2013 Halberg Ecology Camps

[Barry Haas]

I got home this afternoon after attending this morning's 1st session Halberg Ecology Camp closing ceremony at Camp Clearfork. One of the 1st year campers is the daughter of friends and the granddaughter of other friends. I knew that come this morning either she would no longer 'like' me, Facebook style or otherwise, for making her parents/grandparents aware of the Halberg Ecology Camp (how about that heat yesterday?) or she would be happy she had a chance to attend the Halberg Ecology Camp and my part in making her family aware it exists. Want to guess what her Mom said to me after the outdoors part of the closing ceremony?

Answer- 'Jane' gives the camp a '10'. Whew, I'm off the hook. Now, I know what you're thinking. How could any 11- or 12-year-old not like this hands-on nature camp? Well, some kids just aren't nature lovers, or are urban youth and have never had an opportunity to learn enough about nature to find such surroundings comfortable.

First session went off pretty much without a hitch, a few minor problems but nothing more. Too hot, but we can't control the outdoor thermostat. The weather forecast for 2nd session beginning on Father's Day looks to be a bit more comfortable with highs in the 80s.

I think we had 48 first-year and 12 second-year attend 1st session with final numbers pending. And I think we have 51 first-year and 13 second-year scheduled to arrive at Camp Clearfork Sunday afternoon for the 2nd session.

Nine of the total 34 staff members are former campers this year. I'm guessing that's the highest number ever. Seven of those 34 are there for the 1st session only and seven are 2nd session only with 20 others on staff both sessions. One is a volunteer 'chef' (cook) who got rave reviews this morning and three are cabin counselors, staff who sleep in camper cabins overnight (all six camper cabins have one or more overnight cabin counselors).  The nurses for both sessions are ER nurses at Arkansas Children's Hospital.

Everything is going well so far this June.

Sincerely,
Barry Haas

[asilidman]

It says a lot that so many of the staff are former campers....they must have loved it, they must be involved in the natural sciences in some way as teachers etc. (perhaps because of the camp in part) and they probably want to "give back".

Cheryl

[Admin]

Jun 15, 2013 5:56:27 GMT -6 asilidman said:

It says a lot that so many of the staff are former campers....they must have loved it, they must be involved in the natural sciences in some way as teachers etc. (perhaps because of the camp in part) and they probably want to "give back".

Cheryl

Cheryl,

What is the bug in your avatar? Some type of robber-fly, I'm guessing?

[asilidman]

That's Microstylum morosum our biggest robber fly at around 2" long. They catch grasshoppers by flying through tall grasses and nabbing them on the wing. We have seen them in a few places but Grandview Prairie is probably the most likely place to see one. They are impressive.

[asilidman]

We visited the closing ceremony of the Johnson Advanced Camp last Sunday. This camp is for just 12 kids who have been chosen from the 24 seniors of the previous year (who themselves were picked out of 100 or so juniors). The camp takes place at Mt. Eagle perched above the Little Red River near Botkinburg. It is owned by the United Methodist Church and run as a retreat. Lu Harding who is in charge there says they like having the Ecology Camp use their facility as it fits in so well with their mission of stewardship of the Earth...recycling/composting/respect for nature. Robin Buff was director of the camp this year and she conducted a very nice ceremony with kudos to her staff, the students, and the parents of the students. Of the three teachers with Robin two were former campers. She gave a very nice slide show of some of the activities during the week including the float on the Buffalo, camping along the Buffalo, the Deep Cave tour at Blanchard Springs (glad I didn't have to squeeze through those narrow places but seeing the salamander must have been neat) and a visit to Southfork Nature Center where Dr. Don Culwell explained the use of an herbarium and showed them the one they have there(the students at the Johnson camp are adding pressed plants to their herbarium each year). Six bird species were added to the list for the camp and there were good looks at mink along the Buffalo and all the stages of the strange and impressive Dobsonfly, from egg mass to Hellgrammite to Dobsonfly. I think that those of us on the Ecology Camp committee who visited were quite envious of the students and their 8 days at Mt. Eagle. Final pictures were taken with the stunning view down to the Middle Fork of the Little Red River beyond the group. I feel sure that this experience will affect how these kids see the world and that they will, as Robin suggested to them, do something to make a difference and not regret their inaction on behalf of the environment later in life.
Cheryl Lavers