Are You Ready for some Camping?

"Are You Ready for some Camping?!?!"

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas, and you are looking forward to resuming our camping activities as I am. Sorry, I could not resist this little Hank Williams Jr. spoof. I guess that just shows how much I'm enjoying watching some of the bowls (and dreading the end of football season!).

Our next campout is January 16 at Tomoka State Park. I have never been there, but I'm guessing that it's similar in many respects to Wekiva or Anastasia. Since we'll be on a paved loop, you may want to bring your kid's scooters or bikes. Because this is not a Federation campout, we're on our own, so there's no real planned activities. I'm thinking maybe we could do a scavenger hunt on Saturday - the winner will get an all expense-paid stay in Roy Smith's camper. Unless the weather stays warm like it has been, I'm not sure that we'll want to go to the beach.

Speaking of the beach and Anastasia, it's time to start thinking about weather you are interested in going there again this May. We can discuss during our next campout at Tomoka.

See you soon!

Yatahey!

Chief Bald Eagle

Christmas Traditions Part 3: The Stories

The American Indians, and many other cultures around the world, have always used stories as a way to communicate their history, traditions, and beliefs from one generation to the next. Just as our very own Medicine Man tells stories at our Federation campfires, our family became attached to a story that we tell every year at Christmas.

When our kids were 3-4 years old, I started having a special circle time on Christmas Eve night. Of all the traditions we have tried to build in our family, none means more to me than our circle time. One of the things I do during this circle time is read the following story to my family. I first became acquainted with this story when one of our kids brought it home one day in the form of a decoration they had made at school. It was mounted on red construction paper with a ribbon tied to the top, which the kids proudly used to hang on the door to my den. It has been a part of our Christmas Eve circle time ever since. I hope you will find it as meaningful as we have. (You will see a link to a more colorful, web-based version of this story under Links on the right side of this page)

TEACH THE CHILDREN

Just a week before Christmas I had a visitor. I had just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed, when I heard a noise in the front of the house. I opened the door to the front room and, to my surprise, Santa himself stepped out from behind the Christmas tree. He placed a finger over his mouth so I would not cry out.

"What are you doing?" I started to ask. The words choked up in my throat, as I saw he had tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone. Gone was the eager boisterous soul we all know. He then answered me with a simple statement, "Teach the children."

I was puzzled; what did he mean?
He anticipated my question, and with one quick movement brought forth a miniature toy bag from behind the tree. As I stood there bewildered, Santa said, "Teach the children! Teach them the meaning of Christmas. The meaning that children nowadays have forgotten!"

Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a fir tree and placed it before the mantle.
"Teach the children that the pure green color of the stately fir tree remains green all year around, depicting the everlasting hope of mankind. All the needles point heavenward, making it a symbol of man's thoughts toward heaven."

He again reached into his bag and pulled out a brilliant star.
"Teach the children that the star was the heavenly sign of promises long ago. God promised a savior for the world, and the star was the sign of the fulfillment of that promise."

He then reached in his bag and pulled out a candle.
"Teach the children that the candle symbolizes that Christ is the light of the world, and when we see this great light we are reminded of He who displaced the darkness."

Once again he reached into his bag and removed a wreath and placed it on the tree.
"Teach the children that the wreath symbolizes the eternal nature of love. Real love never ceases. Love is one continuous round of affection.

He then pulled out from his bag an ornament of himself.
"Teach the children that I, Santa Clause symbolize the generosity and good will we feel during the month of December."

He reached in again and pulled out a holly leaf.
"Teach the children that the holly plant represents immortality. It represents the Crown of Thorns worn by our Savior. The red holly berries represent the blood shed by Him."

Next he pulled out a gift from the bag and said,
"Teach the children that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son . . . " "Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift. Teach the children that the Wise Men bowed before the Holy Babe and presented Him with gold, frankincense and myrrh. We should always give gifts in the same spirit as the Wise Men."

Santa reached in his bag and pulled out a candy cane and hung it on the tree.
"Teach the children that the candy cane represents the shepherd's crook. The crook on the shepherd's staff helps to bring back strayed sheep to the flock. The candy cane is the symbol that we are our brother's keeper."

He reached in again and pulled out an angel.
"Teach the children that it was the Angels that heralded in the glorious news of the Savior's birth. The angels sang Glory to God in the Highest, on earth peace, and good will toward men."

Suddenly I heard a soft twinkling sound, and from his bag he pulled out a bell.
"Teach the children that the lost sheep are found by the sound of the bell, it should bring man to the fold. The bell symbolizes guidance and return."

Santa looked back at the tree and was pleased. He looked back at me and I saw that the twinkle was back in his eyes. He said, "Teach the children the true meaning of Christmas, and to not put me in the center, for I am but a humble servant of the One That Is, and I bow down and worship Him, our Lord, our God."

I hope that you and your family enjoy your family Christmas Traditions this Christmas Season!!!

Have a Very, Merry and Blessed Christmas!!!!

Yatahey!

Chief Bald Eagle

Christmast Traditions Part 2_The Christmas Light Walk

The Aims Walk at the Cornfest in October is always a neat experience. It seems like we always have an awesome, colorful sunset, then the torchlit walk to the firepit, and then of course, that huge bonfire!!! The kids always remember that. Very early in the life of our kids, we started having our own annual walk - The Christmas Light Walk - and it has been equally memorable for our family.

The first house that Pam and I owned after we got married was in Altamonte Springs. After our kids were born, one of the places we went quite often for walks and to spend time with the kids was Cranes Roost Park, right behind Altamonte Mall.

At Christmas, the City of Altamonte Springs puts up a lot of Christmas lights around the lake, complete with lots of animated character displays. The first Christmas that we pushed our son Chase in his stroller around the lake at night with all those lights, it was really special to see how excited and awestruck he was to see the beautiful light displays! This was the beginning of our annual Christmas Light Walk.

We usually pick a weekend night early in December and go somewhere like Moe's or a pizza place for dinner, and then go for a stroll around the lake to see all of the light displays. With the recent redevelopment there, Cranes Roost Park has become even nicer, with a new garden and plaza area where they now erect a giant Christmas Tree.

Christmas Light Walk 2007

For us, it's a simple, enjoyable alternative to being in a shopping mall, and it brings back lots of great memories of special times with our kids. Better yet, it's just good, relaxing, family time at Christmas - that's hard to find anymore.

Yatahey,

Chief Bald Eagle

Christmas Traditions Part 1_The Ornaments

As the Christmas season begins each year, I am always painfully aware of how much our culture pulls us away from the true meaning of this special holiday. I think it's most important to remember our family relationships and traditions. One of the things I have always liked about Indian Guides is the opportunity that it gives us to build our relationship with our kids. A key componant are the Indian Guide traditions that we observe, such as the AIMS Walk at the Cornfest campout. Similarly, the Christmas holidays are filled with many traditions that remind us of the importance of our family relationships, and each family has their own traditions that make the Christmas season special.

When our kids were younger - 2 - 5 years old - the Christmas season was a time for lots of Christmas art projects at Weekday School. The result was that we quickly were overrun with a large assortment of decorations and ornaments that the kids had made at school! What to do with all of them? Although Pam and I appreciated and cherished these projects, we also had our own idea of how we wanted to decorate our Christmas tree, and these kid-created ornaments, several of them very large, did not quite fit into our decor scheme. The answer? Two trees!!!

Each year during the Thanksgiving weekend, we put up a 6 1/2 ft. tall artificial tree in the family room - we call it the Kid's Tree. After I put the lights on it for them, they go to town, putting all the decorations they've made over the years on the tree. Many of these date back to 2 day 2's, and are not in original condition from being crammed into boxes, but they are rich with memories! It's really neat for all of us to look at these decorations and talk about Christmas's past or the things they used to do when they were younger. Then the following weekend, we pick up our big Fraser Fir from the YMCA - our Formal Tree - and put that in the living room and decorate it.

Is it extra work? Yes. Is it worth it? You bet!!! Instead of having the things our kids made stuffed in a box that might be opened 20 or 30 years from now (we have some of those things too), we get to relive some great memories each year at Christmas!

Yatahey!

Chief Bald Eagle

Give Thanks

As Thanksgiving approaches and the Christmas holiday season begins to kick into high gear, it's easy to overlook the real reason for these holidays. As I write this message, I realize that I have been focused far too much lately on those things that I do not agree with or that otherwise concern me - the direction of our country politically, the economy, and so on. If you'll allow me, I'd like to take a moment to Give Thanks.

I Give Thanks for each of the kids in our circle that we call The Mighty Kiowa, and the families they represent. They bring joy to us all, each in a way as unique as the signs that they have created for our totem pole.

I Give Thanks for my wife and kids. When I was younger, I often wondered if I had the desire to be a husband and father. Now, I can't imagine living any other way. I love my family dearly, and am so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with Pam, Chase, and Chloe!

I Give Thanks for wonderful friends who share our values, and share their lives with us.

I Give Thanks that we have a nice home to live in and food to eat. Far more people than we care to consider have no place to live and no food to eat.

I Give Thanks for the beauty of His creation, and the privelege I have to experience it when we camp, and participate in other outdoor activities.

I Give Thanks for my work. We all know the economy is tough right now. Maybe it's good for us to have a rough stretch from time to time, so that we remember how fleeting material wealth is.

I Give Thanks for those who serve our country in the military. Their love of country, their hard work, and their personal sacrifice keep us safe and independent. I pray that the Lord keeps them safe.

I Give Thanks that I have the good fortune to live in the greatest country mankind has ever known! We are not perfect, but we're free!

I Give Thanks that I am graciously forgiven by the only One who really counts, because I surely don't deserve it.

What are you thankful for? Take a few moments and Give Thanks!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to You, Your Family, and Friends

Yatahey,

Chief Bald Eagle

A Good Time at Doe Lake

Another fun weekend of camping for the Mighty Kiowa came to a close this morning at Doe Lake. Although the weather was threatening at times, it was nothing like the storm we experienced here in February; good thing too, since the Smith's camper was not available for us to take shelter in!

The Pinewood Derby was fun, even though none of the Kiowa won. The Hadley's car made it to the finals of the Turtle category, but was just a little too fast to win! The Kranston's car started out well, winning the first two heats, but fell victim to the EFPDTG Syndrome (Eola Federation Pinewood Derby Track Gremlin) once again when one of the front axle's somehow got stuck on a track guide (as Reed Hadley explained when interviewed by ESPN, "It looked like it was pulling a brick down the track"). I think I'll hire someone to torch that track and demand that they buy a new one! Anyway it was still a lot of fun - I've never seen anyone make a car out of 15 pencils, or a bar of soap - lot's of creativity!

We also welcomed a new member, Isabelle, and her father Ed, to our tribe, and look forward to having them as part of our group!

Thanks to our Hunters for doing a great job with the food, and thanks to everyone for helping out with cooking, cleanup, etc..

Our next meeting will be Monday December 1. I look forward to seeing you then!

Yatahey!!!

Chief Bald Eagle

Get Ready, Set, Race!

The 2007-2008 Overall Winner!

Our next campout will be at Doe Lake Recreational Area November 14-16. The featured event for that campout will be the annual Eola Federation Pinewood Derby. As you can see above, I got a bit carried away last year. But, it was fun, and Chloe has a neat keepsake to remember some of our campouts. I won't be doing anything like that again this year - just simplicity and speed this time!!! I hope you will all consider participating - it's a lot of fun, and I'll be glad to help you out any way I can - short of building it for you!!! The only rules for this race are that the car can weigh no more than 5 ounces.

Christmas Trees - Tough to believe, but Christmas is just around the corner! That means it's time for the Eola Federation annual Christmas Tree fundraiser. So make sure you order a tree and get as many friends to order trees as you can. The price for a tree this year is $60, and if you like big, beautiful Fraser Fir trees, you won't find comparable trees at this price on the tree lots. If you have not received an order form in the mail already, you will find a link to the form under the Links section of this blog.

Yatahey!!!

Chief Bald Eagle

An Awesome Weekend!!!

Our annual Cornfest campout was held at the Umatilla Elks Youth Camp this weekend, and it was a blast!!! Swimming, slip n' slide, archery, pumpkin carving, painting the totem pole, good food, great weather, and a visit from Kiowa alumni Brad Logan - it just doesn't get any better than this!!! Thanks to all for coming out to enjoy this fun weekend! Check out the pictures:

Our Next Campout

The next campout will be at Doe Lake Recreational Area November 14-16. The feature event at this campout will be the Eola Federation annual Pinewood Derby, so start working on your cars now! You can buy pinewood block or precut kits at Colonial Photo & Hobby store, or, order kits and a wide assortment of parts from Maximum Velocity.com. The rules are pretty simple - maximum 5 ounce weight limit and no motors!

Yatahey

Chief Bald Eagle

I Always Wanted To Be An Indian

Our presentation to the K and 1st graders this morning went great! I was amazed how quiet and mesmerized the kids became when i started speaking to them - they were hypnotized!! (now I know how Barack Obama feels when he addresses the masses...); maybe I'll try wearing an Indian headress at home so my kid will listen to me better!

Anyway it was short and sweet, but a lot of kids were saying "I wanna go!!!" by the time we were done, so maybe we'll get a couple interested parents - we'll see!

Thanks again to Roy Smith and Sue Beemer - definitely could not have done it without your help this morning, and thanks Tedi for the great design for the flyer!!!

As you (hopefully) can see, I got a wild hair and created this blog the other night; it should notify each of you automatically whenever I post to it - make sure you read the first post - I don't think it got out to everyone. I will be attempting to add a photo album feature over the weekend. I'm thinking that we can use the website, perhaps, as a photo archive, and I will use this blog more for current events. Haven't really figured it all out yet. I also put the current weather on the main page, and my intent is to change that for each campout to the location where we will be camping.

Have a great weekend!!!

Yatahey!!!
Chief Bald Eagle

Let's Blog!

Sunset at Cornfest 2007

Greetings Mighty Kiowa

Just recently discovered from Brad Logan how easy it is to create a blog, so I figured I'd try it out. Maybe I can use this sort of like a newsletter after each of the campouts - we'll see how it goes!

I'm looking forward to our first campout of the season and hope you are too! We will be camping in Umatilla at the Elks Youth facility - I always enjoy going there. Mark Marshall is setting up the kids for archery, and it should be a great time!

Yatahey!!!

Chief Bald Eagle