PLANNING
Winter Camp XLIV - 2020

Leadership

PositionYouthAdviser
GeneralMatt GrimbleDouglas Wilson
ActivitiesTim PfeifferEthan Rein
KitchenVacantSteve Donohue

Required Forms

Winter Camp needs a medical form, including Part C (completed by physician) from all participants. This is your early warning.
Medical Form

Adult participants (those 18 and older) must complete Youth Protection Training

Subscription Service

You can subscribe to changes on this page by visiting this service created and administered by Alan Wilson.

Planning Notes

Feel free to post your thoughts and comments on planning for Winter Camp XLIV!

Name and E-mail

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Your Comments

Check out what everyone else is saying:
E-mail addresses and names are not guaranteed to be who they say they are.
That being said, we should tell you that the webmaster can tell who said what.
On Sunday, 29-Mar-2020 19:21:05 EDT, said
I intend it be an honor.
On Sunday, 29-Mar-2020 18:21:20 EDT, Michelle Matowski said
Quite randomly, I stumbled upon this page.

A Michelle Matowski Meal?

Should I be honored? I am not a regular to the world of Winter Camp!
On Sunday, 29-Mar-2020 14:48:37 EDT, Steve said
I think we should have a Michelle Matowski Meal.

Michelle loves to post "interesting" vintage recipes on Facebook like today's Pickle Juice and Hot Dog Jello Mold or Hamnanas (which actually appeared at a chapter meeting).

I think it would need to be a snack.
On Saturday, 28-Mar-2020 16:36:14 EDT, Steve said
I have a pretty good collection of scarves which might make it easier to learn. The downside is that it's not really the same motion as juggling balls.
On Friday, 27-Mar-2020 19:23:23 EDT, Steve said
`A new chapter has been posted.
On Thursday, 26-Mar-2020 18:14:31 EDT, Uncle Ethan said
I'd be willing to give Dodge Juggling a shot. Speaking of juggling, I've been thinking "everyone learns to juggle" is something I'd like to try. Not sure how many "instructors" we'd have, but I'm sure it's at least 2 (me and Daha). Learning to juggle 2 balls with one hand or 3 balls with two hands isn't out of the question. We could have the lesson early in the weekette and have practice balls out as a free time / meal's late activity. I'm sure the only cause of a late meal would be something totally out of our control, of course.
On Thursday, 26-Mar-2020 03:50:18 EDT, Steve said
Thursday’s chapter meeting will be held by phone and Internet. It starts at 730

+1-313-248-3668
+1-888-628-3668 US Toll Free Number
Meeting number (access code): 716 362 002

Join by internet
https://bit.ly/MigisiMarch2020
On Sunday, 22-Mar-2020 23:00:35 EDT, Steve said
Dodge Juggle seems like it could be fun for Winter Camp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7yIK2LdvKs&fbclid=IwAR17STPyoXajXdyqUwi2jIdxLSy2n8FlrJS7j7qKEf82N1429sahscSPw68
On Tuesday, 17-Mar-2020 22:50:29 EDT, Steve said
Okay, so it looks like May 11, which is Connor Johnson Day, is also the birthday of two Winter Campers: Ozzie and Craig Droste.
On Tuesday, 17-Mar-2020 22:19:25 EDT, Steve said
As you may recall, Melvindale declared a Connor Johnson day. Today I was looking and it turns out that Connor was born on Ron Donohue day in 2004. Seems an odd coincidence.
On Monday, 16-Mar-2020 11:50:43 EDT, Steve said
This year, Winter Camp will require Scout Medical forms (including Part C) from all participants.
On Friday, 06-Mar-2020 10:12:46 EST, Steve said
Okay, now the whole chapter is posted, so you should read it again if you thought you read it already.
On Thursday, 05-Mar-2020 08:40:07 EST, Steve said
A new chapter of Zero Node has been posted.
On Tuesday, 03-Mar-2020 20:31:56 EST, K2 said
Invades has a space connotation to it as well, so I think that works better.

Although I do like the acronym of Ranger Attacks Cabin.
On Tuesday, 03-Mar-2020 19:23:54 EST, Steve said
I think that's an improvement from "Ranger Attacks Cabin".
On Sunday, 01-Mar-2020 21:51:01 EST, Uncle Ethan said
I see even the catchphrase is updated for WC XLIII! "Catchphrase: Ranger Invades Cabin"

Congrats to Steve Bailey for being a part of the official Winter Camp lore.
On Thursday, 27-Feb-2020 22:22:38 EST, Steve said
I've updated the pages for Winter Camp XLII to be true history instead of the planning page. That means history and newsletters are there. I haven't done photos yet. Does anyone have more photos to add?

If there aren't any, I'll do it this weekend.

If you have some and need directions for uploading to our shutterfly account, just let me know.

Thanks.
On Thursday, 27-Feb-2020 19:14:25 EST, Steve said
I was thinking the other day that if we do Luchador, we should consider thumb wrestling, arm wrestling, leg wresting, and mas wrestling as possible activities.
On Monday, 24-Feb-2020 22:00:10 EST, Steve said
I could probably make it so you could post without javascript if it was important to you.
On Monday, 24-Feb-2020 20:21:36 EST, Alan said
I think it's Windows 95 OSR2. Only realized because I have my homepage set as wintercamp.com because it's one of the few websites that will actually display properly on them. So now I have to use a newer web browser (Retrozilla) - still actively developed, forked from an old version of Mozilla. I think it can be set it up for Windows 3.1, but you have to compile it yourself.

I think it's possible to use a Raspberry Pi as a proxy to get back HTTP for old computers, but I haven't figured it out yet. You can use text based browsers over a serial terminal though. I can read the Winter Camp site, but no javascript, so can't post.
On Sunday, 23-Feb-2020 21:25:34 EST, Steve said
I made the change for a couple of reasons. The biggest is that some browsers and anti-virus tools report non-secure sites as risky and may even block them.

The second is that we're second-class citizens on search engines these days.
On Sunday, 23-Feb-2020 09:49:04 EST, K2 said
Steve, first we need to ask the real questions here. Alan, which version of Windows 95?
On Sunday, 23-Feb-2020 00:53:16 EST, Steve said
Does that matter to anyone other than Jeff?
On Sunday, 23-Feb-2020 00:29:39 EST, Alan said
One thing I discovered recently: since wintercamp.com changed to HTTPS with TLS 1.2 instead of plain HTTP, it has broken compatibility with all known web browsers for Windows 3.11. This message posted from Windows 95.
On Sunday, 16-Feb-2020 22:08:05 EST, Steve said
Okay, a couple of thoughts I want to share

First, if you're not following wintercamp_fs on Instagram, you're missing out.

Second, I think we should decorate battling tops for the Luchador theme. My original thought was little plastic tops like the old board game. Now I'm wondering if we can't make something out of wood about a foot tall so decorating would be easier. We might have to have a test to see if we could get the wooden ones fired up enough.
On Saturday, 15-Feb-2020 20:29:38 EST, K2 said
I just saw Matt's post!

Honestly, I just use Tinkercad.com. It's free, doesn't require any installation, and automatically saves the files online so you can work with them anywhere. It's nowhere near as robust as all those things Alan mentioned, but it might be easier to get started depending on your experience with CAD software.

I'll also download files from thingiverse.com and either just print them, or I'll import them into tinkercad and edit them there.
On Friday, 14-Feb-2020 21:19:03 EST, Alan said
Meant to post this yesterday when I saw it.

I'm a mechanical engineer, so I use 3D parametric CAD programs that the engineers use. The parametric cads are good for drawing up mechanical components, which are usually made up of basic, but well defined geometry. All the stuff I made on my 3D printer was done using my copy of Autodesk Inventor from high school. In engineering school, Michigan Tech teaches Siemens NX (formerly Unigraphics). At work, we have Solidworks. These three have the same overall feel and workflow to them and are extremely powerful, but there's a decent learning curve. The programs in this category are also all super expensive, and it's pretty much impossible for a single person to afford them unless you can get your hands on a student version or pirate them.

There is one decent open source alternative, FreeCAD, which is similar to the above three (and is free). It's not as polished as the professional CADs and is more difficult to use, but still very powerful, though I haven't worked with it too much. One of my coworkers does all his home stuff in FreeCAD though, so it seems to be useable.

Another good one is Autodesk Fusion 360, which is another professional CAD, but there's a free edition for hobbyists, and seems to be pretty popular with them. It's a commercial program, and is very well polished. Supposed to be easier to learn than Inventor/Solidworks, but since I already know those that's what I use.

If you like programming, there's OpenSCAD (also free), where you can draw up 3D shapes using text-based design language scripts. I used OpenSCAD to make the cookie cutter stampers, and wrote a script to generate STLs for every Winter Camp 'till 100.

Then, there's Blender (also free), which is normally used for 3D animation. Instead of working directly with geometry, you get to work directly with meshes of points and lines that make them up. So it's much better for making a sculpture of someone's head than it is for doing mechanical components (it can be done, but it won't be easy). Blender is insanely powerful, but has an insanely difficult learning curve, so I've heard.

That reminds me, a few years ago Hackaday ran a series of tutorials where they modeled up the same object in a bunch of different CAD programs to show what it's like to use each one. The last one they did was this one: hackaday.com/2014/02/26/3d-printering-making-a-thing-with-solidworks-part-ii but it has links to all the other parts. It's probably a little out of date by now, but most CAD programs usually stay pretty similar between versions.
On Friday, 14-Feb-2020 19:53:39 EST, Steve said
I don't know much about 3D printing, but there is a giant list of things which can be printed for boardgames here:
https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/186909/3d-prints-board-games

if you read it, there are tools for finding things and probably quite a few things Andrew might like for RPGs.
On Thursday, 13-Feb-2020 12:05:49 EST, Matt Grimble said
My 3D printer is up and running. Alan/K2 what do you use to create designs for the custom stuff you make with the printer
On Wednesday, 12-Feb-2020 23:29:47 EST, Steve said
I want to have a non-newtonian fluid to wrestle in or at least fall into, like a trust fall fail :)
On Tuesday, 11-Feb-2020 21:17:22 EST, K2 said
We could make slime.
On Tuesday, 11-Feb-2020 20:11:04 EST, Steve said
I think we need to have a corn starch match if we do Luchador as a theme. I just really want to have a vat of water & corn starch.

I'm not sure how much it will take, but it seems like a fun thing to have at Winter Camp.
On Monday, 10-Feb-2020 13:11:56 EST, K2 said
It sounds like we would just make a bunch of dough and then store it in the refrigerator / freezer. I've done this plenty of times before as well and had the same experience that Doug outlined below. It works pretty good. You do need to make sure you leave enough room in whatever container we put the dough into for expansion, because the yeast does keep going. It does top out at some point but the initial rise can be pretty dramatic.
On Sunday, 09-Feb-2020 23:20:15 EST, Steve said
It would definitely be helpful to not start Winter Camp in a sleep deficit because we baked bread all night.
On Sunday, 09-Feb-2020 19:01:50 EST, Doug said
In answer to Steve's question. Think we cover the Sept stuff mostly on-line. As I'm not on Facebook can't say how well things from here or FB transfer to one another.
On Sunday, 09-Feb-2020 18:59:10 EST, Doug said
Shortly before camp last year Steve, Jeff, and I briefly discussed changing the bread making on the 27th essentially making all the dough for the week (as we have done for years) but refrigerating or freezing at least a portion to bake later as needed.

Last week I made a batch (2 loaves) of WC bread. Made the dough covered and put it in the fridge here’s what I found:
• After a couple hours needed to punch it down as it managed to rise while it was cooling down
• After 24 hours divided it in half, formed one onto a loaf, put in a bread pan and left on counter to rise. Other than being cold and perhaps a bit more elastic the dough didn’t handle much differently. (Returned the 2nd half to the fridge in a plastic bag for later)
• It took 3-1/2 hours to rise and another 30 min to bake. With only a few minutes work and very little mess in 4 hours had a fresh hot loaf of bread. It was at least as good if not better than what we had at WC XLIII.
• If serving it as warm bread with a meal it should cool 15-20 min because you can’t slice it right out of the oven. To use for sandwiches it should cool completely (about 2 hours).
• After four days (as long as we could keep bread dough at WC) the bag had long since expanded to maximum capacity (but it didn’t burst open). Dough was very elastic, somewhat difficult to get the large bubbles out and it seemed to tear when trying to form into a loaf (looked a bit cave-like). It did rise in the same 3-1/2 hours (still looked a bit lumpy) however during baking it smoothed out. Looked and tasted great just like the first loaf.
• May try freezing dough another time.

Think we should try this for WC XLIV. Think it would make the bakery snack much more doable in a reasonable time frame on the 27th. Also bread later in the week would be better than what has been setting on top of the fridge for 4 days.
On Thursday, 06-Feb-2020 22:01:32 EST, Steve said
A few times in the past, we had two planning meetings. One was in a September/October and the other was our traditional November meeting.

At the first meeting we picked a theme, costs, and talked about a major theme event. We also recruited some leaders for the event. We've had a sketchy history with this meeting -- we had it a few times, forgot about it and had it a few times again.

Do we think we cover this now with email/facebook/this page or do we want to go back to that earlier meeting? I"m trying to decide if it belongs on the backwards calendar in the leader book.
On Monday, 03-Feb-2020 21:32:03 EST, Steve said
So for those who follow such things, Winter Camp now has an instagram. The id is wintercamp_fs

We'd love a few more followers.
On Thursday, 30-Jan-2020 17:01:43 EST, Steve said
Jay Bottorff has been named this year's recipient of the Central Region's Alumnus of the Year award. Jay will receive his award in Washington DC this May. There is only one recipient of this award in each region so this is pretty prestigious.
On Wednesday, 29-Jan-2020 22:52:41 EST, Steve said
I've made considerable progress on this idea. I'll try to post a draft this weekend.

I started with about 60 unique tasks on my list and thus far I've added 15 more as I've tried to work through the list.

There are some other things I'll work on too. So far about 20 pages, but I think it will be more before I'm done. I want to be careful that it doesn't become so large that people can't be bothered to read it.
On Wednesday, 29-Jan-2020 10:45:38 EST, Steve said
Every month includes a reminder to promote at that month's events and online.

I suggest we have a theme by July which lets us promote with the theme at the Summer Ordeal and all our fall events; it also give us a chance to create and distribute a flyer.
On Wednesday, 29-Jan-2020 08:57:13 EST, K2 said
I'm sure you'll have this in there but I think advertising / informing people about wintercamp is critical to getting people to come, especially once we hit August / September because there's only a few more chapter meetings left. It's easy for wintercamp to get lost in the run-up to the holidays.

Picking a theme at some point in advance I think has been helpful if it isn't too far in advance.
On Tuesday, 28-Jan-2020 21:24:10 EST, Steve said
I started working on a Leader's Guide today. I'm not sure how long it will take, but I have an aggressive schedule in mind.

My plan is to worry less about roles and responsibilities and to instead focus on a backwards calendar and then an explanation of the various tasks on the calendar. I'm thinking there may be a partial draft by the weekend

Anyone have any suggestions before seeing the draft?
On Tuesday, 28-Jan-2020 19:47:45 EST, K2 said
Uncle Buck style!
On Tuesday, 28-Jan-2020 18:48:49 EST, Steve said
I was thinking today that maybe we should make some giant food at camp like a 2’ pancake or a huge cookie.
On Monday, 27-Jan-2020 21:49:11 EST, Uncle Ethan said
Great to have Doug as the Adviser. As I recall, his last round of advising at Winter Camp XXIX was a blast.
On Monday, 27-Jan-2020 16:26:41 EST, Steve said
Doug Wilson declared himself to be Adviser today. This will be his fifth time as adviser. With that role settle, I declared myself kitchen adviser.

We're still looking for a youth to help with the kitchen. YOu don't have to cook everything, just help ensure others get things going.
On Monday, 27-Jan-2020 12:45:51 EST, Steve said
I think most categories are correct now.
On Sunday, 26-Jan-2020 23:58:26 EST, Steve said
More stuff on the Encyclopedia. If you scroll to the bottom you can now search by category. Entries are being categorized according to a list and it's my goal to get things on the right list. The list is:
Article - recurring articles in the news
Book - A Winter Camp book
Newspaper - We've had more than you think
Person - I think these are all right
Short Story - A Short Story for Winter Camp.
Winter Camp - An event

I can get Person and Winter Camp on my own, but I need help to find the others.

If you spot one that's wrong, let me know so I can fix it. It's probably easier for me than anyone else to make the corrections.



https://wintercamp.com/rfrnc/theguide/
On Saturday, 25-Jan-2020 12:36:06 EST, Steve said
People are now updated and added. The entries are generated based on data in the Winter Camp roster program. I didn't include the pecking order this time as I'm not sure how I got it last time.

Are there any suggestions for changes or additions?
On Friday, 24-Jan-2020 23:02:13 EST, Steve said
Promotion of Winter Camp went pretty well last night. Most youth in attendance had been to camp.

I’ve been working on the EWC and e tries other than people are probably updated. If you find issues let me know.
On Thursday, 16-Jan-2020 09:09:02 EST, Uncle Ethan said
Congrats, Timmy! I declare myself to be Timmy's adviser. Timmy - if you've got someone else in mind, feel free to fire me.
On Tuesday, 14-Jan-2020 19:54:22 EST, Tim Pfeiffee said
I Timmy Pfeiffer claim myself activities chair
On Monday, 13-Jan-2020 22:48:26 EST, Steve said
Winter Camp has probably more than it's share of Arrowmen of the Year: Brian, Jeff, Gordon, Roger, Mr. Oatley, Steve Pejuan, Lee Gardy, Tim Dumas, Josh Davis, Sam Stocker, Ethan, Corey Curtiss, and me. If you're generous we could count Dave Morosky and Joe Retzbach.

It all goes to prove that Winter Camp is the trump card of awesomeness.
On Monday, 13-Jan-2020 20:23:19 EST, Bmann said
Thank you everyone. I still dont feel that I deserve it but some must think I do.
On Monday, 13-Jan-2020 19:07:43 EST, Steve said
This has inspired an idea.

What if we added a difficulty factor to our recipes based on how hard we think it is to make including unusual or labor intensive methods, lots of steps, and how forgiving the recipe is of errors.

We could then use that when creating a meal. For example, beef fizz would be more difficult than bug juice which is more difficult than pop. If a meal with beef fizz was too complex, we could consider replacing it with bug juice.

Obviously that's a very simple example. Imagine we had the hot potato lunch and it looked like a lot of work. We could, for example, decide to boot the sloppy joes and switch it to the easier hot dogs.

I don't think we'd blow out something thematic or traditional (so caveman dinner wouldn't get changed) but we might assign a special assistant or two if things looked tricky.

Bread is tough, so maybe whichever group gets it also gets Mr. Wilson for that meal since he knows bread. Bollmano's wouldn't be the same without Mark, that sort of thing -- basically we compensate for a tougher meal with some expert assistance or maybe just more hands.
On Sunday, 12-Jan-2020 13:54:07 EST, Uncle Ethan said
I can bring a tortilla press if we want to add some difficulty to the mexican meal.
On Sunday, 12-Jan-2020 13:52:26 EST, Uncle Ethan said
CONGRATS!
On Sunday, 12-Jan-2020 13:49:34 EST, K2 said
Huzzah!!!
On Sunday, 12-Jan-2020 13:21:38 EST, Steve said
Congratulations to Winter Camper Brian Mann who is Noquet Lodge’s 2019 Adult Arrowman of the Year!
On Friday, 10-Jan-2020 22:13:47 EST, Steve said
The chapter meeting is on Jan 23, 7:00 pm at First United Methodist Church in Dearborn (22124 Garrison).
On Friday, 10-Jan-2020 20:37:34 EST, Jeff said
Using a possible theme as the key element of promotion, may not have the widest appeal to potential participants. Winter Camp is much more: “Winter Camp is a universe unto itself. When you arrive at Winter Camp, you are entering another world, with its own time zone and culture. It is mixture of favorite traditional activities with new thematic experiences never done before. Besides great activities, food plays an important role, such as personal pizzas made from scratch.”
On Friday, 10-Jan-2020 07:27:45 EST, said
Steve, how about making a small list of possible themes that are in contention and telling the youth that we need thier help in deciding what the theme will be. More may be inclined to attend WC if they help decide the theme.

As for Luchador, id love to see battle chess make a reappearance.
On Thursday, 09-Jan-2020 23:07:46 EST, Uncle Ethan said
I continue to support for Luchador. We could have an everyone learns Spanish activity and then a Spanish only meal of some kind. This thought came to me as I was thinking about the Blind Beggars Banquet.
On Thursday, 09-Jan-2020 21:28:34 EST, Steve said
We have a chapter meeting at the end of the month. It would probably be amazing if we could point to a couple of themes as the most likely for this year's Winter Camp.

Do you think if Matt and I suggested that our theme would probably be Luchador or "Why is THAT on fire?" we'd be able to deliver at Winter Camp XLIV or is there another theme that we think should get more attention right now?
On Tuesday, 07-Jan-2020 18:10:22 EST, Steve said
I don't think the good Luchador would raze a village.

They might, of course, destroy the base of an evil-doer which could look a lot like razing a village. They could also cleanse the place of evil through the power of fire I think.
On Tuesday, 07-Jan-2020 08:25:04 EST, Uncle Ethan said
I'm in for the Luchador theme! IF razing the village is a possibility, I'll start collecting cardboard.
On Monday, 06-Jan-2020 14:23:31 EST, Bmann said
Make it a "trucker" theme and every event could be a transport style. Many HDAs, MDAs, and overnights stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Once we all get fed up we can go on strike. We can get CB radios to communicate between cabins and crews.
On Monday, 06-Jan-2020 12:02:51 EST, K2 said
I disagree. Jeff's meal would consist of a hike, foraging for food along the way, building a stove to cook the food in once you've reached the unknown destination, and then building a shelter to stay the night. Which means we need a new term: HDM. Hike Disguised as a Meal.

Maybe the theme one year should be Rand Theme. The entire schedule would be broken down into HDAs, HDMs, and just plain H's.
On Monday, 06-Jan-2020 08:30:11 EST, Uncle Ethan said
Winter Camp XLIII evaluation here. Fill it out if you’d didn’t get a chance to do it at camp or have more to say:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YSMKL56

On Sunday, 05-Jan-2020 23:00:45 EST, Doug said
If I were selecting my own dinner meal it would be salad w/ Italian dressing, meatloaf (or roast beef & gravy), mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, dinner rolls w/ butter, and cherry pie.

In most cases think we should keep feature meals for dinner. (Allowing dinner prep time as free time for patrols not assigned to the evening meal.) Keep breakfast, lunch and snacks simple lighter and easy.

Agree with Kristie - we are overdue for baked Alaska.
On Sunday, 05-Jan-2020 20:30:31 EST, Kristie said
K2's could be smoked salmon of course! Maybe other smoked goodies... IDK.
On Sunday, 05-Jan-2020 20:27:21 EST, Kristie said
I was thinking Mark's--> meal could be all sorts of sweets. I'm not really sure how to incorporate protein in that one, so maybe it's more of a dessert meal than an actual meal.

I like Alan's idea. My original thought for Doug was pies, pasties, bread, and baked Alasa.
On Sunday, 05-Jan-2020 18:57:49 EST, Steve said
My meal is more a thematic thing than a specific item. Maybe it should be an international smorgasboard since I'm not a fussy eater and tacos, spaghetti, and sushi on the same plate would be fine for me.

The kicker is that the meal starts with seconds due to my poor portion control...
On Sunday, 05-Jan-2020 18:56:46 EST, Steve said
I think we tried that a few years ago; it wasn't bad.

A related idea was to collect recipe cards from Meijer or Kroger and use them. I don't know if they have those anymore; I'll check next time I'm in the store.
On Sunday, 05-Jan-2020 18:39:57 EST, Alan said
Meal Idea: Manufacturer's Suggestion - Each dish consists of a recipe found on the label of a can or the side of a box.
On Sunday, 05-Jan-2020 14:14:14 EST, Steve said
Kristie wants to have meals named after famous Winter Campers. For her meal she wants Grits and Coffee. Jeff’s meal will be bland and have tiny portions so there’s no waste.

Which campers would you suggest a meal for and what would we serve?
On Sunday, 05-Jan-2020 11:37:23 EST, Steve said
We've played cricket before. We even own a bat and a half-dozen balls. I seem to remember attempting croquet once but having issues with frozen ground. We'd just have to do more planning so we could deal with snow or frozen ground.
On Saturday, 04-Jan-2020 22:19:22 EST, K2 said
Could even try our hand at a tres leches cake or fried ice cream!
On Saturday, 04-Jan-2020 19:29:56 EST, Michelle said
Although I am only an old adult day visitor, I like the Luchador. Maybe even a bit of Dia de los Muertos thrown in. Mexican hot chocolate and some other yummy desserts. Tamales would be harder than pirogies- we generally take 2 days to make them! Traditional Mexican food and maybe even a chicken en mole with yellow rice, horchata de arroz to drink, and arroz con leche for dinner. And if you want to be really brave, authentic barbacoa - cow head! Maybe a piñata, and some other kid’s games too!
On Saturday, 04-Jan-2020 19:19:25 EST, Oak said
I like the wild west. Lots to do.
I also like a new games day, cricket or croquet.
On Saturday, 04-Jan-2020 18:51:09 EST, K2 said
We could build trebuchets. Could fit into some of the themes listed below.
On Saturday, 04-Jan-2020 18:48:37 EST, Steve said
Does anyone else have an opinion or suggestion?
On Saturday, 04-Jan-2020 18:46:44 EST, Steve said
Okay, so maybe Fiery Death isn't the right title, but I think if we don't do Luchador, this might be my favorite. We just kind of do a lot of things involving stuff being on fire or exploding.

Maybe we build a giant fire and then cook something on it or maybe we build a spit and roast turkeys or something (I think pigs would be too big for us).
On Saturday, 04-Jan-2020 18:42:31 EST, Steve said
Fiery Death - everything is on fire!
Activities: Model rockets, raze the village, viking funeral, electric bonfire, conflagration, flaming arrows, 2 liter bottle rockets, fireworks, ground flame, electric candle shapes.
Meals: marshmellow roast, weenie roast, spicy foods, barbecue, roast something on a spit, from the ashes (cook on a fire from raze the village or something similar)
On Saturday, 04-Jan-2020 18:38:55 EST, Steve said
Merit Badges -- we pick and complete a bunch of fun merit badge requirements
Activities: Rocket launch, programming, game design, firemanship (put things out)
Meals: cooking, firehouse dinner, stuff like that.
On Saturday, 04-Jan-2020 18:36:17 EST, Steve said
Circus -- we're all under the big top!
Activities: giant tent, clown skills, tight rope, trapeze, big show, clown car
Meals: fried badness, circus peanuts, elephant ears, elephant lunch, lion dinner
On Saturday, 04-Jan-2020 18:33:07 EST, Steve said
Dinosaur/Jurassic Park - we check out dinosaurs
Activities: Dino Safari (have to find species in the wild), Genius Night Dino building or tool building, Dino dig - they sell kits; maybe something chaos theory related, dinodinner where we try to avoid becoming dinnner for dinos
Meals: Brontoburgers, vegetarian, really big food, flintstony stuff, eating turkey or other avians.
On Saturday, 04-Jan-2020 11:14:36 EST, Ethan said
I'm thinking about Riverside campsite as a location for an overnight hike.

I made pierogies once. It was a lot of work, but a good experience. No problem if we think it's too much work.

My "long awaited" comment was in jest.

I'll add a pair of walkie talkies to my packing list for next year. I recently got some.
On Saturday, 04-Jan-2020 10:41:37 EST, Steve said
I am willing to lead an overnight hike at Winter Camp XLIV. Probably on a night with a CC breakfast the next day. Distance of the hike depends on a number of factors.
Where would the hike go? It might require a lot of extra gear (tents, sleeping pads, etc) depending on the overnight location.

Let's play a game in the James Hay Pavilion. Maybe 4 square?
Seems simple enough.

I think it's time for Jackpot Grits to make it's long waited return to the Winter Camp menu.
Long awaited? We missed it this year.

Can we bring the radios back to communicate between cabins?
Just need to find someone with radios or some other tool.

I'd be willing to be the adult in the kitchen for a perogi based meal that includes homemade applesauce
You just like using the food processor. I've heard perogi are a lot of work, like hours, do you have any experience?
On Saturday, 04-Jan-2020 10:38:55 EST, Steve said
Indiana Jones - we take on the role of pulp-era archaeologists
Activities: Tomb raiding, travel (hda), puzzle-solving, mook mashing, obstacle course, searching
Food: Gruesome dinner, exotic cuisine, speakeasy.
On Saturday, 04-Jan-2020 10:36:36 EST, Steve said
Noir Detectives - hard-boiled detectives from the 20s/30s
Activites: Mystery investigation, rum running
Meals: black & white, twenties food, soda stand.
On Saturday, 04-Jan-2020 10:33:53 EST, Steve said
Medieval - we dress up in armor.
Activities: sword fight, archery, horseback riding, chivalric contest
Meals: olde english feast, scotch eggs, mutton, tupenny struggles, meat pie.
On Saturday, 04-Jan-2020 10:30:57 EST, Steve said
Vikings - we adopt the persona of Norse conquerors
Activities: Raze the village, clout shooting, raiding, pillaging, boat walk, axe throwing, archery, kenning creation, poestry.
Food: many european cultures as we invade, norse food, seaboard meal (probably dried stuff), on the run meal, something alliterative ("Viking Vittles").
On Friday, 03-Jan-2020 22:34:49 EST, Steve said
Big Bro -- we spend the week talking in words of but one part and in plots to harm the Man.
Things to do - one part word games (like talkies, rhymes, and more). Spy games, week of one part words, Dad's bro crafts, and more.
Things to eat - meals with one part like meat loaf, bread, juice, eggs, and stuff, lies, truths, our words.
On Friday, 03-Jan-2020 11:10:23 EST, Steve said
Wild West - gun totin' rascals. No bankers, politicians or scum.
Activities: target shooting, bank robbery, rubber band gun fight, first class trial, cattle rustlin', warm bed
Meals: Beans, tex-mex, root beer, sarsparilla, glass of whiskey, saloon supper.
On Thursday, 02-Jan-2020 19:53:00 EST, Steve said
Pioneers -- throwback to Winter Camp I
Activities -- little planning, many hikes, some known to a few and not the rest
Meals -- burgers, youth only cooking, improvised tools.
On Thursday, 02-Jan-2020 19:47:40 EST, Steve said
Pirates --- seagoing swabbies.
Activity: Plank-walking (balance) contest, swashbuckling obstacle course, boarding contest (maybe like red rover or steal the bacon), treasure hunt -- maybe even burying one day and hunting by a different team. Crew and ship names, piratical flags, some kind of boating (or ice-boating), waxing poetical, shanty-singing, tall tale-telling. Avoiding the black dot. Movie watching
Meals: Jamaican and other carribean countries, teeter totter meal (for balance), oranges.
On Thursday, 02-Jan-2020 19:33:07 EST, Steve said
Some theme ideas:
Luchador -- masked Mexican wrestling.
Activity: Luchador Chess (like battle chess), Service Project = Luchador good deeds, watch a luchador movie, making luchador masks, developing a stable (team/clan) and personas for each wrestler. I think building a ring would be bad. There could be a luchador investigation (something more popular in the novels). We could write a luchador novella. A pinata (maybe several) seems like a good idea. There are a number of games with luchador themes and some we could easily retheme.
Meals: Mexican meals -- maybe juevos rancheros for breakfast and tacos for a lunch with flautas for dinner. There's a lot more to Mexican than burritos and tacos. We could also create our own psuedo-tequilla with lemonade and gummy worms. Luchadors also travel so other cuisines would be good. We could have a training table breakfast on service day to keep the wrestlers strong.
As a weeklong thing, the luchadors could score points in themed activities and become king of the ring. There could also be a search for some artifact that runs in the background; magic is not unheard of.
On Thursday, 02-Jan-2020 15:42:06 EST, Uncle Ethan said
12/27/2020 will be Jeff Rand's 162nd night at Winter Camp!
On Thursday, 02-Jan-2020 14:59:38 EST, Uncle Ethan said
A bunch of ideas that I have floating around my head today:

I am willing to lead an overnight hike at Winter Camp XLIV. Probably on a night with a CC breakfast the next day. Distance of the hike depends on a number of factors.

Let's play a game in the James Hay Pavilion. Maybe 4 square?

I think it's time for Jackpot Grits to make it's long waited return to the Winter Camp menu.

Can we bring the radios back to communicate between cabins?

Blind Volley ball was fun when we played it about 5 years ago. Let's bring it back. I can bring tarps.

I think Snow Soccer or Cricket would work well in the JL field.

As discussed at the WCFS meeting, we might want to use a different CC Golf Hole and 4 way volleyball rules

I'd be willing to be the adult in the kitchen for a perogi based meal that includes homemade applesauce
On Wednesday, 01-Jan-2020 20:46:37 EST, Steve said
I've updated the Winter Camp pecking order:

http://wintercamp.com/rfrnc/whoswho/peckingorder.php

Congrats to K2 who entered the top ten this year.
On Wednesday, 01-Jan-2020 00:21:42 EST, bmann said
Happy new year everyone!
On Wednesday, 11-Dec-2019 19:22:37 EST, Matt said
I hereby declare myself to be the youth leader of Winter Camp XLIV.

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