By Madeline Jackson, GSGCF Property Manager

Chippy, our new GSGCF camp mascot, has been all a chatter wanting to inform everyone about what’s been happening at our camps over the last few years, so she is going to give you quarterly updates to make sure you are in the know. These updates will include projects completed by council staff and volunteers, Girl Scout troops performing service projects, and Girl Scout members working on highest award projects. There will also be tips for troops to make their camp stays fun and safe, along with some potential service project ideas. Let’s start with a review of highlights from Camp Caloosa.

A number of Girl Scout troops and individual girl members worked with adult volunteers on a wide variety of needed projects, including:

• Painting screen house picnic tables and fire circle stones
• Building stable benches for fire circles at Pelican Perch and Flamingo Flats (Troops 133 & 153)
• Assembling and placing new outdoor picnic tables and benches throughout the camp, thanks to a generous grant from the Claiborne and Ned Foulds Foundation (Troop 664)
• Installing a solar light for the flag pole (Troop 495)
• Deep cleaning and disinfecting the refrigerators
• Cleaning and organizing the Equipment Depot (Troops 657, 658, & 659)

• Painting the upstairs sleeping quarters in the Chalet (Troop 405)
• Researching, creating, and installing informational posters about local plant and animal life in the unit screen houses (Troop 374)
• Installing a sign at the Equipment Depot and creating a portable outdoor activity kit (Troop 427)
• Installing owl boxes with informative literature (Troop 756)
• Installing back trail signage with educational boards (Troop 354)
• Clearing back paths for additional camp exploration

Volunteer Jason Hodson did an amazing job with projects including:

• Scraping camp roadways and installing new shell for more stability
• Widening the camp entrance to provide better traffic flow for large events
• Elevating fire circles with shell to prevent flooding after minor rains
• Installing a keypad gate entry to replace the combination lock and chain to provide greater security
• Assembling a pergola outside the lodge for outdoor movies, skits, and other performances

In addition, our council staff has been hard at work to provide the following:

• Dishwashing bins for the screen houses
• New PFD vests at the boathouse (including larger sizes) for kayaking and canoeing
• Additional kayaks and kayak paddles
• Additional archery supplies to update aged equipment (supported by a grant from The Daniel R. and Anne M. Harper Foundation)
• A new refrigerator at the Timberford House and new carpet for the sleeping quarters in the Chalet (with grant funding from Claiborne and Ned Foulds Foundation)

If you worked on a project not listed here, please let us know so we can give you a shout out next time! And don’t forget, there is a Caloosa Champion patch that girls can earn for doing a service project at camp. We need help with painting and signage projects, trimming trails, etc. There is always something to do to improve camp and leave it better than we found it!