CW Hosts Community Christmas Party

Christmas season + a desire to meet more of the local community = CW staff organizing the 1st Annual Camp Wawona Community Christmas Party. Year one set the bar high with the lodge rivaling Santa's house with Christmas decor. Party activities included sugar cookie decorating, face painting, a christmas ornament craft, ping-pong, various table games, and the option of a "Romantic Mule Ride" featuring a Kawasaki Mule decorated with branches and christmas lights. And what would a party be without excellent food? Camp Staff combined their culinary skills to impress party goers with such delicacies as a Holiday Cheese Ball with crackers, an assortment of holiday shaped Vegan Chicken Salad and Egg Salad Sandwiches, Muddy Buddies, Rice Crispy Treats, a Veggie Platter, Festive Punch, and a variety of Hot Drinks. A few guests added to the menu by bringing fresh ginger bread. Beginning at 4 pm, Wawona residents partied like it was 2009 until 8 pm but didn't depart before hearing some live christmas carols by camp staff and even a round of "Jingle Bells" performed by a young community member. By the end of the evening new friendships had been made and the Christmas spirit had officially been ushered into the Wawona Community. Pictures are below.

CW Staff Attend MASS Program at Badger Pass

December 18, 2009 marked opening day for Badger Pass Ski Area in Yosemite National Park. It also marked the beginning of the Mountain Area Ski School or MASS program, which trains volunteers to effectively teach youth to ski and/or snowboard. This year CW staff are looking forward to being involved in the Wawona Elementary School's Winter Sports program and were eager to receive helpful pointers on teaching others how to excel at a winter sport. Anthony Handal, Derek Wright, Ryan Kloosterhuis, and Donnie Keele attended the all-day training seminars which provided practical ways to teach a beginner the essential "building block" skills of snowboarding. Of course, there was some free time to check out what Badger Pass had to offer.
"It's pretty small, " said Derek Wright "But it's a great place to teach somebody how to get into the sport."
"I think it's awesome that we're this close to a ski area," added Anthony Handal.
By the end of the day, staff had learned some valuable teaching tips and enjoyed a few runs before heading back to camp.

CW Staff Say Goodbye to MaryEllen Barlow

Nothing is quite as sad as parting ways and it was no exception as CW staff bid MaryEllen Barlow farewell over pizza and Jamba Juice on December 16, 2009. Barlow departed Camp Wawona to pursue several job opportunities that would prepare her for medical school which she begins August 2010. Though saddened by Barlows absence (her cleaning buddy especially), staff wish her the best on a bright future and hope she knows she will always have a home at Camp Wawona.

Camp Wawona Gets First Snow of the Season

Indeed, the white stuff started flurrying on Sunday night, dusting the ground just enough to hide the dirt. Satisfied with any amount of snow, Camp Wawona staff went to bed not expecting a large amount of snow to greet them in the morning. When they awoke, about two inches lay on the ground and it was still snowing. As camp staff met for worship they noticed it was snowing a bit heavier...accumulating at about an inch per hour. By evening the two inches had grown to 14 with a little over a foot of snow falling from 8 A.M. to about 3 P.M. The first snow gave camp staff a chance to operate the snow blower attached to the front of the skid steer. Mariposa County was kind enough plow Forest Drive so the camp plow trucks weren't needed just yet. Just as the sun was setting, the staff took a few moments to enjoy some sledding and a few snowboard runs from the pool to the cafeteria.