Aloha Camp Taloha

Many people have never heard of Camp Taloha and most people that have heard of it have no idea of its location. It sits on the outskirts of Pine Bluff down a logging road off of Sulphur Springs Road in the boonies. There's even a sign.
The Girl Scout powers that be have decided to close the camp and the final flag ceremony is Thursday the 22nd. Today.
If you walk down the logging road, the first thing you'll come to is the flag pole. It won't be flying the Camp director's panties for the ceremony, and I wonder if they'll end the ceremony with a friendship circle. All significant ceremonies end with the friendship circle.
The road forks at the flag pole and if you take a right, you'll end up at the lake. It's situated so that voices echo across the water which is a lot of fun if you're trying to scare someone on the other side. When the girls sing, their voices carry across the lake and they sound like angels.(sounding is as close as they ever got). Many girls caught their first fish at this lake. There were canoe races and nights spent watching falling stars on the banks.
Headed back to "camp" on the right is the bunk house. I've forgotten its name, but it was reserved for the older girls that came to camp. What a privilege it was to stay there. No wondering out at night to use the rest room-there was one indoors. Because it was so close to the hall, you could also catch a couple of extra winks of sleep.
Next came "K" hall aka the dining hall, craft room. Everyone ate here and sometimes the tables and benches were pushed back and the place became a dance hall. That's right. Those uneven wooden floors were perfect for the Macarena, the cha-cha slide, the hokey pokey, and even the chicken dance.
It was there I petted a possum for the first and last time. Not that she was dining or dancing, she was an invited guest coming to educate us on nature.
Not too far from "K" hall is the cement pond. The pool was a life saver during the dog days of summer. Arkansas heat and no air conditioner can take its toll.  Many girls would have gladly given up their right arm instead of losing pool privileges. The same Camp Director that had flying panties helped me unload all of the ice machines and dump them in to the pool just before the early bird swim one morning. Boy, there were some screeches. I think she laughed harder than anyone. It was in that pool, that I got my life guard certification.
Leaving the pool, you passed the bath house. I don't care how much you cleaned them, there were always enough spiders/frogs for at least one scream.
Then you would come to a circle of cabins. The windows were screens that you could cover with tarps if it rained. In the inside, the beams were exposed and many nights were spent on the cots looking up reading signatures and advice left from campers long ago. Some campers found signatures from their moms and older sisters. There were never any ladders left in the cabins for us to climb up and leave our signatures but that didn't stop us. Cheerleader pyramids have nothing on girl scouts determined to leave their mark on the world.
The last thing you'd probably notice would be the fire ring. Nothing left but ashes now. You know there were tons of ghost stories told around that fire ring, but what you probably don't know is that's where I found hope for the "Future Generation". After the stories were spent, sooner or later a young girl would talk about something bothering her. It might be her parents divorce or being bullied or may be some stupid boy had broken her heart. Another girl would offer some encouragement or maybe two of them would chime in. Before you knew it, these girls would be hugging and solving the problems of the world. So much love. So much strength. You may see the ashes, I see the warmth around the fire ring.
All those little girls have grown up now. Some even have daughters of their own, but they still have the love and strength they showed me all those years ago.
I've thought long and hard about attending the final flag ceremony. It's a four hour drive and I could physically do it, but my heart just won't let me.
I'll keep Camp Taloha in my heart with my memories. A circle is round and has no end and that's how long I'll cherish them.