July 03, 2006

Openings available for adventure day camps

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- If you love the rigors of rock climbing, caving, canoeing and treetop high obstacle courses, Southern Illinois University Carbondale's Touch of Nature Outdoor Environmental Center has the perfect activities for you later this month.

Openings are still available for the program's two summer adventure day camps for students in fifth grade through high school.

The first camp, July 24-28, is for boys and girls entering fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades. The second camp, July 31-Aug. 4, is for boys and girls entering ninth through 12th grades,

Activities include canoeing, rock climbing, high ropes course, caving, and hiking and swimming.

Camp cost is $200.

The camps will start assembling each day at 7:30 a.m. when student drop-offs begin. The camp runs from 8 a.m. to about 3:30 p.m., with daily pickups between 4 and 5 p.m. Campers should bring a sack lunch, water bottles, swimwear, and sunscreen – and wear clothes and shoes that you can get dirty in. Lunch is available for $5 per day.

Touch of Nature is about seven miles south of Carbondale on Giant City Road. SIUC operates the center and has been providing continuous summer camping programs since 1952. Craig A. Biggs, assistant program coordinator for the center-affiliated Underway Outdoor Adventure program, oversees the day camp with assistance from several SIUC students who are working on bachelor's degrees in a variety of majors.

Call 618/453-1211 for more information, or visit the Web site at http://www.pso.siu.edu/tonec/ua/summeradventure.php.

Providing outreach activities is among the goals of Southern at 150: Building Excellence Through Commitment, the blueprint the University is following as it approaches its 150th anniversary in 2019.