Camp Finland 2016 – What a Beautiful Week!

What an amazing week! Everyone had so much fun! 27 local children attended between the ages of 5 and 13. Amy Gardner coordinated Camp, but this year, two Wolf Ridge Naturalists, Nils Anderson and Caitlin Coughlin were the leaders for the week.Thanks very much to Nils and Caitlin for their hard work, and to Wolf Ridge ELC for being such a good community partner.

Huge thanks to Julia Littlewolf, Kenny Albrecht, Chase Peterson, Al Robertson, Oliver Smith, Natalie Nelson, Jordan Johnson, and Alex Aho. 5 of the 6 teenage counselors from 2015 returned to assist and 3 new counselors were added this year. These young people largely donate their time, and we couldn’t run Camp Finland without them. Each of these counselors demonstrated and shared many special skills and talents with the group over the course of the week.

Monday morning kicked off with Button Making, courtesy of Colby Abazs.

Ron Van Bergen, John Brain and company returned for the 3rd year in a row for Kiteflying Fun, helping kids get kites up in the air in 25mph gusting winds. These guys also came back for a second session later in the week when conditions were more favorable.

Brad Anderson delivered us a giant pile of sand, courtesy of Shovel and Lake County.

Thanks to Tettegouche State Park for loaning us point-and-shoot cameras for the digital scavenger hunt and allowing children to document the weeks activities themselves. Thanks also for loaning us Naturalist Kurt Mead, who, once again, led kids on a Dragonfly Hunt that resulted in the discovery of many rare dragonflies, including the Ski-tailed Emerald, a species that hasn’t been reported in Lake County since 1920!

Many thanks to Kathy Anselment Nelson and Gretchen Gilbertson for once again providing tasty kid-friendly meals and snacks throughout the week. Kathy also found time to teach a workshop on creating beautiful memory boxes.

We were so happy to have the Queen of Crafts, Bonnie Warner, back in our neighborhood teaching 2 amazing workshops, Tee-shirt Art and Handmade Paper.

Also included in the weeks activities were a field trip to Flathorn Lake for swimming, picnicking and aquatic adventures.

There was also an overnight campout at the Center. Robi Meyerson, a professional musician from Duluth, led a musical evening during the sleepover that included a sing along and musical jam session.

Thanks to the many parents, grandparents, friends and community members who motored out on Friday to see the Talent Show/Awards Ceremony. Shelley Tibbets brought ice cream sundaes and everyone had a very nice time.

Thanks to Arrowhead Transit for bus service. Thanks to Finland Co-op for a generous donation of food for Camp and their ongoing support of the Finland Community Youth Program.

Thanks also to the Northland Foundation, the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation – Silver Bay Charitable Fund, and Whitetails Unlimited.

Here are more amazing photos, many taken by Kathy Anselment-Nelson or by the kids at Camp! https://goo.gl/photos/KejX6VnWgtXyC3G28