Day Camp is DONE

Finally, the sordid saga is done. I had the pleasure of running our second day camp last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Once again, we only had 40 kids participate from 5 packs and the Parks and Rec department. Overall, it was not bad, but it really wasn't horribly productive either.

Uniquely, this last session was a partnership (in its second year) between the district and the Manitowoc (a city) Parks and Rec Department. The upside of this was that they provided the majority of the staff (except range officers) and handled the facilities arrangements. The downside was that Brian and I got to handle the paperwork and certification process. The partnership made the certification process much more interesting than it has need to be. Thankfully I had a good inspector that I knew who worked with me to find the correct phrasing to make it work out.

One thing I will say for the Parks and Rec staff is that they were predominantly attractive, college girls. They did seem to be really young and have attitudes which didn't make it as fun as it could have been. I can't complain too much since I would have had to recruit staff otherwise.

I did actually have to work this camp beyond admin. I got to run the BB range on Range Day. Three of the five packs were well behaved and got a lot of shooting in. The other two packs, however, were a handful even with decent adult assistance. It was the first time that I have wanted to rifle butt stroke (think pistol whip...) kids at a range I was running. I managed to restrain myself however. The downside was getting sunburned again. Luckily it was just my arms and neck so sleeping wasn't bad.

Overall, I am not impressed with the day camp system in this council. The system might have had some serious issues in CVC, but at least there was some level of coordination between programs especially in planning and preparation. There is none here and the equipment in the trailers is far from adequate. I felt like McGuyver at both camps using duct tape and paperclips to build GPS units. It is now on my goal list to either completely overhaul day camp or get rid of it in my district.

Thank goodness its over.