New Pictures on Flickr!

mimic
Originally uploaded by Darke County Parks on Flickr

Check out the new pictures on Darke County Parks' Flickr page! If you have pics of any of the DCParks, this is the place to upload them! Show the world how great your photography skills are and show off YOUR Parks!

PLUS, with the ongoing Photo Competition (look for a Blog posting on this in the future), why not enter at the same time?!

Check out the rest of the photos here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/dcparks/

10-12 year olds have a BLAST at Camp!

Twelve 10-12 year olds became experts at padding and surviving the outdoors during the 2009 Kayaks, Canoes and Camping Summer Camp.

We started the week off with Canoe and Kayak Training at a local pond. The campers learned different ways to paddle which includes forward power stroke, forward sweep, backward stoke, and backward sweep. Also, they learned the proper way to board the canoe or kayak using three points of contact such as both hands and a foot. The campers also enjoyed playing games with rubber ducks and sponges during training on the pond.

On Wednesday we enjoyed a scenic canoe float down Greenville Creek. The water was a bit low during our creek float which made some sections of the creek very challenging, however after much scraping, heaving and grunting, we were able to manage!

To wrap up the end of the camp week we pitched our tents at Lake Loraine State Park. While at the state park we enjoyed taking a hike, swimming, and an evening canoe float around the lake and connecting channels. The canoe float provided many glimpses of local wildlife, including gulls, Great Blue Herons and blooming buttonbush shrubs.

Campers learned to prepare meals over a campfire during this camp. Dinner consisted of beef, green peppers, potatoes, carrots all wrapped in foil and placed in the fire to cook.Mmmm, good stuff! Dessert included Apple Pies made on camping pie-irons and smores (of, course!)!

If your 10-12 year old missed out this year, be sure to check out our camps for next summer.

8 & 9 Summer Camp 2009

Woodland Survival Camp at the Darke County Parks’ was another week of success for the Parks. We had fifteen 8-9 year olds who enjoined learning about how an individual would survive in the wildness. The week consisted of Shelter Building 101, Fire Starting, Compass and Water, Medicine, Food Gathering and Archery.

Monday morning introduced campers to the theme of the week... survival when lost! During Shelter Building 101 the campers worked in small groups to construct a single person shelter.

Campers met a "200 year-old Longhunter" who has been living in Shawnee Prairie Preserve since the 1790's looking for Fort Greenville...

On Tuesday, we determined numerous different ways to make a primitive fire, which consisted of Fire Trough, Hand-Drill, Bow-Drill, Flint and Steel, and an Air Force designed Blast Match. We also began building our group shelters, which were finish by Friday.

Compasses were used on Wednesday to locate their team’s bucket of water, which is the most important item for life. Jewel-weed Tincture is a medicine that we made this week after we gathered the top 1/3 portion of the Jewel-weed plant. Jewel-weed Tincture is used to take the itch/sting out of poison ivy; mosquitoes; wasps/bee; etc.

To wrap up the week we gathered several food items such as mulberries, Danelien flowers, Red Clover Flowers, which were added into cornbread. Other ‘wild foods’ were tried throughout the week including Mint Tea and Mealworm Chocolate Cookies! The Woodland Survival Campers also enjoyed the archery range on Friday to simulate food gathering tools.

The children were excited each and everyday to explore what else they could use to survive if they were lost in the wilderness.

Can you find the shelter in this picture?

Team 1's Shelter

Team 2's Shelter

8 & 9 Year old camp is over... see you next year!