Camps.com


Camp Logo
Camp Fire USA Heart of the Hawkeye Council
Des Moines, IA, 50310
Phone: 515-274-1501
Fax: 515-274-1502

Rate the Camp
No rating done yet on this camp.

Description

Camp Fire USA is a community-based non-profit organization that builds caring, confident, youth and future leaders. When it began in 1910, it was the first integrated, non-sectarian organization for girls in the United States. Camp Fire has evolved into a network of 98 councils nationwide, and together we serve over 750,000 boys and girls between the ages of 3 and 18 every year.


Camp Fire USA Heart of the Hawkeye Council has served well over 100,000 youth since opening in 1913, making us one of the most successful and deeply rooted youth-development organizations in Central Iowa.




In 1910, young girls in Thetford, Vermont, watched their brothers, friends, and schoolmates  all Boy Scouts  practice their parts in the community's 150th anniversary, which would be celebrated the following summer. The pageant's organizer, William Chauncey Langdon, promised the girls that they, too, would have an organized role in the pageant, although no organization existed then for girls. Langdon consulted with Mrs. Charles Farnsworth, preceptress of Horace Mann School near Thetford, Vermont. Both approached Luther Halsey Gulick M.D. about creating a national organization for girls. Gulick introduced the idea to friends, among them G. Stanley Hall, Ernest Thompson Seton, and James West, executive secretary of the Boy Scouts.  After many discussions and help from Gulick and his wife Charlotte, Langdon named the group of Thetford girls the Camp Fire Girls.


 By December 1913, Camp Fire Girls' membership was an estimated 60,000, many of whom began attending affiliated summer camps.The Bluebird program was introduced that year for younger girls, offering exploration of ideas and creative play built around family and community. In 1989 the Bluebirds became Starflight.


 The first official Camp Fire handbook was published in 1914. During World War I Camp Fire Girls helped to sell over one million dollars in Liberty Bonds and over $900,000 in Thrift Stamps; 55,000 girls helped to support French and Belgian orphans, and an estimated 68,000 girls earned honors by conservation of food.


 While boys were invited to Camp Fire Girls Horizon Conferences in the late 1960s and early 1970s, official membership was not offered them until 1975, when the organization became coeducational. Camp Fire decided boys and girls should be together in one organization, so they learn to play and work alongside each other and appreciate their similarities and differences in positive ways. Thus they understand that people from either gender can be their teachers, coworkers, supervisors, confidantes, coaches, and friends.


 In the coming year, Camp Fire USA celebrates 100 years of looking ahead and building confident, caring youth and future leaders.  As donors and volunteers for this forward looking organization, you have helped to make this program as successful as it is passing the light undimmed to the next generation. Here is a brief timeline of the Camp Fire history.



Details

Camp Type:
Day  Residential 
Year Established:
Gender:
coed
Age of Campers:
5-16
Cost/Week:
/wk (Please contact camp for exact pricing.)
Nearest Large City:
Accreditations:

Activities

academic:
  • Science
adventure:
  • Canoeing
  • Hiking Day outings
  • Kayaking
  • Ropes Course
artistic:
  • Art
  • Crafting
  • drama
athletic:
  • Archery
  • Horseback Riding, English
  • Horseback Riding, General
  • Horseback Riding, Western
  • Paintball
  • Sailing
  • Swimming


Sessions

(Please contact camp directly for updated session schedule.)

Please visit the website for date and rates.

Reviews

Please write a review of this camp.
Verification Code:
Please enter below code to the above text box.
  
No Reviews to display
Tek Communications, Inc. © Copyright 2024

Looking for a Summer Camp Job? Upload Your Resume Job Seeker Login