Girls Can Do Anything

Can you remember when you learned how to operate a drill press safely?
How about cornering a berm on a mountain bike?
Or when you first learned how to belay or even hammer in a nail?

I can’t recall the exact day when I developed these skills, but I know that I wasn’t as young as some of our campers are. Campers have been practicing, failing, and trying again at skills all over camp. One of my favorite locations for this is in our woodshop. I’m biased because I love the smell of freshly cut lumber. I spent an activity period there today helping our veteran counselor Anne Crowley manage the class. This year our class is co-taught by a new Illahee friend Jordan who got connected with camp from my old church in Columbia, and Tom, our long-time carpenter and woodworker who alongside his brother Tim has built/rebuilt over half the buildings at Illahee.

I love woodworking more than any other craft activity because the girls get to leave camp with a couple of really cool projects and learn practical skills to take with them. I dream that when Bailey, who I was watching use the drill press, gets to college and her cabinet breaks, a doorknob falls off, or the deck railing is loose, she won’t have to call the landlord or Mom and Dad, but will whip out a set of tools and fix it herself.

After woodworking, I helped get camp ready for the dance! Tonight, we had the pleasure of dancing with the gentlemen over at Falling Creek Camp. Our oldest girls stayed here and our younger girls headed to Zirconia to climb up the mountain to Falling Creek. I stayed at Illahee to welcome the 150 or so boys and the masculine energy that accompanied them. We ate chicken tenders, mac ‘n cheese, and other tasty treats before grooving and moving on the tennis courts to the sounds of DJ Marcus.

The dance finished up with a popsicle party and then we waved farewell to our new friends and welcomed back our young girls an hour later. It’s always exciting to spice up time at camp and the dance does just that.

There is a stenciled sign that reads Girls Can Do Anything on the wall inside the Illahee woodshop. Today, that “anything” included a wide assortment of activities: from climbing the beanstalk blindfolded, rolling a kayak for the first time, gaining comfort downhill on a bike, cantering on a horse, shooting a bullseye, dominating a pickleball match, and even overcoming the fear of walking across the tennis courts to ask a fine-looking gentleman, “would you like to dance?”

peace,
Lucas