On Monday, April 28, we met some of the Girl Scouts from the Gateway Council out at the North Fork Leadership Center for a dedication of a cabin in Patty's honor. It has been almost 4 years since her passing so it was nice to get together to celebrate her since she is not a topic any of us bring up in conversation often. It is still a little too fresh for everyone. I don't really know if it will ever not be fresh in our minds.
All the immediate John Stephen Keitzer's were there as well as Gma, Uncle Jimmy & Aunt Sheila as well as some of Patty's co-workers. It was a simple ceremony and then we all got a tour of the campus. Patty's cabin is in the part known as the fishing village. It is in a lovely area near a stream and we could hear peacocks crowing during the short ceremony.
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| Yes, she is one classy girl |
H & A were excellent during the ceremony because there was promise of doughnuts and a golf cart ride afterwards. After the ceremony we were able to walk around the cabin. These cabins are much nicer than what I remember from Camp Schewinwa (Sp?). This is a smaller camp with only 17 cabins right now but they have 550 acres so there is definitely room to build.
The cabins have sleeping for 8 with a fan, lights and electricity to charge cell phones, etc. It is definitely an updated cabin from most girl scout camps.
It was fun for us to think about A getting to spend the night there while she is a girl scout. They also let us know that some soccer camps and boyscouts' rent the camp out so there is a chance that H could spend the night in the cabin as well.
After socializing, we got our golf cart ride to view the camp. H was over the moon excited about this! He was the first one on the golf cart and even got off the cart to go bang on the bathroom door to hurry grandpa along. Not sure Grandpa enjoyed it but everyone else got a laugh at how excited he was.
The camp is beautiful with so many trees and wildlife; just like you imagine a girl scout camp would be.
On the tour we discovered there was even a brick dedicated to Patty by the swimming pool (which was a nice surprise for all of us). She retired a month and a half before she died.
The Girl Scouts were great and very welcoming with the ceremony and tour. I had several people come up and mention that we would be able to rent out the cabin if we wanted a little family vacation in Pattys cabin as well ask that we bring the kids back to swim in the pool and go to camp here. It was really nice for JJ & I to feel that they understood how important it was for us to spend time at the cabin and celebrate his mother at that cabin.
So, cabin #5 in the fishing village at North Fork camp is Patty's cabin.
Thank you to the Gateway Girl Scout council for making all this happen and loving Patty as much as we did.
