What to Bring

• Bedding. Even if you are staying in a cabin, you’ll need a sleeping bag and a pillow.
  
• Plate, bowl, and drinking vessel labelled with your name, which you can use and wash and reuse for each meal. Camp has dishware but not enough for everyone so we appreciate you bringing your own if you are able. We have lots of silverware, so no need to bring that.
  
• Rain gear, because it usually rains for at least part of camp. Raincoat, boots, and maybe some supplies to wipe up in your sleeping space if it gets wet.
  
• Directions to camp. Your GPS may not work in the winding valleys of Northeast Iowa, so be sure to come prepared with directions. Your registration confirmation email contains a link with a map.
  
• Someone to share the ride. You can help minimize car-driving and make a new friend on the way. When you register we'll send you a link to an online carpooling group for Village Fire. There is limited parking space at camp, so even if you can share the ride with one other person that will help us all!
  

You may also want to bring:

• Tent, if you're camping
  
• Flashlight
  
• Something to perch on: a blanket, stool, lawn chair, etc. We'll have straw bales, and if you bring a blanket it will help those to be more comfortable to sit on. Don't bring your best!
  
• A calling card, in case you want to make phone calls from the camp phone. (Cell phone service is hardly available.)
  
• A cooler and ice, if you need to keep things cool. The refrigerators in the main kitchen are all in use by our cooks.
  
• The recording team is looking to borrow a few Zoom H1 or H1N recorders. If you have one you’d be willing to lend us for the week, contact Matt Carlson . Or let him know if you’d like to donate to our recording equipment fund.
  
• Snacks, either to share at the common area or to keep with your own things. (No candy for the common area, please.)
  
• Maybe you’d like to bring a very small amount of water from home to add to our common bowl at our opening circle. 2-8 oz is plenty.
  
• Some tea and/or coffee to contribute to the all-day warm drinks table.
  
• Something that represents your ancestors, be it a photo, an artifact, something you've made, or something from the earth. You can place it at our ancestor altar. If you bring a candle, please let it be beeswax and bring a votive cup for safety. This area may not be protected from rain, so choose accordingly.
  
• A poem written out on paper to post on our camp poetry board
  
• A swimsuit, in case you'd like to dip in the river (swimsuits requested in the main swimming area)
  
• Long sleeves and a jacket. Even if our days are sunny, you might want an extra layer in the evening around the campfire.
  
• Work gloves, long pants, and long sleeves, in case you'd like to help out with one of the land-tending projects during our Give Back morning.
  
• Your own way of addressing the matter of ticks. Herbal repellent? Socks and shoes? Body scan before bed? General awareness is the starting point. There aren't many mosquitoes in these parts, but ticks may be out. If you bring something stronger than herbal repellent, please use it with discretion.
  
• Sunscreen or layers
  
• Earplugs, in case you are wanting to sleep while there is singing or snoring nearby
  
• A hand drum
  
• If you have tablecloths or picnic blankets to share, we will use those to make our picnic tables beautiful or create a cozy spot in the grass to share a meal with friends. It’s a good idea to put your name on things you'd like to keep track of.
  
• Floor pillows to use in our song tents. Don't bring your best, as there's a chance they'll get dirty or left behind.
  
• For the Children’s Tent: If it’s easy for you bring along hula-hoops, balls, jump ropes, frisbees, percussion instruments, stilts, yard games, wooden blocks, play scarves/tapestries, or baskets and loan them to the Kids Tent, connect with Amanda Rubasch at or 563-419-1132 and/or Rachel Sandhorst or 563-382-5280 to offer it up. Or just toss them in the car and find us in the Children's Tent!
  
• Supplies for any projects you plan to work on. There are no supplies available to borrow from camp.
  
• We love it when we can gaze at a bulletin board filled with interesting announcements of creative, regenerative events that are going on in other towns. Bring anything you’d like!
  
• Books and other resources for our anti-racism/liberation library!
  
• Abundance in your spring garden? Bouquets of flowers would be welcomed on our picnic tables and everywhere!
  
• Songs that you know and can teach. It's best when you can also share the lineage of the song. Where did it come from? If it's from a culture other than your own, what does it mean? How did you come to learn it? When a song comes from another culture, we practice care so as not to replicate historic patterns of colonization through the taking of things without permission. By tenderly holding this question, we can practice awareness and work toward justice.
  

What to leave at home:

• Perfumes, colognes, and any other strong-smelling aromas, as some people are allergic to non-natural substances.
  
• Though your dog is surely wonderful, they need to stay elsewhere. Only service animals and pets with specific permission are allowed.
  
• This is a family event, and we thrive on clear relations among a group of new and old friends. Please don't bring alcohol or drugs to our camp.

Other Important Notes:

• Water Safety: Parents/guardians are 100% in charge of their children.
  
• Cell phone coverage is mostly non-existent at camp. There is a land line that can be used with a calling card: (563) 382-5570. We're hoping for a mostly phone-free event, so if your phone does work and you need to use it, please step away from camp to do so.
  
• Waste: It's possible that we could walk away from camp with very little waste to throw away. Can you help that happen? Plan to take out with you everything you bring into camp.
  
• If you are a Facebook user, you might want to connect with others through the Village Fire group page. Click the Facebook icon at the bottom of this page.