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
If the rivers drain
into the oceans, why don’t the oceans
fill up and overflow? Big rivers
dump stadiums full of water into the oceans.
The greatest runoff occurs in areas of the
world with the most precipitation, such
as the rainy tropics with their torrential
monsoons. Some rivers in the tropics can
pour out 700,000 cubic feet of water each
second.
To understand why the oceans
don’t simply overflow, it helps to
think of an ocean as a fountain in a public
square. In a fountain, water sprays into
a basin. But the basin doesn’t overflow,
because water is pulled up from the basin
to spurt out of the top of the fountain
once again. The water continuously recycles.
It’s the same with oceans and earth.
Water rains down on the land and flows into
the oceans. But on the surface of the oceans,
water continuously escapes into the sky–a
process known as “evaporation.”
Molecule by molecule, water breaks free
from the oceans, saturating the air and
forming clouds. Clouds drop rain and snow,
causing runoff on the land. And water from
the land makes its way back to the oceans
in pouring rivers. And the cycle continues.
Next question:
Does air weigh anything? |
Fishing Village Update–Inches
away from completion!
 The
lighthouse is finished; the cabins have
beds; the shower building works; street
lights and park benches look good; and
the connecting walkways are in place.
The gazebo/washstand is a real landmark
with its red roof, cupola, and weather
vane as is the lighthouse which is painted
in Girl Scout colors of blue/white/green.
Tidying up and grounds cleanup are the
final touches now in process.
The photos shown here were taken as close
to publication date as possible, but they
soon become dated. Watch for photos of
the final project in the next edition.
 An
additional fun thing in the village is
that the buildings are named as well as
numbered: A1 = Tackle Shop, A2 = Turtle
Shack, A3 = Brig, B1 = General Store,
B2 = Canoe Rental, B3 = Boat Repair, Leader’s
Cabin= Captain’s Quarters.
It will definitely be a fun unit and
I’m looking forward to it being
full of girls every weekend.
Camp Casa Mare Improvements
When you come to Casa Mare this summer
you will notice the lodge has a new, fresh
look about it. The fascia has been replaced
and each column has been rebuilt. Fire
ants and unseen water penetration made
it necessary to repair/replace much of
these materials. The ants came up through
the expansion joints in the slab thereby
giving no clue that they were there until
the damage was done. What a surprise when
it was discovered during what was supposed
to be a minor scheduled repair.
The Carriage House also underwent repairs
on the first floor exterior/interior wall.
In this case termites penetrated the building
unseen (none of the telltale signs that
normally give away their presence were
there), again through the slab. The Carriage
House was built as part of the original
property in the early 1900s and refurbished
and redesigned on several different occasions.
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