YMCA Guides

HOW YOUR CHILDREN END UP HAS A LOT

TO DO WITH WHERE THEY START

Indian & Princess Guide Registration is ongoing through the YMCA office and individual Circles.  Registration forms can be found below or at the YMCA San Luis Obispo office. Please contact Katie Allison or (805) 543- 8235 x 106 for more information.

• Information Flyer
• Registration Form

Free Kick-Off BBQ Bash
Friday, Sep. 19th
5:30-7:30 PM
SLO County YMCA,
1020 Southwood Drive
San Luis Obispo

Bring the entire family for a savory YMCA BBQ to learn more about this great family program. We’re serving up fun along with tri-tip, hotdogs, beans and salad!

Coming Up:

Camp French Campout
October 24th-26 & More!

Longhouse meetings for Circle and Nation leaders. Contact Katie Allison for details, 543-8235 x 106.

Circle meetings are held where and when the individual circle members choose.  See details below on how the program is organized.

Christmas Parade

TBA at 6:00 PM downtown SLO

Winter Outting

Yosemite Lodge, TBA

Father/Daughter Dance

TBA

Spring Campout

TBA

End of Year Campout

May 30-June 1, Plaskett Creek, Big Sur

Pinewood Derby

Saturday June 7, 2008, SLO County YMCA

The Program's purpose...

This YMCA parent/child program has a rich history going back 50 years. This unique program is designed to strengthen the relationship between parent and child. The emphasis is on spending regularly scheduled quality time together. It is time when the parent and child can give their full attention to each other...time when they can learn to appreciate and enjoy each other...time when they can learn to relate in ways that will last a lifetime.

How the program is organized... YMCA Adventure Guides is for dads or other significant adults in children's lives and their children, Grades K - 4th. An adult and child attend all the program activities together. As "YMCA Guides", parents and kids explore adventures of fun, learning and mutual understanding. The program is organized by age and gender, and carried out through "Circles" consisting of approximately 5-10 parent/child pairs, which meet 1-2 times per month. Circle meetings are held at either a member's home, a YMCA room, or another designated place. Parents and children participate in crafts, go on small field trips, play games and have an evening of fun together. A few times a year, in addition to Circle meetings, all of the Circles from the SLO County YMCA come together for a Nation Event, which can include campouts, snow trips, community service work, hiking, & other family adventures!

How to get involved.... Complete an Adventure Guides registration form and return it with the appropriate registration fee to the San Luis Obispo County YMCA. Someone from the program will then contact you. There's room for every father/child pair in this YMCA program. Existing Circles (currently about 6) and new Circles can accommodate all of those interested in participating. Circles are usually organized on a neighborhood basis, so tell a friend! If a new Circle needs to be started, the YMCA will help. We can provide referrals of interested father/child pairs, as well as program materials.

Financial Assistance... No one is turned away from a YMCA program due to inability to pay. Financial assistance is available for registration fees, campouts & vests. Applications are available on-line or at any YMCA program site.

For More Information contact: Katie Allison, 805 543 8235 x106

Commonly asked Questions:

"I have 2 daughters, one in Kindergarten and one in second grade. Can they be in the same Circle?" YES

"I have 2 children, a son and a daughter. Can they be in the same Circle?" NO. Circles are gender-specific (dads & daughters or dads & sons)

"My son does not have a father. Can his uncle do this with him?" YES. Any adult role model is welcome to participate.

"Do I have to attend all of the Expeditions?" NO. While we encourage active participation, participants can attend as many (or as few) as they would like.

Read the program newsletter:

Memories of Activities from 2007-08

Memories of Nation Activities From 2006-07

Our Fall Campout!

Highlights of last year's Fall Campout included great food, great friends and catching frogs in the bathrooms.  Again we were lucky to have the naturalist who taught us about Native Americans of the Central Coast of California and lead us in a craft, making real, authentic swinging-noise-maker things.

Christmas Parade

The YMCA adventure-guide's involvement in last year's christmas parade was an event to remember. Though it was cold, the weather behaved and we were not placed behind the horse entries, everyone went home relatively dry and clean.

The Y-guide entry featured a multi-wheeled extravaganza with decorated bikes, scooters and other rolling vehicles covered with tinsel and lights. Scooter aerobatics were performed by some of the older girls, wowing the crowd with their aerial stunts. The dads for the most part trudged along trying to keep up with their energetic youngsters.

It was a great way to start off the Christmas season and are planning to do it again this year.

Tenaya Snow Trip

The annual “Tenaya” trip is an all-family event, meaning that spouses and younger/older siblings participate. The Saturday evening adult party was a success, and the kids had a great time at the kid recreation area and indoor pool.

Some of the many benefits of living and playing in Central California…

Daddy Daughter Dance

Over 50 Dads and Daughters had a great time at the DD Dance last year.  Thanks to the Amazonians for organizing the event at Los Ranchos School.  There was a lot of pizza, running around, relay races and super square dancing!

Last Year's Pinnacles Spring Campout

There was nothing but stars in the Friday evening sky. The forecasted rain did eventually arrive but it was done by 10:00 AM, giving way to a beautiful Saturday at Pinnacles National Monument.

For those that haven’t been there, the rock formations are interesting, but the biggest drawing card is the Bear Gulch Cave. The timing of our trip was perfect because the whole cave was opened up for public access that Saturday morning, with the upper part closing March 31, and the whole cave being closed May through June… due to bats.

The cave is like a deep canyon that has been filled with huge boulders. Sunlight reaches the path in some parts of the cave, which gives the boulders a velvety carpet of bright green moss.  The path winds it way back and fourth across a stream, which was swollen from the early morning’s rain.

Beautiful and powerful water falls were abundant, but my son barely noticed. He was too busy keeping up with his new-found friends, and he was having a blast bolder hopping, scampering up steps carved into the rock, and using his headlamp… as a real tool for once.

At the top of the Bear Gulch Cave trail is a dam and reservoir, the perfect place for catching your breath and eating a snack (if you are an adult), or the perfect place for making tree-bark rafts and throwing rocks into the water (if you are a kid).  Sending makeshift boats through the dam’s spillway pipe was great fun… another plus from the morning’s rain.

We didn’t see any bats in the cave. The only bat on the trip was back at camp, the aluminum kind, which was put to use hitting baseballs… several of the girls showed they are great batters.

Saturday evening we attended an interpretive program about condors, presented by a park ranger at the campground’s amphitheater.  We learned that condors were first reintroduced to the area in December 2003. There are now 13 condors that call Pinnacles home. The ranger said they take “day trips” as far as Fresno, Monterey, Gilroy (seen once sitting on the Levi outlet store sign), and San Luis Obispo… cool.

Another great father and child adventure, we hope to share another one with you in the near future-

Community Service Tree Planting

Memories of Circle Activities from 2006-07

Crux Fun!

The Misha Circle collectively helped another worthy cause, that of the homeless.  The girls and dads in attendance made/finished 3 blankets to donate to the homeless.  Thanks to Kimberly McCarty and her dad Steve, arrangements were made to deliver the blankets to the Prado Day Center to benefit the homeless.  Due to the Center's concerns about privacy, they requested that we not have a large group show up to donate the blankets.  On April 12 after school, Mishus Sarah Gibbs, Kimberly McCarty, and Gabriela Morgan, with Steve McCarty and myself, delivered the blankets.  They were warmly welcomed (no pun intended).  The 5 of us were given a tour by the administrator and were impressed with the level of commitment shown the homeless.  They are quite organized, and several homeless people were there utilizing the facility.  As part of the tour, we saw the children's play/daycare area.  All 3 girls heard from the director that they rely on volunteers to help with the upkeep of this area, and almost immediately volunteered to help with a painting project there.

Mishu Hike

The Screaming Eagles and Zuni's Tie Dye party!