Freaking Girl Scout Camp

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have feedback on May Flather?

My daughter is a Cadette, been to all four camps over the years since she was about 9, and MF is her favorite, hands down.

It's up in the mountains, so it's *much* cooler, even chilly at night, and the activities skew a bit more active and outdoorsy than at some of the other camps. (The climbing and caving are unique to MF, I think?) Of all the camps with biffies (non-flush toilets), theirs are apparently the cleanest and best maintained. She says the pool is OK, nothing to write home about, but the streams and lakes they swim/boat on are beautiful. The food is generally better, too, maybe because it's a different food service from the other three. Lots of stairs to the bunks, so wheeled bags aren't a good idea, although the girls usually help each other.

She also loved the MF camps that included White Rock excursions ("tree houses" on stilts—with slides!) where they have the high ropes course. Looks like they're not doing those this year, though, probably because of the multi-hour van ride.

I think part of what she likes about it is that it's all older girls, and most of them are fairly comfortable with the whole camp environment, so there aren't a "bunch of little kids running around freaking out about bugs and dirt," as she puts it. Although I gather the PJ Party camps tend to skew a little younger, and it's often the first camp experience for some of the girls. The art-focused camps aren't quite so outdoorsy as the others, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t register this year (too much uncertainty for me with schedules, etc) but for those of you that send your kids-do they go with a friend or alone? I’d like my daughter to go at some point but will she be the odd person out if she’s on her own?

My daughter has always gone alone, and I think most of the people in her cabins were alone too.

My child went alone one year and was the only one there without a buddy from home. She was unhappy the whole week and no one from the camp called me to let me know.

I spent many years as a camp counselor and as head staff at a camp, and attended GS camps as a child, so I’m familiar with how kids adjust to camp. I think that allowing every child to be placed in a unit with a friend from home makes it very difficult when one child is the odd one out. Especially in Girl Scouts, which as an organization has always encouraged girls to make new friends.

I was appalled that no one contacted me about my child’s adjustment and how we could work together to help her. I was surprised that the camps were run this way.

The counselors have a lot of training in how to work with girls who are missing home or having trouble making friends, but I think they try to avoid calling parents unless there's a serious problem. Most of the time they're able to help the girls work through issues on their own, which increases their confidence and helps them get more out of the experience.

That said, in five years of GS camp, probably close to 15 different sessions, I think my daughter has only had one session where most of the girls in her bunk knew each other. Fortunately, she was in middle school, so it wasn't as big an issue as it might have been at 8 or 9. But I do think it's pretty rare. Mostly you'll have two or three who requested to be buddies, at most.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know if Girl Scout camps are nut free or nut aware? Our girl is getting old enough to go, but I'm not sure she's old enough to make all the right choices without us there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the shittiest system I've ever had to use for camps. Logged in immediately at the stroke of 10 and was 700th in line! Waited 35 minutes to have the system boot me back out and refuse to recognize my login. Called and got that reset and tried to register. Choice #1 had 2 spots left. Put in all of the information and then the system booted me back out AGAIN. Logged in again and now she's waitlisted. So annoying!

It. Is. Awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if Girl Scout camps are nut free or nut aware? Our girl is getting old enough to go, but I'm not sure she's old enough to make all the right choices without us there.

Mine came home one year complaining about how horrible the Sun Butter was, so I'm assuming they're nut-free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have feedback on May Flather?

My daughter is a Cadette, been to all four camps over the years since she was about 9, and MF is her favorite, hands down.

It's up in the mountains, so it's *much* cooler, even chilly at night, and the activities skew a bit more active and outdoorsy than at some of the other camps. (The climbing and caving are unique to MF, I think?) Of all the camps with biffies (non-flush toilets), theirs are apparently the cleanest and best maintained. She says the pool is OK, nothing to write home about, but the streams and lakes they swim/boat on are beautiful. The food is generally better, too, maybe because it's a different food service from the other three. Lots of stairs to the bunks, so wheeled bags aren't a good idea, although the girls usually help each other.

She also loved the MF camps that included White Rock excursions ("tree houses" on stilts—with slides!) where they have the high ropes course. Looks like they're not doing those this year, though, probably because of the multi-hour van ride.

I think part of what she likes about it is that it's all older girls, and most of them are fairly comfortable with the whole camp environment, so there aren't a "bunch of little kids running around freaking out about bugs and dirt," as she puts it. Although I gather the PJ Party camps tend to skew a little younger, and it's often the first camp experience for some of the girls. The art-focused camps aren't quite so outdoorsy as the others, either.

Thank you so much! This makes me feel better about not getting into our higher choice.

[Anonymous]

My daughter has done Winona 3 times and has never gone with a friend. She doesn't do any camps with friends, though Arlington is so small that she usually knows someone.

If your daughter is open to meeting new people, send her to camp solo.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know if there's been any waitlist movement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if there's been any waitlist movement?

I don’t think so yet. Final payment got pushed from 4/12 to 5/3. They canceled the buses to Potomac Woods and Winona. They also had to limit the number of girls and raised price of bus to May Flather. They giving folks more time to work out their plans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if there's been any waitlist movement?

We're #1 on a waitlist and I just checked and we're still #1 - so no movement for us. I'm still hopeful maybe it will move near final payment date but we'll see. Less girls in each program means there are less girls who could possibly cancel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if there's been any waitlist movement?

I don’t think so yet. Final payment got pushed from 4/12 to 5/3. They canceled the buses to Potomac Woods and Winona. They also had to limit the number of girls and raised price of bus to May Flather. They giving folks more time to work out their plans.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the bus issue caused at least some to cancel. That Friday pickup would be really tough for some families. The trip from MD to Potomac Woods during rush hour is a real pain in the butt.

[Anonymous]

After all the stress in registering and getting a spot, we're pretty sad today to find out that Winona has been canceled this summer. There's the possibility to go to Potomac Woods if there's room, but my Cadette is feeling pretty unexcited about that after being at Winona since she was a Brownie. Does anybody with experience at both camps have any input on Potomac Woods that might make her more interested?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After all the stress in registering and getting a spot, we're pretty sad today to find out that Winona has been canceled this summer. There's the possibility to go to Potomac Woods if there's room, but my Cadette is feeling pretty unexcited about that after being at Winona since she was a Brownie. Does anybody with experience at both camps have any input on Potomac Woods that might make her more interested?

Honestly, my daughter felt like Potomac Woods was aimed at younger kids. Maybe that will be different this year if they're shoehorning some Winona programs in, though. She complained that the walk from the cabins was long, because they put the younger girls closer to the main lodge, and that there were lots of little kids running around shrieking all the time. But Winona has a lot of younger girls, too, so your daughter is probably used to that.

And my daughter's friend loves PW because she's been going since she was a Brownie, so I guess it kind of depends on what you're familiar with. Mine did prefer the programs that did lots of hikes in the woods, which were shady and cool.

For a Cadette, I'd suggest asking the coordinator if there are any empty spots at May Flather. It's unlikely, but you never know.

Also, I know lots of girls who are used to Winona get nervous about the biffies at the other camps, but it's not really a big deal. They're not like portapotties or anything, it's an actual bathhouse, it just kind of stinks sometimes. They put clothespins on their noses and giggle about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After all the stress in registering and getting a spot, we're pretty sad today to find out that Winona has been canceled this summer. There's the possibility to go to Potomac Woods if there's room, but my Cadette is feeling pretty unexcited about that after being at Winona since she was a Brownie. Does anybody with experience at both camps have any input on Potomac Woods that might make her more interested?

Honestly, my daughter felt like Potomac Woods was aimed at younger kids. Maybe that will be different this year if they're shoehorning some Winona programs in, though. She complained that the walk from the cabins was long, because they put the younger girls closer to the main lodge, and that there were lots of little kids running around shrieking all the time. But Winona has a lot of younger girls, too, so your daughter is probably used to that.

And my daughter's friend loves PW because she's been going since she was a Brownie, so I guess it kind of depends on what you're familiar with. Mine did prefer the programs that did lots of hikes in the woods, which were shady and cool.

For a Cadette, I'd suggest asking the coordinator if there are any empty spots at May Flather. It's unlikely, but you never know.

Also, I know lots of girls who are used to Winona get nervous about the biffies at the other camps, but it's not really a big deal. They're not like portapotties or anything, it's an actual bathhouse, it just kind of stinks sometimes. They put clothespins on their noses and giggle about it.

Thanks for this input! I really appreciate it. Yeah, my daughters (currently 7th and 5th graders) were actually planning to go to May Flather last year as a step up from Winona into a camp for older girls, but of course that didn't happen. And this year we decided to stick with Winona as a known quantity and to stay in Maryland where we live, in case the states had any travel restrictions in the summer. So it's frustrating that after thinking that through, Winona got canceled. I may ask about May Flather options. My kids are used to biffies from troop camping at Brighton Woods, but the flush toilets at Winona are definitely a plus in their opinion. I'm letting them think about the options for another day or so before we have to decide.

[Anonymous]

I am new to Girl Scouts - what camp is this thread about?
I registered my child for the Burke Lake Adventures camp and it is a lottery, but I haven't heard anything about a waitlist number.

Thanks for any info for this newbie!