Friends Of San Jose Family Camp

Friends would like to welcome our newest supporter, MAR-VAL Markets of Groveland, who are our sponsors of the Weekly Marshmallow roasts. We appreciate their kindness and want to remind everyone to *SHOP OUR SPONSORS*.

Friends Of Family Camp came out two weekends in a row to spread the word and tell folks about camp down at Bass Pro Shops. The new Bass Pro is HUGE and fun and decorated as a sports persons paradise. We want to thank everyone who showed up to pass out flyers and meet new friends over the May 21/22 and May 28/29 weekends.

Dear Friend,

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June, July and August we are meeting at the ice rink upstairs in the restaurant in their private room. Same Bat time, same Bat channel. LOTS of stuff to attend to this month, please join us everyone is welcome!

One of 2 retreats this year for those 50 and over was held in May up at camp- and the Wed-Fri camping time for adults was WONDERFUL. Several of our FRIENDS members took advantage of the cool temps and empty camp to totally enjoy the mountains and spend time with their friends before the full season started. 2 of our volunteers came up to serve food and help out in the kitchen as well as several projects they had planned. Our kitchen garden had gotten WAY out of hand over the last couple of years so it was time to cut out the garbage and return it to a usable state.  Once we got it cleaned out we headed into town to MOUNTAIN SAGE coffee and plants in Groveland and picked up a few things (shopping is GREAT HERE- we are going back!) Then it was filling and finishing. Meanwhile the guys were finishing up on the HUGE amount of work done April 15th when the lights were all changed over on the decks before Fish Camp opened. Our sincere special thanks to Tyler Barkwell for the electrical lead on this project. They came out GREAT!

Friends is almost ready for camping season. The sleeping bags are aired out, the bug spray is purchased, the camping hat is jaunty hanging by the door.

NOW we just need YOU to help out. Volunteers are always needed at camp to help especially during peak rental times giving the kitchen staff some help, BBQ assistance, and other ongoing chores. Let us know if you want to help out at camp and when you are going up!

Our group of regular volunteers and board members have spent a lot of hours together this spring making sure that camp is like we remember it, but we always need another smile and another hug!

Make sure if you haven’t sent in your membership (just $20.00 per FAMILY for the year helps us send families to camp, buy chair covers and umbrellas, repair things and upgrade camp for us all) to drop it off for us by mail or use the PAYPAL link for $20.00 (we always check  it for memberships first!). Fishing licenses are required for anyone over 15 fishing in the state and CANNOT be purchased in camp. Stop by Bass Pro Shop immediately inside the front door to your left to get license.

The new archery tents don’t require anything but patience and *age limits* are enforced. It’s a great sport and we hope you get time to enjoy it.

Remember there are discounts for 8 or more tents and groups can call in to get their tents organized together. Bring plenty of sun screen and lots of reading material along with a ice chest of snacks and cold drinks of your choice (BEER people, we are talking about BEER) and late night snacks for the kids. Friends provides the SMORES for the campfires out at the meadow, but you can always bring more goodies of your own for those nights in the Tuolomne Room at the fireplace every evening!

We have a new POOL TABLE as well as new furniture and the library has been updated and is being added to! Got some books to donate? Bring them to camp or contact us and we will get them up there! Same with kids games/board games in boxes, we love ’em!

We look forward to seeing you at camp!

Our river

Tom Bonsack works year round to make the derby a sure fire hit at camp, and we cannot thank him enough for his efforts. Fish Camp is one of the highlights of the year for us all at Family Camp and looked forward to by all of us.

We had our youngest winner EVER in the youth division. Little Miss Hannah Bush is just 4 years old but she took home half the pot, a badge, and a Fish Camp Plaque for her efforts this year!

In our adult division, this years proud winner was Michael Delbrook- what a great smile! We hope both the winners and ALL the participants had a great time and got lots of good fishing in. THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO WORKED SO HARD ON THIS EVENT WEEKEND.

April is when we get into high gear up at camp. We open the tents, sweep the floors, paint the walks and start repairs. We have had 2 work weekends so far getting ready for Fish Camp and opening day of fishing season 2016.

Winter in the city is hard on us campers and nothing feels like hitting the open road up to camp!

We had to get up there early to help our head man, Ralph O, get that famous sauce of his started and enjoy time together. We cook well under ALL conditions.

We had a long weekend of work and fishing to look forward to, but nothing beats seeing old friends, hanging out with new friends, sharing good food, and laughter.

You’ve seen a few of the photos of that great weekend we put up quickly, but there was a LOT going on! Spring means all hands on deck for us- 3 generations at once!This is Ray’s darling brood who came up to help us with a wonderful weekend.

The sun comes up EARLY when fishing season opens and everyone was out on our river to get started on the derby!

The big event was our 10:30 PLANT from the Moccasin Creek Fish Hatchery. Our President, Tom Bonsack, has worked hard for years to make this event happen.

The hatchery Manager, Justin Kroeze, brings up the truck and does a planting for the kids to learn all about good fish husbandry and wetlands management.

Everyone gathers around to learn about the  fish breeding process- and see the big ones!

We woke up to perfect weather with a balmy 83 degrees by 3 pm. Fishing at it’s finest. Wild life coming back everywhere we look!

We all celebrated camp asst manager Joe’s BD- cause any excuse for cake!

Your board of Directors came up en masse to continue with some projects aside from running the Friday Spaghetti Dinner and the Saturday Fishing Derby. The Wellmans were here to set up this season’s nursing station and do some window repairs, the power tools were out on several little projects, and finishing touches were put on 3 repaired dining tables. We had fresh morrel mushrooms from Tom, fires in the Tuolomne Room built by Garry, a fantastic HUGE fish seed from the fish hatchery, and one of the best fishing season openers in years.More photos and videos are coming!