Kids and Ham Radio
Kids at Camp Magruder, a United Methodist Camp on the Oregon Coast, were fascinated not only by the creatures of the tide pools, but also by AMATEUR RADIO.  Back in 1991 my pastor came to me and declared that he thought I'd enjoy being a camp counselor of 5th and 6th graders at our church camp on the beautiful Oregon Coast. He got back a mild protest, but I knew that sometimes the things most worth doing do not strike us as the most fun. After thinking and praying about it for a couple of weeks, I guess I made some kind of agreeable response to him. The following August, I found myself in a cabin with 5 energetic, fun-loving boys. Four of those boys were very cooperative even though their counselor was a "soft touch." The fifth boy was a clown for his peers and a terror for his counselor. At mid-week I felt this terrible urge to get into my car and leave. ...I didn't. At the end of the week I was exhausted and discouraged. 
 Here they are, with one missing. I think he was out doing archery. In the early evening after dinner, the campers were offered elective activities. This time, one of the choices was Amateur Radio which I directed. We hung an inverted vee in an alder tree. I brought along my SB-200 amplifier to compensate a little for the simple antenna and we operated the Icom 730 transceiver on 20 meters. Each evening three small groups were cycled through, one each hour. So, unfortunately, it wasn't very intensive for most of the kids. However, several kids chose "Ham Radio" more than once during the week. For each group, I gave a short description of ham radio and then proceeded to make contacts. Most hams contacted were eager to talk to the kids and most of the kids had a chance to chat on the air. They loved it! In 1993 I did it again. The ham radio activity was the elective that most kids wanted to try. But with our limited capacity, few were able to cycle through the sessions more than once. After these elective activities each night, all campers gathered at the fire circle. We sang songs, heard a story or two and took in some basic Christian teaching. We also shared experiences. Most evenings we gave a very brief report on the interesting people we met through ham radio. Working with kids is tough... unless you are offering them ham radio. Then it's pure pleasure. Actually kids are always great. Grown ups just don't always understand.... or they get tired.
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CAMP MAGRUDER, TILLAMOOK COUNTY OREGON