We all pick up some random underutilized skills during our lifetimes that sometime come in handy just in the right situation. For me those skills are dancing the Virginia Reel and building snowmen.
Snowmen building is no mystery as I grew up just outside Buffalo New York, home to many feet of the raw material needed for snowman and snow-fort building.
The Virginia Reel is a mystery as I can no longer remember where or when I learned it.
The two came together in one weekend at Camp Seely.
Camp Seely is in Crestline in San Bernardino County at the 4000′ level in the San Bernardino mountains. It is owned by the city of Los Angeles.
“The camp includes a lodge, kitchen, dining hall, restroom/showers, game room, playing field & 60 cabins (each sleeps 4-5 people). The camp can be reserved for groups of 125-270 or for individual families on a select few weeks during the year.”
The City sponsors a weekend campout for city-folk a few times a year. Nick, who was seven, and I signed up.
The cost was about $100 for the two of us. This included a cabin, food, recreation and entertainment. A little more than an hour’s drive, we looked forward to a fun weekend change of pace.
The weekend started off as planned. We arrived at Camp Seely and were assigned a cabin. Everyone met in the lodge for orientation, which included instructions on helping to serve meals and clean-up afterwards. It also covered the need for caution and care while hiking as there are wild animals in the area, and it is also possible to get lost if you aren’t paying attention.
Group activities got underway: hiking, sports, crafts. All was going well.
Then it started to snow. Heavily. It was early in the season, and while you would expect snow later in the year, this was unusual. There was soon an inch or two of snow on the baseball diamond. The outdoor activities stopped. Most were not dressed for this weather. We were all called into the lodge where there was hot chocolate, and there was a big crackling fire in the massive stone fireplace. The camp leaders were pros and quickly started organizing indoor activities to keep everyone engaged.
Virginia Reel
That’s where the Virginia Reel enters the story. Someone in charge declared, “We’re having a barn dance!” And asked, “Who knows the Virginia Reel?” I raised my hand and indicated Nick when asked who was my dance partner. About 40 of us lined up in two facing rows. Nick and I were at the head of the row opposite each other. The Camp Leader provided instructions as Nick and I slowly demonstrated the Virginia Reel. We went through a couple of iterations without music, then we were already for the real thing. The music started and the Reel was under way. It took some time to get through a full rotation with that many people and we had a few misalignments that further slowed things down. (Google “Virginia Reel” videos to understand the challenge.) Nick was a star and seemed to enjoy being front and center. I doubt many in the room had ever heard of or seen a Virginia Reel, much less danced in one. But all had fun.
Snowmen
Sunday morning after breakfast it was announced there would be a snowman building contest. Nick and I signed up as a two-man build team. The snow was perfect; heavy and adhesive. We began by rolling the first of three big balls of snow. Once it was about three feet in diameter, and too heavy to roll any further, we made ball number two for the snowman’s torso. We should have stopped sooner as it was too big to lift into place. Fortunately our craft had attracted an audience and we had volunteers who stepped in to help lift the torso, and a few minutes later, the head of the snowman into position. Pine cones and sticks made up eyes, nose, mouth, buttons and arms. We ended up with an decent-looking snowman that was close to six feet tall.
Looking around, no one else had built their snowman this way. The rest were small sculptures 2-3 feet high, made by scooping and shaping a pile of snow into a vaguely humanoid form. The one exception was an impressively rendered snow dog. Remember, this is Southern California and many of these kids were playing in snow for the first time in their lives.
Nick and I won a Camp Seely painted rock as our first-place prize in the snowman contest. We thanked our volunteers for the assist. Nick again enjoyed the attention. The weekend was a definite success.
