Celebrating Girl Scouts of North East Ohio’s Community Day Camps
March 04, 2024
Every summer, Girl Scouts of North East Ohio (GSNEO) works hard to create a wonderful summer camp experience for Girl Scouts. While we have an amazing camp staff that helps provide an awesome experience, we also have experienced and dedicated Girl Scout volunteers who lead our Community Day Camps every year at various locations around Northeast Ohio. These Community Day Camps are community-based outdoor experiences that provide a unique themed experience for campers. Some of these camps have been a part of the GSNEO camp experience for years!
Highland Day Camp
The Highland Community Day Camp celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2023! Highland Day Camp originated as a Silver Award project in 1999 by a troop in Hinckley, OH. The troop saw a need for programming for older Girl Scouts in the area, so they decided to create a day camp for their Silver Award under the guidance of Beth Herman. To celebrate 25 years, they expanded to two separate weeks of five days at Hinkley Reservation. This camp was the brainchild of Girl Scouts 25 years ago and is still girl-driven, primarily planned and executed by girls, for girls.
A history of Camp Directors: Beth Herman-1999-2013 (14 years), Jenny Austin-2014 to 2019 (six years), Tammie Whitacker and Missy Schreiner-2020 and 2021, Missy Schreiner and Katie Gibson -2022, and in 2023, Katie Gibson took over with Jenny Austin.
Woodhaven Day Camp
Diana Gifford is the current Camp Director of Jurassic Escape Camp, where the theme each year is centered on Girl Scouts’ interests. In 2022, they voted on Jurassic Escape, so that was the theme for 2023! The week was all about dinosaurs and survival at Camp Timberlane where they made dinosaur bath bombs, fossil necklaces, dinosaur eye magnets, and tie-dyed shirts. Many of these camps become family affairs with campers becoming Program Aides and moving on to adult positions after they graduate. Diana’s family is one such case. Diana’s daughter attended this camp as a Program Aide for one year and moved on to being a Camp Timberlane camp counselor in 2023 and Diana’s mom acted as the camp nurse for the past two years. She has been the director for this camp for 10 years and was a former Girl Scout who attended Camp Timberlane with her mom who was her troop leader. Years later she acted as troop leader for her own daughter, and they’ve stayed in every cabin at Timberlane! It’s truly a family affair! Next year's theme is “Camp Like a Girl” and we are looking forward to what they have in store for our Girl Scouts!
Twilight Camp
This camp is typically held at Wadsworth Memorial Park and has been running for over 20 years! This is a STEM-based Girl Scout camp where girls take on leadership roles in engineering and the fine arts during the week. Since these camps are run by volunteers, they change slightly with every volunteer who runs them. When Rebecca Benya became camp director, she changed it from a day camp to an evening camp due to her full-time work schedule and it continues to be an evening day camp today. Rebecca ran it for 20 years and made it a family affair with her three daughters, starting out as campers then Program Aides, and finally Sports Station leaders. The camp has multiple stations each day including Crafts, Sports, Cooking, Songs, Performances, and a special themed event every night. Each station is a unique learning experience for the Girl Scouts. One memorable moment from Rebecca was when Astronaut Mike Foreman (originally from Wadsworth) came out and talked to the girls about his adventure in space. He brought a video of his time on the space station, told them about his adventures, answered questions, and posed for pictures with each group.
Other Community Camps include: Wildwood Park Day Camp, Sugarbush Adventures, Girl Scout Olympics, Camp Throwback, and River Valley Day Camp. So many volunteers have contributed to the success of these diverse and amazing camps over the years! We appreciate them and look forward to what they have in store for the 2024 camp season! Check out our 2024 Camp Guide to see our Community Camps for this year. Community Day Camp registration is now open!
