FOG!

Fog! It's everywhere.

DECK WORK

The Larry Norman Lodge deck is getting worked on. Pictures updating the progress to be posted in the future!

CAMP ALUM PLANNING A NEAT EVENT

Check out what one our Orkila Alums - Jamie Lynch - has put together in a quest to support camp. It's called The Lion Hunt Dinner.

Tickets are still available!

Note: This event is for those 21 and over.

STAFF TRAINING

In addition to the Partners With Youth Campaign and winter maintenance around camp, staff take time to brush up on other skills like First Aid and CPR.

Steve Miller and Jason Dean work on their First Aid skills.

SNOW AT ORKILA

MARINE LECTURE POSTPONED

Due to the weather forecast, the Marine Lecture Series for this evening, January 11th, will be postponed until next Tuesday, January 18th at 7:00 p.m.

Hope to see you there!

WEEKLY QUOTE: A candle...

A candle loses nothing of its light by lighting another candle. - James Keller

Every Monday (until July when summer campers begin to arrive) an image from the 2010 summer will be posted. This image will be paired with one of the many quotes read during one of the Closing Campfires last summer. Enjoy!

A BRAND NEW DAY

The YMCA of Greater Seattle recently unveiled a new brand strategy to increase understanding of its cause – strengthening the foundations of community through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. Through its new brand strategy and framework, the Y will emphasize how it nurtures the potential of youth and teens, improves health and well-being and provides opportunities to support our neighbors and give back to our community. The brand and cause-driven shift started last year via the YMCA of the USA, and you can read more about that HERE.

The revitalized brand was introduced a week ago at 12 Ys throughout the Greater Seattle area. The most visible change is the Y’s new logo, which points forward and is used in five different colors to reflect the vibrancy and diversity of the organization. Along with more than 2,600 Ys nationwide, the nonprofit will refer to itself collectively as “the Y.” Most importantly, the new brand strategy will help clarify public understanding of the Y’s impact and inspire involvement in the Y as a cause.

“This is a very important, exciting time for the Y,” said Bob Gilbertson, Jr., President and CEO. “Since 1876, we’ve focused on building a community where all people, especially the young, are encouraged to develop their fullest potential in spirit, mind and body. Today we start a chapter that makes this mission clearer than ever, which we believe will help us expand our reach in the Greater Seattle area.”

Below are some highlights of how the Y strengthens the communities it serves via three focus areas:

Youth Development: The Y helps guide children, teens and young adults of all socio-economic backgrounds to develop the character traits and skills essential to success. For example, Y child care is where children learn to get along with others and learn to socialize, share and play. It is where they will form friendships, grow, develop and thrive. The YMCA emphasizes and models character development values such as caring, honesty, respect and responsibility.

Healthy Living: Through its 12 branches, two resident camps and hundreds of off-site locations, the Y equips people of all ages and abilities to be their personal best in spirit, mind and body. Its full-service facilities bring families closer together as they build healthy lifestyles, and trained lifestyle coaches help set personal health and well-being goals.

Social Responsibility: The Y listens and responds to our region’s most critical social needs. Through education and training in neighborhoods, connecting diverse demographic populations and building healthier communities with partners, the Y fosters care and respect for all. Annually, the YMCA of Greater Seattle provides $19 million in free or subsidized services so that individuals and families in need can benefit from confidence-building, health-enhancing programs like summer camp, child care and facility membership.

Here at Camp Orkila, we’re excited about the re-focus and are embracing the change. The look of this blog is only the beginning!

MARINE LECTURE SERIES: JANUARY 11th

Humpbacks of the Salish Sea
From the SeaDoc Society

Lecture with Dr. Jeremy Goldbogen

Most people think of killer whales when they think of the Salish Sea, but in the early 1900’s humpback whales were one of the most common large whales seen in the region. Whalers killed them off by the 1950’s and erased them from most people’s memories. We began seeing humpback whales again in the San Juan Islands late in the 1980’s, and the population is now rebounding.

On Tuesday, January 11th at 7:00 pm Dr. Jeremy Goldbogen of Cascadia Research will give a presentation on humpback whales that will endear you to this amazing whale and will make you cheer their recovery. In a feat that makes Olympic distance runners seem like toddlers, humpback whales migrate every six months between their summering grounds in the North Pacific and their wintering grounds in Hawaii or Southern Mexico. That’s quite a journey, even for a whale that is 1.5 times as long as a school bus. Dr. Goldbogen will entertain you with stories about the singing of male humpbacks, their interesting feeding behaviors and new findings on these amazing whales that, like killer whales, can be identified individually.

Jeremy Goldbogen, a whale researcher at Cascadia Research Collective in Olympia, was a 2010 Scripps Postdoctoral Research Fellow in marine biology. He received a B.S. and Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of British Columbia, respectively.
The 2010/11 Marine Science Lecture Series was created to inspire the general public and to highlight the amazing fish and wildlife of our region. Lectures are free. Please park in the upper parking lot at Camp Orkila. Shuttle service from the parking lot to the talk is available before and after the lecture.

The lecture Series is presented by program partners The SeaDoc Society and YMCA Camp Orkila. It has been made possible through generous sponsorship by Tom Averna (Deer Harbor Charters), Eclipse Charters, West Sound Marina and co-sponsorship by Barbara Brown, The Kingfish Inn and Shearwater Kayaks.

Article from Bull Wings: Orcas Issues, Views, and News

TOWER CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES

This is the terminal platform which is 1000 feet from the tower where zipliners end their zip. Can you see the tower in the distance on the bottom photo?