By: Ranee M., Southern Pot of Gold Reporter

What’s up, California Rainbow.  I’ve got an amazing story to tell you and you’re never going to guess what it’s about.  I call it…..“Southern Rainbow Camp 2022!”  So put on your hat and sunscreen and take in the fresh air, chattering wildlife, trees, birds, the pool, the SMORES and (if you ask Mr. Mark Read) the often elusive BIG SHOWER SPIDER!, then you’re ready for camp.

This year’s camp theme was “STORYBOOK CAMP”, and it was unforgettable.  From the food, to the games, to the pool, to the amazing new activities.  Of course, there were old favorites too.  It wouldn’t be camp without a picture in the big chair or a night of Bingo.  Everyone had something fun to do and friends to hang out with – if you were bored, you must not have been in the same place as we all were that weekend.

Almost everyone arrived Friday night in time for dinner before starting our annual movie night.  This year we got to watch “Rise of the Guardians!” What a coincidence and very appropriate for our Camp theme, as the movie is based on the book series The Guardians of Childhood and the short film The Man in the Moon by William Joyce. Such an amazing movie, if I do say so myself.  Then it was lights out because tomorrow was going to be a busy day!

The next morning, after staying up late to create our posters everyone was a little slow getting down to the main hall.  I heard, there may have even been a visitor of the small, four-legged, long-tailed and whiskery type that visited a cabin or two and kept everyone up to the wee hours.  After breakfast, we had our annual Pantaloon Parade and Poster Parade.  These girls are all so creative and talented.  The day was spent Zip Lining – did you see Mrs. Garcia our State Mother Advisor for 2023 on the zip line??  There was also tree climbing and Grandie Pool Jumping.  Each of the California Grand Officers in attendance and Lexie Grand Rep to California from Nevada jumped off the diving board. Who did you think had the best form at the pool?  You certainly can’t forget the Grandie Auction on Saturday night.  The bidding was heated at times. Wow, there appeared to be a lot of purple, with purple wigs and purple boas and purple, purple, purple.  This year, Southern Rainbow Camp raised $3162.75 for the Grand Service Project – Pawsitive Teams, Service and Therapy Dogs.  Wow, that is amazing!  Mrs. Regier arrived to join us on Saturday too and we waited this year to have skits on Saturday instead of the normal Friday night, so Mrs. Regier could watch all the fun!  And BINGO happened.  Sydney did a bingotastic job of calling numbers and Lexie from Nevada got to call a few numbers too.

A big thank you to Ms. Jenni Orozco and her team for putting together a super camp experience.  We couldn’t do it without you.  You kept the activities going and the fun happening.  Thanks to Mr. Mark Read for some fabulous pictures.  

Hope you’ll all be able to join us next year for a super spectacular spooky “HAPPY HALLOWEEN CAMP”.  Until next year – make sure to keep the sunburns to a minimum, leave the place better than you found it and ..….Happy Camping!

By: Addy T., Northern Pot of Gold Reporter

What did you do this summer? Well, I can tell you this summer I got to go camping, now what is camping? Camping is the outdoor activity where you live outside your house in the wild with a tent, some other essential camping equipment, and gear. Camping is actually a great hobby and people love to go camping because of entertaining activities like hunting, fishing, boating, hiking and roasting marshmallows with a campfire

The California Rainbow Girls got the chance this summer to attend Northern summer camp for the weekend. This gave the girls the opportunity to gather around the campfire, sing campfire songs with some of the Pioneering Wolfpack’s Grand Officers, play games, swim in the lake, and they even got to watch some of the Grand Officers jump in the lake. Then the girls were given the opportunity to dress up the Grand Officers. Cloud 7 got to dress up Carley L. The next day the girls had a devotional led by San Jose Assembly and they did an amazing job! At the end of the day, everyone’s feet were dirty, their hair was messy, and the girls got to leave with memories for a lifetime. The highlight of the weekend was Mr. Whitten in his Superman costume and raising $3,100 for the Grand Service Project! The international Order of Rainbow for Girls is a nonprofit organization for girls between the ages of 11 and 20. Our organization prepares the girls of today to be the leaders of tomorrow through leadership, sisterhood, and service. If you are interested in supporting California Rainbow check out www.gocarainbow.org !