This year, for the second time, the Montgomery County (Maryland) Recreation Department is hosting three, two-week long summer camp for kids aged 8-12. Called Smart Moves, these summer camps will involve kids in family strategy games, teaching them good sportsmanship, strategic thinking, planning, and hopefully stretch their minds a bit while they have fun. Last year, more than 50 kids attended. This is a great idea that many gamers in my area worked hard to get off the ground. Last year, I provided them with help and encouragement in planning the events and activities, and I spent a great deal of time garnering games from publishers. My wife was the director of the camp last year, and will be returning this year. My eldest son will be working as a counselor, and my youngest son will attend the camp. Good friends that I game with frequently will be working as counselor and assistant director (hopefully -- that last part is not confirmed yet). This year, we are expecting to have as many as 90 kids sign up for the camps. There are already kids who have signed up! This is a wonderful camp for kids, and helps promote and advance our hobby. However, we need your help. Many of the games used last year are not in any condition to use again (240 hours of use in camp last year left many of them in less than stellar condition) and we would like to expand on games we can offer the kids. The camp is not a charitable organization, but we have a very limited budget. Therefore, we need donations of games so that we can offer the kids the best experience possible. I am listing games at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist.php3?action=view&listid=5856 that I know are in poor shape (mostly, it is cards wearing out or getting damaged), or were very popular last year, or that we did not have last year and would like to offer this year. Some of the games we had last year but that are still in great shape are: Carcassonne, Clans, Cartagena, Oh Zoolo Mio, Basari, 10 Days in the USA, Pirate's Cove, Queen's Necklace, Fist of Dragonstones, Coloretto, King's Breakfast, Mamma Mia, and Mystery of the Abbey) That said, we will take any games that someone is willing to donate to us, as long as they are age appropriate (8-12). Back to Table of Contents -- Game! # 13 To Game! List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2005 by George Phillies. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com