On May 27, 2021, the 4-H EAGLE program held an end-of-school campfire at the Cold Spring Campgrounds. EAGLE is a CSU Extension that is held at the Gilpin County Community Center. The program holds fun drop-in activities and hikes each week as well as at least two field trips each week ranging from a simple campout to going to Water World. While a campfire is simplistic in nature in comparison to some of their other activities, it still makes for great fun! Especially when multiple tight-knit groups of tweens and teens come together to enjoy some fresh air after finally escaping school for the summer.

Katherine Harvey, the EAGLE Youth Program Coordinator, brought along plenty of great food for the kids to enjoy throughout the night. The plan to make quesadillas over the fire certainly turned into an entertaining event involving the oldest kids in the group, including Cassidy Wood, the Eagle Youth Program Assistant, as well as Will Hunt and Aucklynn Sacco. These three took on the task of cooking the quesadillas for the night and quickly learned that there was an art to not burning the quesadillas. They definitely did not master the art that night and ended up with some unique scorch marks on their food but it was all in good fun. The scene was reminiscent of a group of chefs hurrying about the kitchen to produce food at the same rate as it was requested. Now, imagine the teens chucking tortillas on the grate, throwing some cheese on and another running back and forth with paper towels to deliver the food to the other children at the picnic table. Despite the chaos at scene, everyone was fed and happy, and they were mostly successful in their quest.

Gather ‘round the campfire Most of the EAGLE event participants chat and make s’mores around the campfire. PHOTO BY ARCHER O’BRIEN[/caption]

After they had all filled up on campfire quesadillas, the group got to drink hot chocolate and cook s’mores. There was whipped cream but admittedly some of it was deposited straight from the bottle into the mouths of a few of the kids rather than into the hot chocolate. The cooking of s’mores went as one would expect, with a bunch of kids with marshmallows on sticks gathered from the woods attempting not to burn the sweet treats. Of course, there are always those few who enjoy a wholly burnt marshmallow.

Aside from just the making of food, many great memories were made on the trip. All the while during the great quesadilla cook fest the kids chatted around the fire and had good laughs at the hilarity surrounding dinner time.

Stories were swapped while sipping hot cocoa and everyone could bond while searching for the perfect stick for cooking their marshmallow on.

Nearing the end of the night, a few girls used the extra cups for their own rendition of the Cups song from Pitch Perfect. All in all, it was a successful night, ending with the dousing of the campfire as the group practiced proper fire safety. A nostalgic event to end the school year.