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Seventh annual Camp Country Jamboree
'They are just here to be a kid'
SPRINGVILLE — Pirates, cannons, buried treasures and a replica of a 1685 Dutch ship, complete with sails, ropes and numerous carvings, were only some of the surprises greeting the record number 58 children attending the seventh annual Porterville Optimist Club seventh annual Camp Country Jamboree at River Ridge Ranch Thursday through Sunday.
With a pirate theme of “Treasure Isle,” the camp gives cancer-challenged children, ages 5 to 14, and their siblings or best friend, the opportunity to enjoy a few days and nights laughing and having fun in the foothills without regard to their medical conditions.
“To get the chance to do things a normal kid gets to do, we have no conception of what that’s like,” said camp director David Prestage. “Most of our counselors don’t even know who has cancer and who is a sibling. They forget they have cancer while they are here. They are just here to be a kid.”
While at camp, every child is assigned to a camp counselor who personally guides the child through the sing-alongs, story times, arts and crafts, and river play. Cancer is not talked about, Prestage said.
“We’re stretched to the limit with children this year. It’s a record-breaking number but the way the school schedule is this year, they are still coming in because they are still getting out of school. Last year we had 38. We just did a count and we’re up to 62. We’ll have a few more tonight, and some who will arrive tomorrow.”
The children arrived from several Southern California towns, Visalia, Fresno, Porterville, Maricopa, Shafter and Bakersfield.
But with 38 camp counselors and counselors in training, the ratio of counselors to children is approximately 1-to-2, said second-year camp counselor Kathleen Jurkovich, a senior at Granite Hills High School.
“It’s very rewarding. You don’t know if they have a problem. Unless they need medicine or special care, they are all the same. They look up to you,” Jurkovich said. “It’s very different from anything else I have ever done. I feel very humble to be in this position.”
For Nathaniel Iniguez, 13, who has been attending since the first year, said it is something he looks forward to every year.
“I came for six years and now I’m training to be a counselor so that I can continue to come,” said the Summit Charter Collegiate Academy student. “I really love the camp. As soon as its over, I start looking forward to the next one.”
On Friday, the children splashed and squealed in a shallow-water area of the river as numerous counselors watched from the water and the shore. They also scurried about as they tried to get one of an approximate 24 “message in a (plastic) bottle” dropped into the water upstream from where they played. The bottles could be redeemed for prizes and treasures.
Aside from the youth counselors, another 65 volunteers from a dozen Optimist clubs from around the area, worked in the kitchen, at the boys and girls camp sites, driving golf carts, running games and providing entertainment.
The camp also has nine registered nurses on site, said Prestage.
“This is the Med Shack,” said Michele Chandler, who is in charge of registration. “There’s nine registered nurses but we work in shifts. We’re here 24 hours, monitoring and administering medications, and dealing with a constant influx of [minor problems] — sunburns, bug bites.”
In addition, the counselors have been great, said head nurse Lily Tudor, rocking children who are homesick.
“Because we have 24-hour medical coverage, the families feel comfortable leaving their children with us,” Tudor said.
On Friday night, the children spent the evening laying on big tarps in a pasture while astronomers talked about the stars and how pirates navigated through the oceans by them.
“They’re learning and it’s educational and they don’t even know it because they are having so much fun,” Prestage said.
On Saturday the children will go on a treasure hunt, race small wooden ships they put together from a kit, hear cannons being shot, and enjoy an entertaining show put on by the camp counselors. They will also have their Buccaneer Bash — a meal consisting of a six-hour roasted rotisserie pig and all the trimmings.
Contact Esther Avila at 784-5000, EXT. 1045, or eavila@portervillerecorder.com.
