Camp Fire Central Ohio

 For summer fun and friendships in the great outdoors consider Camp Fire camps.

Register early and save money at both camps!

CampWyandot, in beautiful Hocking Hills, has reunited children and nature for over 80 years. Campers enjoy a variety of outdoor activities while learning teamwork fostered by small group living.  Activities include swimming, boating, hiking, sports and games, crafts, fishing, archery, and camping skills. Counselors undergo extensive background screening and training.  Your child will gain skills, independence, and memories they will treasure for years.

Camp Otonwe is designed to open a child’s senses to the outdoors.  Campers enjoy  outdoor activities while learning cooperation and teamwork.  Activities may include swimming, field trips, hiking, sports and games, crafts, fishing, archery and camping skills. Counselors undergo extensive background screening and training for a quality day camp experience at Highbanks Metro Park.

Click here for more information or to register.

We are currently hiring for the Camp Director at our overnight camp this summer down at Camp Wyandot.  If you are interested (or know someone who would be), please see the job description on the website and send a cover letter and resume electronically to Lindsey Christ, Executive Director, lindsey@centralohiocampfire.org.

As many of you know Camp Fire USA Central Ohio Council has the best Alumni around!  You have helped us time and time again, sometimes not even expecting a thank you in return.  Here is a huge THANK YOU to all of you that have volunteered, especially in the last year when we were without an Executive Director.  But…we still need you!

There are many ways to help us out:

• We need help in our office.  Office help includes: sorting and distributing camp flyers to schools and camp postcards to area libraries, filing, writing thank you notes from donations received, and entering data.
• We need help at any of our upcoming events: Bead and Emblem Fair (March 3 in Hilliard) and Spring Skills Weekend at Camp Wyandot (May 5-6), we need help leading activities.  Our first Work Weekend is tentatively set for April 21st or 28th. We need help getting camp ready for the season and finishing projects.
• Helping us could even be as simple as posting a camp sign in your front yard to promote Camp Wyandot and Camp Otonwe.

Contact Lisa at the office (614-481-8227 or  lisa@centralohiocampfire.org) if you can help.

Alumni Activities to benefit Central Ohio programs like Camp Wyandot and Camp Otonwe

• Extreme Couponing (shared by Sue Lavitchka): Briefly this is how extreme couponing works.  The goal is to get as many items as possible for free by using manufacture and store coupons.  The people who do this actually end up with 100′s to 1,000′s of dollars worth of items without paying a dime.  Just think, we could end up with tons of stuff that Wyandot, Otonwe, and the before/after school programs can use.  Follow this link for tips on extreme couponing. Extreme_Coupon_Tips.   Contact Sue Lavitchka if you would like to save coupons: slavitchka@att.net
• Annual Alumni Flower sale: The proceeds will be used to help send children to Camp Wyandot and Camp Otonwe. Order Deadline:  Wednesday, April 11, 2012.  We are using Cedar Lane Farms Corp. in Wooster, Ohio again this year.  We are offering flats, hanging baskets, potted plants, and vegetables. You will pick up your flowers on Saturday, May 19, 2012 between 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM.  If you have questions, please call Margie Dooley at 875-8129.  Click here to download the instructions and order form. flower sale Order Form 2012 & letter
• The Viga Snar Tiwars Adventure Level Camp Fire Club, led by Lisa Arrowood Graham, needs your help!   They are planning a yard sale as the fundraiser part of their Wood Gatherer Award.  The money raised will go to the Alumni Association for camperships.  Workers and donations of sale items is needed. Everyone has extra stuff laying around that they no longer use.  Put this stuff to good use for Camp Fire.  Even if it is just one box of stuff, they  would love to have it.  The yard sale is Friday May 18th & Saturday May 19th.  Boxes can be dropped off at the Camp Fire office or Jane Arrowood’s house. Call the office at 614-481-8227 or email Lisa, lisa@centralohiocampfire.org to coordinate drop off. Or, let us know if you can help out for a couple of hours on either of those days.
• Alumni Search Continues…We are always looking to reconnect with former alumni.  Camp Fire alumni seem to be everywhere so when you encounter someone, please encourage them to visit our website and join our alumni list (or call the office).  It will give them an opportunity to rediscover old friends and revisit fond memories at some of our annual events such as the Alumni Weekend at Camp Wyandot or our Annual Luncheon.
• 

Lindsey Christ is our new Executive Director and she wants to hear what you think about the future of our Council! Join us at the annual meeting (information listed below) to meet her and share your thoughts.

Come and give Lindsey your best idea for Camp Fire.  Everyone will have just 30 seconds.  Do you have an idea for our camps, our clubs, fundraising?  How can we make Camp Fire in Central Ohio better?

We would like to have input from all the “generations” of Camp Fire and camp volunteers, staff, members and stakeholders.

• Thursday January 26, 2012
• 7:00 pm to 8:30pm
• Upper Arlington Library – Main Branch
• 2800 Tremont Road, Upper Arlington, Ohio 43221

It is also that time of year to pay your membership. Click here to register as a member and/or RSVP for the annual meeting.

• Adult membership (non-club leader) $25.00
• Adult membership (club leader) $15.00
• Youth membership $15.00
• Family Membership (for immediate family living in same household) $45.00

Our beautiful new yard signs are available at the office. We need your help to promote both Camp Wyandot and Camp Otonwe. By posting one of these signs in your yard, we can raise awareness about our great summer camps!   The signs will be available to pick up at the Annual Meeting and at the office. Please call the office at 614-481-8227 for the best time to stop in and get your sign.

The following supplies are needed for Before and After School:

• Construction Paper (all Colors) /Paper
• Mechanical Pencils /Erasers
• Dry Erase markers /Markers /Sidewalk Chalk
• Stickers /Coloring Books
• Sport Balls (football, soccer, kick balls, Rhino Skin Coated, Soft balls)
• hula hoops /Frisbees /jump ropes
• Foam Blocks /Building toys
• Modeling Clay & Dough /Matchbox Cars & bigger toy cars
• Toy Mats n Playing Carpets / Legos
• Plastic Figurines (animals, army men, all sorts)
• Board Games (classics)
• Microscopes /Binoculars /Magnifiying Glasses
• Chess Games & extra pieces
• Kleenex / Cottton Balls, Circles, Squares
• Duck Tape / Gimp (plastic lanyard string) / Wire/Pipe Cleaners (all colors)
• Cardboard boxes /Laundry baskets
• Bean bags or Big Dog Beds
• Blankets
• Barbie Dolls & Barbie Clothes
• Lysol Anticabterial Kitchen Cleaner (Kills 99.9% of viruses and bacteria)
• Lysol Disinfecting Wipes (Kills 99.9% of viruses and bacteria)
• Lysol Disinfectant Spray (Kills 99.9% of viruses and bacteria)
• Instant Cold Packs

The following supplies are needed for Camp Wyandot and Camp Otonwe:

• Brooms / Dustpans / Small waste baskets
• Liquid soap / Dish towels / Pot holders / Outdoor cooking mitts / Serving spoons
• Blueprint paper / Construction paper / Glue
• Wood burners
• Lanyard / Pony beads / Seed beads
• Scissors / Pencils
• 2 Liter bottles / Toilet paper and paper towel rolls
• Peanut butter jars / Egg cartons

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of a long time member and friend of Camp Fire USA, Gwendolyn Campbell Trudeau M.D.

Gwen Trudeau was a camper, CIT, and counselor at Camp Wyandot.  She was a parent of Camp Fire kids and a Camp Wyandot volunteer with her grandchildren.  She will be greatly missed and in the words of her daughter Marie, ” her fading embers will continue to glow.”

TRUDEAU Gwendolyn Campbell Trudeau , MD Gwen Trudeau was born on March 6, 1923 to Clare Lowry Campbell and Avis Elder Campbell in Columbus, Ohio at the home of her grandmother. She died December 29, 2011 and was preceded in death by her husband of over 50 years Andre’ (Andy) Norbert Trudeau and their daughter Dolores Sue. She is survived by her brother, Donald Elder Campbell (Yvonne); and her eight children and their families, Michael (Linda), Gregory (Jeanne), Marie, Phillip (Denise), Martha (Hugh Donahue), James (Eugene Bible), Laura (Eric Weinbrom), Charles (Michelle); 20 grandchildren; and five great grandchildren, soon to be six. She welcomed Joan Trudeau and Sina Iranpour into her family and treated them as her own children. Her home was always open to visitors, particularly on Saturdays when she routinely had an endless pot of “Saturday Soup.” She graduated from North High School (class of ’41) in Columbus before attending the Ohio State University for her undergraduate and medical degrees. She was inducted into the Alpha Epsilon Delta pre-med fraternity in 1944, received her BA in 1946, and her MD in 1949. Dr. Trudeau completed an internship at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, MA and returned to Columbus to complete an anesthesia residency at OSU. She was Chief Resident in Anesthesia from 1951 to 1953 and was Board Certified in Anesthesiology in 1956. During her career she worked at the Ohio TB Hospital and was Chair of the Department of Anesthesia and Chair of the Medical Staff at Columbus St. Ann’s Hospital. After retiring from anesthesia, she served as an Assistant Medical Director for Nationwide Insurance. She served a term as President of the OSU Medical Alumni Association from which she later received a 50 year award. She was active in Camp Fire Girls (now known as Camp Fire USA) and in later life enjoyed visiting Camp Wyandot, the organization’s rustic residence camp in Southern Ohio. She enjoyed photography and was an avid baker, particularly at Christmas. While Andy was alive they enjoyed traveling and visited many states and foreign nations, including Iran, China, Egypt, Spain’s Canary Islands and South America. She spent her final years contentedly at Westminster-Thurber Retirement Community where the staff addressed her as “Doc” and treated her like family. The family will receive friends 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. Monday, January 2, 2012 at SCHOEDINGER NORTHWEST CHAPEL, 1740 Zollinger Road, Columbus. Funeral Services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at King Avenue United Methodist Church, 299 King Avenue, Columbus; Rev. John Wooden, officiating; interment St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery, Lockbourne, Ohio. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Camp Fire USA Central Ohio Council, 1890 Northwest Blvd, Suite 130, Columbus, OH 43212 (614) 481-8227 or Westminster-Thurber Community, 717 Neil Avenue , Columbus , OH 43215 (614) 228-8888.
Please visit www.schoedinger.com to share memories or extend condolences.

Lindsey Christ is our new Executive Director and she wants to hear what you think about the future of our Council! Join us at the annual meeting (information listed below) to meet her and share your thoughts.

Come and give Lindsey you best idea for Camp Fire.  Everyone will have just 30 seconds.  Do you have an idea for our camps, our clubs, fundraising?  How can we make Camp Fire in Central Ohio better?

We would like to have input from all the “generations” of Camp Fire and camp volunteers, staff, members and stakeholders.

• Thursday January 26, 2012
• 7:00 pm to 8:30pm
• Upper Arlington Library – Main Branch
• 2800 Tremont Road, Upper Arlington, Ohio 43221

It is also that time of year to pay your membership. Click here to register as a member and/or RSVP for the annual meeting.

• Adult membership (non-club leader) $25.00
• Adult membership (club leader) $15.00
• Youth membership $15.00
• Family Membership (for immediate family living in same household) $45.00

Thanks to all of you who donated during the Columbus Foundation Big Give.  Camp Fire received $14,137.  This includes donations and a 13% match from the Columbus Foundation.  The 3% credit card fee we were expecting  was  reimbursed by a grant from the Columbus Foundation.  We will not received a list of who donated to Camp Fire for several weeks, after we do, we will send acknowledgements of your donation.

If you did not participate in the Big Give and still want to make a year-end donation to Camp Fire, please do!  Click here or send a check to the office.