The 2020 Twenty-third Annual
Glover Pioneer Camp
scheduled for June 29-July 3
was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic.
However, the 2021 Twenty-fourth Annual was held
June 28-July 2, 2021 and was a great success.
John Running Deer blesses the Sacred Stone Circle
PROVIDING FOR THE FUTURE, REMEMBERING THE PAST – WE ARE GROOMING THE NEXT GENERATION OF GLOVER HISTORIANS.
True to the motto of the Glover Historical Society, “Providing for the future, remembering the past”, our Glover Pioneer Camp is an effort to familiarize local children, first through eighth grade from Glover and surrounding communities for a week in June with the history of their town and to give them an affordable and fun experience in the summer, playing and learning, at the original settlement which dates back to 1798. In its heyday, this little village contained a school, a church, a brick kiln, the tavern and accompanying stable and blacksmith, a potash operation, and a number of pitches and log cabins. Each year, we chose a theme, relating to Glover history, around which our activities revolve. Every day includes morning activities, music, old time games, guest speakers, fort building, a hike to relevant points of interest, afternoon focus groups, and an end of day swim in the Lake Parker. Our staff consists of parents, grandparents, counselors, junior counselors, EMTs, and friends, most of whom volunteer their time.
At camp, the kids get to do an archeological dig outside of one of the old foundations. We are careful to train them the correct way to uncover and document the artifacts that they find. They make bricks the old fashion way. They learn to dip candles, felt wool, weave, dig and work with clay, track animals, identify scat, clear trails, lash, build log cabins, cook over an open fire, play old time games, make baskets from ash logs, handle a cross cut saw, make paper, identify plants and trees, read the woods, make gravestone rubbings, safely handle tools, and get along with each other. They learn about the original settlers and how they survived and earned a living.
The kids take what they learn at camp in the summer back to school with them in the fall. During the school year, members of the historical society work with Jody Baker’s fourth graders on history projects. We also help the seventh and eighth graders with their history fair projects. We take them to the town clerk’s office to do research in the vault or to the museum to research historical topics. Because these kids have grown up at Pioneer Camp, they already know a lot about their town and are familiar with the old stories, the research and documentation process, and the importance of “remembering the past”.
To learn more or to register for this year’s camp or to volunteer to help out, please contact Betsy Day or Randy Williams at 525-4051, or go to our website: www.gloverpioneercamp.org