Re: Camp Fire Girls in the 1950s

05/10/06 - posted by Cathy Morrison

I've posted something maybe last year on the Camp Fire Girls Day Camp at Bercut Field. Very same memories as Karyn's: the songs, etc. I never went to Camp Caniya, but I do remember camping at Kelly Cove in the Marin Headlands at the end of the day camp session. We'd freeze our tails off and play on the WWII bunkers.

I was a Bluebird, then a Camp Fire Girl from about 1967-1973. My leader was Alice Fletcher and we met in her garage on Vicente near 46th.

We were mostly girls from Ulloa School. We did the usual crafts, but we also did things like walk to the beach or the zoo on occasion, back when the zoo was free. We could spend an hour just playing on the train that was in the playground. Or we'd annoy the chimpanzees, or get into the lion house in time for feeding.

My 11 year old daughter is now in "Camp Fire USA" and her leader is a nostalgic former Camp Fire Girl like myself. They sell the mint patties, earn beads, etc., but it's not as well organized as it was in the past. I'm told that Girl Scouts were less common in the 1960's but it's flip-flopped so that nowadays Camp Fire is a rarity.

Cathy