Summer camp means a week of adventure, and Camp Ohio does not disappoint. Every year, hundreds of 4-H’ers travel to Licking County to test their courage on a high ropes course, make wood-burning crafts and tie-dye T-shirts, and form lifelong friendships.
While the 2020 summer camp schedule may be altered because of the coronavirus pandemic, there’s a new feature at Camp Ohio that has gained instant popularity and will be used well into the future.
In 2016, Camp Ohio’s board of directors began searching for a new activity. Board member and Muskingum County extension educator Jamie McConnell wanted to put something exciting near the center of the hilly 544-acre campground so more kids would see it and want to try it.
On a regional bus tour of other camps, McConnell discovered the Flying Squirrel, a rope and pulley system attached to two utility poles. The activity goes like this: A group of kids on one end of the rope works together to lift a securely harnessed camper on the other end of the rope off the ground and some 30 feet into the air. The flyer swings back and forth for a bit before spinning safely back to earth.
Ray Crock championed the Flying Squirrel to fellow cooperatives in counties that feed into Camp Ohio, raising enough money and donated items to add it to the 544-acre camp.
It seemed like a perfect activity for Camp Ohio, but the $10,000 price tag was far too steep for the nonprofit’s budget. Since the utility poles were the most expensive component, McConnell wondered if an electric cooperative would consider donating them to make the Flying Squirrel a reality for 4-H’ers.
McConnell ran the idea by Ray Crock, energy advisor at New Concord-based Guernsey-Muskingum Electric Cooperative, who was happy to help. An active 4-H’er growing up, Crock and his wife, Lisa, are longtime advisors for their children’s 4-H club, Flocks of Fun.
Crock also works with The Energy Cooperative, based in Newark, so he started his fundraising campaign there. The co-op not only gave Camp Ohio the two electric poles but also donated guywires and anchors and made sure everything was installed properly at the camp.
Seven more co-ops followed suit, including Consolidated Cooperative, based in Mount Gilead; New London-based Firelands Electric Cooperative; The Frontier Power Company, based in Coshocton; Guernsey-Muskingum Electric; Hancock-Wood Electric Cooperative, based in North Baltimore; Holmes-Wayne Electric Cooperative in Millersburg; and Kenton-based Mid-Ohio Energy Cooperative. They covered the costs of the remaining materials as well as safety training. McConnell attributes the success of the project to Crock’s advocacy, calling the experience “a teachable moment to watch.”
“This project wouldn’t have happened the way it did without the cooperatives. Their willingness to come together and chip in shows the power of each contribution to achieve a greater goal,” she says. “The widespread impact of their generosity will benefit people for years.”
Like electric co-ops, 4-H is strong in rural communities, so while Crock felt humbled by such generosity, he wasn’t surprised. “Most co-ops are big at supporting 4-H, and this was a good cause, so everyone was in,” he says. “This was cooperation among cooperatives at its best, and together, we made something special happen.”
The Flying Squirrel debuted at Camp Ohio in 2019, and it was a big hit with campers, according to Taylor Zemba, a 4-H camp counselor from New Concord.
“Every session we had was full, and we had kids lining up to come back and try again,” she says. “Some kids were skeptical about whether their friends could hold them up, but they tried it, and as soon as they came down, they were ready to go up again.”
Like many 4-H programs, the Flying Squirrel teaches skills the kids can use as adults, like working together to meet a challenge, communicating effectively, and overcoming anxiety to try something new.
For Crock, the lesson was simple: “When it comes to helping other people, think big.”
