Welcome Letter

Welcome to Maple Valley Girl Scout Day Camp

August 5th to August 9th, 2024

Please read all the important camp information below.

Your Camper’s Photo Day will be Monday.

Camper Check-In

Sunday night 5 pm - 6:30 pm

Meet your unit leaders, get your camp shirt, complete the required lice check, and fill out any missing forms. We like to recommend that if your last name starts with letters A-M that you come between 5 – 5:45pm, and letters N-Z come between 5:45 – 6:30pm. This will help prevent long lines forming at the beginning of check-in. This the only time that you will be able to meet your camper’s unit leaders before camp starts.

The following information will help make Day Camp successful for your camper.

LOCATION:

Camp is located at Royal Arch Park, 20821 Maple Valley Highway, Maple Valley WA 98308. The park is located on Maple Valley Hwy/ Highway 169. It is about 1 ½ miles West past M.V. Market & the Shell station. Coming from Maple Valley it will be on the left-hand side. When leaving the park, you will only be permitted to turn right. This is for your safety.

DROP OFF & PICK UP:

The drop off process will stay the same. Parents will be directed into camp and to the drop off circle where leaders will greet the campers and walk them to their units at flag.

The pickup process will be changing this year. Volunteers will direct cars to park in the upper field and parents will walk down to the lower field where they can watch the camp do closing flag. After flag, unit leaders will walk the campers over to the parents and sign them out. For those of you who are new to camp, pick up is always a challenge with 200 campers, so please be patient with all the volunteers. Please do not leave without signing your camper out.

At our camp, safety is the number one priority. Campers will only be released to adults listed during the registration process. Anyone picking up a camper must show PHOTO IDENTIFICATION and will be required to sign for the camper they are picking up. THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS RULE. During Sunday check-in, you will have the opportunity to review the list of authorized pick-up people and make changes as needed.

As always, CARPOOLING IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!

For the safety of the campers, please no cell phone usage while in the waiting area and the pick-up circle!!!

DROP OFF TIMES:

Monday, Aug. 5: Drop off starts at 8:20 am, flag will begin at 8:30 am

Tuesday, Aug. 6: Drop off starts at 8:20 am

Wednesday, Aug. 7: Drop off starts at 8:20 am

Thursday, Aug. 8: Drop off starts at 12:50 pm, flag will begin at 1:00 pm

Friday, Aug. 9: Drop off time starts at 8:20 am for the Units 1, 2, and 3 and also for any Unit 4, 5, and 6 campers who did not spend the night on Thursday at camp

PICK UP TIMES:

Monday, Aug. 5: Pick up starts at: 4:00pm

Tuesday, Aug. 6: Pick up starts at 4:00pm

Wednesday, Aug. 7: Pick up starts at 4:00pm

Thursday, Aug. 8: Pick up for units 1, 2 and 3 will start at 7:00 pm

Friday, Aug. 9: Pick up starts at 3:00pm

SPECIAL THURSDAY PROGRAM:

Thursday, August 8th – camp will run from 1:00pm until 7:00pm. Please have your camper eat lunch prior to coming to camp on Thursday.

Your camper will either be cooking dinner with their unit or you will be asked to send them with a sack dinner for Thursday night. Your camper’s unit leaders will let you know which dinner option your camper will be doing. Campers from units 1, 2 and 3 will go home at 7:00 pm and will come back to camp on Friday morning at 8:30 am.

THURSDAY NIGHT CAMPOUT (Units 4, 5 and 6):

All camper from units 4, 5, and 6 have the opportunity to camp out overnight with their unit leaders, parent volunteers, and Aides. Unit leaders will ask for volunteers to bring tents for the campers to sleep in. If you know your tent is not easy to put up, we ask that you assist the unit putting it up on Thursday and/or taking it down on Friday. We also ask that tents are not bigger than 6 people to it. As a COVID-19 precaution, we are hoping to have twice as many tents than in past years to spread the campers out more. As a camp rule, unit leaders will be in charge of deciding how the campers are separated into each tent.

If you have a tent that you can lend for your camper’s unit, please let their unit leaders know on Sunday check-in.

Sleeping Mat or Pad
Warm clothing (Coat/jacket) – it gets cold when the sun goes down.
Flashlight
Change of clothing for camp the next day
Pajamas- no night gowns please
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Other personal hygiene products, such as deodorant.
Overnight bag/backpack with your daughter’s name in it.

For Friday morning, breakfast will be provided in the units. Your camper’s unit leaders may ask for some help with providing and/or cooking breakfast food for the campers.

Items to bring for the campout for units 4-6 (please label everything)!

Sleeping bag [NO INDOOR SLEEPING BAGS]
Pillow

GIRLS WITH FOOD ALLERGIES:

As many of you know, there are more and more kids with severe food allergies. We have several campers with life threatening allergies to nuts. While we don’t feel like we can eliminate nuts at camp all together, there are some things that we can all do to make it a safer environment for these campers. Campers with food allergies have been placed into “A” units, ex. 1A, 2A, etc. If your daughter is in one of these units, we ask that you do not send any nut products to camp. If this is not possible, your camper will be seated as far away as possible from the camper with the allergy. Please let the unit leader know if your daughter has any food with nuts in her lunch so that we can keep the lunches separate.

One of the most common problems with the nut allergies are when someone with a trace of peanut butter touches a table or a chair. If someone with a nut allergy were to use that table or chair and touch the trace amount it could cause a severe reaction. The campers, adults and program aides will be instructed to wash their hands and their lips before and after eating lunch. Please discuss the importance of this with your camper.

We will be providing a small amount of food to campers during the week. We will have Girl Scout cookies one day, popsicles on Tuesday and popcorn on a few different occasions because we have a popcorn machine. As always, we will research to ensure that these food items are safe for our campers with allergies. If you are worried about the snacks, or you are worried about their safety, please feel free to send a different snack option from home.

As you can imagine, the amount of garbage that is created in a week of camp from 350 people is tremendous to say the least. Anything you can do to send less waste in the camper’s lunches is greatly appreciated. We will be recycling at camp, and we will also have the campers put their garbage back in their lunch bags. We find this helpful so that you will be aware of how much lunch your camper ate or if they are eating all the good stuff and not their sandwich.

MEDICATION AT CAMP:

If you need us to give prescription medication to your child at camp, a prescription medication form signed by a physician is required, no exceptions. The form is available on our camp website. Any prescription medication needs to brought to camp in the original container. This policy also includes inhalers and epi-pens. If you have a permission slip signed by the doctor for the school, that will work also.

We have two nurses for the week of camp. They will be at camper-check in on Sunday night to collect any medications, answer any questions, and perform lice checks. With the increasing lice problems Girl Scout camps are having, we are requiring all campers to be lice checked at the beginning of camp. Any camper that is found to have lice will be sent home and rechecked by the nurse before they are allowed back to camp. This will be done discreetly and confidentially.

VOLUNTEER LED CAMP:

Please keep in mind that Maple Valley Day Camp is completely run by volunteers. Many of our volunteers take time off work to volunteer at our camp and provide programing for the campers. Our volunteers attend many hours of training prior to camp, starting in February, and spend a lot more time coming up with their unit programing and shopping for supplies. We are extremely grateful for all of their hard and dedication to our camp, and if you get a chance please thank them!

S.W.A.P.S.: (Special Whatchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere)

The tradition of Girl Scouts exchanging keepsakes started long ago and has been great fun for us at Maple Valley Day Camp. The campers will be given a lanyard to pin their SWAPS to and they will be given time during the week to exchange their swaps. There are some great resources on-line for SWAPS ideas but keep in mind, they should not be expensive to make and using recycled material is always encouraged.

DRESS CODE:

We have three important dress codes rules that need to be followed at camp.

No open-toes shoes (including crocs)
Shorts need to be fingertip length
Campers are not allowed to cut their camp shirts

CELL PHONES:

We understand that more and more of our campers have cell phone with them at camp every year. While it can be comforting for the children and the parents, cell phone can also be a huge distraction at camp. Additionally, we do not want pictures of the campers shared or placed on the internet without consent from the camper and/or the parent. For these reasons, campers will be required to leave their cell phones in their bags during the day. If cell phones become a problem in the unit, they may be confiscated by the adult leaders. We highly recommend that camper cell phone be left at home. Adult leaders will allow girls to use their cell phones, if needed.

COMMUNITY SERVICE:

Every year our camp participates in community service. This year we will be building picnic tables for the park. Every year some tables need to be decommissioned and we need a lot of tables for our large group. This allows the older girls to get some experience using a drill and building something. The younger units will be building something without the use of power tools due to Girl Scout safety guidelines.

THEMED DAYS – Just to add some additional fun to the week, we have a different theme

every day. Participation is optional.

Monday - Wacky Hat Day

Tuesday – Wacky Hair And Sock Day

Wednesday – Favorite Sea Animal Day

Thursday – Wacky Costume Day

Friday - PJ Day

WHAT YOUR CAMPER NEEDS EVERY DAY:

Please have your child eat a good breakfast before they come to camp. It will prepare them for everything they will do that day. Please send a good lunch and a couple of snacks, send more than you think they might normally need. Campers will be outside all-day and very active. Kids behave better and have more fun when they have eaten properly. We will provide a snack a couple of times during the week for every camper but not every day.
Dress according to the weather. Even if you think it is going to be warm, it is suggested that you pack layers every day in case of cold, damp days. Umbrellas can be safety hazards and are not allowed at camp. Have your camper wear comfortable clothing, that you won’t mind them getting dirty or dusty during the day. No open toes shoes!
Bring a backpack with a full water bottle, sunscreen, and hat. Please ensure that the camp nurse is aware of any special needs and that they collect medications each morning or on Sunday at the CHECK-IN REGSTRATION time 5:00 – 6:30 pm at the park. If needed these medications will be returned each afternoon. Please have them in well-marked containers.
Unit leaders will send out an additional email in a week or so and it may contain additional items that are needed, depending on the unit.

THE RIVER AREA NEAR CAMP IS OFF LIMITS. ANYONE FOUND ANYWHERE NEAR THE RIVER WITHOUT AN ADULT IS AUTOMATICALLY SENT HOME. PLEASE REVIEW THIS RULE WITH YOUR CHILD.

We are looking forward to meeting each child at camp and hope they are looking forward to a fun and exciting week! Please feel free to call us with any questions.

Sincerely Yours,

Day Camp Co-Director Day Camp Co-Director Day Camp Co-Director

Kristan Reed Kimberly Reed Kaitlyn Brantzeg

AKA Blossom AKA Spoiled AKA Twinkie

206-353-5814 206-355-6307 206-307-7457