Sumter County Federation Project- Wild Adventure Day
The sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky, making it a perfect day for being outside to enjoy an adventure in nature.
Thirteen children ages seven to twelve experienced an exciting day of adventure participating in Wild Adventure Day Camp sponsored by the Garden Club of Georgia (GCG) coordinated by Molly Kimbler, co-director of the Azalea District along with the Sumter Federation of Garden Clubs, the Dogwood and Azalea Garden Clubs of Sumter County.
“Wild Adventure Day was a huge success thanks to volunteers from the Federated Garden Clubs and the support of the Garden Clubs of Georgia,” said Lisa Simpson, a member of the Dogwood Garden Club.
The young attendees enjoyed a wide variety of nature experiences including a nature hike, building bird feeders, looking through microscopes at pond water, studying coloration of live snakes and having a snakeskin to take home, finding, and identifying leaves of varying shapes, learning about how pollution travels in our waterways, and planting a container garden. Of course, due to the bright sun there was also a water mister for cooling off in the heat.
Ada said,” I really liked it. I especially liked the What’s Wiggling in the Water activity using the microscopes and I enjoyed building the bird feeders.”
At the end of the day the kids wrote a thank you note to the Dogwood and Azalea Garden Clubs and also described their favorite activity of the day. Based on the children’s comments every activity was a hit!
This project started when Faye Frazier suggested to the clubs at a Federation meeting and suggested we “Think about it.” The clubs tossed around the idea and Wild Adventure Day was born.
It was exhausting at times and took a lot of preparation, but it all fell into place beautifully. The planning committee was Faye Frazier, Donna Minich, Sherrell Bailey, Lisa Simpson, Joyce Carreker and Molly Kimler. Other volunteers from the Azalea and Dogwood Garden Clubs included Mervin Brown, Janis Webb, Maxine Stribling, Pat Booker, Janice Cliett, Drenda Sternenberg, Diane Sumner, June Satterfield, Mary Davis, and Willie Maxwell. Also assisting were Elizabeth Simpson- Podojil, Sumter County Extension agent Chelsea Lopez and Mitzi Parker.
