Happy January!!

Next meeting is Wednesday Jan 6th 6:15pm at Grace First Church, room 311

Candy Sale Kick off event is Tuesday Jan 12, 6pm - 7:30pm, location Los Altos Methodist Church (Willow and Woodrow). Everyone signed up for potluck items at the last meeting.

Candy sales begin Friday Jan 15th and run through Feb 14 (Valentines Day)

No Meeting Wednesday Jan 20th. I will be sending out info on candy sales through emails, candy distribution will be during the week of Jan 11th. We will be signing up for group sales at the candy sale kick off event.

Keep checking the blog for updates!

***note the date change of the candy sale kick off event********

Please contact Lisa G to pick up your candy asap.

thank you thank you!

Our Holiday Party was amazing!!
Thank you Lisa and Jack for hosting it, what a fun event!
I will post upcoming events soon, just wanted to share a few photos. they are a bit blurry, my phone camera is not so hot.

Our group has already become a real joy to me, thank you so much for your support. I promise you won't regret joining! we will continue to find fun and exciting events for our kids.
:)

Holiday Party

Hi there!! Our holiday party will be Wednesday December 16th at Lisa Solecito's house (Bella)
The address is 4506 Ladoga, Lakewood 90713 (Lisa's phone number is (562) 366-0351 in case you have any questions)

We will be having a guest author there to read her christmas book, I have purchased a book for each kid in our group and they can have it signed by the author. I LOVE to have guest speakers so i am super happy we have one so early on. Her name is Suzanne Ferry and lives here in Long Beach, she is also a former Camp Fire girl!! Such luck to find her!

We will be doing a craft, having a snack and singing christmas carols as well as hearing the guest speaker. Start time is 6:15pm and please be prompt so we can finish on time.

Next year I have plans to start a progressive dinner tradition, we will need three households to help host each meal (appetizers, dinner and dessert) so if you like to plan early and can volunteer, let me know.

:) Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!!

The Belmont Shore Parade was fun, hope you enjoyed it everyone!!!

Here is a letter i received from the mom of two kids who play in a local band, our camp fire group will be meeting them next year. i just wanted to give you a chance to attend this fundraising event and see the band if you are not busy this Saturday. From time to time i will post events i think you might be interested in, there is no obligation to go, just for your info.

The Yule Ball Celebration is a secular, holiday event/ toy drive for the Long Beach Women's Shelter, the homeless and underserved kids in Long Beach. This is the second time we will have participated in this event. We also attend church there. It's held in the Parish Hall@ St. Luke's Episcopal Church. There will be free food and games and crafts. Isaac and Emma are also in a homeschool jazz/rock group with 9 other kids. That group will also have a short performance there that evening. They are really good too.
It's a fun evening. Last year we decorated with paper snowflakes hanging from the ceiling and lighted trees and lit candles. It was really pretty. It's inspired by the scene in Harry Potter at their Yule Ball with the open ceiling and the snow coming in. It had that magical feel.

The info is: Dec12, 6-9 pm. St. Luke's Episcopal Church in the Parish Hall, 525 E. 7th St., Long Beach 90813 It's a big, beautiful 100 year old church. Parking is in the back and on the side of the church.

We 're asking people to donate an unwrapped toy for a boy or girl. Or a Target gift card for $10 or more. The cards will be used to get the toys for whatever age group or sex needs to be filled in after all the donations are in. Last year, (through The Yule Ball and boxes placed around the community) we collected 200 toys and there were still kids that had to be turned away.

It's a wonderful church that does many good things for the community. Amount the many programs that they have is a shower and food program for the homeless all year. They always need new or old, in good condition, men's clothes, in particular. So if your husbands or fathers are cleaning out their closets, or shopping and you can buy an extra bag of socks or underwear, please think of this program.

thanks!!!

Belmont Shore Parade 2009

the parade is THIS Saturday Dec 5th at 7:00 PM. Please meet me at 155 Quincy avenue no later than 6:15 PM

Uniforms are mandatory, please wear dark pants, white shirt (turtleneck, sweatshirt or sweater is needed, it will be cold) and vest.

We will decide on Wednesday if we need to buy Santa hats, the kids need to be wearing them. If you have some to use that night, let me know. If you find some (especially on sale!!) buy them and i will reimburse you, just let me know.

Parking is crazy that night, so get there early (my family goes early and eats dinner around 4:30 that night) and make sure the kids use the restroom and dont fill up on drinks. The bathroom facilities are very scarce.

December

Our next meeting is December 2nd, 6:15pm at Grace First Church


We will be making our Belmont Shore Parade Banner and some handmade christmas presents. Our Christmas Party will be December 16th at Bella's house! Lisa (Bella's mom) has graciously taken on the Co-Leader role so our group is officially up and running! Thank you Lisa! She will be putting a flyer together to hand out at the Dec 2nd meeting.

We will have a special guest author coming to the party who will read her book to the kids. Should be lots of fun!

Belmont Shore Parade is saturday December 5th, details at the Dec 2nd meeting.
Everyone will need a Santa Hat so pick one or two up (to share) if you see them for a good price. The kids must wear something white under their vest in the parade, white sweatshirt or turtleneck is good to keep warm, they must be in uniform to walk.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Los Cerritos Wetlands

Hello there! I would like to introduce something our family and my other camp fire group has been involved in for 4 years now, Saving Los Cerritos Wetlands! The kids have been actively fighting to save these 500 acres of open space here in Long Beach and i hope you will join us in the fight. Our new starflight group will benefit from the restoration program recently started and we are hopeful the entire 500 acres will someday be a public wetlands park! This weekend we spent 2 hours at a restoration event (I gave out flyers with the calendar of all the events scheduled through December, let me know if you need another and i will also post a link as well) We can make los cerritos wetlands our ongoing service project and i am also involved with the friends of the colorado lagoon, they have wonderful programs for little kids and we can even attend custom events designed just for our group! Enjoy the photos and i will see you at our PARENT MEETING, Wednesday November 18th at 615, at grace first church, room 311, no kids please.

yahoo! we have a location!

we got the thumbs up to meet at Grace First Church for our meetings. Located where Studebaker and Los Coyotes come to a point, near the Long Beach Camp Fire Council. We meet in room 311 on the Los Coyotes side near the preschool playground. This will make it much easier to have an organized meeting.

Please join us Wednesday November 4th at Grace First Church for our next Camp Fire meeting, 6:15 pm.

Let me know if you can meet Wednesday November 18th without kids so we can have a parent meeting. It would be a great idea for us to meet, parents only, to discuss the upcoming year.

Kiniya is Thursday November 19th at the council, meet at 5:30pm at the flagpole (in Camp Shiwaka) more details coming up.

:)

Canvas bags and "Sit upons"

Nov 4th

Please bring a plain canvas tote bag to decorate and purchase a "sit upon" kit from the council so we will have them for Kiniya. Sit upons are a camp fire tradition, we made them when i was a kid in camp fire. they should last many years and used for all outdoor activities, a soft cushion to "sit upon"

Uniform: Red vest, white polo, "starflight" and "camp fire" patch (you might like to get a red hoodie as well, both my daughters love them and they qualify as a uniform to casual events)

Starflight Kindergarten level workbook

We have a parent (Lisa, Bella's mom) who volunteered to host the Christmas party meeting in December, it will be the second meeting in the month of December. The first December meeting will be "homemade christmas present making" and we will continue the theme by having a "homemade gift exchange" at our christmas party. This has been a great success with my older group and I have been amazed at the wonderful creative ideas the kids (and parents) come up with for presents. My own family has had this christmas tradition since i was a kid and at summer camp we often had "christmas in july" where the campers made homemade gifts made with only natural objects found around camp. I will give you ideas for gifts you can make, of course you can always make an edible gift/treat or come up with your own idea.
Stay tuned!

Upcoming Events

Next meeting is Wednesday October 21st, 6:15pm at Leslie Heuer's house 7140 Killdee street 90808. Please purchase and bring a canvas bag (from Joanns or Michaels) cost approx 5 dollars, to be decorated at this meeting. The bag will hold our starflight workbook that you can purchase at the council when you buy your uniform (red vest, white polo shirt). Please bring your filled out registration forms and a check for 20 dollars made out to "camp fire usa" We will decide on dues (I suggest 60 dollars per year) to cover supplies for our meetings. I will be available to speak with parents this night, feel free to speak with me and our parent meeting will also be a good time to chat about our group and up coming year.

Saturday October 24th, Halloween Carnival at the council (corner of studebaker and carson street) 4pm to 7pm. Join other camp fire members for fun, games and food. Wear your costumes! Invite your friends!

Parent meeting (no kids please) date to be announced. (note this is a change from Oct 28, please update)

November 4th meeting: Purchase a "Sit Upon" kit at the camp fire council and bring tonight. We will "sew" them together at this meeting. A "sit upon" is a special cushion used at all ceremonials, camping and outdoor events when we need to sit on the ground. The kit comes with everything you need to make the cushion and will last for many years, be sure and put your name on it too (I think they cost about 5 dollars). Please bring your starflight workbook in your canvas bag to all meetings. We will go over the workbook together tonight.

I am still working on our location, soon to be finalized. If you are interested in hosting a meeting at your house in the interim, let me know! It would be great to have a christmas party in December if anyone would like to host this event.

Thank you for visiting our blog, I will keep it regularly updated. Calendars through December will be handed out at the next meeting. Thank you for your patience while we put our group together!!

WoHeLo!!

Meeting Wednesday October 21st 6:15pm

(photo is from el dorado park)

Our next meeting will be at my house again, let me know if you need directions and address.

We will be decorating a canvas bag that can hold our starflight workbook (we will be getting it soon) so purchase a canvas book bag from michaels or joanns before the meeting and bring it on Wed Oct 21st. It needs to be large enough to hold a 3 ring binder.

Be sure and ask your friends if they would be interested in joining our group! We especially need kinder boys. They are welcome to join us at our meetings.

Thanks!

get together meeting

here we go!

our first meeting was a success and we are off and running, thank you so much to all the parents who are interested in joining our group. i hope you enjoy camp fire as much as i do, i will do my best to inspire you to all the wonderful things camp fire has to offer your kids (and YOU!)

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday October 21st, 6pm location to be announced soon.

Please bring your 20 dollar registration check made out to "Camp Fire USA" to the next meeting with your forms filled out. We will have a calendar for the next three months and a roster of our members to hand out. Since we will be adding members, we may have to update it often.

Halloween Carnival is Saturday October 24th 4pm to 7pm. This will be a great opportunity for you to come with your family and visit the council. Come in costume and have a good time visiting with other camp fire groups.