For Rewarding Summer, Say ‘You Bet I Can’
‘You bet I can.” This simple sentence usually indicates the willingness of a person to do something. Add some capital letters and exclamation points, and that sentence becomes an experience on which to build self-esteem, new skills, have fun and focus on what a person CAN do. Camp You Bet I Can!!!, operated by the Inland Empire Council of Camp Fire Boys and Girls, is a camping program for differently abled young people between 5 and 21 years old.
You Bet I Can campers participate in all the camp activities offered at the site they attend, which may include swimming, hiking, outdoor cooking, arts and crafts, nature awareness, canoeing and archery.
Sessions are offered at Camp Dart-Lo Day Camp, Camp Just-Fer-Fun Day Camp in Cheney, Coeur d’Alene and Colfax, and Camp Sweyolakan resident camp. There are two sessions at each camp site - for three days and five days - and one session at Sweyolakan for six days.
The staff-to-camper ratio is 1-to-5. Day campers who want one-on-one supervision may request buddies, who are teenage students in grades eight to 12.
Children of adult volunteer counselors at Camp Just-Fer-Fun can participate in the day camp program at reduced rates.
Obviously, it takes a lot of volunteer help to staff Camp You Bet I Can. Teen buddies, licensed practical nurses and registered nurses are needed to help provide this wonderful opportunity for those whose opportunities are sometimes limited. What a terrific way for volunteers to spend a week or two of summer.
For more information about volunteering or attending Camp You Bet I Can, contact the Camp Fire office at 747-619, or 1-800-386-2324.
Dinner was served
MIAVO Camp Fire Club members recently prepared and served a dinner for families living at the Transitional Living Center for Homeless Women and Children. Following dinner, members entertained the children, giving their mothers a little free time.
The club also recently held the dedication of the Anita Lindner Memorial Garden, which they created and planted at Camp Dart-Lo last fall. Lindner, a victim of the Fairchild shootings last year, was an active adult member of Camp Fire. Her special interests were in camping and outdoor programs.
MIAVO is made up of fifth-grade students from Roosevelt Elementary.
A place for miracles
My husband and I recently attended the Spokane Guilds’ School and Neuromuscular Center’s annual appreciation night. We have been aware of the school for years, the work it does and the children it serves. But we gained a deeper, more personal perspective at the dinner.
With humor and straight talk, board member Dave Michaud presented the school through the eyes of parents who must suddenly face the reality that their child suffers from some disease they have never heard of, can’t pronounce and don’t understand.
Expectations and dreams have to be adjusted. Hurt, anger, disappointment, sorrow and countless other despairing emotions prevail when parents realize their child may never be able to walk, run, catch a ball or even sit up.
And then they find the guilds’ school.
By working with children from birth to 3 years old, the school maximizes the children’s abilities in the early stages of development. Through the work of teachers, therapists, parents, volunteers and donors, each student is given the chance to expand his or her boundaries.
Little “miracles” happen every day at the guilds’ school, and parents find pride and hope to replace their first despair.
Spokane is fortunate to have such a school. For more information about the Spokane Guilds’ School and Neuromuscular Center and how you can help, call 326-1651.
A new team begins
The 1995-96 leadership team of the Junior League of Spokane assumed its responsibilities at the group’s annual meeting, according to Gail Stevenson, immediate past president.
The league’s executive committee is composed of Candi Morton Gilchrist, who will serve as president; Kristi Blake, president-elect; Nancy Slack, administrative vice president; Tammy Tracy, membership vice president; Donna Halvorson, community vice president; Jane Baldwin, funding vice president; and Clysie Brooks-Hammond, treasurer.
The Junior League is involved in several community projects, including Impact Spokane, Kids on the Block, Ogden Hall, Teen Mentoring, and the YWCA Homeless Project.
It is an organization of women promoting community improvement through action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.
For more information about the league and its projects, call 328-2801.
Spokane Club elects officers
The Spokane Club elected officers for the coming year and added four new trustees at its annual meeting last month.
Tim Fennessy was elected president; Priscilla Gilkey, president-elect; Terry M. Kelly, vice president; Dan Schnell, secretary; Gordon Budke, treasurer; and Cory Yost, ex officio member as immediate past president. Gilkey will become the club’s first woman president when she assumes office next year.
New trustees are Donald Kiesbuy, Michael McDowell, Lorraine Rowand and Tom Townsend.
The Spokane Club is a private athletic and social club in downtown Spokane with a membership of 3,100.
Works of art/art of work …
A one-stop opportunity to see recent works of several leading artists from Spokane’s arts community is presented in the exhibit, “those that work: drawing as architecture, installation, sculpture, painting, writing.” The exhibit at the Spokane Art School, 920 N. Howard, runs through Aug. 12.
“those that work …” features a cross-section of recent drawings by artists John Abell, Lanny DeVuono, Linda Krause-Perez, Rob Kroese, Melissa Lang, Dan Mueller, Tresia Oosting, and Richard Schindler.
The exhibit also includes works by Tom O’Day, the exhibit curator, nationally known artist and faculty member of the art school and Spokane Falls Community College.
Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, call 328-0900.
The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Betsy Carosella The Spokesman-Review