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Camp Gray in the News |
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The pond was small, but on a damp Wednesday morning the still water looked dark and deep.
"I just have one question -- What kind of creatures are in the water?"
Brittany Jernigan, 10, clutched a canoe paddle, wondering if she really wanted to climb into a canoe for the first time in her life.
"Fish and turtles are in the water," answered Camp Gray counselor Lucas Stangler, 22.
"I'm scared of creatures, any kind of creatures," Brittany murmured.
How deep is it, another girl wondered. Twelve feet at one end and 16 feet at the other end was the answer. A third girl asked, snakes in the water? Nope.
A few minutes later, about a dozen girls, most from Madison's Allied Drive neighborhood, were braving the water, two girls to each bright red canoe. Paddles flailing, they bumped gently into each other and sometimes butted the shore. Stangler and fellow counselor Liz Stader called advice and encouragement from the dock.
An anonymous $6,000 donation made possible four days of camping at Camp Gray for 39 girls, ages 9 to 13. While most were from the Allied Drive neighborhood, some came from the Elver Park and Wexford Ridge neighborhoods. They arrived Monday and will return home today.
"I wanted them to get out of their challenged neighborhood for four days and come out and be in the woods," said Rita Adair, a social worker with Joining Forces for Families. "Most things we're doing -- canoeing, horseback riding, archery, stream-walking -- these kids have never done before."
Along with the outdoor fun, there were indoor workshops on drug awareness, peer pressure and learning how to get along without conflict.
The Allied Drive neighborhood, on Madison's southwest border with Fitchburg, has the highest concentration of needy families in Dane County.
"These girls live in an area where there's lots of peer pressure involving gangs and drugs and violence," Adair said. "We talk about our neighborhoods and the kinds of things they see -- gangs and drugs. We're constantly talking about how we can be better friends and improve our relationships."
Marisa Newell, 11, canoed with Ariel Wilson, 12. "I never knew I'd be having this much fun at camp, especially with it being all girls. I feel comfortable," Marisa said. "Yesterday we went horseback riding. It was kind of weird, because the horse wanted to go down to get food, and you had to pull on the strings. And he pooped and it really stinked."
After the girls had paddled for about 15 minutes and safely exited their unsteady craft, Ariel said it was a good experience.
"It was sort of fun, but at other parts I got scared, because they said it was 16 feet and I didn't want to fall in. There were water bugs. But when we were just stroking and meeting up with our friends, that was more fun."
Marisa, who plans to be a hair stylist and beautician, said she didn't know what peer pressure was until the seminar. "I learned that peer pressure was somebody forcing you to do something, for example, smoking, or drugs. I already knew a lot about drugs," she said.
Her friend Ariel, who plans "to be a veterinarian and have a big mansion and get married," said she'd taken part in several Camp Gray activities -- riding, rock climbing and rope climbing. "We get to stay up till 10 o'clock and you eat a lot," she said.
It's a big change from Allied Drive, Ariel added. "It's fun there, but sometimes it can be bad, like people on the street start shooting and get in fights and stuff, and then we run inside. That's why we're moving to Sun Prairie in October."
Shariah Baker, 12, said she enjoyed her second trip to camp. "It's fun and it takes me away from my home," Shay said. "There are shootings and drug dealing, and (here) I'm not there to deal with it anymore. It's a bad place. It's a bad street."
Read the article from the Wisconsin State Journal Website.
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Camp Gray is a Catholic youth summer camp and
year-round retreat center owned by the Catholic Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin.
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