08/12/2025
Greetings, campers! It is I, your ̷f̷e̷a̷r̷l̷e̷s̷s̷ ̷l̷e̷a̷d̷e̷r̷ hopeless scapegoat, to offer what updates and information I can, and to tell you that I'm ridiculously excited to see all of you again.
Can you feel it? It's been a sweltering summer. I, for one, have been out in it the whole time, such is the life of a public works servant, but heat or not, these last few weeks I've been feeling it. The slightly cooler nights, the longer shadows in the afternoon, some of the early blooming trees are already losing their green and leaves are falling.
Don't get me wrong, it's still too damn hot, summer ain't over yet, but the seasons are turning and that can only mean that OSC is right around the corner, that magical time when our chosen family gathers together to say goodbye to the summer and hello to fall.
It is, for me, as important a seasonal marker as Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas, and I'm so very grateful we get to do it again.
I do have one minorly unfortunate update. The park called me a while back to let me know that TWRA is once again draining Lake Woodhaven, this time to dredge it, and restore it to its former glory as a prime fishing and swimming spot. You may recall a few years ago when they did this to make repairs to the dam. You may also recall, if you go way back (like me) that once upon a time the lake was a marvelous place to fish and, let's face it, it hasn't been that for a while now, so the people who manage that sort of thing are taking this opportunity to renew it. I expect they'll be dredging parts of it, removing the abundance of w**d growth and likely reducing the numbers of those huge carp that stir up the bottom so much that it's difficult for other species to spawn sufficiently.
Short version, they're making it better. What does this mean to us for this year? Well, I doubt they're draining it dry, they usually leave the deepest channel in tact when they do these things, so you may yet fish there, but you'll likely be trekking over an expanse of mudflats to do so and that isn't fun, is it precious? However...the creek will still be accessible for some fun blue hole fishing, and both Creech Hollow Lake and Lake Acorn are still there for your fishing and recreational needs. Creech Hollow, which has EXCELLENT fishing, is a two or three minute drive from our camp and intend to print up some simple maps for those of you who'd like to wet a line. That being said, our annual fishing contest is still on, we will award the camper who has caught the most fish and the camper who has caught the biggest fish, regardless of whether you choose to fish what's left of Woodhaven, the creek, Creech Hollow, or Acorn so please, do bring your gear and as always I will have loaner gear for those of you who may be without. Heck, we may even try to organize some group excursions/rides to and from the other fishing areas for your convenience.
The Xerps party will welcome you Friday night, or if that's too green for your taste, our friends from Hallowcon will be down in the first pavilion with games and movies as always. Speaking of Hallowcon, last year Joe Dog and Co. hosted the first annual hot wheels race Saturday morning after breakfast and are planning on doing it again this year, bigger and better, so remember to bring your favorite tiny car to race for the cup.
Tentatively our make-it-take-it event this year will be a demonstration of primitive fire-making skills from none other than our favorite wildman Scooter Armstrong (think bow drills, flint and steel, etc.) Just please, please, please, don't set the woods on fire with your newfound ability.
As always there will be a wide selection of your favorite board and card games in the lodge and plenty of art supplies and projects for kids of all ages.
Saturday night Hallowcon will once again host the open music jam under the pavilion, so bring an instrument if you are so inclined, or just come ready to sing along or hurl fruit as the evening dictates.
We will, of course, be feeding you. Kitchen Queen KC and her horned consort Dave will be making sure no one goes hungry, ever. Light fare will be available Friday evening, breakfast on Saturday will once again feature an omelet bar along with your perennial favorites. Good old camp burgers and dogs will be served for lunch and then Saturday night we FEAST!
People, bring a radio of some design. Many of you may not know that OutSideCon runs its own pirate radio station for the weekend courtesy of Jeff "Da Worm" Wormsley with old time radio dramas ranging from Sherlock Holmes to H.P. Lovecraft. Grab yourself a cheap portable and tune in!
There will be more to share in the coming weeks, our annual "you should bring this stuff" list for instance as well as some late additions to the activities so keep an eye on this page.
For now just let me express how much we appreciate all of you for joining in and we can't wait to see you there!
KnowwhutImean?
M.
