(06/23/21) BATON ROUGE, La. — For decades, the highlight of many Louisiana 4-H participants’ summer has been their trip to the LSU AgCenter’s Camp Grant Walker, where they spend a fun-filled week learning new skills and making new friends.
The campgrounds in Pollock are empty this summer, though, as several buildings that were damaged during hurricanes in 2020 await repairs.
Camp staffers didn’t want 4-H’ers to completely miss out on this beloved summer tradition. So one-day sessions of arts and crafts, games and educational activities are being held this month and next in several parishes around the state.
“The 2021 Louisiana 4-H Traveling Road Show Day Camp program seeks to offer a condensed day camp version of the traditional 4-H summer camp experience for our state’s youth in the fourth to sixth grades,” said Adam O’Malley, 4-H program coordinator. “Camp staff teams from Camp Grant Walker have been traveling around the state offering fun, educational programming on a variety of topics including healthy living, STEM, environmental science and outdoor skills. Participating youth also had the opportunity to engage in various recreational activities including line dancing, relay races, throwing foam hatchets and other socially distanced sports and games.”
While a single-day event isn’t quite the same as the usual weeklong Camp Grant Walker experience, 4-H agents say it is still important to make sure youth have the opportunity to participate in some version of camp.
“Although we could not go to Camp Grant Walker, Camp Grant Walker came to us, which gave our 4-H’ers the chance to socialize, make new friends and learn new skills,” said Donna Naquin, 4-H agent in Lafourche Parish, which recently hosted its Traveling Road Show camp session.
Margo Castro, 4-H agent in Assumption Parish, added that providing a chance to enjoy some normalcy is important too. 4-H camp — like many other activities — was held virtually last summer due to coronavirus restrictions.
“The kids so enjoyed just seeing each other and having fun,” Castro said. “Our kids have missed out so much on just socialization.”
Donations to aid the rebuilding effort at Camp Grant Walker can be made through the LSU Foundation website at https://bit.ly/3fhwMtj.
4-H’ers enjoy some outdoor recreation time during a recent Louisiana 4-H Traveling Road Show Day Camp session. Photo by Adam O’Malley/LSU AgCenter
4-H’ers participate in an activity during a recent Louisiana 4-H Traveling Road Show Day Camp session. Photo by Adam O’Malley/LSU AgCenter
The LSU AgCenter and the LSU College of Agriculture