What's a girl to do???

I think all of my equestrian friends will understand today the most. After 21 days of rain, snow, and mostly just ice, lots of ice...morning, noon, afternoon and evenings full of ice...so icy, one can only hold their breath as their beautiful, (but very stupid) dressage horse tries to run and buck around his pen as all four legs go in different directions; today finally grew warm enough to bust at least one horse free from her paddock. Chassis (because she is actually smart enough to watch her footing in the slick conditions, unlike Valor, and doesn't need shoes and snowpads) and I took to the cross country course and had some fun. I thought everyone would enjoy some photos of today and how beautiful camp looks (I grudgingly admit it even as I am wishing for 60 degree days to return...).

Happy New Year Everyone!!!
Lornie

Happy Thanksgiving

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. -John Fitzgerald Kennedy

We hope everyone had a lovely holiday spent enjoying good food and the warmth of family and friends.

It has been a pretty exciting few weeks for the gang here at camp. Lauren competed in a Dressage Show the weekend before Thanksgiving and she and Valor placed in the top 3 in all of her classes. It was a large, competitive show held at Starr Vaughn in Sacramento. Kalli, our former Equestrian Center Director competed on her pony Tam as well!

For Thanksgiving, Craig, Ryleigh and I flew to Southern California to spend the holiday with my Mom, Dad, Sisters, Brothers in law, nieces and nephews in Palm Desert. On Thanksgiving morning, the whole family (2, 4, & 6 year old included) ran the 5K Turkey Trot. We all finished (some of us faster than others :))! I raced back from Turkey day to my "other" job as the Ticket and Season Pass Manager at Northstar. We opened the resort on Friday on just a little man-made snow, but hopefully more is on the way.

Lornie and Sutter held down the fort celebrating Thanksgiving here at camp with friends and the whole menagerie of animals that call this place home.

We hope your holiday was filled with joy and love.
Becky

Lornie and Valor at the Pumpkin Roll

Hi Everyone,
We thought you might enjoy this photo of Lauren and Valor at the Pumpkin Roll Dressage show in Reno last weekend. They showed First Level and received a 1st and 2nd place! Congratulations! Lornie is planning on attending another dressage show in the middle of November. Now, we are just hoping the weather will hold off long enough that they can attend. It has been a pretty quiet week here at camp, as we are all finishing up our fall projects and getting ready for the cold, dark days of winter.
Next week, we head to Tucson for the annual WAIC conference. We are excited to connect with our fellow camp directors and find out how their summers were. I am also excited about the spa services I have booked between educational sessions :).
Hope all is well with each and every one of you.

Happy Halloween!
Becky

Fall Color

What a gorgeous fall day! It is absolutely incredible here today. I'm a little sad I had a full day of office work planned :(! I did sneak outside for a few moments to "take this photo" and drink in the sights of Autumn! I'm not sure if the campers even notice in the summertime, but camp is covered with apple trees that date back to "Johnny Appleseed" times. The apples are delicious! The deer and horses agree wholeheartedly.

We have also been thinking so much about our friends and the members of our camp family who are being so devastated by the wildland fires in Southern California. After experiencing a major fire this fall ourselves, we know the stress people are under and wish we were closer and could offer our help and support in person. Instead, we're just sending our thoughts and prayers.

Our fall newsletter just went out in the mail. Please let us know if you don't receive one, we would be happy to re-send it.

Have a wonderful day!

Becky

Volunteer Season

Wow, I can't believe it has been 2 weeks since I posted. Time flies. Most everything is back to normal here at camp since the fire was contained. The girls went back to school and Lornie, Craig and I jumped right into Volunteer Season. Ryleigh is in the first grade this year and Sutter is a Sophomore. They both attend school here in Greenville. Our school is very small, and as with most public schools in California is facing a funding crisis. The need for parent volunteers and help with fund raising is almost overwhelming, especially because our school is so small there just isn't enough help to go around all the time. Lauren coaches Junior High Volleyball, helps with the driving for Sutter's high school Volleyball team, is a member of the Booster club, is on the board of the Western Association of Independent Camps and just recently got involved with the Save Our Schools ballot initiative. I volunteer in Ryleigh's class, and am the Secretary of Parent's Club (our PTA). Craig is conscripted by all of us for all sorts of "man tasks" and coaches Ryleigh's 1st/2nd grade soccer team. PHEW! Just typing it exhausts me. Plus, we are still working here at camp, putting everything to bed, updating the website and brochure, and keeping the horses going. After running camp all summer, I think we are all so anxious to re-connect with our own children, we jump into the school schedule with guns blazing.

It is also so difficult when you see a need and know you have the skills and resources to fill it not to jump in and help. Especially, when you know the need might go un-met if you don't volunteer. The flip side is we are all running around like crazy people :)! I'm sure many of you understand the challenges of volunteering! We really just want positive, enriching experiences for our children at the end of the day. Isn't that what every parent wants?

If you are interested in learning about the Save our Schools initiative here in Plumas County, please visit their website at www.plumassos.net. The group will be working over the next several months to raise enough money to get a measure on the ballot. The hope is to pass a parcel tax which will directly fund our school district, and give us some independence from the rise and fall of State and Federal Funding.

Off to pick up Ryleigh!
Becky

Friday Morning Update

I think today is the last day I will need to do a daily update! Here is the fire report updated as of 10:30 a.m.

Great news all the way around. The Moonlight Wildfire containment lines held firm last night through the Red Flag event with 64,997 total acres burned and 90% containment. Though InciWeb is showing a rounded up 65,000 acres, we are keeping ours at 64,997 as the official "209" report shows. Winds were actually beneficial in reducing the risk to lines and aided the heavy burning of interior fuels. Mop-up efforts are continuing at 100-500' in from the fireline. With five miles of fireline left to build, full containment is expected by Monday, Sept. 17, 2007!!! HIP, HIP HOORAY!

The Greenville, Taylorsville, and Indian Valley areas will be smokey in the morning for the next few days due to smoke funneling down drainages and an inversion layer predicted by weather forecasters. With less wind, these areas will get smokey, but should clear by afternoon as light winds help to blow the smoke away. Those in the Susanville and Janesville areas may see smoke for the next few days due to the southwest winds.
Humidity levels will rise through tonight and temperatures will be colder, aiding the firefighters efforts.

During the day 19 helicopters, 35 dozers, 41 water tenders, and 135 engines are assisted by 95 fire crews.

According to SIFC Aircraft Dispatcher Bob Bare, Tanker 09 is standing by at the Chester Airport in case they need it.

Some crews will begin to demobilize as they reach their 14-day limit. 21 crews, 34 engines, six helicoptors and all OES engines will be released from the fire as of 6 p.m. Friday night.

The spike camp at Murdock Crossing is being closed.

Air operations logged over 1000 hours of flight time and 1/2 million gallons of retardant was pumped out of the Chester Air Base alone.

$22.2 million has been spent to date to fight this fire. Only 28 minor injuries occurred while personnel logged in 430,000 person hours. 3,216 personnel are still in mop up operations and support.

The mandatory evacuation for Franks Valley has been lifted, but the order still continues for Antelope Lake, Wilcox Valley and Taylor Lake areas as they are still within the fires lines.

There is minimal potential for fire spread, if any, it is predicted to be to the Northeast. Minimal night operations are expected Friday night.

The official report this morning had this comment, "Four burned structures were found yesterday. The type of structures and historic value is being evaluated." As more details about these structures becomes available, we will pass it on to our readers, but at this time, Fire Information officers have no further knowledge than what is written in the report.

I think we will spend the next several weeks counting our many blessings. Here are just a few: we are grateful for the firefighters and public safety officers who worked so hard to contain this fire and protect us at great personal sacrifice, we are grateful to live in such a wonderful community with such giving and caring neighbors who were so willing to help in our time of need, we are grateful no one was killed or seriously injured by this fire, we are grateful Coppercreek came through this unscathed, we are grateful to the Coppercreek community for their prayers and good thoughts (we are sure they helped!), and we are grateful to Plumas News and their blog site for keeping all of the information about this fire at our fingertips!

Stay Safe! Big Coppercreek hugs to all!
Becky

Thursday's Update! 77% Contained!

The horses are all home and the fire is 77% contained. They have also lifted the mandatory evacuations for our neighbors out on North Arm. Fire officials are a little bit worried about the expected winds today. The forecast is for a low pressure system to move into the area and bring with it 20 to 30 mile per hour winds. However if the fire lines hold through this wind event. They will start sending some of these crews home for a well deserved rest! We are starting to feel the relief of the major threat being past us. I think we all feel like we could sleep for a week! It has definitely been a long and stressful 10 days.

This is a photo of pieces of burnt bark that Ryleigh and I picked up walking through the meadow yesterday. There is burnt bark, leaves, manzanita and ash everywhere! You can just walk through the open areas of camp and pick up as much as you like.
We were so lucky!! We feel very blessed and grateful.
Thank you all again for checking in, and your thoughts and prayers. We really appreciate having you as part of our camp community.

Becky

Wednesday Morning! 58% Contained!

Firefighters had another great night and we are up to 58% contained this morning. We also woke up to fairly clear skies. It feels like we have finally turned a corner, and this fire might be contained soon. It has burned 64,271 (100 square miles) acres so far. Fire officials are still concerned about the active areas you see on this morning's map. The wind is supposed to come up again this afternoon and tomorrow, but we are hopeful the cool temperatures will help them keep making progress toward containment. We brought 13 horses home yesterday and hope to bring another few loads today.

Thank you all for your good thoughts! I think they definitely helped!
Becky

Tuesday Update

The firefighters had another good day & night. The fire is at 63,418 acres. They were able to keep it's growth to just 600 acres yesterday and it is now 33% contained!! This is the Modis picture from 7 am. It hasn't changed much in the last few days. The winds didn't materialize again yesterday. We hope all this news means we are turning the corner and the firefighters are getting a handle on this fire. They used the big DC-10 yesterday to drop retardant on Wildcat Ridge. I guess it was a sight to see. The kids are out of school again. There are still too many people displaced and Taylorsville is still in the fire's path. We are discussing bringing a few horses home today. We will watch through the rest of today and make some decisions this afternoon.

Thank you again for all of the nice notes, e-mails and offers of help. It is so nice to know we have such a large community willing to help in our time of need.
Becky

Monday Update

Well, we have good news. The wind that was expected to blow yesterday didn't! The fire didn't grow much last night and firefighters were able to strengthen the fire lines nearest us. The fire is at 62,000 acres, or almost 98 square miles, and is still only 16% contained. I didn't get any photos yesterday because the smoke was so thick. The mountains behind camp are hardly visible again this morning. School was cancelled again due to the smoke and fire danger. They are expecting some extreme fire behavior today due to the low humidity. We really need some rain and clouds!! It would help the fire personnel so much. Unfortunately there are no storms on the horizon at the moment. Lornie and Sutter are back in Quincy this morning, feeding, watering and caring for the horses. Craig found Lynne's scanner yesterday, so we have been able to listen to some of the official radio traffic. It will be very nice to have the scanner if anything changes in the next day or so, but we are crossing our fingers that things are looking better and progress is being made towards getting this fire out.

Take care! We hope all is well with you and your families!

Becky

Sunday Afternoon

Here is a new MODIS map updated at about 12. We were glad to see the red dot near us become an orange dot. We are totally socked in with smoke today and can't see much of anything happening. It also means the helicopters and air tankers aren't flying. No new updates from the front lines.

Becky

Sunday Morning

Hi All,
Things were fairly quiet here at camp most of the day yesterday, but the fire grew from 31,000 acres on Friday night to 52,000 acres this morning! Yesterday afternoon, this cloud bloomed over the Equestrian Center and I started to worry. Craig again ran up the mountain on the dirt bike to get a better look. It's a good thing he actually LIKES riding his dirt bike, because we have been sending him all over the last few days. He took this photo of a helicopter making a water drop.

Again, we are humbled by the men and women who are risking their lives fighting this very nasty fire. We went out to breakfast in town yesterday and saw firetrucks from Santa Barbara, Ventura and the Office of Emergency Services. There are people from all over California here protecting us and our neighbors. Thank you doesn't seem adequate.

The bloom over the Equestrian Center bothered me enough that we decided to drive around the Valley and get a little closer look. As we drove, it became more clear that the main part of the fire is still a good distance from us. This photo was taken outside of Taylorsville about a 10 mile drive from camp and shows how big and aggressive this fire has become.
Unfortunately, there is a change expected today in the wind and therefore, the fire's movements. We were hoping to possibly start bringing our horses home, but with the weather forecast, we are going to again, "wait and see", which is of course, very frustrating!!
Here is the weather forecast from the Incident Command:
Projected movement of fire:
12 hour: Predicted low humidity and NE wind event is expected to push fire to SW.
24 hr: NE wind forecasted with anticipated spread to SW
48 hr: Stronger NE influence and lower humidity expected; could case significant spread to SW
72 hr: SE influence and lower humidity expected to continue, which could cause significant spread to SW.
I will update if anything changes today.
Take care,
Becky

Saturday Update

Good Morning. Craig headed back up to the saddle yesterday evening and took this photo looking East. The fire is still raging, but heading toward Antelope Lake which burned earlier this summer. That is good news for us. We were even considering bringing the horses back if things continued to improve. However, the forecast for the wind has changed for Monday. They are now calling for an East wind which could blow the fire toward us.

Here is the Modis photo from this morning. The red dot just above the word Greenville is the one that concerns us. It is just over the ridge from camp and a shift in the winds could send it our way.
I think we are going to be nervous for a while here, but for now, all is well.
Lornie visited each of our horses yesterday and everyone is healthy and happy. They all look a little confused about their situation, but are settled into their temporary homes. She is going to go visit them today as well. Other than that, we are just staying close to home and each other and watching all the news we can find.
I will continue to post updates as I get them.

Love to all!
Becky

Friday Update

Hello All!
Thank you again for the calls and e-mails! This picture was taken from the Plumas News website. It shows the fire activity as of 8 am. The red & orange are actively burning areas and the yellow is areas that have been burned in the last 6 months. As you can see, there is still a ridge between the fire and Greenville!! It is a quiet morning here at camp. It is VERY EERIE to not hear the horses walking around in their pens and calling to each other! They are all safe and happy in their temporary homes. Lornie and Sutter have headed to Susanville to check on everyone. Craig and I are holding down the fort here at camp. From the latest reports, firefighters are holding the edge of the fire near us. It sounds like they are not having as much luck with the edge of the fire near Taylorsville. While we are so grateful to be safe, our hearts are breaking for the families who are displaced and don't know about their homes or livestock.

I think my very favorite moment from the Community meeting last night was when our local sheriff was answering a question about people getting into the evacuated area to feed and water livestock. In the middle of his answer, he looked at one of the ladies sitting nearby and said, "By the way, Mrs. Wittingham, your chickens are all fine, we checked on them today!"

We are so grateful for the amazing efforts and sacrifices of the personnel on the fire lines, our local sheriff, search and rescue, Red Cross and all of the others who are out there helping to protect our families and property!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Moonlight Fire News

Hello Coppercreek Families and Friends!
The photo to the right was taken from our camp meadow on Tuesday afternoon. For those of you who haven't heard, we have a major forest fire (approximately 30,000 acres) burning near Coppercreek. First, I should say, everyone (people, horses, dogs, and cats) and everything (buildings, land, arenas and cabins) here at camp is absolutely fine for the time being. But, it has been a wild ride the last few days! We have received many calls and e-mails from our campers, staff, former campers and staff, family and friends. Thank you all for your kind words. We have so appreciated knowing you are all out there and thinking of us.
The very best site for current information on the fire and what is happening here is our local plumas news site http://www.plumasnews.com/news_story.edi?sid=5411. We have been keeping it open on our computers and hitting refresh every few moments!

Here is a timeline of what has happened so far.

Monday afternoon: Fire begins. We noticed a small plume of smoke rising on the other side of the ridge line you can see from the camp meadow. We called the fire department and were told the fire had started in Moonlight Valley about 6 to 8 air miles from camp. Craig jumped on his dirt bike and rode up the mountain to get a closer view. From the "Saddle" (the low spot of the mountain behind camp, just beneath Keddie Peak), he could clearly see the fire. From this vantage point, he could see a canyon behind the Keddie ridge line(Cook's Creek) and then another small ridge line. The fire was burning on the other side of that small ridge line. We had a quick meeting (Lornie, Craig and I) and decided that for the time being, we would watch it closely, but sit tight. We were all VERY grateful camp was empty and our campers were all home with their families!


Monday night and Tuesday day: Very little smoke was visible and the fire seemed to be quieting from our side of the mountain. According to the fire department and news reports from Monday & Tuesday, the fire was growing and very active, but the good news for us was that is was moving away from us all day. We went to Ryleigh's soccer practice on the other side of the Indian Valley late in the afternoon and this photo was taken from there. Although we were thrilled that camp was safe, we were starting to worry about our friends and neighbors who were closer to the fire!

Tuesday evening: A fierce wind begins to blow, thunderstorms roll in and the fire boils up into the cloud you see in the top photo. We start to make phone calls and develop contingency plans, but overnight, things quiet down. Some precautionary evacuations begin on the other side of the Valley, but still authorities are telling us the fire is moving away from us.


Wednesday: This is what the sky looked like at 8 am. Lauren, Craig and I sit down and line out a plan to evacuate the horses, goats, dogs and people. We put together lists of phone numbers and start calling friends and neighbors who will loan us horse trailers and can help with transporting our 42 head of horses. Officials still feel like the fire has no chance of reaching us, but we know it will take several hours to evacuate our horses and we really want to be prepared! We also call Kassandra (Brady the JC's Mom and a local CHP officer) in the evening. She was monitoring her CHP radio closely and she promised to call us if she heard anything about the fire moving toward us.

Wednesday night: The wind howled all night long and created spot fires which started to move the fire into Cook's Creek (the canyon just behind Keddie Ridge) and the Greenville Rancheria just a few miles away. We spent a sleepless night as precautionary evacuations were posted for our friends and neighbors nearby.

Thursday morning 6:30 am: We meet again and decide to evacuate our horses. Although fire officials tell us the fire is a long way from us, we decide the risk of spot fires is too big to keep the horses here. We know it will take up to 8 hours to move them all and we don't want to be moving animals at 2 am under an evacuation notice!

OH, School is cancelled, too!!

9 am: Friends and neighbors begin calling and showing up at camp to help. Most of them call or arrive before we even have a chance to call them! We feel so blessed to live in this community where neighbors are so willing to drop everything and help their neighbors in need. Within 20 minutes of deciding to move the horses, we had offers of places for all of them to go and more than enough trucks and trailers to move them. Trucks pulling horse trailers filed into our meadow and we moved all 42 horses to 3 ranches in Quincy and 1 outside Susanville. The whole operation was complete by about 1:30. We were blown away! We even were able to turn down some offers for help because we had enough. Everything was so smooth and the horses were amazingly calm and cooperated like we knew they would :)! After we moved our horses, we headed down the road and helped some of our neighbors move their horses. Big thank you's to the folks who helped us and our neighbors: Dennis and Dorothy Miller, Ken Radar, Kassandra Dimaggio and her friend Dave, Marsha Ravenaugh, Emily Jones and Erin, Jared Tappero, Bonnie Fox for giving up her horse trailer and our wonderful employees, Bobbie, Dean, Linda and Regina. We need to send another Thank You the people who are housing our horses: Patty Hughes, Tracy Sims, Katrina and Steve Tolen and Emily Jones!

Thursday evening: We attended the community meeting in the Greenville Cafeteria about the fire. There was even news crews there from Sacramento!! The fire officials confirmed that at this time, there is little chance of the fire reaching Coppercreek, UNLESS the North wind picks up like it did Wednesday night. We are all so glad we decided to move the horses rather than wait! Although we do not feel we or camp is in immediate danger, we know we can leave in just a few minutes at this point rather than several hours.

Zippy Named Horse of the Year!

Extra....Extra....READ ALL ABOUT IT!
As part of our 4th Session Awards Ceremony, Zip was named Horse of the Year. He received this honor by being an excellent mount for beginner, intermediate and advanced horse back riders as well as his stupendous ground manners!

Please send all congratulations via e-mail to becky@coppercreek.com!

Tan Van, Tan Van

The memories of tan van I am sure bring tears to many eyes and spark
memories of your carefree years at Coppercreek. It is for this reason
that this post appear here first on our alumni group, and and was added to our blog
and website. Old Tanny has had a long and distinguished place here at
Coppercreek. From the sound of the gorillas on the roof while towing
the boat to the lake to "tan van, tan van" and countless early morning
trips to the Quincy pool for lifeguard training. As much as it
saddens us to do so, the time has come let tanny move on and bless
someone else's life for the rest of his years. Ebay seemed far to
cold a venue so I will hold the auction here and on our alumni group. I
would like to start the bidding at $500 and ask that you only bid if
you are serious about owning a piece of Coppercreek history. The
auction will close on Sept. 15th at lets say 10 PM. Please post all
bids as comments to this post (and include how I can reach you). I will update to this page with
any bids I recieve via email.
For anyone who can't remember:

1982 Dodge 15 passenger van
318 ci V-8
AM/FM stereo cassette (you just have to get the tape out thats been in
it since '93)
Power steering


At the time of this post, Tanny is in good running condition. There
is a small brake issue, no leakage, probably vacuum related. I will
not attempt to describe the interior condition as I could not possibly
do it justice. As you might expect we have many years of maintenance
records available to the high bidder. Any questions can be posted
here, sent to my gmail address, or to craig@coppercreek.com.


Happy bidding. Tell your friends


Craig

Fourth Session Continues

Friday August 3, 2007

Today is another fun-filled, exciting day in the world of Coppercreek camp. The day began with a variety of activities, including skateboarding on the new skate ramp for the first time ever!!! In the meantime, adventurous campers challenged themselves by hiding and seeking, kicking balls, slinging shots, to name just a few. The night life of Coppercreek will light up tonight, however, when the jungle-safari themed dance party will be held on the deck!!! Campers will boogie the night away, dressed in exotic jungle attire. This day concludes the first week of the final two-week session of the summer.

Saturday August 4, 2007

No rest for the weary! After partying our brains out last night, we find little time to rest, as the day is filled with the usual exertions and excitement of the camp’s many activities. In the air is a palpable hue of anticipation as campers and staff alike gear up and plan devious stratagems for the session’s biggest event; a massive camp-wide game of CAPTURE THE FLAG. Brother is pit against brother, and sister against sister, as campers choose sides and wage war for honor, love, wealth, and most of all; bragging rights! Even those few staff given the night off cannot resist the sheer grandiosity of this epic contest and often find themselves joining the festivities. Tonight will be a night to remember, as one team will emerge triumphant, and the other already scheming revenge for next time.

The Last Days of 3rd Session...

Sunday, July 22, 2007
After two nights of excitement, many campers were eager to relax and dig into their new Harry Potter books. Friday night’s Mardi Gras dance was a smashing success! Everybody had a wonderful time dancing and eating Popsicles. The hardworking winners of the cabin-cleanup contest enjoyed creamy and nutty ice cream sundaes! Saturday was particularly exciting because of our camp-wide CAPTURE THE FLAG! Here at Coppercreek we take our Capture the Flag very seriously and everyone enjoys getting dressed up in camouflage and painting their faces. But we don’t get too competitive, it’s not about winning it’s about having fun! However the red team won this session with Jorge, the Mexican National Champ in the 100-yard dash, making a valiant run with the flag towards victory. Afterwards everyone settled in for a good nights rest, with Harry as their companion, after such a thrilling day.


Monday, July 23, 2007
Apart from a few well-handled scheduling snafus, everything is ship-shape here at Coppercreek, with a few special occurrences that merit a mention here. We always love it when a camper has a birthday here at camp, and Kate D. was one such camper. In honor of the occasion, an exclusive lake group was dispatched for Kate, her sister, and few choice friends. A small baby bird was found abandoned in the baking hot sun today, and was recovered by a troupe of concerned campers, christened “Rockstar”, the infant finch is now being cared for by Cindy, our residing nature expert, he is now on his way to a speedy recovery and release back into the wild. The staff got a break from their usual routine of campfire shenanigans and let our Counselors-In-Training direct the proceedings for a night of rampant laughter.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Today was a fairly typical day here at camp, we sent an overnight TAPS (Thin Air Patrol Squad) trip out today, to go sleep by a beautiful lake and climb high mountain rocks. Instead of our evening campfire festivities, we sent the troops out on a fishing trip, and organized a grand soccer tournament where international rivalries spiked, and the air was a palpable hue of excitement.


Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Tonight is picnic night, a very special night when we give our kitchen staff a break, and our campers pack their own dinner and march out with their cabin to watch the sunset at one of Coppercreek’s many fantastic and mesmerizing locales. The TAPS trip returns tonight, and many of us are forced to wave off hugs and direct our returned comrades straight to the nearest shower house. As a few dedicated readers near the end of the final book of the Harry Potter series, we find ourselves faced with the insurmountable challenge of resisting the urge to spill the beans and spoil the ending for our slower-reading friends.

Thursday July 26, 2007
Everyone got to enjoy an extra hour of sleep this morning! Then woke up to busy day preparing for the carnival and talent show. At 3:30pm the carnival began. Every cabin had a booth with a fun game to win tickets. JCs held a snack bar and prize shop for kids to turn in their tickets for. Some of the games that the campers played were making friendship bracelets, getting their faces painted, cakewalk, and water balloon toss. Everyone had an abundance amount of fun! At 5:30pm an Art and Fashion Show was held! Campers and Staff modeled their tye die masterpieces down a red run way. Campers magnificent oil paintings, dream catchers, Mardi Gras masks, and many other crafts were on display as well. Claire the CIT and Alex the Counselor passed out cheese and crackers; while Adelaide the JC with help from counselors poured sparkling cider and cranberry-grape juice for the campers. After enjoying dinner everyone headed to campfire where we watched the Talent Show. The talent show was cleverly MC-ed by Cindy, Eric Barger, and Patrick.

Friday July 27, 2007
Sadly today is the last day of activities for 3rd Session 2007! Today campers with partake in activities such as riding lessons, high ropes, making decorations for the dance and finishing their crafts, running, sports, .22 riflery range, and even learning how to dance to the “Achey Breaky Heart Song.” This evening everyone will enjoy the Drama production and Award Presentation before dinner and than the Tropical Vacation Dance later this evening!

Here comes the sun...

Wednesday Afternoon
Wednesday afternoon’s schedule was improvised on account of the rainy weather. Everything was slightly more exciting with the huge down pour. When the rain stopped, we filled the evening with fun activities such as canoeing with Gipper, Brendan, and Uli, Fishing with Emma and Dave, a huge soccer game in the mud with Cindy and Kyle, BMX with Rob and Melissa and even the climbing wall with Alex and Lindsay. Even though our outpost night was postponed, every camper got to participate in a fun evening activity.

Thursday July 19th, 2007
This morning had beautiful weather so our outpost will be tonight! Outpost is where everyone in camp gets to spend a special night in 6 campfire sites slightly out of camp. Everyone will sing campfire songs and eat s’mores and settle for the night under the stars. Our backpackers finally got to leave today because of the weather. This mornings activities went on as normal such as a run on one of the mountain bike trails, dream catchers were made at crafts, kids that had riding lessons this morning were Marek, James R, Andrew, Olivia, Madi M, Ella, Colleen, Bailey, Laura H., Kiera, Emily Dodge, Hannah, Emily E., Sarah M. and Kate D. Our Lake group today included Milo and Austin R. Lunch today was a delicious! We had nachos, a camp favorite. After rest hour some afternoon activities included fishing, recon, mafia, volleyball, name that tune, and open vaulting for anyone who wanted to learn to vault. At Family hour everyone packed out in cabin groups and headed to their outpost site to have a fun night filled with cooking hotdogs over the fire, roasting marshmallows, and stargazing.

Friday July 20, 2007
Last night at outpost each cabin was sent outside to sleep under the stars. Campers cooked their own meals over an open fire and enjoyed smores before snuggling into their sleeping bags for a bit of stargazing. This morning upon our return to camp, campers took time to relax and write letters home. At eleven a group left for an extra long day at the lake, while others hung around camp to take their pick from a selection of morning activities. After enjoying hamburgers for lunch, campers kicked it at rest hour and then dispersed for afternoon activities. Also this afternoon we eagerly began preparations for our weekly party night. Tonight’s dance theme is Mardi Gras and everybody is very excited.

Rainy Days

7/17/07

Everyone woke up to a delicious breakfast of sausage and egg Mcmuffins. Soon after we moved on to cabin cleanup, and then started an exiting morning chalk full of activities. These activities include horses, mountain bikes, boating, and even a game of old fashioned hide and seek! The morning lake group included Terry, Milo, Marek, Emiliano, and Austin R. Many others also dared to brave the high ropes course. Some of those include Jordan, Jared, Nate, Tristan, Cody, Kiera, and Hanah. After all who were interested moved on to cookie baking (many were involved). At the same time the pool was open, so many others were able to enjoy a refreshing swim. Finally we wound the night down with dinner and campfire, where we all sang old songs, and enjoyed these wonderful outdoors.

July 18th 2007

The cozy campers awoke this morning to music. Soon after everyone headed up to the deck for a delectable breakfast of hash browns bacon and eggs, plus strawberries bananas with yogurt.

The sky began to look dreary as the eager campers headed to campfire in the morn. The morning lake group headed out with Marrissa and Emma as the horse group headed towards the barn. It was going to be a very special day, as campers and counselors alike prepared for outpost and the backpacking trips between activities. Although the campers had bright hopes for the rest of the day and night, the clouds thought otherwise as they drenched or cheery camp, and forced everyone onto the deck. Although our previous plans were soaked, we still were able to improvise, by playing fun music and dancing the afternoon away J. During this time the directors decided in a meeting that it would be better to postpone outpost till tomorrow when everything (and everyone) would be drier. Once the rain had calmed, we moved onto archery vaulting, TAPS prep, and rock climbing. Finally the evening slowed down with dinner and guitar lessons, with Camile.

Session 3 begins!

Sunday 7/15
All the eager third session campers arrived today in the afternoon (for the most part; a few arrived in the evening). They met their cabin counselors and cabin-mates, becoming better acquainted through meadow games. Later that evening everyone had a delicious dinner of spaghetti and meatballs! During twilight time, campers entertained themselves through various activities. They then proceeded to a very successful campfire, where counselors and campers alike explained their respective roles at camp (i.e. C.I.T.’s, J.C.’s, Horse Masters, Mountain Bike Specialists, Trek and Jr. Trek, etc…). All campers then went to their beds and slept peacefully.

Monday 7/16
Campers awoke to the beautiful music of “White Flag” by Dido and walked to breakfast, which just happened to be the world famous coffee cake. The campers then cleaned their cabins and got ready for the day. They all assembled at morning campfire as the directors took role check and listed the morning activities of mountain biking with Jorge and Emma, BMX with Alex and Lindsay. The morning lake group left with Gipper and Melissa as riding lessons started at the barn with Mark Dodge and Adelaide. High ropes was a great way for the Junior Trekkers and campers to bond led by Ellie, Brendan, Kyle and Uli.
Later that morning kids could be found at interesting activities such as yoga with Emma, clay and painting with Adam and Jennilee, riflery with Alex and football with Willy and Jake. Cindy and Mark led archery, while Lindsay and Jake played lacrosse. After an awesome lunch of sloppy Joe’s, campers rested for a short while before having their swim checks. After cooling down at the pool, campers partook in activities like ping pong with Jenny and dance with Steph. Fun card and dice games such as mafia with Kasi, poker with Jake, and thumper with Brett were particularly popular. Later on, campers were able to learn guitar with Cindy and Camille and make yummy ice cream with Adelaide and Jenny B. After the pool with Kyle and Adam, at 4P.M. everyone went back to their cabins for family hour, where campers got the chance to spend quality time with their cabin-mates and counselors.
With their stomachs growling, campers walked back up to the dining deck to eat an authentic Mexican dinner. After dinner campers had a choice of different activities such as pictionary with KT, Hide and Seek with Cindy, Jenny and Kate, and Kayaking with Alex, Uli and Brendan. At 9P.M. all campers went back to their cabins to get ready for bed after an exhausting day. If the first day of this third session is any indication, we are all in for a great two weeks!

Friday the 13th...

We've fallen a little behind on our blogging this week, but with a new wireless router installed in the program office, we're hopeful that we will be able to stay more up-to-date from now on!

A recap of yesterday's adventures:

Friday the 13th…
Everyone woke up in high spirits today because it was coffee cake morning, which is a delicious start to the day. Our kayakers – Ruth C, Leilani G, Ally M, and Louis L, were up early to head out for an all-day kayaking adventure on the Feather River with staff Craig, Alex, and Brendan, and Junior Instructors Kaylie and JD. Junior TREK left once again for a fun and exciting day at a natural waterslide. We can’t wait to hear all about it! The brave high ropes group (Travis B, David K, Justin S, PG H, Matt M, Felix G, Todd G, Emma T, and David N) spent the morning climbing various things way up in the trees. Riding lessons continued with Ally B, Zoe J, Seirra T, Derek B, Lia M, David G, Laura S and Lola G. Our morning lake group, Madi W, Brittany K, Olly I, Kate B, Alma B, and Jeanne L, partook in waterskiing, kneeboarding, and wake boarding. Lunch was especially delicious: it was French Dip day! Some activites after lunch included nameball, pool, weights, drama, and shooting at the .22 range. Camp is super-excited for party night tonight, after dinner and awards. Since the date is Friday the 13th, the dance theme is Halloween.

Monday and Tuesday...

Monday 7/9
This morning, Coppercreek offered many activities to our campers, including kayaking, oil painting, and rugby. We also opened the Vertical Playground this morning at High Ropes, which everyone enjoyed. The morning lake group – Max I, Mira L, Elise L, and Zoe J – had a great time wakeboarding, waterskiing, and wakeboarding. After lunch, Thin Air Patrol (our skill-based climbing program) opened at the climbing wall, where campers practiced climbing, belaying, and rappelling. At horses, there were two hours of vaulting, mini driving, CHA, and Saddle Club. In the evening, everybody had a great time learning new songs at campfire.

Tuesday 7/10
Junior Trek left today for a 3-day backpack trip to Summit Lake in Lassen National Park. The TAPS (Raphael L, Lola G, Jeanne L, Emma T, Jeff M, Ruth C, and Aly B), left for an overnight climbing adventure at the Loading Zone, a local climbing favorite. Meanwhile, back at camp, the morning continued. Campers participated in many exciting activities, including mountain biking, rugby, and fishing. After a great lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup (a personal favorite of Lauren D and Alex G), the afternoon continued with pool games, cookie baking, and riflery. At the barn, there was vaulting with Mira L, Taylor K, Seirra T, Sidney M, Megan M, and Tess L, as well as the Purple Mini Driving Group. Tonight, we all enjoyed Craig and Becky’s excellent barbecue for dinner, and then moved on to evening activities like canoeing, fishing, mountain biking, and soccer.

Catching up on session 2...

The last few days have been busy in our office, but we finally have nearly a week's worth of updates for our readers! Be warned: this is a long post!

Monday Night 7/2
Monday night started off with fun evening activities. There was a cool canoeing trip and a fantastic fishing excursion, the kids did great! Among many evening activities, there was an intense game of ultimate ultimate Frisbee and a night bike ride. The TREKKERS, C.T.T’s and the J.C’s headed down to Lynne’s Pond in a trust walk for a night of s’more making and teen bonding. By lights out, everyone was safely settled down into their bunks.

Tuesday 7/3
Coppercreek woke up to a reviving breakfast of English muffins with sausage and a side of fresh yogurt and crunchy granola. Sadly, TREK (Kathie, C, Kate E, Claire B, Blaine H, Maddie S, Holden D, Taylor L, Paul B, Evan D) left us this morning, but we know they will be having fun at the Lava Beds National Park. However on a higher note, our horse lovers had their second lesson of the session and are already improving greatly. Our adventurous high ropers including the cabin of Swamp, Amber W, Ally M, Leilani G, Ruth C, Brianna C, and Lola G rocked on all morning high up in the trees. The morning lake group (Archie T, Max I, Brittany K, Jeanne L, Raphael L, Jeff M, Blake M, and Jordan S) headed out for a day of sun, lake, and water sports galore, including wake boarding, kneeboarding or waterskiing. The 10:15 recon group sneakily stole the netting from the cabin Battleship without being noticed. What a feat! After a delicious lunch of corn dogs and tater tots, the afternoon lake took off for chills and thrill on the lake, including the lucky ladies of Billabong and Zoe and Anna F. Also, Junior TREK left for an exciting adventure in the beautiful ice caves. Cookie baking was a popular activity this afternoon, especially with Jenny B, who partook in many a cookie today. Tonight is campfire night, full of songs and skits, so stay tuned to hear about the rest of the week!


Wednesday 7/4
Our fourth of July morning started out with the playing of patriotic music to get everyone inspired. Breakfast was a hearty meal of eggs, bacon and good old oatmeal. Our adventurous Junior TREKKERS took off again this morning for an exciting backpack overnight to Yellow Creek. Horse lessons continued this morning as usual with Megan M, Aly B, Sierra T, Zoe J, Archie T, Derek B, David G, Felix H, PG H, Jeff M, Taehli S, and Lauren D. Today was also tie dying day with Gipper. Right before lunch horse lessons continued with Taylor K, Ryleigh H, Jordan S, Leilani G, Ruth C, Tess L, Isabelle C, Ama B, Molly U, Laura S, and Mat W. Other exciting activities in the morning included Frisbee gold or as we like to call it, FROLF. High ropes, name ball, and riflery also continued. In honor of the fourth of July, lunch was red, white and blue today, and the most spirited cabin won prizes. After a relaxing rest hour, the afternoon kicked off with the pool, which was refreshing after 98 degree weather! The afternoon also included activities such as guitar, martial arts and vaulting on horses.

Thursday 7/5
This morning campers returned from an exciting outpost, where they spent the night roasting their dinner and dessert by fire and sleeping under the stars. Once in camp the campers took showers and rested until activities started. At 11:00 campers chose from an assortment of activities. After lunch kids had an extended rest hour to recoup from their outpost night. At 2:30 a pool party began due to the record heat. Campers participated in a variety of games for prizes. The campers chose from a watermelon seed spitting contest, water balloon toss, dorky diving, and a spoon and ping pong ball race. At 4:00 the festivities ended and regular activities began.

Friday 7/6
This morning, all of the campers went to regular activities and all out C.I.T’s were allowed to go to the high ropes! The TREKKERs came back and everyone was very happy to see them after three days. They have been hiking and caving. Today was still very hot and in the afternoon everyone wanted to go to the pool as well as other activities such as karaoke, ice cream making, water balloon volleyball, and vaulting. We are also preparing for an art show in which everybody will have an opportunity to showcase his or her talent! Additionally, all the campers are very excited because they are anticipating the party night at camp. The theme is red white and blue and will surely be great fun!

Saturday 7/7
The weather finally cooled down. Thank goodness, just in time for TREK and Junior TREK to continue their wilderness adventures. TREK headed out for a four day backpack and a two day white water rafting trip. Junior TREK set out for a hike up Lassen Peak. The Friday night dance was a huge success! Campers danced until 9:30 including the limbo, the Macarena and the Hustle. Club Med and Graceland won the ice cream sundaes for having the cleanest cabins. Other campers munched on popsicles. Everyone had a great time. Tonight we are all very excited to play capture the flag, which is a Coppercreek favorite.

Session 1 ends, Session 2 begins...

The last few days of session 1 went by in a blur, and we were so busy with the transition that we fell behind in our blog postings. Thanks for bearing with us!

Thursday 6/28 part 2.

“The Stars Are Out” talent show took place on our very own campfire stage tonight! We were graced with incredible performances by campers, staff, CITs, and JCs. Some highlights included Monica A’s flexibility, Michael O’s singing, Patrick L’s rendition of “I Hung My Head” on guitar, Justin C’s guitar skills, and a skit by all the girls of Treehouse. Even our vaulters got in on the talent fum, with Griffin B, David G, Alex O, Taryn L, and Tess L showing off their skills!

Friday 6/29.

This Friday was the last full day of first session, which meant that Catherine D, Fish, Molly D, Sarah F, Laura O, Kate K, Monika H, and Sarah P went on the very last lake group, and James O, Peter L, Justin C, Tim Y, Emerson K, Joe G, Simone S, Rebkah M, and Griffin B all did high ropes in the morning. Kate E, Gina T, Brendan S, Maddie S, Ginger B, Taylor A, Claire S, Valary Z, Peter L, Andre G, and Michael O all went canoeing at Round Valley in the afternoon, and had a blast! Other than those exciting excursions, the usual fun activities too place. After dinner and packing time, everyone headed over to campfire for awards and the drama play. Awards were presented to campers who participated in horses, TAPS, Kayaking, and Mountain Biking, The play was a Coppercreek version of Cinderella, featuring counselors Adam and Emma, JC Camry, and a cast of talented campers. We ended the night with a party! The theme was Wild Wild West, so everyone dressed up in their best western attire. After dancing the night away, campers were serenaded to sleep by the staff and JCs.

Saturday 6/30 Last Day of First Session! 

Today was bittersweet, saying good bye to friends and to camp, but looking forward to seeing family and home. We were sad to see the campers go, but look forward to seeing them next summer!

Sunday, 7/1, First day of Session 2!!!
All of us here at Coppercreek were so excited to meet all the new campers today! We got to k now everyone better with some big fun icebreaker games, and introductions at evening campfire. Session two is off to a great start!

First Session Update

MONDAY: Part Deux
To finish up the day the entire camp got together for the final campfire of the session. All the cabins including the C.I.T’s who had not yet done a skit performed. And then of course lights out and sleeping campers.

TUESDAY
Today the TAPS (Thin Air Patrol) Overnight left camp to rock climb, and hang out. Monica A, Rebekah M., Simone S., Valery Z., Agnes A., and Will M. were the lucky camper participants in this adventure. We had two lake trips today- Emerson K., Brendan S., James O. and Peter D., went in the morning, while Mat W., Adam O., Casey N., and Taryn L., and went in the afternoon. While these campers were enjoying themselves wakeboarding, water skiing, and kneeboarding, activities continued at camp, including a chance to cool off by playing water balloon volleyball. Dinner was BBQ night, which comes only once a session! For this special treat we had hamburgers, hotdogs, and chicken followed by brownies for dessert. Evening activities included canoeing and fishing out of camp, and a huge game of soccer in the meadow, or other amazing activities.

WEDNESDAY
Once again we had two lake groups, normal activities and the usual morning riding lessons continued. In the mornings, Brianne C. Brendan S. Sarah P., and Taryn L. went to the lake in the morning and Brianna J., Mariah D., Marina N., and Joe G. went in the afternoon. During rest hour we packed lunches for everyone because it was picnic night! Every cabin got to pack their own food outside to eat dinner and hang out. After dinner a small group of went on another fishing trip, but all campers still at camp went on the counselor hunt! The C.I.T’s and J.C’s headed out to Lynne’s pond for an evening filled of socializing bonding and s’more making until it was dark.

THURSDAY
Camp was awoken by the usual music, but an hour later because it was sleep-in day! After a delicious pancake breakfast and extended cabin cleanup we did an all camp cleanup, because the camp gets full of t rash when we have lots of fun. Once the camp was spotless we all gathered in the meadow with as many belongings as possible attached to ourselves, because it was the Dutch Action, which is a fun game where all the cabin groups engage in friendly competition. Today was a day for sleeping and reviving because we had an extended rest house and only two hours of afternoon activities. During family hour, Jenilee, our crafts director put together a wonderful art exhibit and an exciting fashion show to display all the tie dyed clothing and other things campers have made art crafts. Tonight we have our talent show, stay posted for a report of the most entertaining acts.

Saturday, Sunday & Monday First Session!

Saturday: Part 2

Saturday evening started out with an exciting, camp-wide crazy hat dinner. All campers, C.I.T.’s, J.C.’s, and staff wore their craziest hat, or hat compilation, to dinner. The winners were the boy C.I.T.’s and the girls of Billabong. After a delicious dinner of lemon chicken and scalloped potatoes, camp prepared for capture the flag. At campfire, Amy and Becky divided the camp into two teams – the purple team and the orange team. As the two teams, led by captains Mike D. and Melissa, headed to the field, the adrenaline mounted. The intense game of capture the flag ended with the glorious victory of the orange team. Many faces came back happy and many hearts were broken. Ah, the glory of victory, the agony of defeat!

Sunday

Camp, tired from the previous night’s games, woke up to a scrumptious breakfast of blueberry muffins, along with eggs, sausage, yogurt, and cereal on the side. The splendid young riders spent their morning honing their skills on horseback. While the horseback riders were doing their thing, Kelly L. and Rebekah M. got a special treat – the lake to themselves. Woo hoo! This morning, the C.I.T.’s got to spend a few hours bonding on the high ropes course. The same morning, Joe G., Emerson K., James O., Peter D., Casey N., Tim Y., and Justin C. left for an overnight mountain biking adventure. As the day progressed, Mariah D., Fiona H., Danielle S., and Tess O. – those lucky ladies – got to go miniature pony driving. After dinner, we ended the night with Vespers. At Vespers, the campers chose songs, poetry, and/or quotes to present to the group. Vespers is a quiet time to celebrate life and nature in camp. We changed our Vespers spot this year, and Papa John would have been proud. Among the many beautiful poems and quotes, Patrick L. and Mike F. played us lovely songs on their guitars. All in all, it was a peaceful relaxing night.

Monday

What an exciting schedule for Monday – no Nameball! This exciting morning, there was a turbo, super exciting climbing trip to the loading zone with Agnes A., Sarah P., Valary Z., Will M., and Rebekah M. That is awesome! Another exciting activity that happened this morning was the Lizard Hunt. Michael O., David G., Andre G., Danielle S., and Helen G. found a lizard and made a pleasant home for it at Nature. The afternoon was exciting as well. There was an afternoon lake group with Laura S., Helen G., Danielle S., Tess L., and Alex O. The mini ponies were also out and about playing with the campers. Tonight there is more fun to come with campfire and skits!!

-Brady and Rudy

Saturday's news...

Today’s entry by Kelsey Pierce and Ben Chodar, edited by Amy.

FRIDAY, continued…
On Friday afternoon, riding instructors Deb and Jenny took the Saddle Club on a trail ride. These three girls: Laura S, Helen G, and Aiden R, had a blast.

The Pajama Party dance that evening was a huge success. All the campers showed up in their finest bedtime apparel to dance the night away (until 9:30, that is!). Just as promised, Club Med and Battleship received ice cream sundaes for having the cleanest cabins, while the rest of camp got popsicles for dessert. As the party calmed down and came to a close, the campers headed off to bed while the CITs and JCs stayed to clean up the decorations and get the deck ready for breakfast the next morning.

SATURDAY
Saturday morning began with a breakfast of French toast sticks, sausage, eggs, and the usual granola and yogurt and cold cereal. Later this morning, the morning lake group, consisting of Emerson K, Tim Y, Joe G, and James O headed out for a morning of lake fun. The riders at horses took their lessons as usual – everyone is working hard and improving immensely. Rebekah M, Tess O, Mariah D, Sarah C, Tess L, Monica A, and Helen G made their way over to the high ropes course, many of them for the second time this session. Although we are very proud of all our campers, we’d like to give special recognition to Tess L, who faced her fear of heights and completed two portions of the course with exceptional composure. Rebekah M and Mariah D nearly completed a particularly difficult section of the course, called the Vertical Playground, and would have finished had lunch not been called. We had a lunch of sandwiches before the afternoon lake group (Rebekah M, Kate E, Mariah D, Jordan G, Kate K, Laura O, Taylor A, and Maddy S) left for an afternoon of wakeboarding, waterskiing, and kneeboarding. Back at camp, activities continued as usual. Tonight, everyone is excited for our huge game of Capture the Flag. Stay tuned for the results of the game, and more news of day-to-day fun at Coppercreek!

Camp 2007: The First Six Days.

Today’s entry is just a recap of the last several days. Now that camp has settled into a bit of a rhythm, it’s our plan to have a couple of our Junior Counselors be our “camp reporters” each day so that we can keep our adoring public better informed! Stay tuned for more as the summer progresses…

SUNDAY
Everyone arrived safely at camp, and got to know each other playing big fun meadow games. That evening, we had the very first campfire of 2007, and all the campers and staff got up onstage to introduce themselves. We also took sign-ups for high ropes, horseback riding lessons, and backpacking trips.

The following campers signed up for riding lessons, and will be taking a lesson each morning for the next week: Claire S, Agnes A, Silvie S, Calena R, Helen G, Jordan G, Danielle S, Hank F, Andre G, Taryn L, Griffin B, Casey N, David G, Molly M, Lia M, Kelsey G, Valary Z, Aiden R, Sarah P, Emma T, Julia V, Tess L, Colleen P, Mariah D, Simone S, Isabel B, Fiona H, Dawn Linn T, Nira K.

MONDAY
On Monday all the activities started and everyone made a trip to the pool for swim checks. Our first lake group of the season was Brendan S, Michael O, Tim Y, Monica A, Aaron R, Emerson K, and Rebekah M. Our first high ropes group was: Marina N, Dionna J, Joe G, Peter D, James O, Justin C, Will M, Patrick L, Bryan Q, Adam O, and Paul E. The arts and crafts, paintings were made with things the kids found while on a nature walk. In the afternoon, Devon K, David G, Casey N, Michael A, Jake H, Griffin B, Helen G, and Jordan G took their turn at the lake. In the evening, campers got to choose from a variety of activities, including a canoe trip to Round Valley Lake (selected by Laura S, Tess L, Danielle S, Michael A, Griffin B, Casey N, Alexis O, and Rebekah M), and a fishing trip (Fiona H, Aiden R, Valary Z, Agnes A, Sarah P, Michael O.) Other campers chose from a variety of in-camp activities: a nature walk, Frisbee fun, a mountain bike ride, charades, dance, the climbing wall, and hide & seek.

TUESDAY
Tuesday was Claire S’s birthday, and we celebrated with decorations and chocolate cake. Specialty groups started at horses, including mini driving, saddle club and vaulting. For the next week, our Saddle Clubbers are Julia V, Sarah F, Aide R, Laura S, Helen G; our vaulters are Alexis O, Dawn Linn T, Ryleigh H, Taryn L, Tess L, Griffin B, and David G; and our Mini Drivers are Calena R, Agnes A, Sarah P, Valary Z, Claire S, Silvie S, Mariah D, Fiona H, Danielle S, Casey N, and Tess O. Several campers also signed up to be Barn Rats, who will help out with barn chores in the morning, including Colleen P, Tess O, Kelsey G, Lia M, Jordan G, Griffin B, Valary Z, and Aiden R.

The morning lake group today was Hank F, Taryn L, Andre G, Agnes A, Claire S, Calena R, Silvie S, and Sarah P. On the high ropes course were Simone S, Kelsey G, Monica A, Brianne C, Tim Y, Emerson K, Aaron R, Devon K, Griffin B, Casey N. After lunch, Tess L, Danielle S, Molly M, Paul E, Pat L, Mathieu W, and Adam O took their turn at the lake, while the highlight of the in-camp activities was cookie-baking. At campfire that night, The Battleship, Phule’s Paradise, Treehouse, and FBI presented skits.

WEDNESDAY
The boys of Phules’ Paradise and The Swamp, along with Monica A, Simone S, Kelsey G, Mariah D, and Rebekah M, left on a three-day backpack trip to Lassen National Park. That evening, all of the remaining campers in camp hiked out to our campsites along the creek, to roast hotdogs for dinner, eat ‘smores for dessert, and sleep underneath the stars. The craft activity for the day was tie-dye.

THURSDAY
After a fulfilling breakfast of bagels and cereal, our outposters hiked back to camp for military showers (to conserve water). Parents, check your mail because today was letter writing day, and letters should be arriving home soon from your camper! In the afternoon, campers cooled off at water balloon volleyball and at the pool. Thursdays have only one Lake Group, and Valary Z, Fiona H, Dawn Linn T, Tess O, Colleen P, Marina N, Dionna J, and Laura S. took advantage of an extra-long opportunity to practice wakeboarding and kneeboarding. The evening concluded with campfire, featuring skits by Club Med, Billabong, and Times Square.

FRIDAY
At lunch today, Mike Fisher got to sign the kayak hanging on our deck, as recognition for mastering his roll at the pool this morning. We also expect Brianne C to be signing the kayak very soon! The backpackers returned, dirty and happy, in time for our Pajama Party dance this evening. Club Med and Battleship will get special ice cream sundaes tonight, as rewards for having the cleanest cabins. Our usual morning lake group (Hank F, Michael O, Andre G, and Taryn L.) hit the water this morning, and Alexis O, Sarah F, Julia V, Isabel B, Nera K, Emma T, Griffin B, and David G took over in the afternoon.

By Kristin Beardsley and Camry Haskins, edited by Amy.

Beautiful Day

After a very chilly night, we woke up to blue skies and an absolutely gorgeous Coppercreek day. Our Equestrian campers had their first day of 2 lessons and chose their specialty groups. They all chose either Vaulting or Mighty Minis. The Vaulting group worked their compulsories and then started to create Kurs (routines) they could do as teams. They practiced on both the barrel and a little bit on our draft mare, Annie. The Mighty Mini group hitched up both Jiggy and Beauty and each person was able to drive around the arena a bit. The lessons and ground lessons also went very well! We are so enjoying this session!

The lifeguards also finished their pool work today, just about the time the weather warmed up....! They will take their written tests tomorrow and we will have 8 new lifeguards for this summer's camp session. Mandatory staff training week begins Sunday, so we will have some new arrivals over the weekend. Only 10 more days until 1st session begins

Starting Camp with Snow on the Mountain!

Today is the first day or the first session of our 42nd year! We also had a cold storm move through last night and drop a dusting of snow on the mountains behind us.
Our riding staff arrived last Wednesday and started their Certified Horsemanship Association Clinic on Thursday afternoon. After 4 days of intense riding and instructing, all 6 women passed receiving at least their level 2 certification. CONGRATULATIONS to all of them!
The staff taking our lifeguarding class arrived on Monday and yesterday morning had their first session in the pool. Of course, they absolutely froze to death as we had our coldest day in months. Today they are back at the pool with more clothes and hopefully they took a sense of humor in their lunch. Oh, well....at least the sun is shining at the moment.
Our Equestrian Camp campers have begun arriving and we are so excited to hear young voices and laughter echoing through Coppercreek again!

We are all so thrilled to spend our summers living, working and playing in such an incredible place with new and old friends.

See you soon!

Alumni Group

Amy got us set up on a Google groups list for our former campers and staff to share their Coppercreek memories. I pulled a few quotable quotes out for you to enjoy. It has been such a gift to read how important Coppercreek still is to so many.

Enjoy!
Becky

PS, if you want to join the group, please contact amy@coppercreek.com!


POST #1
Coppercreek remains my treasure chest of happiest experiences. I could never sleep that first night after I'd arrive, because I'd be so excited to finally be back on those creaky-spring bunkbeds with the plastic-covered mattresses, and those solemn trees outside the cabin windows (which were open back then). I remember store stops, the smell of red dirt, horses, and pine (and, well, insect repellant), and the sounds of coyotes and wind, the porch shaking under the weight of party night, and the Trek vans coming back into camp, playing "Rock Lobster" or "Louie Louie"
(even though we probably weren't supposed to). I remember friends my own age and the revered staff. Among all its lessons, Coppercreek taught me how to value time, since every day felt so precious and so mine to spend: such a luxury, with dirty feet and dirty T-shirt and biscuits and gravy and red punch. There's no way I could ever describe all of it, but I remember it in great detail.

It was incredible to drive up from San Francisco, where I live now, last May and feel how the spirit of the place is still completely alive in me even though
I'd been away for almost 15 years. The occasion of John's memorial was a very sad one, of course. It was an awesome monument to him, though, to see how many lives Coppercreek has enriched, and how indelible its mark is. Every summer that I hadn't gone back, I'd felt a strong sense of displacement. Going back and reconnecting with some dear souls last spring gave me some peace that the spirit of camp, and the essential place, are intact despite the time away and the changes to the cabins and property lines. Matt Evarts once told me, "I hope you come back to Coppercreek
till you die," and I'm sure I will, one way or another.

POST #2
"Wow. I am so thrilled that there is a list now of people who went to Coppercreek. I went there from 1979 to 1985(i think). It's kind of amazing, but the memories of those days are still with me and when times get tough thinking about Coppercreek seems to brighten my day. Anyone else out there remember "The Tubes" "Dead Horowitzes" or "Johnny Destructo?" I'd love to hear from some of you all.

One of the things that I remember best and occasionally brings a tear to my eye when I remember it is campfire nights. Some of those wonderful songs I learned are still my favorites. I remember fondly the end of campfires where everyone sang "day is done." (taps) I remember the couple of moments of quiet peace that always followed.


I guess other coppercreek campers and staff can attest to this. The memories and warmth linger many years after the camp experience. Sometime if I am ever driving through northern California I would love to drive by and see the camp again. I'm sure a lot has changed, but as much as things have changed I'm sure some have remained the same. "

POST #3
I Was at camp with my three brothers and mom, who was the camp nurse.I am looking at an orange juice can covered in felt with the face of a dog ,which has been with me since that summer of fun,Boy do the thoughts of long ago come back.

Spring

What a fantastic day! Although we are all a little worried about our dry winter and it's impact on the summer fire season, we are sure enjoying the spectacular spring weather. Craig mowed the top part of the meadow today. He has some pipes to fix in his irrigation system, but hopefully, the playing field will be green and lush when the campers arrive in June. It looks a little bit like a golf course today.

The other exciting news of the day is that Miss Ryleigh took her training wheels off!!! It was so exciting. With a little push from Craig, she was off and running down the camp meadow. She got it on the first try!

Hope you are all enjoying the spring weather, and if you celebrate Passover, you are enjoying time with friends and family.


Becky

Camp and High School Chemistry

I received an e-mail from my Uncle Bruce the other day with a link to an article in the LA Times about my high school Chemistry teacher. Mr. Boomer, or the Boom, as everyone called him, has been at the same high school in the Santa Cruz Mountains for 50 years teaching Chemistry and Physics. I have attached a link to the article if you'd like to check it out. http://home.comcast.net/%7epqshop/latimes/latimes.html

To tell this story, I must first admit that as a teenager, I was not only a bit of a know it all, but also had moments where I was down right snotty. I know you are all surprised :). I can remember telling the Boom very early on in my Chemistry career that I did not "need" Chemistry, because I was going to law school, and obviously attorneys had no need for hard science. Now, having been raised by a smart alec, I should have known better than to give someone THAT much ammunition. For the rest of my years in high school, I was called "the lawyer" anytime I opened my mouth in Boom's class. So, after receiving and reading the article last week, I talked to my husband Craig about Mr. Boomer and my memories of Chemistry and Physics. I was astounded to find out that Craig's Chemistry teacher NEVER blew anything up. Not only that, but he never even got to light the bunsen burners, never got to experience BIG QUAL (qualitative analysis) where you actually cooked and added chemicals to discover what compound you had been given, and didn't remember much of anything. I STILL remember some of the elements on the periodic table, the formula for Sulphuric Acid and many other obscure facts from my BIG CHEM & MIGHTY PHYSICS career. I'm 36 years old and haven't taken a single Chemistry or Physics class since High School. Even with Boom's influence, I chose Intro to Oceanography as my college science requirement. One of the labs involved going to the beach and counting waves, totally my kind of science, but I digress.

You may wonder what in the world my high school science career has to do with camp! Quite a lot, actually. About the same time, I was taking this walk down memory lane, I was also putting together a banner for the Expo we attended this weekend. I was trying to figure out how to crystallize the camp experience for potential camp families. Why is camp important? What lessons are learned here?
Interestingly, what I came up with was Experiential Learning, and learning through play. Which of course, led me right back to Boom's classroom. Mr. Boomer always took so much pleasure from teaching and we learned through play! WE BLEW STUFF UP AND LIT THINGS ON FIRE! And, those lessons are still with me. The lessons we teach at camp are obviously quite different from the ones taught in a science classroom (I am still way more into the social science part of life :), but they are as enduring. When we learn through experience and play, those lessons stay with us far longer and can change who we are and how we see the world. So, maybe "the lawyer" did need Chemistry after all! Much thanks to you Boom! And, to everyone else, GO PLAY!

Dog's Life- by Roscoe

Boy, it sure does seem like its getting busy around here all of the sudden. Lornie has actually been able to play with her horses, which is fine with be becuse that means there is fresh manure in places I can get to without getting yelled at. I don't know what the big deal is, the big dumb beasts don't care that I'm running around at their feet. I don't even think they can see me. Of course there was that one grey one that seemed to be chasing me the other day... Craig (I would call him daddy, but he would probably get angry and then want to know why I was playing on his computer)Has be spending a lot of time working at the maintenance shop. He keeps crawling under tractors and other stuff and making them leak. He usually has a big dish under where they are leaking. I don't know why he would want to put that gunk in a dish, it tastes horrible. He geeps getting up and going to his other shed where he keeps the yummy oily stuff that tastes like french fries. I like that stuff. I don't understand what he does in there. the stuff is perfectly delicious and then he mixes it with the other smelly stuff; he puts water in and takes it out over and over again (I don't like the taste of it) and then he pours it in his pickup! What a waste of good, yummy oily stuff. Anyways, I try to help him as best as I can. I clean up after he spills the yummy oil, I bring him pine cones to throw for me, because that is what he REALLY wants to do, and I keep close watch when he makes the tractors leak the yucky stuff (see my ear, I got too close I guess.)
The snow is going away fast. I guess its ok though, it gets stuck all over me and slows me down. Plus now there are lots of birds to chase. I don't like the birds, they don't play fair. When I am just about to catch them, the go up in trees and yell mean things at me. Dumb birds. I hope the kids come back soon, I like all the stuff they leave on the dining deck for me plus that's when the nice ladies that work in the big kitchen will be back and they think I'm sooo cute.

Snow Day

We had so much snow this week! Ryleigh and Sutter had a snow day on Tuesday. We had about 18 inches of snowfall here at camp and FEET at our house in Truckee. It is nice to finally see winter. We were all starting to worry about the fire season. Lornie is not so excited about winter. She wishes it was spring. She misses riding when we have this much snow. In fact, she and Sutter spent part of last weekend with Kalli in Elk Grove riding horses and enjoying NO SNOW. I thought you'd all appreciate this photo of Craig and Roscoe. Roscoe loves playing in the snow, but gets so FULL of snow balls, he has to have a bath just to be able to walk.
Have a great Wednesday!
Becky

Looks Like Winter...Finally

What did the groundhog say a couple weeks ago? Well old man winter must have heard him and got upset. Nothing like the day after the storm passes. I'm not sure why I'm running around taking pictures of camp when I should be out on the slopes enjoying the first blue bird powder day of the ski season. I guess I can't have everything. We are all excited to finally have some snow on the ground. Even our cat Chuckie was out playing in it this morning. Of course a layer of snow on the ground always reminds me of all the things that are so easy to put off while the weather is nice. Maybe I should just go ride my motorcycle.
Looking toward summer program ideas. I (this is Craig by the way)have sketched a couple of ideas for new elements on the ropes course- see if I can maybe get one built for this summer. I'm also on the lookout for trap/skeet shooting program outline that would be appropriate for us to use this year- I've set up a thrower down by the shop and would love to try it as a camp activity.
Hope you've all been enjoying the holiday week or long weekends whichever you had!

Craig

PS- the photo is looking up toward the pond from the bottom of the meadow.

Winter Riding!

Sutter and Ryleigh are out of school this week, so in addition to relaxing, reading, watching movies and really silly TV shows, Ryleigh also found some time to take a riding lesson. Here she is with Tulip. Lornie has also spend the early part of this week riding as much as she could between potential staff interviews. We are expecting terrible weather for the next several days, and since we'll be stuck indoors, we definitely tried to get our outdoor time in early :)!
Happy Wednesday.
Becky

Veteran's Day

This is a very late post, but we struggled with photos and text on our main site!
We took this on Veteran's Day, and wanted to take a moment to thank the men and women who have made such incredible sacrifices. Regardless of our political and social viewpoint, our soldiers are in our thoughts and prayers, today and every day!

Becky

Our crazy lives

It has been a hectic winter at Coppercreek Camp. Ryleigh is in Kindergarten, Sutter is in high school, and Lornie, Craig and I are just trying to keep up. I am spending several days each week at Northstar as the Ticket and Pass Manager and Lornie starts coaching Junior High Volleyball next week. PHEW!!! We thought we were busy in the summer. This winter, it's taking Google calendars to keep track of all of our schedules. If you are in the Tahoe area, please stop by the pass office at Northstar and say hello. If you are attending any volleyball tournaments for your junior high kid, look out for Lornie and her Greenville team! Sutter is playing Club Volleyball and planning for a trip to Mongolia this May. Her Dad is going there for research and Sutter gets to go along! It is definitely a huge opportunity for her. Ryleigh's loving school. She gets to go to the first grade class for reading and is starting to read everything she can, including road signs and just last week, she picked up Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman!
We need camp to start so we can justify Rest Hour every day!

Becky

Craig's Biodiesel Project

Coppercreek has begun making and using alternative fuel. After collecting used vegetable oil from many of our local restaurants last summer, Craig spent the early part of this winter getting all of the pieces together to process biodiesel. He made his very first batch last week, and IT WORKED!! The first place he used it was our riding lawn mower. The mower ran and DIDN'T blow up. He then tried it in his pick up truck. It smells a little like french fries, but other than that, runs as well as it ever has. Craig is planning to collect more oil and make more bio-diesel through the spring and summer and hopefully, we will be able to significantly reduce our diesel consumption and do a little to help the environment at the same time.
If you want to know more about bio-diesel, Craig has lots of websites he would love to share :)!

Happy Tuesday.
Becky

Radio Advertising

Hi All,
We have officially entered the world of radio advertising. We worked last week with a wonderful guy, Steve, from Y92.5 in Sacramento and in 2 short days had an ad up and running. Everybody needs to spend some time listening and let us know what you think.

Becky

Coppercreek's Blog

Hi All,
Welcome to Coppercreek's Blog! We are so excited to get this started. We will be updating this spot regularly with news from camp. Please feel free to leave comments. We'd love to hear from you!

Becky (Lornie, Craig, Ryleigh & Sutter, too)