Creek Fire Update
Hello GAC Community,
We were overwhelmed by your outpouring of love and offers of help during the Creek Fire. Your reaching out was a reminder to us of how important and impactful camp has been in your lives.
During the fire, when we did not know the direct impact the fire would have on GAC or what help we might need in the future, we directed people who offered us financial support to donate to the Red Cross, which did important work supporting the immediate needs of our mountain community – many of whom lost homes or were evacuated for many weeks. Now that the smoke has settled and we’ve been able to enter camp and assess the damage, we have a way for you to help GAC.
While we are thankful that most of our buildings and trees were spared, GAC did not escape the Creek Fire unscathed. The fire burned strongly in the western half of GAC, the area known as “Mirimichi.” The fire destroyed several old Boy Scout structures (from the camp that was formerly on the site) and two of our newer storage sheds – the Horse Tack Shed and the Granite Grove Shed, both of which were storing program equipment. All of our mountain bikes, hammock structures, tables and chairs for our Granite Grove dances and dinner parties, and horse program supplies were burned beyond recognition.
Though we have fire insurance and have filed a claim, the insurance will not cover the total of our loss. And while we are thankful that most of our buildings and property were spared from damage, this loss – on top of our other significant financial losses from not being able to operate in 2020 – is another blow during an already challenging year.
By making a donation to our #GACSTRONG Creek Fire Fund, you can help us recover from our losses from the fire and replace buildings and equipment in preparation for 2021. A donation of any size to the fund will be gratefully accepted. To honor your loyalty and support of GAC, we’ll engrave your name on a sign that will hang on one of the two new buildings: Granite Grove Shed 2.0 or Horse Tack Shed 2.0.
We’re thankful that all we have to replace at camp is equipment and two sheds. We’re also thankful to have such a supportive and caring camp community. Thank you for all of your support over the years, and especially the last 9 months, which have been the most challenging we’ve faced. We are encouraged that, however challenging our obstacles may be, we need to continue working to bring much-needed fun, friendship, and growth to our campers who go on to bring positive changes to the world.
We can’t wait to whadda together again in 2021!
DONATE TO #GACSTRONG
9/16/20
Monkey & Junior checked on camp again on Wednesday, September 16, 2020, and took a few pictures to share with all of us:
9/15/20
Thank you for your continued messages and concern about GAC. We have felt your love and prayers over the past weeks as we all watched the progression of the Creek Fire towards our beloved GAC.
Many of us became adept at refreshing the many different fire and heat maps, and we are thankful that it is no longer necessary to check for those dreaded red dots over GAC!
We do not anticipate any major damage to GAC from this fire; however, there is still some fire activity in the vicinity of camp, so we are continuing to closely monitor the situation. We’re feeling confident that camp will continue to be safe from the Creek Fire, as the worst days of the blaze in our area were last week.
Our favorite firefighter, longtime GAC staff member Brad “Junior” Driscoll, is continuing to keep tabs on GAC.
Monkey, who was trained as a volunteer firefighter back in the 90s, was able to spend Tuesday – Thursday on the mountain with Junior, and he even had the opportunity to fight a blaze at the staff housing at China Peak. See news video featuring the back of Monkey as he sprays water into a burning structure.
On Saturday (9/12/20), Andy “Soy” Moeschberger joined Junior for a walk through camp. They found the Vanilla Tree, the Dining Porch, Big Campfire, and all of our camper tents and cabins safely waiting for the summer of 2021.
We are grateful for the prayers and support of our GAC community. We were extremely fortunate that GAC fared so well during the fire when many of our neighbors did not. Our hearts go out to the camps and cabin owners around Huntington Lake that lost structures to the Creek Fire.
9/10/20
The report from camp continues to be positive. Junior and Monkey were both able to be at camp over the last 36 hours and here’s what they report:
The Creek Fire is continuing to burn at Huntington Lake. There are crews in camp actively engaging in protecting structures. They have a water line protecting the edge of camp and are ready to fight the fire if the need arises. Lower temperatures and calmer winds have made the fire more predictable and less aggressive.
For now, camp is safe and well-protected. We are optimistic but understand that changes in wind or weather could change the situation.
Many of you have reached out to ask what you can do to help. Right now, the best resource is the Red Cross. You can also text CAWILDFIRES to 90999 to make a $10 donation to the Red Cross California fire relief efforts. When the Creek Fire is contained and we know more about what our beloved mountain community needs we will share opportunities for you to help more specifically.
We continue to be overwhelmed by your messages of support and continued thoughts and prayers for our little oasis in the High Sierra. We are in awe of the bravery and efforts of the fire crews that continue to battle the Creek Fire. Thank you all.
9/9/20
This afternoon we got a boots-on-the-ground report from camp. Here’s the current situation as it stands as of 2pm:
Currently, there are two fire strike teams in camp. They are cutting a fire break from the lake to Highway 168 just to the west of the mini motorboat dock.
There is damage to the Mirimichi portion of camp, including Granite Grove, but there is no structural damage to camp right now.
We are exceptionally grateful to the fire crews who are working bravely and tirelessly and to the members of our GAC family who continue to reach out with generous offers of support. We are hopeful for low winds and continued cooler temperatures to aid in fighting the fire.
9/8/20
Thank you for the outpouring of calls and emails. It is overwhelming for us to know how much camp means to so many of you. We can’t respond to each of you, but please know how much we appreciate your offers of support. Thankfully, all of camp’s staff members have evacuated safely from the mountain. When we have more concrete details about how you can help, we will share those with you.
Due to communications infrastructure being destroyed by the fire, accurate updates from Huntington Lake have been slow and inconsistent. Based on the publicly available maps we can see that the fire is moving toward camp. We will update this page and our social media accounts as soon as we have confirmed information about the status of camp.
Again, thank you for your concern and your offers of assistance. For a long time, we have known that Gold Arrow Camp was a community that feels like a family. In this year of pandemic and fire your kind words of support and love have proved that point over and over again.
9/7/20
As of this morning, winds had shifted and camp is not directly threatened by the Creek Fire. The Huntington Lake Volunteer Fire Department has been working hard to fight the fire at the other end of the lake (where our Will’O sailing trip goes each session.)
Firefighters are currently fighting the fire around the town of Shaver Lake.
This is the heat map as of 11 AM on September 7th.
9/6/20
Thank you to our camp families, staff, and alumni who have reached out with concerns about the fire that is near camp.
On the evening of September 4th, the Creek Fire began below the town of Big Creek, near Shaver Lake. This morning, September 5th, the Fresno County Sheriff ordered the evacuation of everyone at Huntington Lake and Shaver Lake.
Both main camp and Shaver Island are currently safe, and we are continuing to monitor the situation. We’re grateful to the brave firefighters who are working to contain the fire.
We will update this page with information as it becomes available. You can also find more information here.
Be You!
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
To keep up with our BE YOU theme this summer:
Check your inbox on Monday for our BE YOU weekly email.
Follow GAC on Instagram
(Use hashtag #GACbeyou.)
Be You!
It sounds like such a simple task. After all, aren’t we all just automatically ourselves?
But it’s actually not as simple as it seems. We all feel pressure to fulfill expectations, fit in, go with the flow, look and act a certain way, and do what everyone else is doing.
Sometimes all of that pressure can lead to feelings that we’re not enough just the way we are. Confidence can be eroded when we feel like we’re falling short.
At GAC we believe in encouraging campers and staff to accept and celebrate our own and others’ strengths and unique traits. “Being You” is one of our core values, and many kids tell us that they feel freer to be themselves at camp than in other places. Campers and staff often report that they feel like they can “be themselves” at camp.
Each year, we pick a theme to help guide us through camp. This summer, even though we won’t be together at camp, we’ll be exploring and sharing about what it means to be our true, authentic selves.
We’ll encourage campers to explore what it means to be their “best selves” with questions like these:
- What do I like best about myself?
- What do I really enjoy doing?
- What are my goals?
- What do I dream of doing?
- What are the personality quirks and strengths that make me special?
- How can I be kinder to myself with my “self talk”?
- How can I encourage and support my friends in being their authentic selves?
When we spend time talking and thinking about the interests, traits, and strengths that make us who we are, we gain self-awareness, which is an important aspect of emotional intelligence and one that helps us be a better friend to others. Self-awareness also builds our confidence and ability to understand that we don’t need to be an expert or be perfect at everything. No one is!
When we support our friends by pointing out their strengths and the unique, cool things we like about them, we strengthen our friendships, too.
This summer , not only will we be learning about how to be our best selves, we’ll be learning about how to help our friends be their best selves, too!
Our “Be You” theme for 2020 gives us the opportunity to take advantage of our extra time for reflection (because we’re all stuck at home) and reconnect with what makes us awesome just the way we are.
Check out Monkey and Soy’s formal announcement of our theme (back in January, before we knew we’d be stuck at home this summer), complete with many “b” based puns, enjoy this video:
Summer Middle School Programs With Soy
Episode 61
On this episode of the POG-Cast, Soy gave up the host’s seat to be interviewed by Sunshine (of the Sunshine Parenting podcast) about our offering for Middle School campers this summer, GALAMS.
GALAMS is a program designed around Gold Arrow Camp’s Core Values and how campers can use those values to build their own leadership skills. The program consists of 3 1-hour meetings each week where campers will be led by amazing GAC counselors as they work through the program. The group of campers will remain unchanged, giving campers and staff a chance to build relationships similar to those that they would have at camp.
Participants in the course also receive a T-shirt, certificate of completion, personalized letter of recommendation, and credit for a year of camp. The program runs from June 29- July 24th. More details are available on our dedicated page: https://goldarrowcamp.com/GALAMS
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Summer Teen Program Details With Delta
Episode 60
On this very special episode of the GAC POG-Cast, Soy sat down with Sunshine who sat down with Delta to talk about our awesome new online leadership program for high school students, GALA.
The program, designed for 9-12th graders features 3 1-hour meetings a week, facilitated by awesome GAC counselors who have been working with our teen programs for years. Participants who complete the course also receive a T-shirt, certificate of completion, a personalized letter of recommendation, and credit for a year of camp.
GALA runs from June 29th-July 24th. You can find more details about the program on our dedicated page, https://goldarrowcamp.com/GALA
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Wash Your Hands the GAC Way!
In the current health enviornment, we are all acutely aware of how important it is to wash our hands. Here at GAC, we wanted to give you a fun way to make sure you’re washing your hands for the right amount of time. That’s why we put together this handy graphic! Now you can keep your hands clean and think about camp all at the same time!
Download and print GAC Handwashing
Chelster
Episode 59
On this episode of the POG-Cast, Soy sits down with our Director of Parent and Camper Services, Chelster. Chelster has been with Gold Arrow Camp literally as long as she’s been alive. It was a real treat to talk with her about what she loves about camp and the impact camp has on kids. As usual, there’s a Joke of the Cast and a GACspiration.
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Help Us Name Our New Lip Balms!
At Gold Arrow Camp, we are passionate about lip protection! We’re so passionate that every year we have fun-named lip balms for our camp store. Past winners have included hits like Zip Lime, Tropical Trout, and Knee Ski Grape. This year is no different! Once again, we invite you to think up the best camp-inspired name for the following lip balm featured flavors and send them to us. How? You could email us, or you could post it to either Instagram or Facebook and tag us (@goldarrowcamp). We will also be taking suggestions on our Instagram story on Monday, March 9! We can’t wait to see what your creativity comes up with this year!
This year’s featured flavors are:
- Kiwi
- Pineapple
- Blueberry
- Spearmint
Unplug with GAC!
Again this year, Gold Arrow Camp will be participating in the National Day of Unplugging. This day is a movement to encourage people to get a “24-hour respite from technology.”
The National Day of Unplugging encourages people to use 24 hours free from technology to connect with “ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities.” Wow. That sounds an awful lot like camp. We love the idea of unplugging (just for a little bit) at home so that we can reforge the kind of connections there that we forge at camp, where we’re totally free from the burden of technology.
You can join us in celebrating by pledging to #unplug on social media, sharing this news story, or even hosting an unplugged event! You could host an old-fashioned dinner party, spend Saturday the 7th working on puzzles or playing board games. You can even have a sleepover without phones!
If you have plans to unplug, please tag us in those on your social media. We’d love to share your plans (and what you did, after the fact, of course) on our social media!
Evergreen
Episode 58
On this episode, it’s a Morning Assembly reunion, as Evergreen joins Soy to talk about camp. Evergreen has a long history with camp and has experienced it as both a staff member and a parent. She has great insights about what makes camp special, which was really cool to hear. Soy shares some of his Dad’s work history in the Joke of the Cast and Victor Frankl supplies the GACspiration
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Birks
Episode 57.
On this episode, Soy and Birks sat down to chat about camp. They covered many topics, but a key part of the discussion was about the job of being a camp counselor, and what you can learn in that job that is applicable outside of camp. Birks even shared why she thought that being a counselor was better training than being an intern. There’s a family story in the Joke of the Cast and Sunshine delivers a great GACspiration.
In the episode, Soy mentions that he’ll share some resources about why camp is better than an internship. Here are some of those resources.
The New York Times, The Camp Counselor vs. The Intern
Alison “Bean” Moeschberger, Camp Director, The Greatest Internship
Audrey “Sunshine” Monke, Sunshine Parenting Author, Why Being a Camp Counselor is the Best Summer Job
Leah Mesches, ACA, Can I Really Afford to Spend Another Summer at Camp?
Work at GAC (and yes, we can work with your university to make this summer a paid internship!)
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