Kodiak Haakansons: Girl Scout Camp

Girl Scout Camp 2012- Wow! What a great camp! I'll admit, I've been a bit dubious about girl scouts the last couple of years. My experience with girl scouting was almost zero- girl wearing green, selling cookies and tying knots. That's just about all I knew. But when my friend Ani started a troop a few years back I signed up Eilidh and she had gobs of fun. But still I didn't fully grasp the concept. Until girl scout camp, that is. As a co-leader I was fortunate enough to attend this two-night, three day camp on Woody Island. My experience with large camps of kids usually entail bad food, bad weather, wet stinky socks and lots of down time in which to get into trouble (the kids, that is). What THIS camp was: the opposite. The weather was wonderful, the camp was superbly organized by Deb and her high school girls, and the camp was entirely run by sweet, enthusiastic and competent high school girls! Under Deb's steering, the girls: cooked, ran canoeing expeditions, ran archery activities, fire-making, first-aid training, songs, skits and an egg drop competition. The vision of these girls cheerfully leading 30-some girls under 15 was astounding. And now I get this whole girl scout thing. Confidence, service to one's community, and more confidence.

A couple of our favorite things:

-Meals: at times sit-down with hoppers who were the ones to get up and fill up serving bowls, at times scavenger hunts to find the ingredients... with the focus on being thoughtful about how much food to put on one's plate so nothing is wasted.
-Fish was in town for only two days between two week-long trips. Those two days happened to be the two days all of us girls were at camp! So.... he kayaked out with his carving tools and sat on the beach all day making clam-shell spoons with a bunch of girls. Of course. We were all thrilled! We made it back to Kodiak with just enough time to go out to dinner and take him to the airport.
-Canoing and kayaking- under the guidance of Jim Willis and the high school girls, the little ladies got daily experience in canoes and kayaks. Both Eildih and Bella were out by themselves in their own kayaks! Wow!
-Camp Woody- its been a few years since I visited and I forgot how amazing it is out there... the cabins are wonderful. There are toilets! The flag pole and fire pit area is welcoming and central- the lake is close- the beach is close- the view is astounding- the machine with which to wash dishes is speedy and fun- and the history of the island (ice-making location, orphanage, communications station, military installation and anchor to one side of the submarine net during WWII). Super cool....