Another Successful Family Campout!

November 2019

On Saturday, October 26, the Conservation Education Committee, headed by Andy Wight, held the annual Fall Family Campout at the conservation farm. Over thirty children and their respective families came out, set up their tents on the Chapter House lawn and made the most of the mild autumn day.

Nearly everyone rode the Phil Taylor hay wagon shuttle to the big pond to try some fishing. Thanks to the efforts of the Ponds and Streams Committee, the big pond was the perfect place for even the smallest of the campers to cast a line. John Novak, Pete Wirth and Nona Colburn helped the newer anglers with baiting hooks. Brett Davis, Mike Spencer, and Guy Weigold assisted with casting and un-hooking fish. Several kids caught their first fish on Saturday.

Campers also rode the wagon to the pumpkin patch (“planted” the night before by Phil Taylor and Jack Mandel with pumpkins donated by our friends from NAVHDA). The younger campers picked out pump- kins, which they later painted for Halloween. As the last wagon-riders made their way back up the hill toward the Chapter House, a dinner of hotdogs and burgers (chef Mandel) was served at the bar. Carol Efdimis’s apple crisp made everyone happy.

After dinner, campers could visit the haunted cabin, where some creepy surprises awaited, thanks to the work of Jack Kang and his crew of production assistants. Some sat around the fire pit while others played laser tag and others explored the grounds in the dark with their light sticks. Later in the evening, a monster from the cabin paid a surprise visit to the crowd at the fire pit, causing some to scatter in horror. When the true identity of the monster was revealed, however, all was well. Campers went to bed late and happy.

Thanks to Andy Wight, Carol Efdimis, John Novak, Pete Wirth, Nona Colburn, Brett Davis (see his pho- tos), Mike Spencer, Guy Weigold, Phil Taylor, Jack Mandel, Jack Kang and his pranksters, and Chapter House Chairman Tucker Mostrom for making a very memorable event. It was a wonderful example of what this Chapter is capable of and what it can offer to children and families.