Camp of the loving heart, also known as Harford County 4-H camp , encourages passion, service, education, and healthy living for youth through traditional values.

Held at Rocks State Park, children aged eight to ten all enjoyed a four day, overnight camp that included an abundance of activities such as swimming, crafts, and campfires every night.

“It was really fun because you get to do things like outdoor cooking, riflery, archery, and team building,” said junior camper Lily Macatee.

As the days came to close, parents, siblings, friends, and even grandparents of the children attended the final campfire of the season which was held on the last day of camp, Thursday, June 11 at 7pm.

The children and teen counselors worked tediously for their special moment at campfire to demonstrate to their parents what they have prepared for the past couple of days.

“I love coming to campfires because you get to see the same traditions I saw when I was a camper and counselor,” said alumn Jane Burgess.

  Jane’s children, were once all campers, but are now counselors, including daughter, Becky Burgess of North Harford High School.

“Camp went great! All the counselors and campers are great and I can’t wait for next summer,” said Becky.

Furthermore, the shocking aspect was that the counselors and campers were extremely respectful at campfire while being completely silent in honor of their love to their home at 4-H camp.

“Campfire is very traditional and we have to be silent because this camp is all about respect and respect for nature and the Native Americans,” said counselor from C.Milton Wright Callan Cloonan.

The most creative part of campfire was when the counselors had to jump and scream, “Oh chief!” to enter the campfire circle and have permission from the chief for their campers to perform their song, skit, or cheer.

Additionally, each group of counselors and campers is separated into tribes throughout the week and the tribe that was most impressive was the Pocomoke tribe. They had memorized their cheer with choreography to “Ice Ice Baby,” but they created a parody to “Raccoons Baby” because raccoons are the symbol for their tribe.

“My favorite part was the campfires because you get to do skits, songs, and cheers,” said Macatee.

Moreover, a classic skit at camp is dumping buckets of water on the counselors. The Conoy tribe created an obstacle course and at the end, all the counselors were soaked by buckets of water, but it caused laughter throughout the camp circle.

Final campfire tied together all the unforgettable memories and relationships, but the foremost reason for campfire is to recognize the two out of the six tribes that won the spirit or golden feather, a goal that all tribes work towards the whole week.

“I was so happy I won the feather because it was a perfect way to end my last year as a counselor,” said counselor from Notre Dame Prep Elizabeth Galbreath.

The golden feather is given to the tribe who earned the most points at camp through dressing up at meals or being graded at campfire through songs and skits. The spirit feather is given to the tribe who may not always win points, but is positive in every way, sings loud, and works well together as a team.

   This year, the Susque tribe took home the golden feather and the Pocomoke tribe won the spirit feather.

           “Camp is so much fun and it’s sad to see everyone go,” said North Harford counselor Hannah Berrell, “I never want camp to end because of all the tight bonds we have.”

            As the fire died down, so did the laughs and giggles, with the arising fact that it was the ending to a perfect week. Tears shed and campers and counselors gave each other giant hugs goodbye for the year and left all memories behind. The appreciation for the camp will never be forgotten and the farewell was saddening to see, but it portrayed the true ‘love’ in ‘camp of the loving heart.’