Welcome Letter
You will receive a welcome e-mail from your unit leaders in a couple of weeks before camp starts that will contain information that is unit specific.
Please read entire email. It contains important camp information.
Camper Check-In
Sunday night 5 pm - 6:30 pm
Come and meet your unit leaders, get your camp shirt, and please be
prepared to complete any missing forms. We have a lice check requirement
that will be done during Sunday night check-in or at camp on Monday
morning. We would like to recommend that if your last name starts with A-M
that you come in the first 45 minutes and N-Z can come the last 45 minutes.
Many people come right at 5 pm and this creates longer lines. This is an
optional event, but Monday morning will be a drop off, so this is the only
opportunity to meet our volunteer staff.
The following information will help make Day Camp successful for your daughter.
LOCATION:
Camp is located at the Royal Arch Park, 20821 Maple Valley Highway, Maple Valley
WA 98308. The park is located on Maple Valley Hwy/ Highway 169. It is about 1 ½ miles West
past M.V. Market & the Shell station. Coming from Maple Valley it will be on the left-hand side.
When leaving the park, you will only be permitted to turn right. This is for your safety.
DROP OFF & PICK UP:
The drop off and pick-up process will stay the same. For those of you new to camp, it is a challenge to go through this process with 200 campers. Cars will be placed in lines as they arrive and will be sent through the pick-up circle in that order. Please do not leave without signing your child out. There will be volunteers out there directing traffic. Please be patient with this process. Safety is one of our most important concerns. On Sunday you will be given a colored paper that has your daughter’s unit number on it. If you can place this on your dash or window where it is easily visible that will help to speed up the process.
As always, CARPOOLING IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!
For the safety of the campers, please no cell phone usage while in the waiting area and the pick-up circle!!!
Campers will only be released to adults listed during the registration process. The adult picking up must show PHOTO IDENTIFICATION and will be required to sign for the camper they are picking up.
For your camper’s safety THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS.
You will be able to review the list of authorized pick-up people and make changes as needed on Sunday during check-in.
DROP OFF TIMES:
Monday, Aug. 5: Drop off starts at 8:20 am, flag will begin at 8:30 am
Tuesday, Aug. 6: Drop off starts at 8:20 am
Wednesday, Aug. 7: Drop off starts at 8:20 am
Thursday, Aug. 8: Drop off starts at 12:50 pm, flag will begin at 1:00 pm
Friday, Aug. 9: Drop off time starts at 8:20 am for the Units 1, 2, and 3 and also for any
Unit 4, 5, and 6 campers who did not spend the night on Thursday at camp
PICK UP TIMES:
Monday, Aug. 5: Pick up starts at: 4:00pm
Tuesday, Aug. 6: Pick up starts at 4:00pm
Wednesday, Aug. 7: Pick up starts at 4:00pm
Thursday, Aug. 8: Pick up for units 1, 2 and 3 will start at 7:00 pm
Friday, Aug. 9: Pick up starts at 3:00pm
SPECIAL THURSDAY PROGRAM:
Thursday, August 10th – camp will run from 1:00pm until 7:00pm. Please have your child eat lunch prior to coming to camp on Thursday.
Your daughter will either be cooking dinner with her unit or you will be asked to send her with a sack dinner for Thursday night. Your daughter’s unit leader will let you know which dinner option your daughter will be doing. Campers from units 1, 2 and 3 will go home at 7:00 pm and will come back to camp on Friday morning at 8:30 am.
THURSDAY NIGHT CAMPOUT (Units 4, 5 and 6):
All campers from units 4, 5, and 6 have the opportunity to camp out overnight with their leaders, parent volunteers and Aides. Unit leaders will be asking for volunteers to bring tents. It is helpful if parents can assist with putting up their borrowed tents, especially if they aren’t really easy to put up. As a Covid precaution, we are hoping to have twice as many tents as normal in order to spread the girls out more. For Friday morning, breakfast will either be cooked in their unit, or you will be asked to provide a sack breakfast. Your daughters’ unit leader will let you know which breakfast option your daughter will be doing.
GIRLS WITH FOOD ALLERGIES:
As many of you know, there are more and more kids with severe food allergies. We have some campers with life threatening allergies to nuts. While we don’t feel like we can eliminate nuts at camp all together, there are some things that we can all do to make it a safer environment for these campers. Campers with food allergies have been placed into “A” units, ex. 1A, 2A, etc. If your daughter is in one of these units, we ask that you do not send any nut products to camp. If this is not possible, your camper will be seated as far away as possible from the camper with the allergy. Please let the unit leader know if your daughter has any food with nuts in her lunch so that we can keep the lunches separate. One of the most common problems with the nut allergies are when someone with a trace of peanut butter touches a table or a chair. If someone with a nut allergy were to use that table or chair and touch the trace amount it could cause a severe reaction. The campers, adults and
program aides will be instructed to wash their hands and their lips before and after eating lunch. Please discuss the importance of this with your camper.
With the supply shortages right now, we are not able to confirm what our snacks will be at camp. We will stick with our tradition of popcorn one day, Girl Scout cookies one day and ice cream bars and popsicles on Tuesday. As always, we will research to ensure that these food items are safe for our campers with allergies. If you are worried about the snacks, or
you are worried about their safety, please feel free to send a different snack option from
home.
As you can imagine, the amount of garbage that is created in a week of camp from 350
people is tremendous to say the least. Anything you can do to send less waste in the
camper’s lunches is greatly appreciated. We will be recycling at camp, and we will also have
the campers put their garbage back in their lunch bags. We find this helpful so that you will
be aware of how much lunch your camper ate or if they are eating all the good stuff and not
their sandwich.
Medication at camp – If you need us to give prescription medication to your child at camp,
we need a Prescription Medication Form signed by a physician. The form is available on our
website. Any medication brought to camp needs to be in its original container. This policy also
pertains to inhalers and epi pens. If you have a permission slip signed by the doctor for the
school, that will work also.
We have two nurses for the week of camp. They will be available on Sunday night so that
you can drop off medications and you can share any concerns with them.
Our nurses will also be doing a lice check at camp this year. With the increasing problems
that all Girl Scout camps are having, we have decided that we must begin administering a
lice check at the beginning of camp. Any camper that is found to have lice will be sent home
and rechecked by the nurse before they are allowed back to camp. This will be done
discreetly and confidentially.
Volunteer led camp – Please keep in mind that this camp is run completely by volunteers.
Many of our volunteers take time off work to be here to provide excellent program for the
girls. Most of our volunteers have been working at our camp for years. Our volunteers
attend many hours of trainings prior to camp, starting in February, and they spend a lot more
time shopping for supplies, searching the internet and trying out different crafts to find just
the right projects for their campers. If you get a chance, please thank them for all their hard
work.
S.W.A.P.S. - are Special Whatchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere.
The tradition of Girl Scouts exchanging keepsakes started long ago and has been great fun
for us at Maple Valley Day Camp. The girls will be given a lanyard to pin their SWAPS to
and they will be given time during the week to exchange their swaps. There are some great
resources on-line for SWAPS ideas but keep in mind, they should not be expensive to make
and using recycled material is always encouraged.
Dress Code – We have three important dress codes rules that need to be followed at camp. They are No open-toed shoes, please make sure they wear closed toed shoes every day. Also shorts need to be fingertip in length. Girls are also not allowed to cut their camp shirts.
Cell phones – We realize that more and more of our campers bring cell phones with them every year. While it can be comforting to the girls and the parents, they can also be a huge distraction at camp. Additionally, we don’t want pictures of girls placed on the internet
without consent from the girl and/or the parent. For these reasons, girls will be asked to leave their cell phones in their bag and, if they become a problem, they will be confiscated by the adult leaders. If possible, cell phones should be left at home. Adult leaders will allow girls to use their cell phones, if needed.
Community Service – is an important part of Day Camp. This year we will be collecting donations for the Seattle Homeless Outreach. They provide emergency and humanitarian outreach services to our neighbors living outside. Their mission is to meet people where they are, without expectation or judgment. They are a 100% volunteer-run organization, and are powered
by the wonderful people in our community.
Items that they currently need are small packages of wet wipes, N95 masks (for wildfire smoke),
little hand sanitizers, and lip balm.
There will be bins located near the drop off circle for the campers to drop in their donations.
Themed days – Just to add some additional fun to the week, we have a different theme
every day. Participation is optional.
Monday - Wacky hair and sock day
Tuesday – Wacky costume day
Wednesday - Wacky hat
Thursday - Favorite animal day
Friday - PJ day
WHAT YOUR CHILD NEEDS EVERY DAY
1. Please have your child eat a good breakfast before they come to camp. It will prepare them
for everything they will do that day. Please send a good lunch, send more than you think
they might normally need. Campers will be outside all-day and very active. Kids behave
better and have more fun when they have eaten properly. We will provide a snack each
afternoon for every camper. Dress according to the weather. Even if you think it is going to
be warm, it is suggested that you pack layers every day in case of cold, damp days. Also,
raincoats and ponchos work better at camp and umbrellas are not allowed as they are a safety
hazard. It is also suggested that your daughter wear comfortable clothing, that you won’t
mind ending up dirty or dusty at the end of the day. No open-toed shoes, please make sure
they wear closed toed shoes every day.
2. Bring a backpack with a full water bottle, sunscreen, and hat. Please ensure that the camp
nurse is aware of any special needs and that they collect medications each morning or
on Sunday at the CHECK-IN REGSTRATION time 5:00 – 6:30 pm at the park. If
needed these medications will be returned each afternoon. Please have them in well-
marked containers. Unit leaders will send out an additional email in a week or so and it
may contain additional items that are needed, depending on the unit.
THE RIVER AREA NEAR CAMP IS OFF LIMITS. ANYONE FOUND
ANYWHERE NEAR THE RIVER WITHOUT AN ADULT IS
AUTOMATICALLY SENT HOME. PLEASE REVIEW THIS RULE WITH
YOUR CHILD.
We are looking forward to meeting each child at camp and hope they are looking forward to a
fun and exciting week! Please feel free to call us with any questions.
Sincerely Yours,
Day Camp Co-Director Day Camp Co-Director
Kristan Reed Kimberly Reed
AKA Blossom AKA Spoiled
206-353-5814 206-355-6307
Here are some additional items to know:
Thursday- Units 4-6 stay for camp out! Parents, if you have a tent that you are willing to let
your daughter’s unit use for the night, please inform your unit leader Sunday at Check-in. They
may need you to help your camper set up the tent on Thursday afternoon and take it down on
Friday.
Items to bring for the campout for units 4-6 (please label everything)!
1. Sleeping bag [NO INDOOR SLEEPING BAGS]
2. Pillow
3. Sleeping Mat or Pad
4. Warm clothing (Coat/jacket) – it gets cold when the sun goes down.
5. Flashlight
6. Change of clothing for camp the next day
7. Pajamas- no night gowns please
8. Toothbrush and toothpaste
9. Other personal hygiene products, such as deodorant.
10. Overnight bag/backpack with your daughter’s name in it.