By Dylan McDonough
When was the last time history came alive for you? I was really excited for this Camp Roger, my outdoor classroom. Our theme was supposed to be called Adventurers, but because of little snow, they switched topics and our theme for the day was Historians. I met up with my two best friends there, Asher and Avery, ready for a great day.
We started with a devotional about working hard and doing it for the Lord. The illustration used was a burrowing naked mole rat found in parts of East Africa. These rats have two digging teeth they use to make their burrows. Naked mole rats are hard workers. We should look to their example. God created these animals to work. Everyone has work to do. As it says in the Bible, when you do work, do it for the Lord.
During our first adventure we learned about Native American kids with Hannah. Young Indians played games to help them learn survival skills. We played a game called “Flinch”. This taught us to remain calm when a predator may attack. I had lots of fun playing this game and will always remain calm if I encounter a wild animal.
Afterwards, we went to the archery area called “Broken Arrow”. Hannah instructed us with the basic rules. I shot my arrow at the very bottom edge of the target. I was very happy that I at least hit it. Then our group played Silent Walk. When we were finished, the Blazing Bobcats came back to Boy’s Hill for snack, where we had delicious hot chocolate and some raisins.
Mary Jo was our leader for our second adventure. We learned about conservation. On the ground was a plastic crate full of orange cards that said either FUR, GAS & OIL or WOOD. These are four main natural resources from Michigan’s past. We had to spread the cards around the ground. We then formed into teams of four. Mary Jo selected a card and told us about that item. Did you know that if you took all of the trees in Michigan, cut them into planks and stacked them they would reach the moon? There is even a rule in Michigan that if you cut down a tree, you have to plant two new trees. After she explained the
card, we ran around trying to find those cards. We did this until there were not any cards left, as if we ran out of these resources. Our team got the most cards.
Our next project was to make the outline of the map of Michigan (the upper and lower peninsulas). We divided ourselves into two groups with two orange ropes. I was helping to make the Upper Peninsula (the U.P.) I must say, when we finished, the outline of the U.P. looked quite fat! This led to my favorite part of the day, an ultimate tug-of-war! Everyone was straining to hold on, and I was not even touching the ground! Our strength was giving out. I was holding on for dear life! Suddenly in one mighty tug, we got our opponent across the line!
After that very stressful battle we went back for lunch. Asher, Calvin, Dylan L. and I ate at a lopsided table on a hill.
We went with Julia in the final event to learn how pioneers lived. We hiked way out to the edge of Camp Roger until we got to Indian Joe’s property. When he was alive, he had put barbed wire all around his land. He only let the Camp Roger kids through his property. But how? He had cut a small hole through the barbed wire called Fat Man’s Misery. Only kids could squeeze through. Now, we were trying to find out if someone used to live in Camp Roger. Our first clue was a rock called “Sweat Rock”. This rock was always warmer than the outside temperature. In the winter it would be the only rock not covered in snow. The staff at Camp Roger dug around it to find out what made it warmer. They discovered that it was a huge boulder! It was warm because a stream was running underneath it. Because of this stream, a settler might choose this place for building a house. The second clue was an old apple tree. A third clue was a dugout with rocks around it which could have been a basement cellar. Nearby was a grassy area where cattle could have fed. Maple trees supplied sap for maple syrup. We walked a little farther near the lake where settlers could drink and fish from. Near the lake was a small apple orchard. For a final clue, there were wavy bumps in the ground that may have been plowed. What do you think? The answer was that nobody knows for sure, but it sure seems that way.
We then went into a dark cabin that looks like a chicken coop. Julia explained what it would be like to be a settler long ago. You would start the day by trying to light a fire before the sun rose. You only lit one candle to give you light. You
would usually have johnny cakes for breakfast. They would spend most of their day doing things to survive. You might not have any dinner if you did not work.
We all came back to Boy’s Hill for some picture books. The first book was about a naked mole rat, which we learned about earlier, called “Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed”. This is a very funny book about one mole who is very different. Another book was called “That is Not a Good Idea”. It is about a tempting fox trying to lure a goose in for dinner. Then Hannah read one of my favorites, “The Book with No Pictures”. A completely boring story, or is it? The last story was “Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs”, a very funny version of the original. I recommend all of these books to you.
This was a thrilling Camp Roger. I like learning about Michigan, what it was like to be a pioneer, and how to survive as an Indian. This was my favorite Camp Roger day of them all because every activity was great and I got to share it with friends
