Boca Raton Holiday Parade

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On Dec 7th, over 30 members of the Great Sun Nation participated in the 45th annual Boca Raton Holiday Parade.   We had an incredible float with a tee-pee, tent, fire, and of course Chief Chupacabra and the Spirit Stick.    The float was led by our children holding our banner while other the other kids were handing out candy and flyers.  The dads looked good in their headdresses and kept the kids safe.  We were greeted with applause up and down Federal Highway.    A BIG HOW goes out to Lenny for building the float and driving it along the parade.

Disney’s Fort Wilderness 2016 Camp out

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HOW HOW MIGHTY GREAT SUN NATION !!!!

This is a short recap of what was one Great family outing. With over 250 people things went perfectly. The weather was cooperating with warm days and cool nights. This was the first time we used an RV camping loop! From the feedback I have received, everyone enjoyed accessing electricity, water and cable TV! Parking was such a pleasure!

By 6 p.m. Friday we had all campers checked in and fires were burning . I saw quite a few members watching fireworks at the beach followed by a movie and s’mores at Camp Arapahoe.

Saturday morning our loop was stirring with a buzz of activity! The Shoshones set up a rope line and built special teepees out of Spanish Moss in the field with the Arapahoes. Now, that’s what I call teamwork! Plenty of kids played tether ball and soccer games before breakfast!!

As the day got warmer, it was certainly time to head to the pool.  Pool time with the GSN was over the top with the largest dodge ball game that the staff had seen in years. When Disney staff shouted out to the guests “ Where are you all from?” It was clear that GSN was in the house. What was meant to be a 30 minute game went on for an hour and a half. As the sun started to go down and the air cooled off it was time to get ready for a fun night. The Arapahoes were treated to a group bus ride to Disney Springs. We ate at Bongos on the water with almost 40 kids and adults! We were blessed with dancers who took the kids on a congo line through the restaurant to give the parents time to eat and relax. After dinner, it was time for a walk and we ended up at the Lego store where the kids built race cars and had a bunch of fun. Now with a quick call to Disney, a bus was brought to a special spot that took us directly back to our camp site. Saturday night was wonderful with groups of tribes walking the loop and hanging with each other and we all found a common bond. We had a great turn out for the new Star Trek movie with lots of great snacks.

Sunday was our final day and most of our group was packed up and on their way but a few hung out till 1pm . I was pleased to walk the grounds with the Disney Management Team after everyone left. The place looked almost as good as the way we found it and we have been asked to come back next year. Good news -after my meeting with Disney Management, we have been offered a full loop next to the pool!! We can block this off to have it totally to ourselves. We look forward to seeing you all soon! And thank you, for being part of such a great group and making everything ‘just right’!

Shriek Week 2016

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On October 27-28-29 the Great Sun Nation participated in Shriek Week at Sugar Sands Park.    This was a great event put on by the City of Boca Raton, with haunted houses and other Halloween activities.    The highlight for the kids is to go through the Trick-or-Treat Trail.   The GSN had a table and gave away around 2000-3000 pieces of candy to the young kids.    The little kids loved our headdresses and we were one of the most popular tables.     We also were raffling off a tent and collecting names of potential new members.    When we told people about the GSN and what we do, they became very excited.    It was great to team up with the City and have a successful recruiting event and getting our name out to the public.  Special thanks to the Arapahoe, Arawak, Dakota, Dorado, Seneca and Shoshone tribe for volunteering at the event.

Blue Springs Campout

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On October 21st 46 families traveled north to the beautiful Blue Springs State Park in Orange City, Fl.    We were treated to one of the most beautiful natural springs.    The water was crystal clear and cold.   We saw manatees and many other fish enjoying the clean waters.     The highlight was tubing to the spring head and enjoying the natural beauty.   There was wild life all over the place with raccoons, armadillos and peacocks roaming the grounds.    On Saturday night we gathered together for our first every Corn Ceremony to celebrate the harvest.    We have over 40 carved pumpkins to mark the ceremony.   Each child threw a handful of corn into the fire, returning our small kernels of thanks for all that you have given us.   Then we made tons of s’mores.    We were also treated to the coolest weather in a long time,  with overnight temps dipping into the low 50’s.

Museum Overnight

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On Saturday Sept 10th – 133 dads and kids invaded the Museum of Discovery and Science in Ft. Lauderdale.   We started off with a pizza dinner and then had went to our lab.   We built roller coasters out of foam tubes and masking tape.    There were some amazing designs and some even worked.    I think the dads had as much fun as the kids.   After the labs, we had the run of the museum.   The Mars rover and flight simulator were very popular.  We tried in vain to get the kids to sleep by midnight, but even turning off all the lights didn’t help.    Everyone had a great time.

Great Sun Nation in the news

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The Great Sun Nation got some good press today in the Sun Sentinel.   Click on link to read the story about Chief Chupacabra.

http://eedition.sun-sentinel.com/olive/ODE/FloridaSunSentinel2/LandingPage/LandingPage.aspx?href=RlNTLzIwMTYvMDkvMTE.&pageno=MTI0&entity=QXIxMjQwOA..&view=ZW50aXR5

 

 

Ice Skating Party 8-20

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What a ‘cool’ event!  We had 139 skaters and lot of dads and moms as spectators on ice skates for 3 hours at Incredible Ice in Coral Spring.  Included In the  above number were 31 dads and kids which are prospective members.  Everyone had a great time and it was a relief from the extreme heat outside.  This was our first ever Ice Skating party.  It was also a great reunion and kick off to the camping season.  We would like to thank the Seneca for setting up this great event.  Thanks for all that came today and we hope to make this an annual tradition

Alex’s Lemonade Stand

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On Saturday May 7th, the Great Sun Nation, along with the Timucuan Nation of Jacksonville, collected money to help fund research to cure juvenile cancer.    This is our second year of collecting money for this great cause.   We want to recognize Ed Bittman for organizing this event and being the leading fund raiser.   We raised over $3500.     I know next year we can do much more.   Thank you to the Arawak, Dorado, Dakota, Seneca and Shoshone tribes for helping man the tables and collect the money.

Xtreme Action Overnight

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On May 20th – over 130 dads and kids entered the best playground in the world – Xtreme Action Park.    After orientation we spent had a great dinner followed by unlimited fun.   There was bowling, ropes courses, arcade games, bazooka ball and karting.   If you were bored here – it would have been your own fault.      Only about 20 people stayed over – sleeping in the bazooka ball room.    Aaron gave us a behind the scenes tour of what was coming up next.     What a great time was had by all!

Fiesta Key Campout

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On April 15th, over 130 Dads and kids descended on Fiesta Key for our last outdoor campout of the season.   The Dakota tribe did an excellent job in putting together this outing.   We had members from the Arawak, Shoshone, Wolverine, Dakota and Dorado tribes.   The weather was good during the day and a little stormy at night.   Most of the tribes took advantage of the beautiful waters and rented boats to do some exploring and hang out at the sand bar.    Some of the Dorado girls discovered a pod of manatees hanging around the mangroves when they were paddle boarding.    There was a lot of fishing and you could even see juvenile lobsters under the rocks at the seawall.   Great time was had by all.