Blog Posts

Spring 2021 campout completed!

4/18/2021

We held the Spring 2021 campout at YMCA Camp Edwards in East Troy, Wisconsin on Saturday, April 16 of this year. Due to the ongoing situation with the pandemic, this was a day-only trip. The girls got to enjoy activities such as the rock climbing wall, archery, zip-line, and the black-hole tube slides.

Two climbers going up!

The girls first had to climb the pole to get to the zipline. Well done!

Finley and Mia of the Snow Owls get ready to go down the black-hole slide with the help up Finley's dad, Tom.

The day ended with our traditional fire ceremony, which concluded with the changing of the guard from the old chiefs to the new chiefs in preparation for the 2021-2022 season!

Valley Nation welcomes the new leadership for the 2020-2021 season:

Nation Chief: Andy Rehm
Chief's Hand: Adam Poteracki

Illini Chief: Jeff Wery
Snow Owls Chief: Jason Tatum
Winnebago Chief: Todd Tracy

Winter 2021 campout at Camp Edwards

1/24/2021

This year's winter campout was at YMCA Camp Edwards in Troy, Wisconsin. Due to pandemic concerns, this was a day-camp only and not an overnight event. The campout was held on Saturday, January 23rd. We were fortunate enough to have snow on the ground for some fun winter activities!

The girls got to learn about winter survival and fire building at one of the camp stations. Here are some of the Illini princesses working together to build different types of fires:

Another fun group activity the girls got to engage in was "bridge" building. The girls and dads had to work together to build a dynamic bridge to make a marble travel from one spot to another without falling off. This required coordination and team effort to get the marble to travel the entire span. After the marble passed a person's section, that person had to run to the other side of the span to continue the bridge!

Here are some Snow Owls learning to shoot paintballs at targets with slingshots. I think the girls learned that it's not that easy!

Valley Nation Princesses set sail at 1st ever Rain Gutter Regatta!

4/25/2016

The mighty Valley Nation recently held its first-ever Rain Gutter Regatta event. This is similar to a pinewood derby. The girls build their own boats and race them. There is one key difference: unlike the pinewood derby where gravity propels cars to the finish line, the girls have to do all the work:

A regatta can be run in a couple of ways. You could do it similar to a pinewood derby where girls get their boat kits a few weeks ahead of time and build the boats at home. We took a different approach. Each girl received their boat kit the day of the race at registration. Once everyone was registered, we started a 45-minute build period for all of the racers. The room then erupted into a flurry of sanding, painting and decorating:

As you can see, the results were impressive. The girls really outdid themselves considering the short time constraint. In addition to our racing competition, we all voted on best design and awarded six medals.

Once the boats were all complete and the paint (mostly) dry, we launched into racing. After quite a bit of drama, our four semifinalists emerged: Lea A. (K-1st), Kayla S. (2nd-3rd), Abby R. (4th), and Kate G. (5th and up). Fresh from a stint at the US national rain gutter regatta training center, Abby surged to the finish to claim the title of Valley Nation Rain Gutter Regatta champion.

After losing a close first-round matchup against that same Abby R., Jessica S. bounced back as the runaway winner of the second-chance bracket.

We were accompanied by a great nautical-themed soundtrack including such classics as The Tide is High by Blondie, Southern Cross by Crosby, Stills and Nash and Brandy by Looking Glass.

All in all, it was a fine day on the high seas for our braves and princesses. Here's to sailing again in coming years!

What a fantastic Fall Campout at Camp Benson!

9/16/2015

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The mighty Valley Nation just returned from our inaugural voyage to Camp Benson in hilly Northwest Illinois. We didn't know what to expect, but the camp exceeded everyone's expectations. The gorgeous weather certainly didn't hurt either.

The princesses had all kinds of things to do, including archery, a zipline, 5 separate climbing wall lines with auto-belays, the super-long Twilight Zone tube slide, and other cool stuff like this mega-Jenga game at Fort Benson:

Of course, no YMCA camp would be complete without the requisite Gaga Ball court. This Gaga court, though has a special twist - check this out:

Without a doubt, the most unique activity was the Cave Exploration hike where we hiked through the middle of a 2-3 foot deep creek to find a hidden cave. Not your everyday hike!

Last but not least, thanks to the very flexible, friendly staff at Camp Benson for bending over backward to make our campout a success!

Looking forward to our upcoming nation events including Medieval Times, the Rockford Discovery Museum overnight, and the children's play at the Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre. Hope to see you there!

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Valley Nation's First 2015 Blog Post

8/24/2015

What's the best part about the new school year? The 2015 Fall Campout is only weeks away!

Fourth of July parade

7/1/2014

The Princess Snow Owl Tribe of the Big Waters Federation hands out Flavor-Ice.Amy Dickens, for the Chicago Tribune - Link)

Forward>>

FIRE FERRETS	Westgate Elementary School Our Lady of the Wayside School South Middle School
GRAY WOLVES	Patton Elementary School Thomas Middle School
SNOW OWLS	Olive Mary Stitt School Thomas Middle School South Middle School St. Peter Lutheran School St. James School
WINNEBAGO	Frost Elementary School Indian Grove Elementary School Holmes Middle School River Trails Middle School

Valley Nation (Princesses)