Campership

ST CROIX DISTRICT

ANNUAL CAMPERSHIP AWARD

Each year the St Croix District gives one of the Clubs in the District an award of $800.  This money is to be used by the Club to sponsor a child or children in a summer camp.  The choice of the camp program and child/children is at the discretion of the recipient Club.  

If the District wishes to increase the amount of the award in a given year, it may do so.

The award is rotated among District Clubs alphabetically.

HISTORY OF THE CAMPERSHIP AWARD

There is no History of the background of the Campership Award.

From Elaine Fernald, August, 2023:

I saw on GCFM website that during 1946-1951, GCFM's first scholarships were given to Audubon Camp.  Would that be the origin of the camperships?  See the next to the last line below which I took directly from the website. 

1946 – 1951

The first Accredited Flower Show Judging School with a nationally accredited lecturer was held in 1946. The first Garden Federation Day for Farm and Home Week guests was held at University of Maine. GCFM’s second yearbook was published. GCFM sent seeds to Britain and Seeds for Peace. Garden Clubs made a statewide Elm Tree census for State Forestry Service. GCFM contributed $100 to the NGC project to preserve a Redwood Grove in California. A second Accredited Flower Show Judging School was held in 1947. The Lilac Living Memorial at Togus was started by GCFM in 1949, directed by Mrs. Edward F. Merrill; the planting of 2000 purple and white lilacs around the new forty-acre National Cemetery, with a background of white pines, continued as project for ten years and was taken over by the U.S. Government on July 12, 1957. GCFM contributed Mrs. Ellery Wing’s chapter “Early Gardening in the District of Maine” to Early American Garden Traditions, a book compiled by NGC President Mrs. Elvenia B. Slosson. GCFM held State Park Days throughout Maine. “More Roadside Picnic Areas,” a bill sponsored by the GCFM Roadside Improvement Committee, was passed. GCFM’s Plant Conservation List for Maine was voted the official list, June 1951, following commendation by the State Legislature. GCFM entertained NER at Poland Springs in 1950. GCFM’s first scholarships were given to Audubon Camp. U.S. Navy Achievement Certificate was awarded the GCFM.

A story around a campfire offered the following …

In the early 1900s much of Maine was rural.  Homes were spread out on large acreages of forest and farmlands.  There was no public transportation; children were picked up by school busses and transported to school.  During the summer months children were at home, playing in the woods and helping with chores.  They did not see their school friends for the summer months.

One summer an elderly aunt noticed that her young nephew and niece were missing their friends.  There was a local overnight camp program, however, the family did not have extra money to pay for the enrollment.  She took it upon herself to raise the funds by selling cucumbers from her large garden.

For years she continued this practice and the two children enjoyed the annual experience of meeting with friends -old and new – in an outdoor setting.  When she died, some local gardeners took over the fundraising and chose two children to attend the camp each summer.

Her idea spread throughout Downeast Maine.  To this day, the St Croix District budgets $800 each year to sponsor children for a summer camp experience.  The monetary award rotates through the list of clubs alphabetically.