Island youngsters attending Elks Camp
Twenty-one youngsters from Pine Island loaded onto a bus early Sunday morning at the Greater Pine Island Elks Lodge to headed to Marion County for a week at the Florida Elks Youth Camp.
Judy Hopkins, Elks member, was one of three chaperons that traveled four hours to Umatilla with the kids Sunday morning. The Florida Elks Youth Camp is dedicated to enriching the lives of children from the state of Florida. The camp staff presents a safe camp experience that contributes to each camper’s mental, physical and social growth.
The Florida Elks Youth Camp, a project of the Florida State Elks Association, is located on 405 acres of rolling hills, forests, lakes and open space in Marion County.
“The Greater Pine Island Elks is doing this for the kids of Pine Island because they believe in the younger generation and there are many benefits that come out of the Elks camp experience, camps build skills for life, and camp creates friendships,” Hopkins said.
The kids and parents both shared excitement, along with a little celebration that morning. As the bus left the parking lot of the Elks lodge around 8 a.m., the children’s excitement grew about camp as they learned about the activities that awaited them.
The Florida Elks Youth Camp opened in 1991 as a project of the Florida State Elks Association. The week-long camp begins Sunday afternoon and ends Saturday after breakfast for kids between the ages of 9-13 years old.
The recreational sleep-away camp provides them with face-to-face time with counselors and other kids their age without electronic devices. The camp has lakes that the children can paddleboard, canoe and catch-and-release largemouth bass, along with a 15,000- square-foot pavilion, gymnasium with three full-length basketball courts, an aquatic complex and a ropes course. Some of the activities they participate in while at camp include soccer, football, kickball, capture the flag, horseshoe golf, arts and crafts, swimming and archery.
On top of all that, each week includes making s’mores around the campfire, getting soaked by a 2,000 gallon water truck on “Water Day,” and enjoying “Movie Night” theater-style in the camp’s state-of-the-art Grafton Center!
The property also contains a lodge that sleeps nine youngsters and one counselor. The lodge is equipped with air conditioning, heat, as well as personal storage facilities and restrooms with hot showers.
Lee and Heike Wilbur, Elk members, will travel back to the Florida Elks Youth Camp on Saturday morning, June 25, to pick up the kids and bring them back to Pine Island. They are expected to return between 2 p.m.
For more about the Greater Pine Island Elks Lodge, call 239-283-4388 or email pineisland-elks@gmail.com.