Camping Blog

YMCA of the USA Camping Update

HLongino — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:22:00 GMT

YMCA of the USA Camping Update

August 2008 - Please end comments, submissions, and subscription requests to: gary.forster@ymca.net (Also read this and past newsletters on-line at: http://www.ymcaexchange.org/front/programs/camping/generalinfo )

First - a deeply felt thanks to YOU who gave of yourselves this summer to provide campers and counselors the love and challenges and skills of friendship that will stay with them... forever. Our problems pale in comparison to that achievement. Enjoy this moment.

A Beautiful Thing - I was at YMCA Camp Lake Wenatchee this summer for a couple of days (it's in the Cascade Mountains, need I say more?) When they have "camper's choice" activities, counselors each stand up and give a short commercial on what their activity/craft project/sport will be. Eric "Maverick" Krueger (all the counselors have camp names) announced he was doing "Cloud Watching" again down at the beach. Kids RACED to get to him first so they could be included. It seems he has them all lay on the beach with their heads together in a circle, and they find clouds that look like different things. So your board members think there's a videogame-driven apocalypse coming? Not if we have anything to do with it!

Give This to Parents Next Summer! - Tina Kelley's front page (above the fold!) article in The New York Times from August 7th - "Dear Parents: Please Relax, It's Just Camp:" http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/26/nyregion/26camp.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=Dear%20parents&st=cse&scp=1 Suggestion: "Register" (it's free) for the NY Times at this link; then you can save the article in a print-friendly version.

An EXCELENT Web Site for Groups & Retreats - Just watch the slide show for a minute and tell me it doesn't answer 95% of the questions a group leader would have... without reading a word. http://www.capecodfieldtrips.com/index.htm Your IT guy could do the same for you with the right photos that tell a story.

ICCP Has Staff NOW - The YMCA's International Camp Counselor Program (ICCP) has college-age individuals that have been recruited by YMCAs around the world. They currently have two types of placements, J-1 Work and Travel participants (available for 3-4 months during the winter season) and J-1 Trainees/Interns (Trainees are available for up to 18 months; Interns are available for up to 12 months. Start dates for both are year-round). Participants can be placed in a variety of jobs, ranging from kitchen management to program facilitation. For more information, please contact your ICCP representative at 888-477-9622 or visit them on the web at: http://www.internationalymca.org/ .

Backyard Camping at the Y - "The staff at the Owen County Family YMCA is pleased to announce our first ever annual YMCA Family Camp Out! Camping without the work!

Tent set-up in the field behind the Y:           5:30-6:30pm Friday evening
Family free-swim time:                              5:30-8:30pm
Outdoor and gym games:                          6-10pm
Quiet time:                                               11pm-7am
Pancake breakfast:                                   9-10am, Saturday morning
Zumba & Yoga Stretch:                             9-9:45am 10-11 a.m

‘Break Camp' by Noon on Saturday.

The YMCA will provide hot dogs, baked beans, chips, marshmallows, lemonade, iced tea, and a campfire for Friday supper and a pancake breakfast on Saturday morning. All you need to bring is a tent, lawnchairs, roasting sticks, and bedding.

Diversions planned for the event include: volleyball, swimming, badminton, basketball, corn hole, dodge ball, horse shoes, Yoga, Zumba, and bocce ball.

Showers and restroom facilities available in the YMCA building and in the storage barn by the horse shoe court. Please, no alcohol or tobacco products.

Fee: $30 per family for members, $40 per family for potential members See you at the YMCA!" - for info contaact Laura Law programs@owencountyymca.org

(Still time for your Y to try it this fall.)

For OEE Staff: http://www.meera.snre.umich.edu/ is the location for a new way to evaluate the success of your OEE programs. Take a look now and you may be able to use it this fall. . I asked Jim Parry (Collin County YMCA Adventure Camp, TX) to review the site and survey: "It's very professional. The evaluation method is scholarly, and therefore valid. The programs that have already used it are mostly nature centers, museums, zoos, and parks (e.g. Disney). There's no ready-to-use form; you still need to make your own. But the guidelines are thorough, helpful and easy to navigate. It does not include the "camp" adventure and affective sides (the examples are environmental science oriented), though one could use these resources to include that. In short, it tells you how to do it right, but you still have to do it. There are several examples of studies that could be used to ‘justify' your program to a school official."

Day of Caring - "YMCA Camp Letts was chosen by our local cable company for their seventh annual Comcast Cares Day. Over 125 employees, their families and friends volunteered their time to paint the interior and exterior of our oldest boys cabins and the pool house, built benches and a fire ring, and providing necessary repairs to screens as well as landscaping. Comcast donated all materials and time to prepare for this large project. Comcast Cares day is one of the nations largest single-day corporate volunteer efforts and Camp Letts was so pleased to be a part!" For more information please contact Nelson Bagnardi at 410-919-1410 or nbagnardi@ymcadc.org

Women's Wellness Weekend - "Camp Letts' 13^th Women's Wellness Weekend had over 75 participants enjoyed activities ranging from Zen Shiatsu Massage, Feldenkrais, Reflexology, Yoga, and Advanced Skin Care; to Waders and Wetlands (our intro to Ecology workshop), Scrapbooking, Beading, Precious Metals, & Clay. The participants enjoyed speakers for varying topics including Time Management, Credit Counseling and Living Life's Pleasures in addition to traditional camp activities such as canoes, archery and tackling the high ropes course and delighting in our fine cuisine!" For more information contact Kathi Seymour at 410-919-1418 or outbind://18-00000000DE669F32BB222443BF3901797F7CE20007004A8A14C7187ECF45A2818B9F2677118E0000037AFC1F00004A8A14C7187ECF45A2818B9F2677118E0000042536D90000/kseymour@ymcadc.org.

Learn to Ask - Westminster Woods Camp & Conference Center (in Occidental, CA) held a project "campaign" for materials to build a playground. With $100,000 of donated supplies and 300 volunteers of every age their were able to build a fantasy-scape that created friendships that will last lifetimes... and those are just between the volunteers! You don't always need money. As my former boss Bob Neal always said, "Them that asks, gets." Take a look at http://www.westminsterwoods.org/Playground.php

How do we teach "experience?" Earlier this summer, a young camp counselor from a YMCA camp died in a car crash with three other friends on her way back from a day off at an amusement park. Alcohol wasn't the issue; but life experience undoubtedly was. Their car crossed the center line on an interstate highway late at night and ran into an oncoming truck. Several years ago 5 young staff at my camp flipped their car over and ran into a utility pole because the driver turned around to respond to joking in the back seat. A couple years ago Y camp staff died when a young counselor in the back seat asked the driver to turn around and blinded him with the flash from his camera. Parents expect their children to survive summer camp; could we do more to make sure that applies to counselors, too? While your experiences are fresh in your mind, please share with me things you think actually helped your staff "listen to their conscience" instead of peer pressure?

"I pledge allegiance to the Earth
and to all life that it nourishes;
to protect life on our planet,
to live in harmony with nature,

and to share our resources justly;
so that all people can live with dignity
in good health and in peace."
(Recited each day by students and teachers at Kawaiaha'o Church School in Honolulu.) Contributed by YMCA Camp Erdman.

A Legend Passes - Willie Schmidt started on the kitchen crew of Camp Dudley (NY) in 1946 when he was 16. Summers as a camp leader, marriage, a PhD, five children, and 7 years as a teacher preceded his selection as Director in 1974, which he then held for 20 years. . Embarking on his annual cross-country reunion tour, Willie delighted in reaching out to Dudley alumni and recruiting youngsters far and wide. The camp's scholarship program, $25,000 when he started, surpassed $250,000 per summer in his 20 years. How far can one person reach? Rob Howard, AIA, is a board member of Camp St Croix (St.Paul, MN YMCA) His opening reflection at a recent camp board meeting was based on these thoughts: "Willie Schmidt and Dudley have had great significance in my life... a mentor and place that has helped make me who I am." -- (Thanks to fellow St Croix board member Skip Wilke).

TRAINING DATES:

"YMCA Resident Camp Director" - This two-day Y-USA course is for those new to the job, or planning to be resident camp directors and executives. Taught by successful camp executives and CEOs, the "Camp Director University" will run Tuesday September 30^th and Wednesday, October 1^st at the Upstate NY Program School in beautiful Buffalo NY in the Adams Mark hotel. Look for more info and registration on the YMCA exchange at the end of this month. For details, contact Penny Snell at psnell@ymcabuffaloniagara.org

7^th Annual Camp Fundraising Symposium - Dec 9-11, 2008 at Frost Valley YMCA, will include separate tracks for Annual Support and Endowment.

National Y Camp Conference rotation:

2009 - Jan       Hosted by "Campfire" at Blue Ridge, NC
2009 - Oct       "Western Y Camps" host at Camp Surf, on the beach in San Diego
2010 - Oct        Y Camp 125^th Anniversary, hosted by NE Y Camps at Silver Bay, NY
2011 - Jan       Mid America - "The MACC" are hosts (location TBA).
2012 - Jan        YMCA Southwest-Texoma ACA (location TBA).

ACCT National Conference - Houston, TX, February 5-8, 2009 contact sylvia@acctinfo.org and see http://www.acctinfo.org/

Outdoor Education Conference --"Teachers Teaching Teachers: T3 - the Outdoor Nudge" February 28 - March 1 Friday noon to Sunday noon, Collin County Adventure Camp (Dallas YMCA) Contact Jim Parry 469.9525600 jimp.ccac@ymcadallas.org

Climbing Rope Recall

HLongino — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:28:00 GMT

New England Ropes issued a recall yesterday (July 29, 2008), in coordination with U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, on two of their dynamic ropes. If you bought climbing ropes from New England Ropes between the dates of August 2006 and May 2008 please read this document and stop using these ropes immediately. If you use climbing ropes at your facility this is a good time to inspect your ropes to be sure they are safe.

New England Ropes issued a recall on the following products:

Maxim's Apogee 9.1mm Dynamic Climbing Line/Rope
Maxim's Pinnacle 9.5mm Blue std Dry Dynamic Climbing Line/Rope

These products were recalled due a fall hazard. The ropes did not pass the 5 fall requirement and pose a greater risk over time. The climbing lines can break, posing a serious fall hazard for climbers.

Product Description

The Maxim Apogee 9.1mm is a 48 carrier climbing rope. The colors are yellow and black, and red and yellow. The model numbers are 3411-91 and 3415-91, with date codes 060801 thru 080601. The UPC codes are: 75396312299, 75396312298, 75396312301, and 75396312300.
The Maxim Pinnacle 9.5mm is a blue 48 carrier climbing rope. The Model number is 3403-95, with date codes 070201 thru 080601. The UPC codes are 75396312292 and 75396312293.
The date codes and the UPC codes are on the original packaging.

If you use these ropes you should immediately stop using them and contact the manufacturer for a free replacement.

More information on this recall may be found here:

New England Ropes - http://www.neropes.com/maxim/recall/
Consumer Product Safety Commission - http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08346.html

Why Camp?

HLongino — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:50:00 GMT

The following article appeared in TIME Magazine on July 3, 2008. It was sent to me by a camping friend. Please enjoy the article.

The Meaning of Summer Camp
Thursday, Jul. 03, 2008 By NANCY GIBBS

I never went away to camp, even though--or maybe because--my father became president of the American Camping Association (ACA) when I was a kid. He liked to joke that my idea of camping was room service. I might have resented this had it been any less true.I suspected it was time to send my daughter off to camp even before the day the power went out in our neighborhood and she and a hungry friend tried to roast a hot dog over a candle. Absent electricity, they spent the days making ankle bracelets and playing board games and writing a play together because no power means no screens, no iChat, no Sims. So I wasn't looking for some fancy culinary camp or robotics camp or whatever is fashionable now, just for someplace that teaches the appropriate interactions of sticks, weenies and flame. With no plugs.

Camps have always reflected children's dreams and parents' fears. In the 1880s, many rising middle-class families worried that industrial society had broken off some piece of the American soul, some tie to the frontier. Boys were growing soft: too much time with their mothers and their teachers, not enough manly activity. So the early camps promised, as a founder put it, to take "weakly boys out into camp life in the woods ... so that the pursuit of health could be combined with the practical knowledge outside usual academic lines."

Those first campers were wilderness tourists; today a wilderness is anyplace without bandwidth. I did send my daughter to tennis camp two years ago, but that didn't really count since it lasted five days and she was allowed to use her cell phone. This defies what I suspect is now the whole point of sleepaway camp: if 19th century campers were meant to retrieve lost survival skills--trapping, fishing, gunnery--21st century campers need to work on their social skills. The winter issue of Camping magazine noted that today's campers are often missing some basic interactive instruments; fantastically digitally aware, they are less familiar with the ideas of sharing their space, their stuff or the attention of the adults around them. For kids who are allowed to text during dinner, who have their parents on speed dial for whenever they get in trouble or need a ride, who communicate using more acronyms than a four-star general, a little autonomy is probably long overdue.

So I applaud the effort of traditional camps to pull the plugs: the ACA found in a 2007 survey that at least 3 out of 4 camps make kids leave their gizmos at home. It probably tells us something that the resistance often comes not from the kids but from Mom and Dad. Parents have been known to pack off their children with two cell phones, so they can hand over one and still be able to sneak off and call. Camp expert Christopher Thurber reports that parents grill directors about why they can't watch their kids' activities from a webcam or reach them by BlackBerry. Services like CampMinder and Bunk1.com do let camps post news and pictures to "help our families to feel as if they are with us at camp," as a Texas camp owner puts it. But that just invites inquiry about why Johnny looks sad or how Jenny's jeans got torn.

Even as they yield in varying degrees to the demands of hovering parents, camps have all sorts of nice ways to tell us our kids need a break from our eager interest and exhausting expectations. Camps talk about building "independence," argue that having kids learn to solve their own problems and turn to peers and counselors for support is a key part of the experience. The implications are clear. They're lighting campfires, hiding and seeking, doing the spooky things campers do that feel wonderfully illicit if just because they involve getting dirtier than usual. Nothing to worry about, Mom.

I'm betting that more and more parents will find that our concern about kids' wired ways overtakes our desire to be in touch. I'll hate not talking to my daughter. But I agree with MIT psychologist Sherry Turkle, who says our gizmos are a "tethering technology," a new kind of apron string, strong albeit wireless, a safety net woven a bit too tight. When colleges report kids explaining their lateness to class with the excuse that their mother forgot their wake-up call, when a professor finds undergraduates communicating with parents more than 10 times a week, I look back on my once-a-week calls home to the parents I was very close to and wonder if this really counts as progress. Maybe it wouldn't be bad to practice distance, not just physical but psychological; let our kids take a walk alone in the woods, maybe do the same ourselves, and relish the fresh conversations we'll get to have when we are together again come summer's end.

You may also find the article here:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1820133,00.html

Summer Camp Facility Tips 2008

HLongino — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:17:00 GMT

As the camping season quickly approaches here are some tips to improve your camp facility. The following tips were sent to me by Gary Forster, Camping Specialist for YMCA of the USA. Please respond to this thread with any questions, comments, or additional tips you have found helpful.

- Howard Longino

Potholes in your entry road (THUNK) are a bad first impression. Don't wait, fill them now. Here's the secret: go to your home improvement warehouse and pick up bags of "cold-patch" or "driveway patch" for asphalt repair. Looks just like asphalt in a bag like concrete mix, but it sets up by drying out instead of cooling off. The trick the pros know that you don't know: rent a "vibrating plate compactor" at your local rental store. The smallest one should do, probably about $45 for 4 hours. Overfill the pothole by an inch or more, and then run the compactor over it ‘till it's smooth as a baby's bottom.

Punch List - Here's a partial list of things worth a "double check" (a list created from my own stays at YMCA camps this time of year!):

Check every shower head for good flow - (they may have gotten clogged over the winter and no-one complained.) New shower heads are only $8; don't be stingy. And dip them on a regular basis in CLR or similar to keep them clear.
Add coat pegs and a shelf next to each shower. (If it was you, where would you hang your towel? Put your toiletry kit? Sit to dry your feet? A $5 resin chair will do).
Knock down all those spider-webs on the outside of your buildings.
Put up some new archery targets; some new nets on the basketball hoops.
Give your maintenance staff some new staff shirts and name tags. (For guests to love your staff, they have to know who they are.) "Clothes Make the Man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." - (Mark Twain.) Another good argument for staff shirts.

Don't Paint Yet - This product is as close to a miracle as I've seen in the grocery store. "Mr. Clean Eraser" can clean scuff marks, squished mosquitoes, and molding root-beer splatter off your cabin or dining hall walls without harming the paint. And ANYONE can do it (unlike painting). http://www.startsampling.com/sm/5161/product.iphtml?item=5161&source=hms

"Don't let the bed-bugs bite!"-Time magazine ran a story that bedbugs where becoming more common. At least two Y camps have reported big problems with the little critters this year. The important thing for us all to know is that they jump their host and set up housekeeping in our cabins, lay eggs, and a new batch hatches in 4 to 12 days to hunt for a "blood feast" to reproduce again. You must take aggressive action early, or they will go home with your campers, too. Check out http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/entfacts/struct/ef636.htm for more on the buggers, and this one for how to deal with them: http://www.ymcaexchange.org/front/programs/camping/risk/bedbugs_2004-04-26.aspx

Cookin' dem Bugs - Heat is the most effective way to eradicate bed bugs, and many exterminators don't offer it. Dave Wright of Camp Tecumseh sent us this example of a commercial solution: http://www.e-hospitality.com/content/news/article.asp?docid=b14cd4eb-2543-4401-a24e-58a8686ad865&atc~c=771+s=773+r=001+l=a

Flag It - Here's my annual push to make your camp look welcoming on opening day:

Have your campers (or parents) plant flowers. Ask parents to contribute "divisions" of their own daylilies from home. (They'll last forever.)
Hide (or throw out) the piles of "useful stuff for some future project."
Buy a few strings of used-car-lot pennant strings, a "welcome" banner, and some 2'x3' pennant flags in the character colors. One source: http://www.carrot-top.com/catalog/Pennant-Strings,926.aspx
Have you seen that sign "Caution: Future World and Community Leaders at Work and Play"? You can buy one at: http://www.ssgecom.com/scripts/wgate/znec79c81f06/~flNlc3Npb249UFJPRDE6UFJPRF9BR0FURTJCOjAwMDEuMDA2Yi40MjljZDM3Zi5hYzJlJn5odHRwX2NvbnRlbnRfY2hhcnNldD1pc28tODg1OS0xJn5TdGF0ZT0zMTEzOC4wMDQuMDQuMDM=?%0d%0a~okcode=PIDET&G_SEL_SITEMID=M1MO240&catalog=BSN&~target=_parent

Well Water Stink Like Rotten Eggs? If you've already got a water softener and an iron filter, the reason is almost always in your hot water tank. To keep tanks from rusting out they come with a "sacrificial anode," a long rod that's screwed down into the tank that's made of a material like magnesium that dissolves first so the steel in the tank doesn't. But hard well water reacts with it and creates that horrible smell. This article tells you exactly how to fix it with an easy-to-get replacement anode that doesn't stink.

http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/pages/WHRpages/English/Longevity/water-heater-anodes.html

Add Some Color - How do your camp shower-rooms look? Steve Heiny at Flat Rock River Camp (Indianapolis YMCA) had some pretty sad looking bathrooms, even with a new coat of white paint. He went to Wal-Mart (they're too far out in the boonies to have a Bed, Bath & Beyond) and got some beautifully colored shower curtains and matching window curtains. Amazing how they brightened up! Contact Steve at sheiny@indymca.org.

Flags and Pennants - "Welcome" flags for your front gate, "Open" flags for your trading post, used-car pennant strings to liven up check-in, 2x3' flags in the 4 character colors... quick and inexpensive ways to make your camp look fresh and welcoming. One source, http://www.carrot-top.com/

The Real Facts on Norovirus - the "cruise ship virus" affects more camps every summer. Here's the link to the CDC's easy-to-understand information. It's spread primarily by people not washing their hands, especially before meals. Your foodservice, maintenance, and counseling staff should learn this just as they learn about blood-born pathogens: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/gastro/norovirus.htm

Tell People Where to Go -- Need a LOT of routed wood signs for your camp? This was featured on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" on April 27^th. It's a computer-driven 3-D router by Craftsman that can handle materials up to 14 inches wide, 4.5" thick, and any length. Any font, logo, etc. Format it on a computer, touch a button and it takes over. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00921754000P

Rusty Tools Make Your Shop Look Sloppy? - "We filled a 5 gallon pail with sand and used motor oil. Every time a shovel, spade, clippers, etc. comes back it gets a few dips in the bucket where the sand scrapes it clean and the oil protects it from rust. It even works when stuff gets left in the rain by a "work" crew!" Pat Murphy, YMCA Camp Sturtevant WI ymcacamp1@yahoo.com

Critter Huntin' - Camp Weona (Buffalo YMCA) has a nifty little bridge over their creek. Bridges are kid-magnets. Every kid loves to hunt for salamanders and crayfish in that creek, and they obey this sign: "Rule of Threes: you can hold it in a wet hand and look at it for three minutes, show it to three people, don't walk more than three steps, and then let it go where you found it. Green is for Responsibility, like for the Earth."

"Carpetball sensation" - If you haven't seen this yet, get someone on it! A perfect volunteer construction project (my son and I built two in a day). http://www.duke.edu/~mfc5/ultracarpetballplans/ Now that they're installed at camp, it's a huge it. My only suggestion: we built one to the same dimensions as the plans, which is ideal for adults and teens. But we built the second one 6" lower, which works much better for most kids. Thanks to Camp Tecumseh for discovering this great activity!

More New Photos - Share some of the excitement of camping innovation with your staff through the great ideas at http://www.ymcaexchange.org/photos (Username "YMCA", password "9622"). New albums include outdoor activities, signs, rustic cabins, yurts, and porches. The most popular album so far is "Places to Make Friends."

Ask the kids -- One of the coolest things I ever saw was a cabin activity where the campers were asked to design their ideal camp from the ground up. Kids would brainstorm first with the director; talking about the "stuff" they wanted. Then each camper drew one or more of the "things" on to 8 ½ x 11" sheets of paper. Finally the group arranged the facilities and activity areas on a roll of newsprint into a "site map" and filled in the water, paths, etc (An incredible rainy-day activity).

For instance, camp Kitaki had their kids meet with the architect who was designing their new bath-house. The kids' number one request? "Have the toilets be the self-flushing kind like at the airport" (and you know why!) The architect did a fine job with the design, but when it was submitted for bids the camp director Chris Klingenberg noticed that regular toilet valves had been specified. The architect's response: "I didn't think the kids were serious." The director made sure the kids were listened to! -- CKlingenberg@ymcalincoln.org

Does Purell® Work? - A quick search on Google® for "Alcohol Hand Sanitizer Norovirus" yields the positive research results on using hand sanitizers like Purell before meals (yes, it works), and answers to almost any question you might get from staff and parents.

"Cleanup on Isle Five" - A poster to print out on how to sanitize surfaces: http://www.epi.hss.state.ak.us/id/dod/norovirus/sanitize.pdf

Black Fly problems? Gnats, no-see-em's, whatever you've got, they can ruin springtime. Here's an outdoorsman's tip I recently leaned: Get some duct tape and position several strips on the top of a ball cap sticky side out. Those nasty critters fly around your head and get stuck to the tape. Kids will be amazed at how many they collect! Have competitions! Guess why one person attracts more than another! All in the name of scientific exploration!

What's in a name? A reason for fantasy and adventure! The Southington/Cheshire CT YMCA's Sloper Day Camp knows the values of naming places. One end of their small canoeing lake is "Turtle's Paradise, where turtles go on vacation!" They have a hillside where kids can dig for small quartz crystals called "The Crystal Mine," (including a cool sign), and their lookout/treehouse platform across the lake is called "Pirate Point." They even have a "Wiffle-Ball Stadium" complete with a "Green Monster" outfield wall (can you tell the Red Sox are the local favorites?) for kids to hit home-runs over. Now that's magical!

Healthy Grass - we had a turf expert at the maintenance conference this year that went into depth (literally) on the right and wrong ways to get more durable, drought-resistant grass around camp. Turns out most of us do five things wrong (blame your dad for teaching you bad habits).

First, we don't cut the grass often enough. You've heard never to cut more than the third of the length of the grass (So if you want 2" grass you have to cut it at 3"). "What happens when I let it go to 7" before I cut? It's still 2" when I'm done." But it puts the plant into such shock that it stops replacing roots and growing new blades, so it's much easier damaged beyond repair.

Mistake number two, we use high-nitrogen (that's the first number on the bag) to "green up" the lawn. That stuff works like steroids and makes the blades grow incredibly fast (which makes it IMPOSSIBLE to keep up with the mowing at 1/3 of the length), and it does nothing to help root growth.

Number three? Sharpen the blades after every 10 hours of use. Dull blades rip and tear the blades, letting the grass lose moisture as those rough ends brown.

When we do cut the grass, we often cut it too short. The shorter the blades, the shorter the roots they can support, so if you cut it down to 1" high, you'll get only an inch or less of roots, and it will dry out and die. Keep it at 2 ½ or 3" and you get roots down deep to the cooler, moister soil.

Finally, dad took the hose and gave the lawn a quick watering, or moved the sprinkler around often. That encourages root growth only at the surface and not down deep (again, the roots get damaged too easily when they're short and the plants dry out too quickly). If you're going to water (and doing that once or at most twice a week is a very good thing), make sure your sprinklers are on long enough to soak the soil down past the roots; and the roots will grow down deep because it stays moist longer there.

"There's No Way I've got time for all of this!" You don't need this level of care everywhere, just in the places kids actually play on the grass

Good turf isn't just important for looks, it's the primary safety equipment when kids are playing field games. It's important to take care of it for risk management reasons. That should get you a few more dollars each year to do another thing more useful than fertilizer: core- aeration every spring and fall. Soil gets compacted from foot and vehicle traffic, which chokes off new growth. Either renting the machine for a day or paying a service to plug your most important fields will help protect new root growth, let water get down deeper, and even let in seed you throw on top. Got a real problem area? The golf courses spread sand after they've plugged so that twice a year they're improving the sand/soil ratio and the aeration does long-term good, too.

ACA Camps Call to Action - Background Checks

HLongino — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:08:00 GMT

Recently I received an email from Susan Yoder, Staff Liaison of ACA's Public Policy Committee (see link below). American Camp Association is advocating changes in the Child Protection Improvements Act of 2008. This congressional bill would allow camps access to fingerprint-based FBI criminal record checks of staff and volunteers if enacted. Please read the email below and take the time to act. As we see the incidence rate of abuse growing each year, we want to do everything we can to create the safe environments for children at camps; this is a great way to get involved in the public policy decisions which give us more resources to keep kids safe.

Last year alone, The Redwoods Group investigated over 450 allegations of abuse at YMCAs, JCOs and their camps. Nationwide statistics tell us that each year there are approximately 80,000 reported cases of child sexual abuse, and what we know from years of investigations and studying the data is that nearly 95% of all allegations are true. How does this happen? First, predators are excellent interviewers...when was the last time you had a prospective employee respond to you, "I want to work at camp because I want to sexually abuse kids." Second, only 44% of background checks are fully accurate. This legislation will help to close that gap. Get involved today so that you can better protect your campers tomorrow. http://www.acacamps.org/publicpolicy/cbcresources.php

Make it fun, make it meaningful, keep 'em safe!

Howard

For more information and resources on abuse prevention, visit our website www.redwoodsgroup.com

We need your help to reach our goals of getting camps access to timely, affordable, finger-print based criminal background checks!

The Child Protection Improvements Act of 2008 is a bill in both the Senate (S 2756) and the House of Representatives (HR 5606). Implementation of the bill would mean that camps would have access to fingerprint-based FBI criminal records checks of their staff and volunteers. This bill is important to the camp community because currently forty-one states do not allow you access to the FBI—and for those that do, it is prohibitively expensive and often takes weeks or months to get the results.

We are asking everyone to PHONE their legislators to ask them to sign on as co-sponsors of the bill. The more co-sponsors that are secured, the better the chances that the bills will be passed into law.

We’ve set up a very easy process and support information for you to make your calls. Simply go online for all the information.

http://www.acacamps.org/publicpolicy/cbcresources.php

Please act today as the Judiciary Committee in the Senate is meeting this week, and we need as many co-sponsors as possible.

If you have any questions about this call to action, please contact me at the ACA National Office.

Sincerely,

Susan Yoder

Susan E. Yoder, IOM
Staff Liaison, ACA Public Policy Committee
800-428-2267
syoder@ACAcamps.org

www.ACAcamps.org
www.CampParents.org

9 Steps to Camp Safety

HLongino — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:39:00 GMT

We recently held a camp safety presentation at the ACA 2008 National Conference in Tennessee. This presentation included 9 steps for staff to help make your camp safe this summer. These tips proved to be very effective and are included in the 2008 Camp Safety Training. The 9 steps are:

Just do your job
Supervise
Mind the gap
Counselors guard too
Scanning
Buddies are lifeguards
Progressive discipline
We don’t catch abusers abusing...
Care like crazy

Please read the attached presentation as each step will go into more detail. Furthermore, this is a great opportunity to create discussion in preparation for the summer. Please reply to this thread below by writing a comment in the appropriate box. We would love to hear your thoughts on each step or even steps you may take with your own staff. What are some practices you have to prevent child abuse or improve aquatics safety? The best learning is from experience. Thanks and have a fun and safe summer!

Attachment: 9 Steps

Attachment: Full Presentation

You may need to download a PDF reader to view these presentations. You may download a free reader from Adobe. You may click on the links above to view the presentation or right click the link then select "Save Target As..." to download the presentation. Please use the Contact button above for downloading questions or difficulty.

View the Waterfront Safety Webinar

HLongino — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 22:09:00 GMT

Below is a recorded version of the Waterfront Safety webinar. Feel free to share this with your waterfront staff. This is the same version as you will find on the Waterfront Webinar post dated April 4, 2008

I hope you find this a helpful resource for your Waterfront Directors and staff. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me directly on the blog or through the contacts page above.

http://www.redwoodsgroup.com/ymcas/webinars.asp

Howard

Waterfront Safety Webinar

HLongino — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:57:00 GMT

On March 27, 2008 we hosted a webinar on waterfront safety at camps. The presentation included preferred practices and data based statistics for the safe operation, programming and staff management of waterfronts. If you didn’t attend the webinar, you can download the powerpoint presentation. At the end of this post there is a link title "Attachment", select this link to download the file; we are hoping to have the audio from the webinar available soon.

Briefly, lets examine some of the practices we recognize as best-in-class practices on camp waterfronts…

Every child is swim tested and marked according to ability

The swim test matches the water exposure at your camp…a camp with little or no aquatics programming other than 1 hour swimming each day in a pool will have different needs in its test than a camp who operates extensive aquatics programming
The swim test includes swimming, treading water and deep-water plunge-to-recovery at a minimum

Non-Swimmers require extra safety controls

Increased Supervision Ratios AND
Should be limited to shallow water only (less than 48” Max) AND
Wearing a properly fitted and donned USCG PFD (lifejacket) OR
Should be directly supervised by in-water staff (max ratio 3:1)

Lifeguards scan according to the 10/10 and/or 10/3 rule of scanning

This should be observable and documented as part of regular observations by leadership staff

Look to see that head is moving
Verify that there are no blind spots for each guard

All areas of the waterfront may be directly observed (ie no blind spots, no distances too great to render AR within 3 minutes)
Lifeguards rotate positions approximately every 15 minutes
Lifeguards get a 10 minutes break between swim periods
Scanning drills should be conducted at each program area in the waterfront to ensure the effectiveness of each guard’s scanning and recognition skills
Drills should activate the Emergency Action Plan for the specific emergency being drilled

Missing camper from the waterfront
Boat adrift with no campers in it
“Camper” unconscious in the water with a sail boat nearby (think head injury)

Guards who cannot meet the guidelines are removed from duty until additional training is completed
Non-lifeguard staff at the waterfront provide supervision and camper control function (rule enforcement) so that lifeguards may focus on preventing drownings

Leadership Staff Support Waterfront

Staffing with appropriate numbers
Ensure skills at start of summer
In-service training (at least 4 hours each month)

Skills based training – rescues, scanning, CPR, EAP
This is not a safety meeting or fitness time

Ensures proper equipment is onsite

Personal Equipment (polarized glasses, sun hat, umbrella, water for hydration)
Rescue equipment (rescue board, rescue craft, rescue tube/can, mask, fins, etc)
Safety Equipment (First Aid/CPR, O2, AED, Bullhorn w/ working batteries, etc)
PPE for guards (mask, gloves, safety goggles)
Equipment is fit for use and regularly maintained/checked (documented at least every other week)

Regular observations and audits (documented)

Every child is accounted for at all times on the waterfront

Buddy Checks

Every 5 to 6 minutes
Buddies held accountable for each other at all times (“where is your buddy?”)
No Truddies

Check-in/out is 100% accurate 100% of the time

Discrepancies activate the EAP
Monitored and managed by staff

Missing Campers

Regular drills including “live” drills
Initiate water search with land search as part of EAP
Every staff understands and can execute his/her role in the EAP
Campers understand their role in the EAP (we need everyone’s cooperation to do this right)

Play structures

Adequately staffed to see all sides (no blind spots)
Following manufacturers guidelines for safe use at a minimum
10/3 rule is validated (I can see everything in the zone and render aid)

Boating

Boating staff are trained to teach campers safe boating practices
Boating staff receive documented training and orientation
Staff possess skills, training, and experience to lead campers and teach program effectively and safely
Staff possess relevant certifications (USCG, US Waterskiing, ARC, US Sailing/ASA, ACA)
Communication plan must be in place
EAP must be drilled

These are highlights of a great waterfront program; while we have made every effort to be thorough, there are items which could be missed in any list of practices. So, where do we go from here? Well, the powerpoint presentation attached is a starting point for all of us. The next best step may be to take a critical look at your camp’s waterfront operations. We welcome your questions, comments and thoughts about what is happening on your camp. In this blog we will “compare notes” to first learn what’s going on out there and second to identify some creative ways which you have worked to meet the preferred practices.Obviously each camp has different facilities and program goals, but as you consider your camp’s programs on the waterfront take a close look at where you fit into these preferred practices. Talk with your Redwoods Group Risk Manager and with your colleagues about how you can move the ball forward in continuing to build the culture of safety on your waterfront. Until the next post…may clear skies, mild breezes and happy campers greet you each day!

Attachment: Webinar Presentation