“The candle of PURITY signifies one of the many high moral values set fourth in the Jo Jones sportsmanship award. As it’s light rises in a single flame, our Jo Jones Girl strives for integrity in thought and in action. Integrity gives that sense of cleanliness and innocence, which is true PURITY.” Before I was old enough to go to …
Trust: The next of the eight traits
“This candle symbolizes the TRUST found in the girl we are honoring tonight. Our Jo Jones Girl strives to be dependable and thus to be capable in all situations. She seeks to do what is right, even in the face of temptation; therefore, she is worthy of TRUST.” Trust is one of the of the eight traits of the Jo …
Unselfishness: An Intriguing Trait
This candle burns to signal UNSELFISHNESS, a characteristic living in the girl we honor here tonight. We give very little when we give away our possessions; it is when we give of ourselves that we truly give. We can buy for ourselves the material things in life, but it is when we give our time, our pleasures, and our love …
Goodness: A Quality Overlooked and Oversimplified
“This candle’s warmth reminds us of the quality of GOODNESS. The GOODNESS we recognize in this girl is an inner spiritual health, which enables her to do good for others. It is the example of GOODNESS she sets that is a constant blessing to those around her.” As goodness is one of the eight traits for the Jo Jones Sportsmanship …
COURAGE: It’ not the absence of fear, but overcoming it.
“In lighting the candle of COURAGE, we are reminded of another outstanding trait in our sportsmanship award winner. COURAGE does not consist of feeling no fear, but of conquering fear. By conquering doubt and fear, she has conquered failure. Every thought is strengthened with hope; all difficulties are bravely met. It is the girl who smiles through the tears of …
Heart O’ the Hills: Founded on Eight Pillars of Character
Heart O’ the Hills Camp was established on eight pillars of character. We consider it significant that when Kenneth and Velma Jones chose to convert the successful Heart O’ the Hills Inn into a summer camp for girls, they made this decision. The year was 1953. A few years earlier, their younger daughter, Jo, was killed in a car wreck. …
Common Ground gets down to earth
New officers of each Sisterhood are revealed in a ceremony we call “Common Ground”. How did that tradition begin? Campers on one hill would strain to hear the names of their friends as they were called out on the other hill nearby, desperate to know the news of their own group, as well as the news on the other! One …
Home with the armadillo
We Texans love to wax sentimental about our armadillos. In Gary P. Nunn’s song, the chorus intones: “I want to go home with the armadillo, good country music from Amarillo and Abilene…” and throw in the Texas Hill Country, too! I love “dillers”. They are little dim bulbs that snuffle and grouse. You will hear them, but they don’t hear …
I can’t get ’em up! A History of Heart’s Bugles
Every morning, Heart girls rise and shine to the lilting tune of Zippity Doo Da! But it hasn’t always been so. How did these bugles, so unique to Heart O’ the Hills, come to be? “The Heart” became a camp in 1953, just a few years after the end of World War II. Everyone across the USA was quite familiar …
A Healthy Camper is a Happy Camper!
Hello from Orenda! My name is Toots McCoy Hake. I am a former camper, mother of a camper. This summer I am lucky enough to be the nurse in Orenda for 1B. Between my last two weeks as the camp nurse, and my 10 years as a camp mom; I have learned a few things that can help the …