tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post2258429524560243049..comments2023-11-30T01:18:28.734-08:00Comments on Judy's Postcards Plus: Bluebirds Camp Fire Girls, Camp Yallani San Bernardino Mountains Californiapapel1http://www.blogger.com/profile/17857244375483965314noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-73202786239169796142022-07-09T08:58:16.516-07:002022-07-09T08:58:16.516-07:00I went to Camp Yallani every year I could. I had t...I went to Camp Yallani every year I could. I had to sell candy and use camp bucks to go. I came from a large working class family and it was my yearly respite from the chaos. I loved camp! I returned to be a counselor in my college years. 1973 I think. I remember our rest time after lunch laying on a cot under the trees in the warmth of the sun. I remember some of my counselors. Ms. Hoot was the horse back riding instructor. And someone I was fond of was Ms. Darcy. I still have my Yallani sweatshirt! I was a counselor for the teen age girls. I also remember going on overnights outside of the camp. They gave us one egg, one slice of bacon and one patato per girl for our breakfast. Lucky I knew how to cook and made a scramble seem like more!I still have 3 pictures from my camp days I cherish! Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06827582726470889509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-65702802681968449772022-01-26T10:29:01.129-08:002022-01-26T10:29:01.129-08:00Boy, the good ole days for sure,
,I was a counselo...Boy, the good ole days for sure,<br />,I was a counselor from 1963-65. My nic name was Boobe. Wish we all could go back for one more summer!<br />Yallani rocked.<br />PaulaAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07160417402517980742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-19023019611992150712022-01-14T18:20:45.672-08:002022-01-14T18:20:45.672-08:00Wow!-JUST Found this Blog ( Jan. 14, 2022). I was ...Wow!-JUST Found this Blog ( Jan. 14, 2022). I was a Camp Fire Girl from Sept. 1963 (age 7 & 3/4) until 1973 (age 17). 10 YEARS of BLISS!!! I went to CAMP YALLANI for 4 summers, 1-2 weeks each--from 1966 to 1969 (age 10, to age 13). I found this site--read the postings & began to sob, out of joy & that this proves my memories were not fanciful or exaggerated! I just turned 66. I belonged to groups in Torrance, Calif. (just inland from Redondo Beach). My personal memories are of the huge Main wood lodge where the mess hall was that we had all our meals at. I recall a couple of silly days the Staff had food-colored our meals - such as one morn it was all Purple!--purple French Toast, purple grape juice, etc. And I think another time was Green, like green scrambled eggs, green orange juice, green toast, etc. Does anyone remember that? Also I adored swimming in that massive swimming pool(I think it was a huge Above Ground pool? Does anyone remember?). And yes, making small round pins of sawed 1/4 inch thick slices from a manzanita branch. Then written-on (a symbol, your name, whatever) w/ black ink, then glazed-over w/ a clear thick finish (acrylic, resin, liquid lucite?? Can't remember what it was called!). We put a metal pin on back, & Voila you had a wood sweater pin! And definitely Canoeing on Jenks Lake! I loved horseback riding too! Plus our wood cabins---w/ enclosed sides, & open front door space. With cots within, to sleep upon. Now I met some wonderful gals there--and from age 10, we all kept in-touch w/ each other by letters. Does anyone know the whereabouts of BARBARA FREEMAN, DIANA LUDWIG (Woodland Hills, CA), JOELLA (of Los Angeles). Cute story of Joella. All us girls (age 10, then) were sitting on a downed huge pine tree that'd fallen across the Santa Ana River at an angle. We dangled our feet over the water, and visited, each introducing ourselves to the others. Ever girl had told their full names, but then it came to Joella. We asked "But what's your last name?". Now mind you, Joella was 1 of the only African-American girls there, and whose skin was a lovely extreme-ly dark jet-black ...so Joella in her answer to us, gets this rather sly look in her eyes & w/ a big Grin on her face (drawing-out the 1 syllable name),says...."WHITE"!! Everyone nearly fell-off the log laughing--she was so cute! I knew her all along our Camp Fire years & ended-up attending her wedding (to a great JAPANESE guy!) when I was 22!! (Joella became Joella KUBODA). So there are some of my Camp Yallani memories. Would love contact w/ any former Camp Fire Girls in my age range, still in L.A. general region. My email is JazzFusion.Gal@Gmail.com. It would be fun to yak, exchange old CFG photos or just chat about whatever! Take Care, Diane (Spencer) :)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01362417316984182028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-10602470665648492782021-11-12T14:02:21.186-08:002021-11-12T14:02:21.186-08:00Kerry Rose from the SF Valley --
We did have a gi...Kerry Rose from the SF Valley -- <br />We did have a girl in our group named Gay - for a while - don't remember her last name. Kerryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16956087340999838701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-74594487647741455342021-11-12T14:00:24.844-08:002021-11-12T14:00:24.844-08:00Thanks, Kerry.
I should add that my name back the...Thanks, Kerry. <br />I should add that my name back then was Gay Miller from LAGalia Sprunghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06335073083694181819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-15509368667499688242021-11-12T13:42:22.726-08:002021-11-12T13:42:22.726-08:00Thanks those are great - Love when anyone shares p...Thanks those are great - Love when anyone shares pictures!<br />I went From 63-68 I should post the pictures too!<br />Kerry Rose Kerryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16956087340999838701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-18679550858728080162021-11-12T13:38:11.768-08:002021-11-12T13:38:11.768-08:00We've been going through boxes in the attic an...We've been going through boxes in the attic and I found my Camp Fire Girl binder and some great pictures. I put them in Google Drive and am providing a link since I don't see how to upload here. I was there at from 1958-61 and have the 8x10 camp pictures for those years. August session. I had great summers there. <br />I hope the link works. <br />https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16breJoY8I7lrwcDrXfPJD3qObYFpDJfy?usp=sharingGalia Sprunghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06335073083694181819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-36586575131927872132021-06-13T17:47:28.418-07:002021-06-13T17:47:28.418-07:00OOPS!!! Not Ayala....”YALLANI”!!!OOPS!!! Not Ayala....”YALLANI”!!!Mamamusombwahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03776508792301369192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-85876595253138454192021-06-13T17:45:52.703-07:002021-06-13T17:45:52.703-07:00Just got home from taking my daughter to camp. Wa...Just got home from taking my daughter to camp. Wasn’t able to get cell service in order to look up location of Camp Ayala I but I know I was close!!! Drive back to San Fernando Valley singing camp songs!!!<br /> Does anyone have the lyrics to our Camp Song? Attended 1965 thru 70... forgot a word here, a word there!!!<br /> 🎵Do you know where pine trees are growing?<br /> On the hills by riverbanks flowing...🎵🥰<br /><br /> WOHELO!!!!Mamamusombwahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03776508792301369192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-6646832257522622372021-03-29T10:18:32.897-07:002021-03-29T10:18:32.897-07:00Stumbled on this page and took a trip down memory ...Stumbled on this page and took a trip down memory lane. I chuckled when I spotted WO-HE-LO. I went to Camp Yallani in the 50's and 60's. I so wanted to be a CIT, but the program was stopped the year I became eligible. It's sad that it is gone -- at least the way it was when I went there -- but time stands still for no one. Thanks for posting. Debbie Lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12925064720817288009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-8084417502452215182019-10-27T17:32:34.783-07:002019-10-27T17:32:34.783-07:00I too have great memories of Camp Yallani. I was ...I too have great memories of Camp Yallani. I was a life guard and swim instructor during the 1965 summer camp. I still have the handmade wooden pin painted by one of hte campers with flowers and "Miss Karen." I remember the other swimming life guard named Leila. Too bad it isn't there anymore! Those were fun times. <br />Karen Olson W.KarenOWadlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10988509334998563440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-52598942789092672062019-09-30T13:08:45.765-07:002019-09-30T13:08:45.765-07:00HI all, I had the chance to grow up living Yallani...HI all, I had the chance to grow up living Yallani. What is Living Yallani you ask. Well my grandmother was Tee Pee (as in wig-wam not toilet paper) who was Yallani's camp director from some time early 1940's to some time in the early 1950's. To boot, my mother was a camper in the 40's and a camp councilor under TeePee. My dad, Tee Pee's oldest son (now 93) met my mom through my grandmother. Match made in yallani, or some call it heaven, now at 69 years of marriage and counting. <br />My sister and I were both camp fire girls but never had the chance to be campers at Yallani. Growing up I heard about the fun skits performed around the camp fire and stories of tadger (sp?) who was a mischievous animal who in one story the ranger who ranged the ranges in that region had to take tucks in tajers paws so he couldn't dance in the moonlight and be seen twice by campers and then cause them to forget to forget what he looked like. In another story, Tadgor tor his tail swinging "death defying life leaps" with his tail because he didn't head the rangers warnings about nails in the trees around camp. Every summer we took long driving trips in the car which were musical trips down memory lane when Yallani camp songs would be sung and harmonized. I heard stories of how TeePee would find the right parent for the right job to help around camp like fixing up the two fords across the stream coming into camp so the cars could make it through to camp. I too know the Cookie, Cookie song that appreciated the cook. <br />We have an old photo album of quite a few years of campers and councilors, swimming pageants, sunning on the pool deck <br /> activities around camp and there is a photo of Tee Pee leading a group of girls out of the San Gabriel mountains i think when they were snowed in which i think made the news papers. I was told of a group of exceptionally creative and talented camp councilors who made the totem pole for my grandmother. I believe it was still standing into the 1990's but not sure if it is still standing. I visited Yallani one time as an adult for a short stop passing by for a moment, but have so many memories painted on my heart that are similar to all the ones I read here in this blog. To see mention of my grandmother (TP) from Jan Hart's comments as a visiting camper from Camp Wasewagan. brought up some tears for me. Thanks to all who have shared their memories and sparked mine.<br /><br />When asked what he remembers of Yallani my Dad said: "gosh! it had a great many songs and poems that went around it. He remembers Driving the milk truck up from Redlands and bringing the fire wood. And took kids in the truck to go down to the lake (jenks lake?)to swim. And of course meeting mom.<br />Mom and her younger sister have common memories to all of you. What I find exceptional is the consistency of tradition and shared history that extends from the early 1940's through as late as 1983?. It demonstrates the importance for children to have positive out door experiences in developing a healthy successful human being.<br />Thank you again for sharing your love filled memories.<br />SallyBAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13574068190815843101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-8917886884017802822018-08-02T22:12:44.089-07:002018-08-02T22:12:44.089-07:00Thanks for you memories of Yallani. I went there s...Thanks for you memories of Yallani. I went there several years as a counselor, nature specialist and other assorted jobs.<br />I had forgotten about the store and the white bread. I so clearly remember the square tables where staff sat as a head and a foot. I remember standing on benches in front of the huge fire place to lead songs and make announcements. I forgot that the bathrooms were called planets. I don't remember the flash floods or white bread. Trying to remember the names of the villages: Magic Village, Eluyate, Tokapa. But there was one more I think. I still have my wooden beads that staff was given at the end of the summer. Oh, I remember the staff serenades at the end of each session. Great times.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16443699457984575965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-7079121387314793302018-07-27T16:55:56.961-07:002018-07-27T16:55:56.961-07:00Found this blog trying to locate Yallani (which I ...Found this blog trying to locate Yallani (which I always thought had just one l) relative to the Cranston fire. I was there for one week in 1957 and two weeks in 1958. I remember queuing at the little cabin that served as a store and paying [for candy?] with checks written from the mimeographed "checkbook" we each got for our camp spending money. There was white bread at every meal. I have a vivid visual memory of the dining hall and the kitchen where we ran the dishes through the first industrial dishwasher I ever saw (and the last I ever had to work). One year there were flash-floods and we weren't allowed to leave the cabin even to go to the planet (which, for reasons unclear, is what the shed with the bathrooms and shower stalls was called.) I remember overhearing the counselors in the shower discussing the merits of competing shampoos: "I use Breck for beautiful hair;" I forget the argument in favor of Prell. <br />My mother was our Bluebird/Camp Fire Girls Leader, and I found her pin (as well as a number of pins that would have been given to the girls on flying up) among her things when she died more than fifty years later.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02329171913961730231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-89129085820546742042018-07-22T15:40:16.741-07:002018-07-22T15:40:16.741-07:00I have some scanned CAMP session Pictures 1963-68 ...I have some scanned CAMP session Pictures 1963-68 that I can post if someone tells me how.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06629473798975730803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-76522152481665997642018-07-22T10:32:18.320-07:002018-07-22T10:32:18.320-07:00I went to Camp Yallani in 1963, I was 10 years old...I went to Camp Yallani in 1963, I was 10 years old. I lived off of Firestone Blvd. and Hooper South Los Angeles. I went away to camp with one other girl, her name is Debra, her mother was our troop leader. Debra if you are out there, I would love to hear from you. I had the best time at Camp Yallani. I still remember all of the songs and I've taught all of the songs to my granddaughter. I would love to see pictures of our group from 1963; we were the only two African American girls in our camp. It was the best experience. I am so sorry the camp has closed. Please post pictures online of girls at Camp Yallani. Yallani Camper 1963https://www.blogger.com/profile/16382352392886809012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-65736983792961971792018-02-23T21:06:19.224-08:002018-02-23T21:06:19.224-08:00This was wonderful to read. I stumbled on the blog...This was wonderful to read. I stumbled on the blog when feeling nostalgic about the wonderful summers-honestly, the best of my life- at camp. I went to a Y camp as a kid but went to work at Yallani at 18. 1963. I was counselor of the cabin Cottonwod in Eluyate for a couple of years. Then I became nature specialist one year and outdoor specialist the next. So many great memories: seranading campers on the last night, council fire the last night of each session, creek walks, terror of June bugs, carrying mattresses inside during afternoon thunder storms, walking kids up to the stable for horse back riding, driving the old yellow Jeep across the creek, making manzanita pins, leading songs in the dining hall after every meal. I could go on endlessly. As someone wrote, I cried every year after I came home. Someone made us a painted wooden bead each year with painted symbols. I still have that. So sad to me that kids are not having this experience. Wohelo.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16443699457984575965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-36259666819614093502017-07-16T11:34:51.884-07:002017-07-16T11:34:51.884-07:00I also found a list of camp songs a few pictures o...I also found a list of camp songs a few pictures of the tents -- that I scannned but I don't see anyway to add that to the blog<br />Kerry Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13078600005777800518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-83180175966533708122017-07-16T11:33:40.138-07:002017-07-16T11:33:40.138-07:00I have several camp Yallani Session group photos f...I have several camp Yallani Session group photos from years 1963-1968 I would love to post if I can on this site.Kerry Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13078600005777800518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-16718555013127319392017-07-14T15:31:49.186-07:002017-07-14T15:31:49.186-07:00I found it, the names of the villages. I have my ...I found it, the names of the villages. I have my sister's Counselor manual. Magic Forest (the little Bluebirds) & Eluyate & Odekanya and Tokapa. Now I have recorded it for posterity. I was in all of them over my time there. FUN times.Cindy J Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00432604610406595038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-64529101034781282242017-07-10T17:09:15.836-07:002017-07-10T17:09:15.836-07:00How fun to read these posts and reminisce. I love...How fun to read these posts and reminisce. I loved Camp Yallani. Went there several summers with our whole troup. Somewhere around 1962-1965. The stars, horseback riding, archery, arts and crafts, bringing mattresses into the cabin before the rain- then back out when it didnt rain- then back in, Conducting flag ceremony, buying candy at the camp store, and most of all the singing. "Cookies, cookies, listen while we sing to you; cookies, cookies, you're a part of Camp Fire too; anyone can make a cake, anyone can sweep, but it takes our cookies to make us things too eat...... Remember when the milk carton was empty we would lay it on its side and say "dead cow"? There is a great family camp called Montecito Sequoia (California) where we took our children during the summer. Experienced camp life all over again-horseback riding, canoeing, and campfires. Cant wait to take the grandkids there! Packing my ceremonial gown now as we are moving. Thanks for sharing all of the memories!!Deekertuneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10276939494925730142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-58658613734084746732017-07-08T15:05:42.205-07:002017-07-08T15:05:42.205-07:00Hi Galia Sprung .. the memories were terrific. So...Hi Galia Sprung .. the memories were terrific. Somebody said, I remember leaving for camp on a bus .. yes the bus was in the parking lot of I. Magnin on Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles. The bus ride was even fun! The hike to Greyback was always on the change-over day for the weekly campers, only the two week girls got to do it. Everybody else got to do a one-night at Slushy Meadows. That was SOME place. But it has changed. Got ruined and the Sierra Club stepped in (1990's?) to try to preserve it. I wish I could remember the names of the four villages. It was based on our ages. It was COLD there at night. Freezing .. until 1971 when I went back, and then you didn't need a coat .. cuz the smog in San Bernardino county below rose up the mountain and killed a million trees and pushed the heat into the area. Things change .. I have pictures. I have Session 5, Summer 1963 (for me, 3rd grade) which would have been my first time there, and I have Session 4, Summer 1965 (for me, 5th grade.) But it is really hard to see anybody in these group pictures. I found this blog by accident but it has been fun reading it. Any more memories? Anybody? For me, I always got excited when the buses entered the camp and driving over the Santa Ana River to enter. That was the beginning of the fun times! Loved that little river. Just remembered .. we used to 'pan for gold' .. anybody remember that? Anybody ever find any gold??!!<br />Cindy J Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00432604610406595038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-43478310678490765912017-07-08T00:14:31.613-07:002017-07-08T00:14:31.613-07:00Hi Cindy J. Lewis
Same memories except the 3-day p...Hi Cindy J. Lewis<br />Same memories except the 3-day pack packing. We only had one overnight. But this was elementary school age. Too bad. I would have loved that. Poopout hill is the name I remember. I guess that was Greyback. Now I'm 68 and have been going on 2-day backpacking hikes with a hiking group for several years. My last time at Yallani was the summer of 1960. I was 11. We moved to Palm Springs from LA and my new friends weren't involved so that was the end of that. Galia Sprunghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06335073083694181819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-3831496776700098862017-07-08T00:06:38.708-07:002017-07-08T00:06:38.708-07:00HI Barbara Smith. I just looked at the picture fro...HI Barbara Smith. I just looked at the picture from 1958 that you posted. I'm sure I was there that year but probably a different session. I couldn't find myself or the friend I always went with. I don't know why I don't have any picures from camp. Thanks for posting. Do you have any others? I'll look. I think I remember seeing an old album a long time ago. Probably in the attic somewhere...<br />Galia Sprung (Gay Miller in camp days)Galia Sprunghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06335073083694181819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761713741752075509.post-35343470868228571302017-07-07T22:50:13.574-07:002017-07-07T22:50:13.574-07:00I went to Camp Yallani from 1964 - 1969 (2-week se...I went to Camp Yallani from 1964 - 1969 (2-week sessions) and then again in 1971 when my sister Aleta Lewis was a counselor and sisters could go for half price on one day's notice if somebody cancelled last minute. I LOVED Yallani! What was not to love. The Santa Ana River flowed right through the top of camp. The nettles .. floating down the little river .. the ice cold swimming pool (no joke) the bottle of 'red' stuff they would pour into the pool to threaten us not to pee in the pool (Aleta told me they used red fruit punch for that) the endless campfires and the S'Mores, the singing, always singing! The hikes to Slushy Meadows, Jenks Lake, stepping on the One Zillion frogs at Dry Lake, the 3-4 day backpacking trips during change-over to climb Greyback -- probably my best physical achievement in my life .. that was a miserable hike but I did it! -- and just fun fun fun. Sleeping outside on the cots and running for our lives when it rained and we had less than 10 seconds to drag our mattresses into the cabin and we still got wet! and the family style meals and all the singing and even doing the dishes & the water fights, was so much fun! This truly was a great camp and I loved it being All Girls - No Boys - because Camp Fire Girls is no more. Now it is a co-ed Camp Fire program. Oh well .. somebody on another site mentioned the bark on the trees that smelled like vanilla and it brought back memories. And somebody else asked, were you there during the Great Pink Eye outbreak and spent a week in the infirmary? I didn't have Pink Eye but there was a great outbreak one week when I was there and I suspect there were a number of Pink Eye outbreaks being that we lived the way we did. I will always remember Yallani. I'm 63 now. Still sing WoHeLo and Above the Rapids Of Santa Ana. I even have my mother's CFG handbook, printed in 1926, she was a CFG in Seattle in her day. And lastly .. while not a Yallani specific .. but who remembers selling the mints??!! They were the BEST!! Sincerely, Cindy J LewisCindy J Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00432604610406595038noreply@blogger.com