Get Along Little Doggies or Out on a Cowboy Campout
This past weekend I had the best time. I was back in the saddle again with the cowboys. It was just a different group of them this time.
The threat of rain was quickly gone as the sprinkles subsided and the stars could be clearly seen as dark approached.
Flowertown Elementary School in Summerville, SC had a Cowboy Campout for staff, students and families. There were lots of folks who came for the activities of the evening. Many pitched family tents. It was great to see the more seasoned campers helping some new campers take their tents out of the boxes for their first time to camp.
The campfire started to take shape and, before too long, the flames were welcoming marshmallows and hotdogs on the open fire. Moms and Dads alike visited each other as tents began appearing around the campfire and back in the wooded area.
At the far end of the school there were tables with cowboy math games, three card draw, animal tracking, the FES livery stable, real branding, lassoing, cowboy checkers, panning for gems, mining for gold, and a cowboy store where students could buy various cowboy goods and cocoa. There was also storytelling and singing around the campfire.
After dark there was a cattle drive for about 45 minutes of walking around the local neighborhood. It reminded me of “Git Along Little Dogies†the old cowboy song where the cowpuncher rounds up the cattle after a hard day’s work of sending them down the trail a little closer to their destination.
JP Hara – wagon trail boss -Â a physical education teacher at Flowertown Elementary, began this effort several years ago to promote physical activity for students and their families. When JP is not a physical education teacher at the school he is a cowboy himself. You see, JP is a cowboy sharpshooter with a wide west re-enactment group -SASS – based near Charleston. Many of his cowboy and cowgirl friends from Charleston and Columbia areas helped out with the branding and other activities. They even came dressed in their cowboy gear.
The children had so much fun doing this. There were often both mothers and fathers accompanying their children. Some families brought their children’s friends because those parents had other commitments to attend to. There were grandparents who brought grandsons, and a mother who brought her daughter alone for the first time. Her husband was in Iraq on assignment and she was due to have another child in 1 ½ weeks.
Many campers – including the principal – stayed up most of the night just talking and visiting around the campfire. Staff visited with the families in quite a different atmosphere than the usual school day environment. It was a great way to get to know people in a more relaxed atmosphere.
My wish for you today is that you have a chance to experience a “Cowboy Campout†or some other type of school sponsored activity like this with your family at some point in your lifetime. Life is full of rich experiences like this if you just take advantage of them. Your family will grow closer because of people taking the time to get an event like this going and you’ll likely make a new friend or two.
Thanks, JP, for sharing your passion with the rest of us.
~ Joellen