With New Pavilion, Girl Scouts Have Reason To Celebrate

The more than 600 girls who attended Camp Rice Moody this summer already celebrated the new pavilion. Thursday night it was the grown-ups turn.

Lorraine and Bernie Horn, along with other donors and community partners, led the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Rice Pavilion, a space for girls in grades K-5 from across the area to enjoy at a camp that is growing every year.

Like many scouting stories, there's a daughter and a mom, in this case Lorraine Horn.

"It starts with my daughter (Alexis) who was a girl scout. She's 34 now," said Horn, a nurse and Reading resident for 26 years. "I was camp certified, I was first-aid certified back in the day. For here, troops had asked to do things for badge work. In the kitchen we did a cooking badge. With the badge work I got to see that were things that needed to be done and updated.

"Then I turned 60 two years ago and I said, I should do something that's significant. I picked something local and it was this camp because there was an association between my daughter and myself. It's an important place in Reading so I thought this was a great place to start."

Camp Rice Moody is an important, not to mention well-hidden, place just a stone's throw from the Burbank YMCA. What was founded by Mary Pamela Rice as the Fathers' and Mothers' Club in 1904 became the Camp Rice bungalow in 1932. The Girl Scouts became involved in 1941, and in 1942 Moody was added to the name in honor of Alice Moody, a Girl Scout and nurse.

In 1959, 228 girls attended summer camp, and despite a fire that destroyed the bungalow in 1981, they've been coming ever since. The eight-acre site includes a pool and in 2016 Horn began phase 1 of the camp's improvement with a new kitchen and a renovated bathroom. But with the number of girls coming to the camp increasing, more than improved facilities were needed. The camp needed more space. Which led to phase 2.

"This has been discussed for years," said Horn. "Phase 1 was redoing the kitchen, the bathrooms. Phase 2 was let's get some energy going and see if we can get community donations. It's a safe place for girls, it's another additional shelter, but it's outdoor shelter. We have another space available for girls, so it also increases capacity for girls."

Thanks to the Horn family along with 17 other donors, girls now don't have to worry every time it rains.

"Before this pavilion if there was a storm or anything they had to cram inside," said Lynn Cutter, a member of the board of directors. "Also if it's just a rainy day or really hot, there was no outdoor space. This they use really as an outdoor classroom. It's really a nurturing place for the younger girls to get excited about being in the outdoors, and still be close to home."

A record 635 campers attended the camp this summer and the pavilion was a hit. At the ribbon cutting ceremony, the grown-ups felt the same way.

Photos by Bob Holmes