye to our Program Center....
And set off into the world.
I keep telling myself this is not goodbye. This is "see you later." We'll miss you Timber Trails.
Aintcha mighty sorry? Goodbye, Goodbye...Aintcha Mighty sorry, Goodbye Rocky Knoll, Bending Tree, Birch Valley, Rocky Point, Watercrest, Windy Pines,...Goodbye Timber Trails.
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