Girl Scouts participate in camping adventure

Area girls recently participates in a two-day, one-night camping trip aimed at introducing them to different outdoor skills.

Protection District Supervisor Jerry Elliott held the Missouri Department of Conservation’s first-ever Missouri Girls Exploring Nature Jr. Camp for 36 girls. Events included water and safety rescue, basic orienteering, steam team clean up, firearms safety, wildlife identification, poisonous plant identification, tent building, fishing, rifle shooting, archery, Dutch oven cooking and fish identification. 

The campers, under the direction of conservation agents, floated the Big Piney River and camped in tents alongside the river. The free camp was paid for by a grant from the Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation, private donors and the Missouri Conservation Agents Association. 

Chaperones assisted agents on the trip. They included Krista Elliott, Mandy Adey, Amy Dill, Ashley Morris, Tabitha Van Horn, Tara Akins, Heather Sponsler, Tina Henry, Melinda Keist, Ann Pondrom and April Crites.