Juliette Gordon Low started the first Girl Scout camp in 1912 in Savannah, Ga., not long after founding Girl Scouts. By 1922, the organization had chartered camps nationwide.

Low knew the incredible experience of opening up the great outdoors to Girl Scouts. And she knew that playful learning at camp would be an important role for the rest of a girl’s life.

Indeed. Things haven't changed much today. Girls still love the thrill of a first canoe trip, adventure hike and horseback ride. And a girl's confidence still soars today with every new thing she tries at Girl Scout camp.

At Camp Tanasi, located on nearly 500 acres along East Tennessee's Norris Lake, girls have gone back year after year, summer, winter and fall for more than 50 years. It's swimming, kayaking, hiking, songs. And this year a whole array of new choices are on the menu for girls in our 16-counties who love to come to camp.

For Bobby Lou Akin-Skull, a Girl Scout alumni, finding arrowheads along the shoreline was just the thing for a teen at Girl Scout camp in the 1960s.

For Sarah Joy Stombaugh, 16, it's being a big sister and counselor to new Girl Scout campers. She's passing along some tribal fun and enjoying the whole summer herself as a leader.Raven Pursley, Camp Tanasi manager, says this time of exploring outdoor living in a girl's life is for “dabbling.” 

“I want our girls to learn a little about a lot of new things,” says Pursley. “New campers in particular are not expected to know very much about the programs in which they participate. We pique campers’ interests, show them a few of the possibilities and challenge them to continue to learn more once they leave Camp Tanasi.”

Camp Tanasi has always offered strong core programs of sports, aquatics and equine.  This summer add to that four new opportunities in creative arts and outdoor adventure that promote a well-balanced mix and appeal to an even broader girl audience. 

“Happy Feet,”  “Get Fired Up,” “Outdoor Journalist” and “Shutterbug” are the camp’s newest offerings in, dance, pottery, writing and photography. “Girls want these extra programs, and we are very excited to design them for 2008,” says Pursley. 

What girls get in return is much more than sharing a tent in the woods. Stewardship, sisterhood and formal lessons through informal play are powerful Girl Scouting – all in the watercolor backdrop of a natural setting. 

“The life skills that girls learn at camp are mentioned by name in the Girl Scout Law – honesty, fairness, friendliness, consideration, care, strength, courage, responsibility, respect, resourcefulness and sisterhood with every Girl Scout,” says Pursley.  Amazing stuff that powers up every girl and prepares her to fulfill the Girl Scout Promise. 

Pursley says that with the new programs Camp Tanasi will continue to offer every summer, comes the same life-changing experience for a girl.  “The old traditions and new changes mesh and make every summer a uniquely different experience for our girls,” she notes. 

“It is a new opportunity to learn some age old lessons.”

Story by Mary Leidig.  For more about camp and Tanasi Council, click below to read the Spring/Summer 2008 Growing Strong magazine.