Circle F Dude Ranch Was Founded in 1952
Traditions
Silver Horseshoe
The Silver Horseshoe was first introduced in 2016 and has become a highly sought after possession in the Circle F Community. The Silver Horseshoe is only awarded on a rare occasion during our closing banquet to honor a camper or a staff member has fully lived out our camp’s mission of Respect, Inspiration, Play, Positive Thinking, Leadership, and Engagement.
Summer Camp Traditions
Campfires
Campfires are one of the most long-standing traditions we carry from year to year, quite literally since 1952. After every closing campfire a small portion of the ashes are collected and then added to the next opening campfire.
At the start of each session a returning camper from the boys and girls lines is selected to add the ashes. These campers are chosen by the Head Counselors because they have demonstrated our pillars of Respect, Inspiration, Play, Positive Thinking, Leadership and Engagement. This is done in secret so these campers do not know they have been selected until the moment they are announced at opening campfire.
Opening Camp Fire
Each camp session is begun with a campfire to set the tone. This is a captivating and almost magical moment for our campers. The values of camp are shared in this unique and special gathering. Our leadership team come forward to talk about the importance of Respect, Inspiration, Play, Positive Thinking, Leadership, and Engagement, encouraging our campers to chose one of these values to work on during their time at camp.
Closing Camp Fire
Each camp session is closed with a distinctive campfire experience that is a celebration of the camp family as different staff and campers are selected to give a campfire speech based on the 11 original pillars of Camp: Courage, Courtesy, Friendship, Happiness, Honesty, Kindness, Love, Loyalty, Patience, Positive Thinking, and Sportsmanship.
Two of our oldest campers are also invited to share their camp journey with their camp family, the stories shared during this time are shared from a place of raw emotion bringing the camp to complete silence as we reflect on the time we spent together.