Well, another successful event and not without the much sacrifices from all of our volunteers who put in so much. Exhausting, but we would do it all over again in a heart beat. The attendance for this annual camping event for this year more than doubled last year. Better yet, this year, we had 25 Romainian and African American community youths join in the fun. And from the looks of the pictures, I'd say they enjoyed themselves.

DAY ONE:

Thursday, CACO Staffs arrived at the facility, setup camp and prepared for early arrivals of the anticipated campers. Not too many campers yet, but staffs had the opportunity to enjoy the beach front property, and the many hiking trails at Camp Meriwether.

DAY TWO:

Friday, Ronnie Yimsut and volunteers registered campers and directed them to camping areas. Parking became an issue later in the evenng as more and more campers arrived. For the concern of camper's safety in case of a forest fire, the Boy Scouts council enforced strict parking guidelines. Thank you Boy Scouts Council members for making sure that our campers are all safe. Friday was mainly a day to settle in and become aquainted with the rest of the campers and all of our volunteers. Jermy and Jermy from the Boy Scouts of America, entertained the children and youths with a lesson in Archery. We had 1 bulls eye from a 4 year old boy. It was the funniest, cutest, and amazing thing I had witnessed. You should see this kid's face light up. Why was it funny? Well, his arrow hit the bulls eye of the kid shooting next to him. Wish I had it on video.

Music and Karaoke was generously provided by Sambo who sacrificed so much to bring the heavy equipment in for all of us to enjoy. Camping without music and dancing is not a typical Cambodian community camping. Music is the universal language that every culture understands. It is a language that brings people together regardless of our age, sex or where you come from. It is uniting and everyone loves it. Thank you bong Sambo!

DAY THREE:

Starts with an a very early morning hike through the many scenic routes of Camp Meriwether, and ends along the beautiful beach front of the Oregon Coast. Cape Lookout is in view and breathtakingly beautiful. Yep, those who did not wake up early enough sure missed out. =)

At 9:30AM, many kids and adults enjoyed taking turn canoeing out on the lake. Some played Animal Olympics and touch football, while others' just enjoyed the majesty of the lake.

Noon was a potluck style lunch prepared by our amazing volunteer chefs who sweated the many hours in the kitchen. Without the food, I know I would be cranky, hungry, and no fun to be around. And so, THANK YOU to our volunteer chefs for the wonderful meals prepared.

At 2:00PM, many children, youths, and adults enjoyed activities on the beach. There was sand dodge ball, of which the Romanian, African American, and Cambodian youths enjoyed a friendly game of sand dodge ball. In addition to the dodge ball, animal olympics, camel race, and simply enjoying the being out in the hot summer sun.

At 6:30PM, a potluck style dinner that brought in everyone. Thank you to our campers who shared a piece of their famous dishes with everyone else. This is what friendship, kindness, and community unity is all about.

At 8:00PM, it started with a briefing from CACO Chairman, Chanly Bob, President, Kilong Ung, Community Center Project Vice-chair Ronnie Yimsut, and Education Director, Mony Mao. This was followed by Melanie Lim, CACO VP and Dance Instructor showcasing her youth dancers with the "Konseng Snah"(scarf of love) dance, and the a traditional "Rohrm Vong" (circle dance).

At 9:00PM, the dancing began. Thanks again to bong Sambo for the great music. The music was so good that those who could not dance and even those who were too shy was out on the dance floor having fun.

FINAL DAY: Sunday - Packup, Cleanup & Go Home

The last and final day, began with a very early wake up call. Campers were not excited to go home because the fun was too short. The morning started with the Volunteer Cleanup Crew performing tasks such as:

- Clean the men and woman bathrooms, which included mirrors, toilets, urinals, sinks, and mopping the floor. FUN for the Volunteers

- Kitchen, which includes pots and pans, ovens, sinks, freezer, counter tops, garbage, and mopping the LARGE kitchen floor. MORE FUN for the Volunteers.

- Cafetaria - sweeping, mopping, putting away the hundreds of chairs and tables.

- Inspecting the campgrounds for garbage and tidy up camp area.

- Return Canoes and row boats back to the shed. VERY HEAVY, and took several hours, but MUCH FUN for those involved.

- Inspecting the campgrounds for garbabe and yes, we sure found a bit of garbage. This place is too beautiful to have any garbage lying around and so, we searched and found some that are within our sight.

- Shower house - our volunteer Cameron and his wife cleaned up the shower area. We didn't know it was done already. Thanks Cameron and wife for your help.

- The beach front - pickup trash that was left behind.

***** SPECIAL THANKS to Laddie Buck who help put the canoe and row boats away, cleaned and inspected the camp grounds. Laddie's hospitality is unmatched and his kindness and concern for our safety we could not do without. Thank You Laddie for being you! Laddie is also an exceptional Khmer Traditional dancer. I have pictures to prove it. =)

WOW!!! That is quite a bit of work that our volunteers had to deal with to ensure everyone had a great time. Thank you to our volunteers for all of your work. There were many campers who took part to help clean up as well without us having to ask. Thank you so much for taking part in our efforts to leave Camp Meriwether in better shape.

Please accept our most sincere appology if we have overlooked in mentioning anyone. It wasn't our intent. We thank all of those who contributed to making this community bonding event successful.

Thank you NIKE (www.nike.com), IRCO(Immigrant Refugee Organization, www.irco.org), Key Knife (ww.keyknife.com) for your contributions. And thank you Sun Gold Farms for your discount on the Delicious Corn. Mike Mahoney, our new volunteer picked up more than 300 corn, which was quite a popular treat for everyone. The corns were sold at 6 for $5. All proceeds benefited the Community Center Project.

Well below are the pictures that is testimony to how much fun we all had. See you next year!