Summer 2009: Giving back to CLC!

This summer we’re excited to be introducing a Community Service Day, an afternoon during each session that will be devoted to providing interesting opportunities to the campers to give back to CLC.  Our Service Day projects will cover a full spectrum of physical ability to ensure that there are age-appropriate options for all campers! 

Why have such a day?

In their end-of-session evaluations campers frequently mentioned sentiments like, “I wish I could give back somehow to the CLC community.”  Here’s their chance!  That’s right: campers have been asking to give back!  Also this community doesn’t just survive and thrive by virtue of its long existence, it needs constant TLC!  It is a proven fact that communities with a strong “give back” ethic are among the healthiest communities in our society, and so we are looking to bring some of that attitude to CLC’s already strong sense of belonging. 

These activities will help campers who are striving to achieve a certain level in the Crimson Arrow award series, as all projects will qualify as service or ecology hours.

There is no question to me that providing meaningful and lasting projects helps to create a sense of belonging.  I look back on my own camper days, when as a boy, I helped to construct a trail and build a bridge over a creek, at the camp I attended.  To this day when I return there, I always find time to take a stroll on that trail…or to go sit on that bridge and dangle my toes in the creek waters.  These places have a very strong pull for me.  And so by creating opportunities for campers to invest their “sweat equity” in CLC, I know we’ll be fostering in them a life-long connection to Crystal Lake.

The summer project list is far from complete, here are some current ideas:

·      A boardwalk above the swamp behind the Outdoor Stage

·      Cleaning up the brush along the Lake Trail between Girl’s Camp and Council Fire

·      Pulling invasive water plants out of the lake (plants that don’t belong and can hurt the natural lake inhabitants: fish, newts, turtles, native plants)

·      Rebuilding the Council Fire lakeside dock

·      Rebuilding the fire ring at Old Dunwoody

·      Putting in terraced seating near the small dock

Following this lead, we’ve opened registration for:

Spring Volunteer Work Weekend, May 15-17^th.