The Golden Link - February 2004 Volume 30 Issue 2   

Around Camp
Girl Scout camps are the best place to be year-round

by GSSJC Facilities Director
Bob Spaeth

Girl Scout Camps
Agnes Arnold, Aranna,
Camwood, Casa Mare,
Misty Meadows, Robinwood,
Silver Springs, Whispering Pines

Readers can contact the Facilities Department by calling Director Bob Spaeth at 713-292-0208 or
e-mail bspaeth@sjgs.org.

Grandpa Bob’s Brain Teasers

What causes waves in the water? If you’ve ever spent some time near a body of water, then you have noticed that on a calm day there are very few waves in the water, and on a windy or stormy day there are many waves.
This explains what causes waves in the water. It is the wind. The size of a wave depends on the strength of the wind and the distance it has to travel before it’s own weight causes it to collapse on itself or it gets close to shore. As the bottom of a water wave strikes the ground a short distance from the beach, it slows up because of friction. The top keeps going, and then topples over, and thus forms a “breaker.”
This explains why the largest waves are found in the open ocean. There is plenty of distance for a wave to travel and storms (wind source) can be very strong.

Here’s another question:
What is the Gulf Stream?

Job jars located at Council camps

More and more troops coming to camp ask if there is a service project they can perform while they are there for the weekend. You can imagine with the numbers of folks coming into Girl Scout camps each weekend that it is difficult to have enough to do for everyone. That, and the limited amount of time each troop has to devote to a project limits the type of activity that can be identified and made available. Council really likes to provide something to do that can be completed and makes a contribution to the camp itself.

A solution has been found. Camps Whispering Pines, Robinwood, Silver Springs, Agnes Arnold, Misty Meadows, and Casa Mare now have job jars at their check in locations. The jars have slips of paper in them with different jobs on each one. You may reach in and pick one out and accomplish that task while you are in camp that weekend. The jobs are simple enough that they can be completed in an hour or so but still challenging enough so that you will have made a measurable contribution to the camp where you are staying.

If you don’t like the jobs available then make a suggestion and we’ll see if it is doable while your troop is there. No, we will not be painting buildings, paving roads, building bridges, or doing anything that cannot be accomplished during a weekend stay with a little good will and extra energy.
Hopefully the job jar will be useful in assisting a troop to find a job that they will enjoy completing.

Fishing village update

At this writing the first cabin is being framed in. There is a green roof on the kitchen shelter and cement blocks (walls) are being set in the shower building. It’s beginning to look like something now. All the underground work (water, sewer, electrical) that no one sees but must be done first is all in place. Progress will be easier to follow now with all the work being above ground.

The fishing pier is completed, and the shelter on the dock is in except for the finished roof. It is 30 feet out into the water where the fishing should be pretty good and it will be easy to tie up canoes when they arrive at the village. Everyone involved is getting pretty excited as the fishing village takes shape.

Snake Island receives bulk heading

Snake Island has been eroding little by little over an extended period of time. Those who have been to Camp Agnes Arnold are familiar with the island. It is connected to shore by the Over The Rainbow Bridge and is a great place to fish, canoe around, or just sit on one of the benches on the docks and enjoy the breeze that seems to always be blowing.

The island occasionally goes under water during exceptionally heavy storms and a little bit of its top and sides washes away each time this happens. In recent years this process seems to have speeded up a bit. Some tree roots are more exposed now and there is little ground cover to hold the soil in place.

Part of the fishing village project required bringing a barge onto the lake in order to drive pilings into the lake bottom for the fishing pier. While it was already here we used it to drive pilings around Snake Island to support bulk heading that would solve the erosion issue. This is what was done and the island is now completely bulk headed and safe from future problems that could result from its being submerged. The island will go under water on those occasions that storms are severe enough, but it will survive much better and be with us for a long time to come.