Summer Camp Memories at Whitehall Forest

I never got to go to an overnight camp growing up, but I did attend a few day camps during my time as a GS.  We usually spent the night on Friday, but I never did have the full blown camp experience.

Note:  This recollection is based off of thirty-something year old memories.  The details may or may not be fully factual with what actually happened, but I think they are pretty close!  🙂

One of my favorite day camps was the one held in 1983 at UGA’s Whitehall Forest by the Northeast Georgia Girl Scout Council.  I attended it along with a few of my troopmates if I remember correctly – Jenny being one, perhaps?  I’m just going to assume it was her.  Let’s go with it, shall we?  Edit:  I talked to Jenny and it WAS her!

One of the first AWESOME things we did when we got there was make wooden name tags.  (Side note:  I’m planning on making these at our service unit’s summer camp.  I’ll post details & pictures once we make them.)  Basically, you get a wooden disc about three inches in diameter and drill a hole at the top for the ribbon or string to tie around your neck.  We used jute, and I remember how itchy it was.  (We won’t be using that this summer).  Then, we glued uncooked alphabet pasta letters for our name.  We could decorate it however we wanted.

Even though we didn’t spend the night until Friday, we set up tents for each unit during the whole week.  It was one of those huge old school tents that smell like …. well, one of those huge old school tents.  You know the smell.  During my leader Sleep Out training a few years ago, we set up one of those tents, and you’ll be happy to know that they still smell the same.  Our campsites were in a wooded area at the top of a grassy mountain – at least it seemed like a mountain to me every time we walked from the Flinchum’s Phoenix building back up to our tents.  One of these days, I’m going to go by there to see how big this hill really is.

There was a lake where we learned about all sorts of cool biology and got to walk in the muck!  This tomboy loved it, but I remember some girls thinking it was all icky.  Whatever!

Each day had its own theme, like Crazy Sock Day.  A winner was picked by popular vote, and I believe you won a ribbon. Wednesday was CRAZY HAT DAY, and I was DETERMINED I was going to win something with CRAZY in the title!  Cause I’m crazy like that!  So Tuesday night, I took a regular baseball cap and went to work.  I wish my mom had taken a picture of my masterpiece.  I took black construction and turned the cap into a stovepipe hat.  I then attached a spring with a drawn paper bird hanging off of it.  I used glitter all over it along with a bunch of stickers.  Knowing me, I’m sure I wrote UGA and/or GO DAWGS! somewhere on the hat.  It was a work of art!  I had to be careful though, because if I looked the wrong way, the whole thing would collapse in a heap of scotch tape, construction paper, stickers, and glitter.  There might have been something popping out of the top.  It was CRAZY, you know!  The next day, I won hands down.  I was so proud!  The hat collapsed soon afterwards, but it had served its purpose.  For the rest of the week, I was a celebrity!  “Hey, you’re that girl that had that CRAZY hat!  Wow, that was CRAZY!”

Well, Friday finally arrived.  We got to spend the night!  I’m sure there were some night activities, but while everybody was getting ready for bed, I somehow twisted my ankle very badly.  Like to the point where I could barely walk.  If you read this blog long enough, you’ll notice that my getting hurt or sick is a common thread.  Anyway, two friends – one being Jenny, I believe – helped me down the grassy mountain to the bottom and into the Flinchum’s Phoenix building where the camp leaders were staying.  (I remember how irritated the leaders looked when we came in – which I understand now that I’m a leader 😉 ).

So get the picture:

I get patched up as best as possible at the first aid station.  The three of us probably stay about 30 minutes while my ankle is iced down, and then we are promptly ushered out the door to go back to the campsite by ourselves.  Now at this point, it’s DARK and a little windy.  It’s windy enough to hear it whistling in the treetops.  Jenny and the other girl help me limp up the grassy mountain which is even steeper now that I’m hurt.  There’s a house or building about halfway up off to the side, and a motorcycle with a sheet over it is parked in the driveway.  The only light we have is the dim street light directly above the motorcycle.  While we are slowly making our way up, I comment about how spooky the motorcycle looks with the sheet flapping in the wind.  I even say, “What if it’s a GHOST motorcycle?”

About that time, we hear a piercing scream ring out from the campsite.  Then another.  A chorus of high pitched shrieks starts up.  We freeze in our tracks. You know that scene in The Lion King where Simba is waiting around in the canyon and suddenly a wildebeest stampede breaks out?

We’re Simba, but instead of wildebeests, hordes of screaming girls stream over the top of the grassy mountain, headed straight toward us.  We yell out, “What’s wrong??  What happened?” and one of the girls cries out, “THERE’S A GHOST!!!” as she’s sprinting by.

We stop for a while contemplating what the heck to do at this point.  The EXTREMELY irritated leaders at the bottom round up the girls and finally calm them down enough to get everybody back up to the campsite and figure out what the heck happened.  We get back to our tent and finish getting ready for bed.  But everybody in the whole campsite is so amped up and still talking about the ghost.  Who saw it?  Where was it?  What did it look like?

About this time, one of the leaders pokes her head in our tent and asks if I could speak to her for a second.  Uh oh.  I hobble out.  She pulls me off to the side and asks if I started the rumor about there being a ghost in the woods.  I profusely deny this accusation.  (I have no idea why anyone would EVER think *I* would ever do something like that!  ::walks away before lightning strikes:: But seriously, I didn’t do it.  Scout’s Honor.)  The leader stares at me for a few moments and then begrudgingly believes me.  She says that someone claimed that AMY MOORE told everybody that a ghost lives here.  What the heck?

I have a feeling most of us didn’t get much sleep that night.  It turns out the “ghost” was really a white garbage bag fluttering in the wind.  We all laughed when we heard the news, but I have a feeling the leaders weren’t quite as amused as we were!  But all’s well that ends well, right?

8/20/15 addendum:  I was told that I may or may not have made a joke like, “What if there’s a GHOST in the woods?” earlier in the week.  So um… I still proclaim my innocence because I didn’t SAY or insinuate that there WAS a ghost – I merely suggested the possibility.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.