Five Annual Events to Attend at GRP

Here comes the sun - doo doo doo doo!

The dawn is breaking on a new year of excitement at Green River Preserve. While some are feeling the winter doldrums, we know that having something to look forward to can make all the difference. In this blog, I’ll be walking you through GRP’s annual events: all of the programming outside of summer camp and school programs that give folks like our alumni, new families, partner organizations, and more, the opportunity to visit the Preserve and spend time with our team celebrating our mission and cultivating community. Along those lines, you can expect your time at GRP, no matter the event, to include some learning. Be sure to pack your water bottle AND your curiosity.

You’ll see that registration is currently open for many events already! We have moved our event sign-ups to our wonderful new booking site, Gazebo. That being said, if you see something here that you are looking forward to attending and do not see a registration option yet, please feel free to reach out to us with questions or to voice your interest.

Also, before diving into the details, I’d like to point out that we offer scholarship opportunities for more than just summer camp. If an event registration is outside of your budget, please be in touch with Madison. You belong at Green River Preserve!

Volunteer Week - Early April

This year: April 7-13, 2025

It’s the kick-off for what we call “programming season” at GRP! When you live and work at a nature preserve, there is no true “off” season, but Volunteer Week marks the start of seasonal staff and learners on site.

Historically, alumni will be familiar with Volunteer Week-end. This year, due to the impact of Hurricane Helene on the land and trails, we’re anticipating a FULL WEEK of projects and volunteer opportunities. Shortly following water turn-on, we invite alumni, families, interested partners, and community volunteers to tag in for all kinds of projects!

Highlights include:

Trail work

• Alongside a GRP guide who probably has a chainsaw, you’ll bring a trusty map, some loppers, gardening gloves, and other tools as needed. Your team’s objective? Making some of the first passes on our Mentor Hike and CampOut Trails. This is a great time for groundskeepers and forestry professionals to shine, but also fun for anyone wanting to start building skills in the world of trail maintenance. Opening camper & staff spaces
• Cabins, showerhouses, and lodges, oh my! After sitting cold, these spaces need a refresh. Sweeping, scrubbing, and creating blank slates for our seasonal team and campers to make their mark. We also need to set up favorite equipment, like the zipline, canoe dock, climbing wall, and more.

Painting

• The dock might need a new coat, a Mentor Lodge room might need a makeover, so many possibilities!

Kitchen opening

• Got a love for food and kitchens? Hop in with our Kitchen crew to both cook for fellow volunteers and prepare for our first big inventory order to arrive.

Other duties as assigned!

• It’s our favorite phrase when it comes to camp work. Many challenges and hurdles await our valiant volunteer team and together, we can do most anything!

The sooner we know you’re coming, the better, so that we can create the ultimate snack plan AND what projects to prioritize when you’re here. While it can be hard work, we expect Volunteer Week to be a lot of fun, as well.

Spring Picnic - Early May, weekend afternoon

This year: Saturday, May 3, 2025

Join us for our version of an Open House! No work, all play; it’s the perfect drop-in opportunity to see what Green River Preserve is all about. Considering a first summer of summer camp? Live locally and want to hit the trails with some buddies after a yummy lunch? Feeling up for one of the first zipline runs of the season? Let’s go!

Spring Picnic is an afternoon event prioritizing open channels to our year-round team. Got questions? We have answers, and it’s so much more fun to show you than tell you. You’ll also get the chance to meet several of the year’s seasonal staff team, including a selection of Counselors and Mentors. Oh, and the Kitchen Team is typically excited to show off some special treats around this time as well; lunch is on us! If you’re lucky, you may even enjoy a chat with founder, Sandy, by the Trout Pond.

Our crew will shut down Base Camp mid-afternoon to get our folks home for some important rest - they will have been guiding school programs during the week - but the rest of our 3,400 acres will be available to explore on your own if you’re looking to maximize your day out! Reserve a camp shelter and spend the night on a practice CampOut if you’re feeling extra adventurous.

Family Camp - Mid-May, weekend

This year: May 16-18, 2025

If Spring Picnic is dipping your toe in the waters of GRP, Family Camp is learning how to swim! All camp abilities and experience levels are welcome here, AND, we prioritize our new/beginner friends during this weekend of almost-summer camp. There are options for the whole family! You might choose to stick together and experience everything as a team, or you might take advantage of opportunities to split the party for different adventures and intensities. There’s no wrong way to Family Camp!

Over the course of the weekend, you’ll have the opportunity to try your first Mentor Hike, take your very first GRP bus ride, join the illustrious Polar Bear Club, and pick up all sorts of snazzy GRP lingo and traditions along the way. Our schedule is just like a “typical day” at summer camp, complete with afternoon activities and an Evening Program.

Family Camp typically begins around dinner time on Friday evening and lasts through just after lunch on Sunday afternoon. Families stay as units in our camper cabins and can choose to share bunks with buddies for the ultimate sleepaway experience, or maintain some space for cozy bonding time.

Whether you’re a brand new-to-GRP nuclear family, multi-generational camp family with up-and-coming campers, collection of friends and kiddos trying things out, or something in between, you belong at Family Camp. We can’t wait to show you how much there is to love on the Preserve.

Adult Camp - Late August, typically Labor Day weekend

This year: August 29-31, 2025

Our first post-summer event of the season! This one’s also had a bit of a rebrand, formerly “Alumni Weekend.” While GRP alumni do tend to make up the bulk of our Adult Camp attendees, this program is a great choice for anyone over the age of 21 with a love of hiking, spontaneous fun, and sharing time with folks who have similar interests! Book the babysitter and come play in the mountains as we remember what it means to be a kid at heart.

Similarly structured to Family Camp, Adult Camp comes with some additional features: more challenging Mentor hikes, more room for deep-dives into skills and activities, and, oh yeah, happy hour! You may choose to indulge responsibly in locally-sourced brews, both alcoholic and non, in the evenings around dinner time and by the campfire. Adult Camp also offers unstructured hangout time to complement some very full-throttle GRP traditions at certain points of the day for the nostalgia kick our alumni crave! If you’re new, you’ll catch on in no time. When Ortman and Scrappy appear, you’ll get it. Share iconic GRP memories, create new ones, and rest easy knowing the glory days are still ongoing!

Farm Feast - Early October, weekend

This year: October 11-12, 2025

The culmination of a full season at GRP, the farm’s bounty, and our Kitchen team’s commitment to farm-to-table deliciousness, Farm Feast is our annual fundraiser supporting farm programming, our Kids’ Agricultural Learning Experience (KALE). Our primary populations for KALE include our local school systems and after-school programs.

Farm Feast itself is another alumni-heavy gathering place that also welcomes new faces. That being said, this is NOT a typical GRP experience. We pull out all the stops to elevate our typical camp fare offerings and Lodge venue to, dare I say, gourmet levels! However, we still maintain that down-to-earth (literally, it’s a FARM feast!) GRP feel.

Each year is a bit different depending on our crew’s interests and specialties, and always a treat. Come for cocktail hour, musical entertainment, and dinner - stay overnight for hiking opportunities the next morning (or a sleep in and pack the car sort of morning)! Don your flannel, grab a seat at the table, and celebrate another year of Green River Preserve in the company of many honored guests. After Farm Feast, our team transitions into camp shutdown before slipping into some much-needed recuperation after the completion of another successful programming season.