FAYETTEVILLE — In June, the Museum of the Cape Fear will celebrate 20 years of providing educational and engaging summer history camps for 9 to 12 year olds. During all that time, the Cumberland Community Foundation’s Summertime Kids grant program has provided the necessary funds. For this year’s camp, scheduled for June 24-28, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm daily, museum staff will recall activities from the past two decades and let a new generation of campers breathe new life into them.
Children can look forward to activities from past camps that include archaeology (1994), World War II (1995), a celebration of the first flight (2003), North Carolina crafts (2004), transportation (2007) and last year’s War of 1812, to name a few.
“The camp has undergone a few changes over the years,” says Leisa Greathouse, Curator of Education who began the camp in 1993. “It began as Summertime Kids Excellent Adventure, then the History Ranger Academy, and now we are simplifying it and calling it the summer history camp. We also began charging a fee a couple of years ago.”
The camp has served over 500 children, many of whom are now college graduates. Some return as museum volunteers or fulfill college internship requirements. The museum is extending an invitation to all those who attended the summer history camp over the past 20 years to join them for a reunion on Friday June 28, at 11:00 am for a small reception. “We would love to have as many people who have participated in the camp as possible,” said Greathouse. “It would be a great way to mark the occasion and it would make this year’s summer history camp very special.”
Registration for the camp opens May 1 and the cost is $25. However, fully funded scholarships are available. The scholarship application can be downloaded from the museum’s website, picked up from the museum, faxed or mailed to you. Scholarship applications will be accepted from April 1-30.
For more information call the museum at (910) 486-1330 or email leisa.greathouse@ncdcr.gov.
The Museum of the Cape Fear is a unit of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. For more information on North Carolina arts, history and culture, visit Cultural Resources online.