Closing

After a summer filled with fun, excitement, and amazing memories 4-H Camp is coming to a close. Although this is the end this is not goodbye! Hold onto your memories whether they be silliness at the evening carnival, making the biggest splash with your best cannonball in the pool or making your first BULLSEYE at the Archery range. Everyone here at the Skelton 4-H Center hope that you have a fabulous fall, that you work hard in school, and most of all we hope to see you next year!

With a great deal of Love and Enthusiasm,

Shades and the 4-H Summer Staff

Hello, I bring you greetings from W.E. Skeleton 4-H camp

Camp has been going very good I have had a wonderful time. Meeting new people and learning new things.


Love , Orlando

Camp this year at 4-h has been amazing. My classes this year were computer science, tie-dyeing, fun with foods, and sewing but I would have loved to take any class becuase they are all so amazing. In computer science, you get a chance to work further with computers and create a newsletter about your time in camp. In tie-dyeing, you tie-dye many articles of clothing and even something that you brought from home! You can even tie-dye your white cotton socks! When you take fun with foods, you get a chance to experience foods further by making burritos, chocolate, smoothies, cupcakes, and more! As I said before, I also took sewing. In this class, you get to learn the basics of sewing and the items needed to sew! As a final project in this class, you get to make your own pillow case! I loved these classes and would have loved any other class just as equally if I had taken it. I love 4-h camp!
~Katie W

This Year At Camp

This year at 4-H camp we all had a lot of fun.On Monday we had the carnival and everybody had fun on challenge slides and coures.On Tuesday we had All Sports Night and The Pool Party. Everybody was competing to win.While swimming most people were playing basketball in the pool.On the next day we had a dance and the talent show.At the talent show everybody was addicted to Travis Byrd's preformance of Wannna Be Starting Something By:Michael Jackson.On Thursday we closed out camp for Friday ending with campfire.That is what happened this year at 4-H camp. Travis

Don't stop the fun!!

Here at camp we have a wonderful experience we dont stand alone we are a family. 4-H has boost my confidence in everything I do I never would have thought I would do some of the stuff we have here. Many kids around the world dont have confidence they think they would never find friends but here you will find your match and your friend for life they are here to the end just like our theme this year peace, love , 4-H. We have so many classes you can choose from to fit you and you will always have fun. Camp is great you will remember it for a life time.....your leaders and teens support you they dont want you to give up they tell you to shoot for the stars to the end.

By:Brianna

Spotlight on Conferencing ... The Scrappy Chicks

Many people don't know that in addition to hosting summer and specialty 4-H Camps, the Skelton 4-H Center (or W. E. Skelton 4-H Educational Conference Center, as it is formally known) is a fantastic location for group events such as conferences, meetings, trainings, retreats, banquets, church events, and social gatherings, such as weddings, family reunions, and ... CRAFTING EVENTS! Each year, the Skelton 4-H Center is fortunate to hold a variety of knitting, quilting, and scrapbook retreats.

One of these loyal groups is known by the self-appointed moniker, "The Scrappy Chicks." (The title says it all!) This fun, fantastic group of ladies has been holding twice annual events at the 4-H Center since 2006. When asked what makes the 4-H Center a good location for their retreats, group leader, Angie Shively, responded:

"The 4-H Center is the PERFECT place to hold our scrapbook retreats. We searched around and found that the 4-H Center provided everything we needed and more at a GREAT price! All of the staff are so wonderful to work with. They make everything perfect for us. The meals are AWESOME (you won't go hungry!) and the 4-H Center is in a great location. Convenient to those in Franklin, Bedford, and Roanoke, we even have some that travel from North Carolina to join us. The grounds are beautiful and the lake is just an added little feature! We recommend the 4-H Center to all of our friends and co-workers looking for a great place with lots of space for their occasions. We've been coming to the 4-H Center since 2006 to have our scrapbook retreats. We have them twice a year and if we could, we'd do it every month!"

If you are interested in obtaining information on booking a group event at the 4-H Center, call the Conferencing Department today at 540-721-2759 x 252, or visit us online at http://www.skelton4hcenter.org/.

Box Turtle Rehydration Day!

Today is our box turtle rehydration day down here in the Meador Nature Center! With the warm weather last week our box turtles (one is an Eastern Box Turtle and the other is a Three-Toed Box Turtle) are coming out of their semi-hibernative state, which means they are quite thirsty! (Wouldn't you be after not eating and drinking for a couple months?!) So our box turtles are taking a nice soak in some warm water to stimulate them to drink and replenish their fluids. Basically they are living the life of luxury in a nice, warm hot tub for the day! Their water gets poured out and replenished every 15 minutes to keep it fresh and warm. After a couple hours their body weight will more than double because of all the replenished fluids in their body!

So happy rehydration day! Remember to drink your water and keep your body hydrated as well, just like our box turtles! :-)

Fall at the 4-H Center...

It's been a busy fall at the 4-H Center, though it seems like summer just ended. The colors have been absolutely amazing out here this year. Most of the leaves are on the ground (or in the gutters of our lodges!) and the weather is beginning to cool off. Here are a few highlights of our fall season at the lake:

• We served a few hundred students from schools around our region through Outdoor Education programs. Field trips for a day or several days result in outdoor classes in forest ecology, wildlife ecology, fishing, teambuilding, climbing tower, canoeing, and more. Of course campfire programs and nighthikes fill the evenings.
• We've had groups from all over the country visit us for conferences, retreats, meetings, and/or other group events. Events this fall have included the Virginia Mennonite Youth Conference, Elon University Leadership Retreat, American Cancer Society's Relay Leadership Conference, the Cream of the Croppers (scrapbooking retreat), and much much more!
• We have served approximately 150 4-H'ers through our Fall Cloverbud Camp, Pulaski County 4-H Teens-In-Action Retreat, Virginia 4-H Teen Cabinet, and our Fall Teen Weekend.
• The Smith Mountain Lake Pistol Shooters Association (SMLPSA) has been buzzing all around the new Rocovich Shooting Sports complex this fall. They have range time several days a week along with offering classes to the public 1-2 times per month.
• Our new welcome center is well on it's way to being completed. It's under roof, windows are installed, and the framing is up inside. It should be open for business by April!

Things will slow down substantially for us December through February, but we'll still be here. Come visit, or let us know if you have a group that needs facilities!

Hokies! Hokies! Hokies!

Hokie Camp has been a great time! Hokie Camp was a three-day orientation experience that took place in August. The Freshmen were split into groups that made up the Hokie Camp Colors: Yellow, Red, Blue, Black, and Gray. The incoming Freshmen were able to meet other students, learn about Virginia Tech spirit and traditions, and join the community of Hokies. You could hear the Hokie chants throughout W.E. Skelton 4-H Educational Conference Center. I am sure that all the new Hokies had a blast because the staff had tons of fun too! We wish the best of luck to all the Hokie Campers in your first year at Virginia Tech!

The Rainy Day

I guess our ceremony last night did not work. We tried to keep the rain from coming, but I guess it is stubbourn because it came anyway. Lucky me I get to stay inside for the rest of my classes. But I am still having fun and love 4-H Camp!

By Jake

The Happenings of the First Day of 4-H Camp

So, yesterday was the first day of camp. We arrived, checked in, and got to meet our room mates. Then everybody went down to the rec field. We all got to hang out with one another and meet up with friends that we made the year before at camp. Sounds pretty fun right? Well then we went to the opening ceremony where all the adults and teens told us the rules and answered questions that we had. They even performed skits and we had to pick out what they were doing wrong. After that we had lunch, which, as always, is delicious! The next few hours weren't the funnest but they were still helpful. The team I'm on (the ducks) had a team meeting first, discussing the events of the week. Afterwards we went on a tour of the camp, but it was very hot yesterday so we were all kind of sweaty. After that we had a swim check, which is where you have to swim from one side of the pool to the other and if you make it you get a green wristband. But if you can't swim you get a red wristband. After that we had dinner, it was yummy, ha ha. After dinner we had clover grams and then it was off the carnival! The carnival was a blast! There was so much to do and so much fun to be had. After the carnival ended, we had a campfire. It was very nice, but about halfway through the campfire we had to go inside because of lightning. After the campfire we headed to our lodges for a lodge meeting. Then, it was showers and lights out!

The First and Hopefully Only Rainy Day

It was very very very rainy and we had to come inside for every activity. We definitely needed it though! I wish that the rain stops soon. I thought that song would stop the rain from coming. It's still fun though! I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Obstacle Course

At the obstacle course we always play fun activities. We started Tuesday with the name game and Wednesday we played the keypad game. For the keypad game, there are numbers, letters, and shapes that we have to guess upon or Ramchop will blow his whistle. Today (Thursday), we're going on the challenge course. You have to know skills like balance, agility, and communication without speaking.

4-H Camp is all about fun with your friends!

In the picture above, the students in the "Cooking through the Holidays" class are working hard to make their cookbooks. This class looks like a lot of fun! Everyday they get to make a yummy treat based on certain holidays every day. I did not take this class but it sure looks like a really good one. There are a lot of hard instructions you have to follow, but these students are doing a really great job!

♥♥♥♥♥♥

By: Tori (:

[The Squirels are the best pack!]

A Camper's First Day

My first day started with a bus ride in which I didn't think I would be very social but it turned out that I had talked to a lot of people around me. When I got there I didn't even know where I was going only because it was my first year, but the best thing you can do is find someone you know and camp will be a lot easier for you. After I found my cabin I set up and I found out that one of my friends was in the same cabin as me, so he told me what to do and to my surprise it was really simple. The cabin looks really nice, clean bathrooms, and an organized lobby. Then we go to open air for a assembly.

By: Jacob