THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 18, 1995 TAG: 9508160227
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY WILLIAM D. SROUFE, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
``As the bright flames ascend to heaven, Oh! God of love and truth, we would in thought with thee commune, in love and joy and youth. The hills resound with our glad joy and echo back to Thee. Our thanks received for work and health and love and loyalty.''
More than 220 Chesapeake children joined voices in this campfire song at a weeklong 4-H camp July 31 through Aug. 4 at the 4-H's Airfield Conference Center in Wakefield.
Divided into six groups named after Indian tribes - Chesapeake, Meherrin, Powhatan, Nottoway, Accomac and Nansemond - the children were expected to keep the peace, clean the cabins and grounds, participate in all activities and follow the regulations so everyone could have fun.
Each day began at 6:45 a.m. and ended at 11 p.m. and included a carefully planned itinerary of activities.
Danny Reitz, an 18-year veteran school teacher at Great Bridge Middle School North and an adult leader at the camp, said the program is designed so that the kids learn by doing, and what they learn will help them later in life.
``They met one of our objectives just by living with one another,'' Reitz explained. ``The kids don't realize that getting in a canoe with other people and getting across the lake is learning something about trust and relationships with people.
``This camp is not like other specialty camps for basketball or baseball. It's woodsy, artsy, crafty. The 4-H Camp gives you the old-time camp feeling. We're into building team unity, building people up and getting them to feel good about themselves and teaching leadership and responsibility.''
Classes, which include a challenge course, air riflery, nature study, leathercraft, colonial arts, theatrical arts, canoeing, electrical energy, fishing, swimming and crafts, are offered four times a day.
For adult leaders Ed and Darlene Tabbanor, this year's camp also was a vacation.
``It's a vacation. Not one where you get a lot of rest, but a vacation where you get away from the hustle and bustle of the daily grind,'' they explained.
``Most of the kids are too busy to even think about home,'' said Ed Tabbanor. ``But, if they are homesick, they may not want to talk to another child, so they can come to us. We're here to project a father and mother image. That way, kids can come to us when they need to.''
The Tabbanors added that at the camp everything was positive, even the competition between tribes. They said it was part of their responsibility to ensure that all the campers had a positive outlook about themselves and generate that energy to others.
It's that energy that keeps Herb Pettway, 4-H Extension Agent and a 4-H camper since he was 10 years old, going.
Pettway, a 4-H agent for 20 years and the organizer behind the yearly camp, gives credit to people who grew up in 4-H, adult volunteers, counselors, counselors in training, co-workers, referrals and the kids for making the event a success.
``I'm very much a people person,'' expressed Pettway. ``While 4-H really emphasizes `feel good about yourself,' the kids really give that back to me, too.''
Pettway, who was involved in the development of the conference center in Wakefield, help raise the $3.5 million to get the center started 15 years ago. The center has become a model for national and international 4-H organizations.
Asked if he would ever want to give up working in 4-H, Pettway simply answered, ``Yes and no.''
``Everyone has his own role,'' he explained. ``And when it comes time for me to retire, I won't leave 4-H. I'll just become a volunteer.''
Pettway said campers come from as far away as South Carolina every year to take part in the weeklong event.
``We had a child who wasn't feeling that well, but the father said the child was determined to make it to camp,'' he said. ``There's obviously something magical about it, because they live to come to this camp.''
The children sense the magic, too.
``I wish it was longer,'' said Ashley Higginbotham. ``There's so much to do here, and the people are so great. I wish it were at least two weeks.''
Higginbotham, who has been coming to camp for five years and who's a counselor in training, explained that the weeklong camp was like being in one big family.
``You don't have time to miss anyone back home, because you're constantly doing something and having a good time,'' she said. ``From the first day, everyone seems to click.''
Josh Gerloff, a fourth-year camper and counselor this year, said he looks forward to 4-H camp as ``one of the best times I have all year.''
The week at camp ends with a traditional powwow, a ceremony based on Native American custom.
At the ceremony, Pettway was presented with a ``spirit stick,'' a token of his contribution to 4-H camping.
``You know sometimes I believe that this camp has a bigger impact on kids than anything else they'll do throughout their entire lives,'' he said. ``Maybe that's why we all cherish it so much.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by WILLIAM D. SROUFE
Some of the 4-H campers prepare to go on a canoe trip. More than 220
children from Chesapeake participated in the camp.
As part of the ``Colonial Times'' class, campers learn to make
candles like the settlers.
by CNB