Musings of a Time Traveler
Written by: Brian Massie – Concord resident
July 17, 2021
[Looking at the picture my comment is: “I will do anything for my country”.]
I was privileged to be part of a contingent of 40 dedicated, patriotic volunteers that made Linda O’Brien’s Lake County Liberty Camp USA a reality. This summer camp had 94 young time travelers go back to the year 1776.
Liberty Camp USA website link:
“The idea for Liberty Camp Geauga was birthed in 2014 after Linda O’Brien, Founder and Director, experienced the Portage County Liberty Camp for Kids. The passion to undertake the project came from concerns that America’s educational system was presenting less and less factual American history and eliminating the values that this country was founded on. Worse yet, the void created by stripping our country’s history from text books is being filled with fantasy text regarding Marxism and Socialism.”
With the help of Miss Jan and Sir Tony, we marched our 17 fourth graders to six different learning centers each of the five days of camp.
The instructional material varied from food and games of that era, learning about the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, and listening to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Betsy Ross, James Madison, and Sybil Ludington tell them what part they played in the founding our our great country. They experienced the tyranny of King George, and were ever vigilant to watch for the Redcoats that took their hard earned money through taxation.
They learned about muskets, trapping, how the colonists’ spy network operated, manners and etiquette of that time, quilling, and even joined the ragtag army of the Swamp Fox to defeat a column of Redcoats.
The Time Travelers loved to sing and they sang the Lee Greenwood song “Proud to be an American” everyday so that they could proudly sing it by memory at the closing ceremony. We guarantee that you will love their rendition of this patriotic song. We never tire of listening to it.
Each day the Time Travelers were introduced to a new word by Linda O’Brien, Founder / Director, that conveyed the moral principals held by Liberty Camp USA:
- Truth – to always state the facts – not to add or delete for selfish gain
- Vigilance – keeping a careful watch for dangers and challenges
- Perseverance – achieving success in spite of difficulty or delay
- Courage – doing the right thing in spite of being afraid or discouraged
- Valor – courageously acting with integrity through service
- Wisdom – knowledge and principles that develop form experience resulting in good judgment and sound decision
The Time Travelers learned a lesson about the three types of people in the world: (1) Sheep, (2) Wolves, and (3) Sheepdogs.
The vast majority of people in the world will be sheep and will be prey for the evil doers of the world (wolves). The Time Travelers were each given a sheep dog figurine to remind them to always protect the sheep by being truthful, vigilant, and to persevere with courage and valor.
The culmination of the camp was the meeting with Thomas Jefferson and signing their own copy of the Declaration of Independence.
We thought you might enjoy the following videos that were taken at the last day of the camp.
Video #1 – Closing ceremony with Time Travelers singing “Proud to be an American”.
Video #2 – Learning Liberty Camp USA values and singing.
Video #3 – Patrick Henry gives instructions to little Time Travelers.
Video #4 – Patrick Henry speaks at the closing ceremony.
Video #5 Time Travelers’ Parade
We thank Linda O’Brien for the countless hours, and her attention to the many details required to make Lake County Liberty Camp USA a rousing success.
A special thank you to Lake Metroparks for the use of the Hidden Lake grounds, and their unending cooperation with Linda and the volunteers ensuring that all our needs were met.
We hope to see our Time Travelers again next year…
*****
Categories: Lake, Liberty Camp, Ohio Counties, Uncategorized