bryanc on July 26th, 2010

SMOS youth soccer camp 2010

Last year’s youth soccer camp was such a success that we decided to do it again!  But this time we’re charging less and giving more.

Cost: $15 gets you a t-shirt and three days of soccer fun

When: August 9, 10, 11 from 9am to noon (it’s early, but it also avoids the worst of the summer heat)

Where: The location is to be announced but will probably be at the school field.  Due to maintenance,  however, we may be require to move to the city park

How: To sign up you’ll need to fill out the Medical and Release Form [.doc].  Don’t worry if you don’t want to print the file, just leave us a comment or email us and we’ll find a way to get you a form.

Make sure to bring your own snacks and water.  We’ll see you there!

bryanc on July 25th, 2010

“We are pleased to inform you that upon review of your application for tax exempt status we have determined that you are exempt from Federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.” - IRS

There are no sweeter words. Well, maybe these:

“Contributions to you are deductible under section 170 of the Code. You are also qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers or gifts under section 2055, 2106 or 2522 of the Code.” - IRS

This means if you are kind enough to better the lives of those we serve, you will benefit as well!

Ken Kelley on February 21st, 2010

This was one of my favorite experiences in Outdoor Ed. It was in the middle of winter 2009. Mr. Carlson brought some blind folds up to the cabin on our weekly Outdoor Ed class. Once we reached the cabin he took us over to an open area near the cabin and gave us blind folds to put on. He told us, “Here’s the story. You are all up in a mountain and it is very bright and you all got snow blind. You have to build a fire  or you will die. Today’s task is to get a fire going while blind folded, I wont help you at all. Go!”. We all looked at him like he was crazy. Its hard enough to get a fire going in the winter, but he wants us to get a fire going while blind folded. So we began our attempt to complete the seemingly impossible.

Gabriel Short instantly took the role of a leader and started asking certain people to go get wood, to stay at the camp, to go get birch bark, and to make sure everyone that was getting wood knew where the campsite was by calling to them whenever they started to come back. It was very difficult to wander through the woods looking for trees and trying to grab branches off of the base of them for the fire. It was very helpful to have some of the others there at the fire calling out to us when we began to come back to the fire to drop off some branches. As we all kept bringing branches and eventually moving to bringing big sticks, Gabe asked Mr. Carlson for a match. We all surrounded the campsite to eagerly wait to hear the crackling of a fire. Gabe struck a match and placed it under the sticks. He then asked some of us to grab some of the other sticks that were around the campsite that we got earlier, and then he said to break them up into smaller pieces (about a foot long) so they would be the next thing to place on the fire. We did as he said and soon we heard the crackling of a fire. Mr. Carlson was very impressed and told us to take off our blind folds. We saw our fire and we survived!

We completed the fire in 45 minutes, which is very good! Without the help and participation of everyone, we wouldn’t have been able to do it in the time we did and we probably wouldn’t have been able to complete it in one match either.

By Kenneth Kelley

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SBrown on January 9th, 2010

For any of you who are wondering, my name is Sara Brown, and I am adding the Bios of the staff and Board Members to the website.  I work for the Northport School District in the Homelink Program, and I also have the privilege of living on the edge of town right at the base of Silvercrown Mountain.  I have had the pleasure of walking the trails and visiting the lake and cabin.  What a wonderful place!  I am happy to be helping SMOS and I am excited about their plans, and the mission of the school.  Stay tuned……more to come.

bryanc on January 6th, 2010

After many hours of work the directors (and a few others) finished the application for tax exempt status.  The massive 80-something page document is in the hands of the postal service now.  Thanks goes out to everyone who helped and all those that gave us their support.  Thanks!