Actually I signed him up a few weeks ago but I just got his uniform yesterday. Before that he was wearing his Tiger Cub t-shirt to the meetings. He's been to two meetings so far and he gets more and more excited about it every day. I was worried he would lose interest but this seems to be a real winner. Go mom!
When I got the uniform yesterday I tried it on him and took a couple of pics. Doesn't he look cute? He didn't want to take it off either! I hadn't added the patches at that point.
I plan on making him a Cub Scout scrap book with pictures, activities, badges/awards earned, etc so I'm going to take pics at all of the cub scout meetings and events. I missed the first meeting since I was down with the flu but Honey was able to take him. He didn't bring the camera though. The second meeting I left my camera on the table so the next day we went outside and took pics of the activities they did.
That meeting was all about hearing. First the scouts learned about Sign Language and what it's like to not be able to hear. Mr. Smarty Pants was a quick study and learned how to sign his name. Take a look!
Next they made "telephones" out of cups and cord. Remember these? They worked very well and the scouts got a real kick out of communicating with each other.
Lastly they talked about what kinds of animals have very good, or in some cases, specialized hearing. The cubs were asked to name some of the animals and of course dogs and bats were thrown out there but then Mr. Smarty Pants chimed in with "Bald Eagle". I nearly fell out of my chair. That's my boy! :oP
After discussing animals they did another craft where they made better "ears" for hearing, but mostly they ended up using them as megaphones. LOL!
I can't wait to find out what we're doing at the meeting tonight. Mr. Smarty Pants got to wear his uniform to school today. He was soooo proud this morning! I should have gotten another pic!
So are you wondering about my enthusiam for scouting? The reason why I've decided to be his partner (most of the time) instead of Honey is that I was very involved in Campfire Girls when I was a kid. I was involved for at least 7 years, including the camp every summer. I started off as a Bluebird. I remember I just LOVED the idea of being a "bluebird".
Sadly, the Campfire Girls do not exist in the same form as I remembered it. There's been a number of changes through the years and the latest was the organization changing their website, name and logo(again). They're now called Camp Fire USA and the logo looks too modern in my opinion.
Here are the older logos that I'm familiar with for comparison:
(they just kept getting more and more modern looking)
When I was in CFG in the 70's to 80's they were just starting to have boys join. I remember very few boys at our summer camp. Did you know that Campfire Girls was created around the same time as Boy Scouts? It was meant to be the "sister" to scouts so to speak. You can read more about that here!
Alas Bluebirds no longer exist either. Now you become a Little Star when you join. I'm a nostalgic sort so even though I know change can be good I really do miss the past. Campfire Girls was such a BIG part of my life growing up. I need to dig up all the old pics I have of me in parades and selling candy....ahhhh the memories! Time to start rummaging through the boxes in the garage. I did come across my patch vest and my hat/beret last week. THAT was fun! Mr. Smarty Pants got a kick out of it too when I showed him the patches and what they were for. I will have to take a pic of my vest, hat and beads to show off. My mom had actually sewn on all of my CFG beads in beautiful patterns on the vest but during my college days I took them off to play with making jewelry. Stupid college kid! Oh well. Atleast I saved the vest and most of the beads.
Btw, if anyone is an alumni of the Campfire Girls from the San Fernando Valley area in CA and/or went to Camp Yallani from about 75' to 82' please give me a shout. Oh and if you were a camp counselor then too I would love to hear from you. I had a favorite counselor my first year at Yallani that used to carve animals out of soap. I think I was about 6. I absolutely adored her! I was extremely sad to leave camp that summer. I couldn't find any info on Camp Yallani when I Googled it and also looked it up in the Camp Fire USA directory to no avail. I'm guessing the camp no longer exists. I would love to know what happened to it. I really do have to dig up all those pics and do a post dedicated to my old Campfire days. Won't that be fun? Oh come on, indulge me.
Anyway if you're interested in getting your kids into any of these "camping/service" type of organizations here's a list of links so you can check them out:
Boy Scouts of America
Girl Scouts of America
Campfire USA
American Heritage Girls
Do you know any other organizations to add? Leave a link in the comments.
WO-HE-LO! :o)
11 comments:
I love those first two pictures. He looks SO proud to be in his uniform.
Glad to hear he's enjoying himself so much!
OMGosh it seems like just yesterday my ds was that little !
Mary
hoganfe handbags
Wo-He-Lo!
"Worship God" (hmmhmmmhmmmm...)
Seek beauty, give service and Knowledge pursue. Be trustworth alway in all that you do. Hold fast on to health and your work glorify, and you will be happy, in the Law of Campfire!
Actually I am a bigger fan of the bluebird wish. It inspires me in my blogging. I even posted about it last July. You can find a link to it in my archive.
And I went to camp Wo-La-Hi in San Diego.
I to went to Camp Yallani and I miss it so. We even went up as a family for the work weekends to get it ready for summer. Alas, Camp Yallani was sold to a church in the 80s, I believe. So it's still there near Barton Flats, but no longer named Camp Yallani.
I went to Yallani from 68-69 through 75-76 probably. I was from Eagle Rock and part of the Gabrelino District (San Gabirel Valley).
I've been searching for song books and such for my sister who will be my niece's troop leader.
Great to hear someone else had great memories of Camp Yallani! Wo He Lo.
I so agree with you about the changes to Camp Fire Girls. My sister has a daughter that had to join Girl Scouts to get those experiences.
I worked at Camp Yallani from 1983-1985, but am still in contact with someone who worked there in 81 and or 82. We worked in the kitchen staff and were counselors later. Who was your counselor in 1982? Do you remember Corky, as the camp director? What counselors names do u remember? Yallani WAS great!
-leslie
My email is: cleaverldp@yahoo.com
I worked at Camp Yallani from 1983-1985, but am still in contact with someone who worked there in 81 and or 82. We worked in the kitchen staff and were counselors later. Who was your counselor in 1982? Do you remember Corky, as the camp director? What counselors names do u remember? Yallani WAS great!
-leslie
My email is: cleaverldp@yahoo.com
oh my gosh, how crazy is this??? i just stumbled on to your post and cleaver is my best friend (the leslie who commented) it was like deja vu reading her comment, i thought maybe i had written it. then i realized it was cleaver, my best camp buddy!! this is pogo by the way, if you were at camp yallani about the time you say, you might have know cleaver and pogo. we were both camp counselors (started out as kitchen staff). anyways, i totally agree with you about camp fire becoming more modern, but PLEASE dont give up on camp fire if you have that much passion for it. it is sooooo much the same in so many ways. i am the leader of my daughters group and i use all the old books, i called them bluebirds their first two years and go crazy for vintage camp fire things. all the girls in my group are looking for vintage gowns on ebay to use in later years and we are hoarding old vintage patches and beads to use on their gowns. if you really love camp fire, then please help support it!! camp fire is very flexible and i have found most of the staff LOVE all the retro stuff. camp fire came before girl scouts but for some reason girl scouts are more well known. we need all the passionate camp fire people we can find!!
wo he lo !!!!
check out my blog on our group.
It was fun to bump into this post. I went to Camp Yallani in the 1950's and, just like you, loved it. I still have my Bluebird pin, Campfire pin, and vest and beads.
My own daughters were Girl Scouts, because that was what was available when they were the right age. They loved it just as much as I loved CFG.
I'm scanning old pics of my mom as a girl and came across one of a campfire girls photo at Camp Li-Tanda from 1951. This, I believe, is the same as your Camp Yallani. It's in Barton Flats, CA. I was searching the web for "campfile girls barton flats" and came across your blog. Small world! :-)
By the way, are you interested in Cass family history? Write to me at bryan_cass@yahoo.com -- I have a Cass genealogy site on MyFamily.com if you want to join.
Thanks!
Bryan
I must have run into you at some point in my youth - and probably more than once! I was in Camp Fire in the Valley from 1976 to 1987 and went to Camp Yallani for 2 years in the late 70's - my counselors were Whisper and Shadow.
Those were all really great times!
I found a Camp Yalani "group" on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=50113434398
I also found these people / links:
http://www.lostamigos.com/Place-Detail.aspx?id=5639
http://chasingbluebirds.typepad.com/chasing_bluebirds/camp_yallani/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/camp_fire_girls/pool/page3/
Have fun!
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