The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-09-13


 camping period of one week for counselors. mothers and older girls the regular season at Camp Wequapauset, the summer camp of the. Waterbury Council of Girl Scouts located on upper Boyden street, Waterville. officially closed for the 1932 season. The facilities will be available for week. end hikes and similar affairs but there will be no = regular attendants at the site. and the headquarters of the Waterbury council are being moved back to their rooms at the Mattatuck Historical Society Buld- ing on West Main street, to remain there until the official opening of the 1893 summer camping sea- son.
 This, the second season of the camp at it's Watervilie site was e most successful one and more than Justified the decison of the council, made two years ago to remove the camp from Bantam where 1t had been operated for several years to site much more con- venient to the city so that the camp facilities might he utilized over a greater period of the year. The acquisition of the Welton site on which Is located a splendid fresh water pond, was most for tunate since it is but a short dis tance from the trolley line and only three miles from the center of the city.
 The 1891 season was a success ful one in spite of series of un- fortunate events. the most serious of which was the destruction by fire of the camp administration building a few weeks after it's com pletion at the height of the regular camping season. This, however, did not interfere much with the regular program the activities being carried on in large tents pending the construction of new building The epidemic of infantile paralysis also had a noticeable effect upon the 1881 camp enrolment.
 The camp this year has been in constant use at sometime or other since January. From the first of the year until July 9th when the regular camping season opened. more than three hundred girls used 1t for overnight trips or for Saturday afternoon activtes, and more than ITO were in attendance during the eight weeks camping season from July 9th to August 31st. Some of the girls were there for only two weeks while others extended their periods from that number to eight.
 Miss Edna Weber, director of the Waterbury Council, served as Camp Director and was assisted by a remarkably efficient corps of aids who worked tirelessly and un- ceasingly to make the summer a productive and pleasant one for those attending the camp.
 Miss Miriam Hodges had charge of the handicraft work and many useful articles such as purses of raffla and leather, 1anyafds, and textile and fibre articles were pro- duced as the campers were init fate dinto the charms of such work.
 The nature study was in charge of Mises Etta Bavier, the captain of Troop 2. and nature counselor for the camp. Various species of birds, trees, and flowers were studied and a nature museum was started for the camp headquarters Charts were kept indicating the finds of the various members of the classes.
 The athletics of the camp were in charge of Miss Sylvia Meyer of Philadelphia who supervised horse back riding and swimming. and Miss Irene Winger, who taught boating and canoeing and assisted in the swimming instruction. A large percentage of the girls al camp learned to ride and there were many pleasant horseback trips. Of the sixty-eight girls whe did not know how to swim when they, arrived at Wequapauset more than fifty learned to master thi. particular art. Five girls passed the Junior Life Saving Tests and one was awarded a Senior Life Saving certificate. A number ol swimming parties were held ava, from, camp. including severa breakfast hikes to Chestnut HI lake, where an early morning swim was enjoyed after whici breakfast was prepared and served in the field. There were also over. night trips to Lake Pomperaul and Bantam Lake.
 Miss Milded Turney directed the work of the pioneer gfour which constructed a bean-pole, q stove. a rock incinerator, a rol top table and several other useful and interesting articles necessar, to primitive camping. This grour also undertook Q gypsy trip tC Camp Andre, the national Cir Scout camp at BriarclifYe, N. Y This trip took three days.
 Several of the campers com pleted courses in first and second class first aid given under the d. rection of Miss Mary Van File who, incidentally has been highly commended for the unusually high health standards maintained by the camp. Her work tied in most ef. l fectively with that of Mrs Ada l Toomey, who has for the past thre years been the cook and | dietician for the camp.
 New developments in this year. program were the dramatics ana sketching classes of Miss Mildred Turney. With Miss Millee's aid the girls ada pted several plays from well known childrep's classics These included The Four Music. ians Of Bremen" adapted from Grimm's Fairy Tales; Under tn. i iRAn,lhIican Of