Camp Adahi History

CAMP ADAHI
History • Rangers • Camp Directors • Buzzy • Trivia

EARLY GIRL SCOUT CAMPING HISTORY

Camp Glancy
(1928-1941)
In 1928, the Girl Scout Council received a deed to approximately 27 acres of land on the little Sequatchie River in Marion County from Mr. & Mrs. Glancy Sherman to hold a summer camp. Camp Glancy, located about 30 miles from Chattanooga, operated successfully from 1929 through 1942. Faced with the need and expense for improvements on the site and the inability to buy adjoining acreage, the Council decided in 1941 to look for a new site.

Buildings and equipment were purchased through donations from interested friends, the cookie sale, pledges from troops, and many businesses.

The cost for one week’s board at Camp Glancy was $7 plus a $1 registration fee. A green camp suit (middy and bloomer) was required at a cost of $1.50.

Miss Frances King, local director of the Chattanooga Girl Scouts, served as the Camp Director under the direction of Girl Scout Commissioner Alice W. Milton


	Fall Creek Falls (1944-early 60’s) In the fall of 1943, the Council obtained the use of the Federal Government Group Camp at Fall Creek Falls State Park near Pikeville, Tennessee, for an established camp for the summer of 1944. Resident camp cost $32 for a 2-week program.

Camp Adahi (1965-present)

During the early ‘60s, the Board of Directors of the Chattanooga Girl Scouts began looking for a permanent location for a camp closer to Chattanooga. They had wanted a location on Lake Chickamauga, but this was not suitable because of the lack of privacy from the public shoreline. Privacy is necessary, Jean Biddle said, “because we’ve got to protect all those little girls. We don’t want strangers wandering in. On the lake anyone could pull a boat up there. There was no way to protect the kids.”

As the search went on for a large enough acreage for the camp, two members of the Board of Directors, sisters Dee Parker and LaVonne Jolley, asked if the Board would like to look at some property their father, Horace Collins, owned.

After one visit, the Board agreed to buy the 550-acre tract. Since then more acreage has been added to the current 900+ acres. The initial cost to construct the camp was $350,000. The money then, and for operating the camp each summer now, came from the sale of Girl Scout cookies. It was estimated that 106,358 boxes of cookies were sold to pay for building the camp.

Camp Adahi received accreditation by the American Camping Association in 1993. This nationally recognized program focuses on program quality and health and safety issues and requires that we review every facet of our operation. Camp Adahi has been evaluated by camp experts and has earned this mark of distinction.

“Remember the little Girl Scout who sold you that box of cookies? She and her fellow Girl Scouts bought 750 acres up on Lookout Mountain with the money they earned. Some older friends added some more in a capital funds drive last summer and now this summer she and her fellow Girl Scouts will be camping in one of the finest camps in the South.”
—Chattanooga News-Free Press,
May 15, 1965

Meet the Rangers Donna and David Meade
We are pleased to welcome Donna and David Meade as our new camp rangers. Though not new to Girl Scouting, having been involved with their two daughters in Girl Scouts and Donna having served as the Vallihi Service Unit Manager and current council trainer, they are new to the ranger position. Be sure and introduce yourself to them the next time you are at Adahi.

Meet the Camp Directors

Before

After

Camp Director Erin “Tracker” Kenner, here with new Assistant Camp Director Nita “Miami” Rench, shows what great fun awaits girls at Camp Adahi. It’s a great place to make new friends and to get down and dirty with your old friends! There is nothing like a mud challenge following an afternoon rain.

Camp Adahi’s summer resident camp program is exciting and fun under their leadership. Tracker is a graduate of UTC with a B.S. degree in Exercise Science and Leisure Studies. Miami is a graduate of the University of Miami with a B.S. degree in Elementary Education. She is not new to Camp Adahi having attended Adahi as a Girl Scout and later serving as a unit counselor for several years.

Tracker and Miami both enjoy backpacking, hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, sea kayaking canoeing and traveling.

Camp Adahi is a place where girls can enjoy the simpler things in life from exploring nature by listening to crickets chirping in the night to playing in the mud after a summer rain, from
learning crafts to canoeing, from learning to build a campfire to eating their very first S’more, Camp Adahi is a place where girls build memories that will last a lifetime.

Meet "Buzzy"
Camp Adahi's first Camp Director

Her name may be Jean, but all who know her through a camp setting affectionately refer to her as “Buzzy.” Pictured here with some campers from the recent season, Jean Biddle has devoted a great deal of time and attention to Girl Scouting through the years.

Jean served as Camp Adahi’s first camp director from 1965 and held the responsibility for four additional years. Since that time she continues to help with Adahi programs and events whenever her schedule permits.

Thank you, Buzzy, for your dedication to Girl Scouting and all you have given to so many girls who count their lives richer for having been a part of your life

ADAHI TRIVIA

How did Camp Adahi get it’s name?
The Girl Scouts who served on the Senior Planning Board at the time the camp was purchased were given the honor of naming it. In fact, the name that they presented--Adahi--which means “In the Woods” was not one that the adult board members liked. However, they had given the girls the right to name the camp.

How did the units get their names?
The camp sites (units) were named by the campers the first year that the camp was open. They took suggestions and voted on the names. At the end of that first summer, the names we have now were the ones that won the vote.

“Unalyi” means Place of Friends
“Talahi” means In the Oaks
“Ahwenasa” means Our Home
“Karakondye” means Flying Sun
“Pooh Corner” was developed later and was named that because Camp Director Jean “Buzzy” Biddle would often read Winnie the Pooh stories there to the campers.

Are there any folk stories at Camp Adahi?
Yes. Many stories have sprung up over the years. Two of the stories are as follows:

“The Dragon of Shining Lake”

Shinng Lake at Camp Adahi Girl Scout Camp

It is believed that a dragon lives at a point right past the island of Shining Lake. This story developed because girls who could swim were allowed to paddle out in canoes. However, the nonswimmers were taken out in a large black raft (nicknamed “Black Beauty”) by the counselors. They would reach a point right past the island and begin turning in full circles. The girls were told that the only way they could break the spell of the dragon and get freed from his whirlpool was by singing very loudly. The girls would have to practically be shouting their songs before the counselors would paddle off towards shore.

“The Little People of Shelter Rock”

Shelter Rock AT Camp Adahi Girl Scout Camp

Another folk story is about the little people who lived at Shelter Rock. They got into a battle for the land. Some of the little people wanted to develop the land and build great buildings. The other group simply wanted to keep it natural. The group that wanted to see the land kept as natural challenged the other group to a sword fight. Fortunately, they won and Shelter Rock remains as it is today. However, at certain times of the year, it is said that swords that were used in the fight of the little people can be found on the ground near Shelter Rock.

If you are a former camper or counselor and have a folk story or a fond memory to tell, please submit it here, along with your name, e-mail and approximate date at Adahi.