Elizabeth Achurch - CC
Caroline Auxier - SG
Meriwether Burrell - EC
Jack Duffy - RC
Lydia Makepeace - RB
George Murnane - CH
William Nicolson - RC

Wendy Price - CC
Cameron Reid - RC
John Rothell - PV
Mike Schmidt - 7H
Julian Selman - PH
Kelsey Supple - PH

"If at first you don't succeed, she'll be right, mate!" 
—Australian Proverb

FARM REPORT - Corn blasting skyward after the rain! Baby goats beginning to drink from the bottle! Chicks popping out of a sheltered life! Well, Session B begins with a bang as Wildwood helped with all the Farm work. Thanks!
MILL REPORT - Have you been fishing at the Mill? If you have, you know things are really jumping. Yesterday we made doughnuts and they turned out fantastic. Even the fish love these doughnuts.

by Lydia Makepeace, Age  10,  Rosebay

Would you rather sleep on a top bunk or a bottom bunk?

       TOP: 28
BOTTOM: 18

WELCOME TO AUSTRALIA DAY

THE FRONT PORCH - by the Afternoon Sign Up group - [We spoke with Joe, counselor of Aching Legs, about his home country, Australia. Here is our conversation.
TAJAR TIMES REPORTERS: Where is Australia located in the world?
JOE: You'll find it above Antartica and near New Zealand.
REPORTERS: Does it get cold there?
JOE: It only gets cold in the southern part of the country. In Australia right now it is winter. Since I've been coming to this country in your summer, I get 2 summers! I've been doing that for about 4 years now.
REPORTERS: How many summers have you been at Gwynn Valley?
JOE: This is my second summer. Come to Campfire tonight and learn more about Australia

. GWYNN VALLEY

FRONT PORCH - by Kelsey Supple, Age 7, Playhouse - Gwynn Valley is the best camp ever! You can do everything. You sleep in a cabin!
     There are all different cabins like Aching Legs and Dancing Waters.
     We eat Dinner, Lunch and Breakfast. The food is really good.
     I like Gwynn Valley.

WHO PAINTED ERROLL?

     7TH HEAVEN - A mystery has developed around Gwynn Valley. Who has painted Cabin 7th Heaven's mysterious gnome, Erroll?
     Erroll now has a red hat and a red nose. If you have any information, please let Phil or Dane from 7th Heaven know about it. Thank you!

THE CAMP LIBRARY

     THE GATEHOUSE - article and artwork by George Murnane, 10, Chestnut Hollow - Forgot your book? Check out the Camp Library. The Camp Library is right next to the Office which is in the Gatehouse. 
     Subjects in the Library include horses, nature, animal stories, mysteries, poetry, foreign countries PLUS much more! There are books for everybody at camp.
     To check out a book, write the name of the book, then write your name and your cabin. Make sure to bring a counselor with you when you come to the Camp Library in the Gatehouse.
     Here's a fact: the Library has 27 different subjects for people to chose from and over 200 books!!!

CAMPER'S FIRST DAY

     THE MILL - by Caroline Auxier, Age 9, Shady Grove - I thought I'd interview some first year people to see what their favorite thing at Gwynn Valley was.
     Hannah Armour and Cameron Hassler said their favorite thing was the Tajar Times, an Evening activity.
     Elizabeth Ostrander said her favorite activity was rock climbing and George Murnane said his favorite thing was drawing, another Evening activity
.      Marcia Ash and Mary Johnson said they enjoyed swimming while pottery was Bonnie Coker's favorite thing.
     I hope you enjoyed my article.

MILL DOUGHNUTS

     THE MILL - article and artwork by Lydia Makepeace, Age 10, Rosebay - The doughnuts at the Mill are a huge hit! I tasted one and I loved it.
     To make the doughnuts, they used dough to make the shape of a doughnut and then they put them in a pot of oil over the fire. The oil was very hot and that cooks the doughnuts.
     Some kids said they were better than regular doughnuts. I thought they were really good.

THE FOOD AT GWYNN VALLEY

     THE FRONT PORCH - by Julia Selman, Age 7, Playhouse - Did you know Gwynn Valley has the best food? Because it really is!
     The cabins love the food. Yum, yum!
     We have cantaloupe. We had it at Lunch and Dinner. We love it. And then we have oatmeal for Breakfast.
     Did you know we grow and pick our dinner?

FEEDING TIME AT THE FARM

     THE FARM - Elizabeth Achurch, Age 10, Connestee Cove - At the Farm. Wow, what a wonderful place to be! At least to me it is.
     Hi, I'm Elizabeth Achurch. I like—no LOVE —going to the Farm. I like feeding the calves and baby goats. But you have to remember to tip the bottle just a bit so the warm milk can get into their mouths.
     Wow! That was an exciting day! Well, write to you soon.

The Story of the 3 Little Pigs
by John Rothell, Age 6, Primaveira
     Once there were 3 little pigs. They built a straw house,  a wood house and the Mama built a brick house.
     A wolf came and said, "Knock, knock! I am gong to blow your house down."
     And then he huffed and puffed and blew the house down. And the first little pig went, "Wee, wee!" all the way to the next pig's house.
     So the wolf went to the next house and he huffed and puffed and the house blew over.
     Then he went to the brick house. The wolf huffed and puffed but the house stood up. He thought he could blow it over.

The Bell

by Julian Selman, Age 7, Playhouse

     The Bell

                   is our

                               friend.

     It is

           brown.

     It

               tells us when it is Lunch,

                                                           Breakfast

                                                                                Dinner.      

     Thank you, Bell!

The Vegemite Song 

We're happy little Vegemites,
   as bright as bright can be.
We all enjoy our Vegemite,
   for breakfast, lunch and tea.

Our mothers say we're growing stronger,
   every single week.
Because we love our Vegemite,
   we all adore our Vegemite
   it puts the rose in every cheek!

Respect
by Jack Duffy, Age 9, Raccoon Ridge

Respect your hook; 
   like a book,
From the library,
   Or you won't find 
    a berry!

Writing In His Journal
by RB and Duke
     In case you don't know, Duke the Mouse likes to write in a journal. Now, journal writing is a very good thing. It is good to develop a daily habit of quiet time and thinking and I was very proud of my pet mouse for doing just that. Until I found out what was really going on.
     The other day I found Duke sitting on the Front Porch near the door to his house (which just happens to be Dining Room!). He was deep in thought.
     Duke told me he was thinking about his day.
     I wondered what there was to think about. All Duke does all day is snooze here and there. I mean, come on, now. How much can a mouse think, anyway? At least when he's awake!?
     So I left Duke to his thinking and had to run a few errands.
     The next day, I heard several counselors talking about a problem up in Cabin Wildwood on Mountainside. Well, it didn't take long before I heard about it person. James, a counselor in Wildwood, found me and he was none too happy.
     He showed me his journal and at first I said I didn't want to see it because I was sure it was private. James assured me it was, but not anymore. He flipped open to a page and showed me where Duke the Mouse had been writing in his journal—in James' journal!!
     Hm. What is wrong with this picture?
     I finally found Duke and told him that it wasn't ok to write in somebody else's journal, you're supposed to write in your own. Well, that was news to Duke. He always wrote in other people's journals because they didn't read their own journals anyway.
     Ok, I think I finally have it all straightened out with my pet mouse. But please do me a favor. If you find Duke in your cabin and he looks like he's thinking, hide all your journals. Quickly!
     And that's the way it is with Duke.