Camp Namanu

Camp Namanu is a summer camp in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was founded as a Camp Fire Girls camp on the banks of the Sandy River in 1924.

Namanu remained a "girls only" camp until the late 1970s when the parent organization, now Camp Fire USA, made the executive decision to include boys in all areas of the program.

Today, Namanu covers more than 552 acres, and is located near the Bull Run Watershed at 10300 SE Camp Namanu Road in Sandy, Oregon, 97055-9517.

Units

Each of the camper units have their own regions of cabins or shelters in different parts of the camp.

Blue Wing

Blue Wing has two parts to the unit. The mini-Blue Wingers are children younger than 2nd grade, and come for ½ week.Regular Blue Wing campers are students going into the 3rd grade in the fall.

herwood

Campers in Sherwood usually are going into the 4th grade.

Robin Hill

Campers in Robin Hill usually are going into the 5th grade.

Kiwanis

Campers in Kiwanis usually are going into the 6th grade.

Pioneer

Campers in Pioneer are going into the 7th and 8th grade. Pioneer is located above the Sandy River in cabins with no walls. A chuckwagon is located in the center of the unit in which campers can socialize.

Balagan

Campers in Balagan are going into grade 9 or higher.

Balagan is best known for the Russian-style unit lodge and the treehouses overlooking the Sandy River.

Ranch

Campers can go to Ranch starting in 5th grade. for part of the summer and middle school for the other part. They ride horses and live a half a mile up a hill from the rest of the camp.

Outpost

Campers in Outpost are usually in at least the 8th grade.

This unit camps in tipis, and is often part of blazing new trails and campgrounds.

CIT

CIT stands for Counselor In Training. CITs live in tents near their unit lodge, named "Tawanka". CIT is a two year program. This program is open to older high school campers who desire to learn camp leadership skills, outdoor program and camp craft skills. Following their training many CITs go on to become camp counselors and staff at Camp Namanu. At ranch camp they are calleds WITs which stand for wrangler in training

History

During World War II, while Namanu was a girls-only camp, and while women often worked in shipbuilding, many T2 tankers were made in nearby Portland. One T2 tanker was named the "SS Camp Namanu".

Camp Kwoneesum

The Portland Metro Council also operated Camp Kwoneesum northeast of Washougal, Washington. Purchased in 1959, [http://www.namanu.com/history/Denton1989.shtml Camp Namanu Alumi Association:Comments on Namanu History] ] the camp operated from 1965 to 1986. The camp's 1800 acres were sold to Longview Fibre Company in 1987. The camp featured an artificial lake with canoeing and sailing, [ [http://www.portlandcampfire.org/alumniregistration.pdf?u=936701689623 2006 Camp Namanu Alumni Weekend] ] and more primitive camping than Namanu.

Other uses

The site is used by the Multnomah Education Service District for part of their Outdoor School program.

References

External links

* [http://www.portlandcampfire.org/campnamanu.asp Camp Namanu] , official website from Portland Metro Camp Fire Council
* [http://www.namanu.com/ Camp Namanu Alumni]