And You Think You Invented the Snipe Hunt

As I heard and read of many of my granddaughter's girl's camp experiences this summer I was reminded of my own years as a member of the Church's Young Women's program. And yes, camping was part of the program even way back then. Having grown up in Utah, however, the Church owned their own campsite at Brighton in Big Cottonwood Canyon. If you're picturing a large area among big pine trees with individual camp areas with fire pits and cleared area for pitching tents, you are only half right. The area was beautiful with tall pines and a mountain view, but no tents. We "camped" in a large two story log lodge perched on the mountain side. We had rooms shared by four girls, bathrooms, dining hall, and an activity room with a large fireplace. It doesn't sound much like camping, does it? And it wasn't, really. We never learned outdoor camping skills like you do today. We never learned how to pitch a tent, cook over a fire, dig a latrine, live for a day on what you could carry in a backpack, administer first-aid, etc. What we were taught at camp was a love of nature and an appreciation for all of God's creations. So rather than going on long hikes, we would go on "nature walks" where we learned to identify different trees and plants, look for and enjoy the wild life in the mountains, watch an early morning sunrise and an evening sunset, and just learn to notice and appreciate the beauty of the world that surrounded us.

At night we would gather around a large outdoor campfire, sitting on logs that were permanently placed around it. There we learned and sang camp songs which I still remember today. In fact some of my children may remember my singing these songs to them when they were little. Do you remember: "The Cannibal King", "Red Wings", and "Snowball" (this one would probably not be permitted today because it would be considered a violation of race etiquette, but I thought it was very sweet)? These are the words. You be the judge.
"O, Mammy, Mammy, tell me...About those white folks 'chilluns'.
Why do they call me Snowball...When Snowball ain't my name.
My Mammy calls me Sugar Lump. My Pappy calls me Apple Dump.
O, Mammy, Mammy, aint it a shame...That Snowball ain't my name.
And, yes, we would tell ghost stories.

We had a lot of fun activities, too, at camp. It was the custom to take all first-year Beehives on a "Snipe" hunt at night. (And you thought it was your generation who invented the "Snipe Hunt"! Not so.) And it was here at Girl's Camp that I learned all about shy Brownies who leave treats on the trees for visitors to "their" mountains. As old as we were, we were taken on a Brownie Hike to gather the goodies. And we loved it. Brownie Hikes have since been a favorite of the children at Lake Lopez for many years. I loved doing them because it was so fun to see the faces of the little children as they saw trees with treats for the picking, and to hear them "swear" that they heard or even saw the Brownies watching them. We did it just this year.

I remember one year we had a pajama party at night in the activity room. We were told before we went to camp about this activity because they were going to have a pajama contest. I remember making my pajamas that year. They were yellow seersucker with bright colored flowers and trimmed with black ric rac (probably the only color we had at home). The top had cross-over flaps that tied in front leaving a little bit of the midriff bare. These would have been unacceptable by today's modesty standard, but nothing was said about that then. Believe me, if there had been rules against it, my mom would have been the first to say, "no way" and I in no way would have violated counsel. I think I won the prize for the "loudest' pajamas. And by making pajamas for the first time I learned how to make flat felled seams. Now those who don't sew or those that do and still don't know what these kind of seams are, look on the internet to find out. They are hardly used anymore.

Such were my experiences at girl's camp. I really think that the way the Church does it now gives girls much more valuable experience with practical skills as well as incorporating spiritual growth activities. But I think that this was the time of my life that I learned to love the out of doors, to appreciate the beauties of nature and to love all animal life. I still feel very close to God when I am alone in the mountains, or even in my own beautiful back yard looking up at the mountains behind us, or when a deer, or racoon, or even a skunk wanders into the yard eating my roses and tomatoes, or watching the California Jays taking a bath in the back yard fountain. I love this earth that God created for us, and I feel we are ungrateful children when we don't take care of it like we should. Take time to look around you when you feel unhappy or stressed and find joy in even the small evidences of God's love for his children.