Summer Camp Trial Run

Greetings, fair Sherwoodians!

This past weekend was an exciting time indeed for the budding Sherwood Forest Summer Camp.  We are excited that in our inaugural year around 40 lucky youngsters are already signed up!

This being a new adventure for the denizens of Sherwood Forest, we thought it best to have a trial run of several of the Summer Camp classes that involve lots of hands-on tutelage.  We wanted to simulate the class environments partly to see what the class material was like before it was delivered to the students, partly so teachers could be sure that their classes fit into their timeslots, and partly for teachers to get the hang of dealing with disruption.  Some of our counselors, teachers from other classes, and volunteers gleefully provided numerous examples of such.

We started our morning at 7am with a staff meeting where many of us got to meet each other for the first time.  Our Summer Camp Staff comprises actors, vendors, staff members, and patrons of Sherwood Forest Faire as well as one or two who have never set foot on site before! It’s always very exciting to have new friends in our midst!  Visit the Meet the Staff page if you’d like to learn more about us.

After the meeting, we spent time in several classes, around an hour each.  They were Candlemaking (led by Mr. Dave), Blacksmithing (Mr. Tiger), Archery (Mr. Cody), and Pottery (Mr. Rick).  Along for the ride were a couple of campers, so that we could get kids’ feedback on the classes instead of just assuming we knew what they would say.  We won’t talk too much about the exact crafts we worked on – wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise for the lordlings and ladylings!

Here are a couple of photos from Blacksmithing.  (Bear in mind that the kids are required to wear jeans and fireproof gloves)

And some Archery:

After the morning classes, we spent some time debriefing and sharing best practices on how one herds kids from place to place quickly enough so they have time for restroom breaks, water refills, and are able to arrive on time. We considered the use of wheelbarrows, but only 1-2 kids could fit in each.  Then we thought hot-air balloons, but they might get caught in the lovely tree canopy, slowing everyone down… not to mention the fact that they are not medieval.  Finally, we decided that we’d rely on positive encouragement, and perhaps a faerie-back ride in a pinch.

Our next adventure was lunch; sadly, it was not akin to the delicious food planned for the campers by Como Ristorante Italiano – be sure to visit our Meals page to see what yummies are in store.

On the heels of lunch came our multiple-hour CPR and First Aid class.  All who were able to be present are now certified, as will be all our staff before we open.  In fact, we became so adept that we fully expected to be able to wake this little guy from his eternal slumber.

Alas – our hopes were dashed, and he went home in the trainer’s suitcase, as he arrived.

After the CPR and First Aid training, we did what was arguably the most important activity of the day – beta tested the brand new swimming pool!  At 18′ x 45′ and 22,000 gallons capacity, there is enough room for quite a few whippersnappers needing to cool off!  It is around 4 1/2 feet deep and of course we will be administering the quick swim test that the state requires before anyone gets to play in there.  We practiced testing each other, and we practiced several games as well – including the old standby, Marco Polo.

After swimming our adventure resumed with a foray into Leatherworking, led by Ms. Rebecca.  She gave us some very interesting history about leather and its many uses before letting us dive in to her baskets of leather.

At that point we stopped for dinner, and then we ended the evening with Ms. Cat, with whom we learned some of the art of stained glass breaking.  Luckily your kids are more dextrous than we are and will be able to make a beautiful object (not tellin’ what!) rather than breaking things!

We are thrilled about the upcoming Summer Camp session, and honored that you have entrusted us with the care of your kids for a week.  We will teach and nurture them, and give them a week full of adventures and positive experiences rare in today’s modern society.  We have so many surprises in store for them!  And what a novelty – without their ever-present mobile phones available, when something exciting happens instead of posting all over Facebook and Twitter they will have to turn to their neighbor and have a conversation in the “real world”.  There is something poetic about sending your kids to a fantasy world for a little dose of reality, isn’t there?

Please visit our website during Summer Camp week for updates and photos of the kids’ adventures!

It is not too late to sign your child up.  Please visit the various pages in the Summer Camp section (refer to the menus just below our banner at the top of the page) for more information, and contact Corene Roberts, the Summer Camp Director, at corene@sherwoodforestsummercamp.com if you have any questions.

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