EdVenture Camp 3. Continues.

Hello Troops,
Day three of our EdVenture Camp for this week. Our campers slept soundly last night. We wore them out with a five hour mission and seven hours of workshops. We swam from 8:15 - 9:15 P.M. and topped off the day with a video. Several the campers were asleep on the floor when I turned on the lights at the end of the video at 11:15 P.M. It was funny to see them struggle to their sleeping quarters, dragging their sleeping bags behind them. Oh, there were several pillows dropped along the way.

I thought I include a few pictures of the campers in their class session.


I slept very well last night. I can squeeze a good 4 - 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep during camp nights. It’s not enough, I know that. By camp’s end I’m showing several bruises from stumbling into walls on the third day of camp. I’m pretty much a walking zombie by then. My staff knowingly take advantage of my sleepless stupor by asking me to approve large spending items. I do my best to ask the difficult questions but most of the time just hold my hand out. They hand me a pen and direct my hand to the appropriate line and, if necessary, help me sign my name :) A day or two later FedEx delivers a package and one of our simulators has a new piece of equipment.

I calculated the number of nights I’ve slept at the Space Center on camps since our opening nearly 19 years ago. It comes to slightly over 3 years!
Wow, when you look at it like that even I feel sorry for myself. Someone suggested I should write a check to the school district for rent. But you know, I wouldn’t have it any other way. It's been well worth it for what we’ve accomplished, staff and volunteers.

And now troops I’ll sign off until the next update. We’ve got another extended flight rotation starting at 11:15 A.M. At 1:00 we enjoy our disco pizza lunch. The Cafeteria is illuminated in psychedelic colors. Campers enjoy an all you can eat pizza lunch to the disco music of the past.


Mr. Williamson

EdVenture Camp 3. It Starts.

It's 10:13 P.M. The Center's five simulators are in deep space. I'm at my desk listening to music from the original Star Trek series. In fact, its the music to The Trouble with Tribbles. That was a fine episode.

I had a few emails from two of our Blog readers asking for more information on the new Galileo. I had a word with Kyle Herring, foreman of the Galileo project. He says the interior is nearing completion. Today he ordered the aluminum to cover the exterior. Covering the outside frame with aluminum is one of the final steps to completing the ship. His goal is to have the ship delivered within one month.

I'm hoping that bit of news satisfied the Galileo hunger out there. We are waiting with growing impatience for our new simulator.

We lost two more campers to the Swine Flu before the camp even started. One mother called this afternoon to cancel her son. Another mother came to the Center with her sick daughter in the car. We arranged a refund and sent them on their way.
(I just remembered she handed me her daughters camp paperwork for the refund. This paperwork sat out in the car with them on the trip here. That means a possibility of virus on the paper? There is no way I can afford to get the flu during summer camp season. I left my desk for a moment to scrub my hands. Let's hope for the best.)

We have a great group of campers for this EdVenture. Many of them are our good veterans. I enjoyed delivering my Start of Camp Monologue to this group. They laughed at my jokes and looked like they really wanted to do well in the simulators and in the class. I know, I know.... time will tell.

We are heavy on staff and volunteers on this camp. The simulator's Set Directors all asked for extra help to run their summer missions and I brought them in for this camp. My fear is the extra help will become more of a bother if they are busy for most of the camp. The Flight Directors assure me they will keep them busy and so I'll take them on their word.

It's 10:28 P.M. Several volunteers just rushed by my desk getting in costume. Apparently the Voyager is getting ready for an acting scene. I'm wearing my noise canceling headphones so I don't know what's happening with the story. Thank goodness for these headphones. They allow me to keep my sanity while I attempt to work around this controlled chaos.

This bright yellow ball of light appeared in the daytime sky over Pleasant Grove today. We had to remind each other that it was the sun. We haven't seen much of it over the last three weeks. They say it will be our ever present companion for the foreseeable future, sending temperatures into the 90's for the weekend. Summer is here.

I'll end this update with some good news. We will take the campers and staff swimming tomorrow night! This will be the first camp this season that will get to go swimming. All are happy.

Now I'll say good night. I've got to put the tables down in the cafeteria for the late night snack.

Mr. Williamson

On Last Week

This may be the last day of rain for awhile. Most are happy. I enjoyed living in Little Seattle for the last three weeks. They say a change is as good as a rest so I’m feeling pretty rested and ready for warmer temperatures. I think all of us will agree that this cool June will be fondly remember when the temperatures inch over 100 in the next few weeks.

We had a really good Overnight Camp on Thursday. I’m sure all of the staff and volunteers will agree with me when I say that our one night overnight camps are soooo easy when compared to the three day camps. During the school year the Overnighters are THE camp of the week which makes them seem longer. In the summer the three day EdVenture Camps become the long camp making the Overnight Camp seem like an extended private mission.

We want to congratulated Megan Warner and the Phoenix staff for winning the Director’s Trophy for the Overnight Camp. Megan told “Dark Origins” for the first time. “Dark Origins” was written by Dave Daymont. It is one of two new Phoenix missions for the summer season. The other mission is Currahee, written by Megan Warner.

The Center is busy every day this summer with camps and private missions. We also have a few university students using the Center as the setting for independent movies they’re shooting as school assignments. The film crews arrive after private missions end and stay through the night shooting. They are gone in the morning before I arrive to open the Center.

This coming week will be much the same as last. We start with our third EdVenture Camp. Swimming is back on the agenda for day two of camp! That was the longest stretch of no swimming in any camp since we opened eighteen years ago.

Well, not much else to write about today. One small item I’ll mention and then close. I got a letter from the mayor of Salt Lake County yesterday appointing me to the Board of Director’s of Clark Planetarium. I know, it’s one more thing to add to my plate. Its not too bad though, there is a Board Meeting once a month and that’s about it.

Let’s have a great week at camp and I wish all of our kind readers a great first week of summer.

Mr. Williamson