Putnam 4-H members close out camp

CHARLESTON, W.Va -- Putnam County 4-H members closed out a week of activities at Camp Virgil Tate with both cheers and tears at Thursday night's council circle.

The theme of this year's camp was "Rockin' Tate in 08" with daily themes to boogie to such as Rock Around Tate, Come Together, Stairway to Spirit, Time of My Life, Camp, Camp Baby and NOW, This is Camp. Campers came from as far away as Texas to enjoy the five-day event that included swimming, soccer, volleyball, kickball, basketball, folk dancing, badminton, card and board games and a lot of singing.

In addition, campers could choose from two of the following classes: archery, jam session, cake decoration, camp newspaper, cross stitch, fishing, sports, leather craft, odds and ends crafts, outdoor cooking, jewelry making, personalized license plate, rifle and tie-dying.

The camp had roughly 135 in attendance between campers and staff.

This is at least the 30th year Putnam County has used Camp Virgil Tate for the event, said Wayne Bennett, Putnam County West Virginia University Extension Agent.

"The most important thing in this life now is learning the tremendous leadership skills taught in 4-H," Bennett said.

Camps are designed so that each of the four tribes along with the Little Feet and Big Feet leadership groups have a schedule of responsibilities to keep the camp running smoothly throughout the week. By working with people they know as well as people they've never met before, Bennett said, "It helps (campers) tremendously when they go out into society. It teaches them social skills."

An unexpected surprise this year was the generous donation of funds that covered camp attendance, T-shirts and photos for every camper who attended. Though the donor has asked to remain anonymous, the organization and its camper couldn't be more grateful.

"It helped everyone tremendously," Bennett said. "With this coming along, it relieved a lot of worry and a lot of sacrifice on the parents part to try to come up with money to try to send them."

For more information about 4-H clubs in your area, call the Putnam County Extension Office at 304-586-0217.