Central Virginia Burn Camp P.O. Box 5814 Charlottesville, VA 22905 (434)263-6566 fax (434)-975-0080* cvbc1999@yahoo.com www.vaburncamp.org

THE BURN CAMP BUZZ

February 2003

Mark your calendars now –The Central Virginia Burn Camp 2003

will be held from Sunday June 15^th – Saturday June 21^st.

***Please note that this is ONE DAY LONGER than usual to celebrate our 10^th year anniversary***

HIGHLIGHTS FROM CAMP 2002 “Oh what a day, we came to play, we’re all here at Burn Camp in Central VA.  The food is good, the games are fun, the firefighters in Virginia are number ONE ! “.   Once again, the verses of our camp song echoed through the dining hall and at the campfires as almost 30 campers and over 25 counselors and staff joined together for a week of summer fun.   The theme for this year was “Back to Nature”. We went swimming, canoeing, went on horseback riding trails, had camp Olympics, gardened, and did the high ropes challenge course, made craft projects, went to a baseball game and saw the stars and planets in an indoor planetarium.  But the hands-down favorite activity was certainly our trip to King’s Dominion. We started that day with a luxury bus ride to our favorite shoe store – Saxon’s, where each camper received sneakers as a gift from the Saxon shoe company.  Then, it was off to the amusement and water park for a great day of fun, food, rides, water and games. The trip was pulled off without a hitch, thanks to the incredible planning and man-power of the Chesterfield Professional Firefighters and other wonderful folks from the Richmond firefighter’s community. Can we top the fun this coming summer?? With the theme of “Holidays and Celebrations”, you’ll just have to come to camp and find out! Golf Tournament a Success! The Virginia Chapter of the American Fire Sprinkler Association held a golf tournament in Richmond in September. A LARGE check was presented to CVBC at the conclusion of the tournament.  Many thanks to the members and supporters of this Association! Message from the Braggs It is with great regret that Robby and I announce our resignation from the Directorship of the Central Virginia Burn Camp.  We have enjoyed the years we spent as developers and organizers of the CVBC every summer.   We learned so much about what it really takes to run a successful camp.  We will cherish the memories of the fun we had with the campers and with staff.  Sharon will be starting her education towards her Bachelor degree in nursing.  Robby is busy with IAFF commitments, such as Communications Director for the States of Virginia and Texas, as well as with the labor relations classes he teaches. This decision was not made lightly.  We hope to continue to be volunteers with the CVBC and Robby commits the continued support of the Charlottesville Professional Fire Fighters Association.  National Burn Camp highlights The International Association of Firefighters sponsors a camp for 1 week each year.  This camp is held in Washington, DC. Burn camps from across the country are invited to send one of their teenage campers, along with a firefighter, for a week of fun, touring and friendship.  This year, camper Joey Dickerson had the opportunity to attend this camp, along with Suffolk firefighter Kim Marston.    Joey’s Report International Burn Camp was awesome.  It was definitely the experience of a lifetime. We went everywhere and did everything.  We even saw Hillary Clinton and she made a speech.  That was pretty cool.  Hard Rock Café was probably the funnest thing for me, but that’s cuz I’m a teenager.  My friend accidentally popped a berry off a plant at the White House and he thought he was going to get into serious trouble!  I made a whole lot of really good friends at camp – they were from everywhere! Thoughts from Kim Joey and I arrived at camp on Sat. Sept. 21.  We did not know anyone else, but it did not take Joey long to make friends.  We did so much in one week. We went to the Pentagon, had a cook out at a fire station, sang karaoke, and danced, and climbed a rock wall.  For the rest of the week we toured Washington, DC.  We went to Monuments, the White House, the Capitol, and the Vietnam and Korean Memorials.  This was an experience I will remember forever!

International Association of Burn Camps The International Association of Burn Camps was recently developed to provide a network for burn camps.  The association will help to oversee that burn camps provide quality programs that support the physical, social and psychological needs of burn survivors.  The Central Virginia Burn Camp applied for, and was approved for membership into this Association.  In October, Tim and Leslie traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, thefor IABC Conference. The conference was sponsored by the Georgia Firefighters Burn Foundation, in conjunction with the IABC. There were 27 different camps at the conference, including representatives from England and Norway! This truly is an International organization! We attended many sessions including ones on “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Camps”, Managing Homesickness, Staff Training, and Fundraising. We also enjoyed networking with other camp directors and folks involved in running burn camps.  We are certainly looking forwards to attending the next bi-annual IABC conference in Nova Scotia, Canada!  Noteworthy News   * Congratulations to Sharon Bragg for receiving the American Association of Critical - Care Nurses’ Community Service Award !  This is a national award that will be presented to her at the annual meeting in San Antonia Texas in May.  * Congratulations to Tim Wright on the birth of his son Matthew Paul on Jan.4, 2003.  *  Congratulations to Bill Fulton for completing his Fire Inspector training course and becoming a Henrico Fire Investigator.  He now investigates the cause and origins of fire.  He also completed his law enforcement stage of training and can arrest people for starting fires and making bombs.  * Hill Almond of Henrico is in his final semester to receive his Paramedic certification.  * Leslie Baruch has been selected to receive the Jefferson Award for Community Service because of her ongoing work with CVBC.  A trip to DC for National recognition may happen. What a great way to get recognition for the camp!  CVBC Winter Camp  The First CVBC Winter Retreat was held at the Holiday Inn in Richmond, February 28 - March 2, 2003 for summer 2002 campers and staff.  WOW! What an exciting weekend, full of events and activities. First, a great big thanks goes out to Bill, Hill, Jennifer and Leslie for their continuous efforts to keep the campers and, not to forget, the counselors on their toes.  Friday night was kicked off with a huge Pizza party and Mardi Gras festivities with a DJ.  Guest speaker, David Borowski, an adult burn survivor himself, explained to the campers the value of an education and keeping the focus on the goals of making something for ourselves.  Then it was SWIM TIME !! Saturday morning began with an early wake-up call and breakfast. Following a belly-filling buffet, campers were off to Saxon shoes. Saxon shoes graciously gave each camper a pair of their choice color and style Converse. Did you know that one could learn about flying and gain the knowledge about gravity hands-on? Where better to learn than the Virginia Science Museum? We headed towards the Science museum for an IMAX movie, “Jane Goodall’s Wild Chimpanzees” and explored the museum. We then headed to SkateNation for ice skating.  The sparkle in the kids’ eyes when they finally got the hang of ice-skating was a site to see. Awesome Job.  Then, Henrico firefighter and police departments battled-it-out in the 2nd annual Ice Hockey charity game. The game ended in a 2-2 tie. We all know the firefighters did not want to “show up” the police department. Playing in the charity hockey game included our own CVBC counselors Hill and Ray. What an exciting game! Donations at the door amounted to an entire week of summer camp for one camper! Bowling, and ice cream party and swimming rounded out a very busy day. But, that was just not enough excitement for one particular counselor who required stitches in her chin from a bowling ball accident .. !!.. Sunday morning concluded the camp with breakfast at  Henrico Firefighters Station 10. We traveled there in an old “Ghostbusters” type ambulance or in an antique fire truck. Great big thanks to each camper for joining us in our first annual Winter Retreat. And to the counselors, much thanks for your dedication of time and effort to make it a huge success. Without the help of each director, coordinator, counselor, camper, parent/guardian, driver, and business, we could not have done it. Thank-you!!!  And thank you especially to Curtis and Renee Stilwell of Aluminum Cans for Burned Children who provided the funding for this wonderful weekend. Get ready to have even more fun in June. See you all June 15-21, 2003. Submitted by Jessica Cramer