Summer camp is back in session in Palm Springs
In-person summer camp kicked off this week at the James O. Jessie Desert Highland Unity Center. The camp is back in person compared to last year when it was held virtually. Those parents that were ready for us to come in, oh, they came in literally knocking at the door, said community center manager, Jarvis Crawford. Talking about open, open, come on let us bring our kids in. Give our kids something to do during the summer!
Kids at camp will be able to do sports, arts and crafts, and go on field trips. The trips will be to the Palm Springs Swim Center and local movie theatres. Guest speakers will also interact with the kids through motivational activities.
Cora Crawford gently laughed when she told the story of her first year in college in Texas studying to be a nurse. She was interested in nurturing. But she figured out pretty quickly she was afraid of dead people” and instead decided to change careers and go into education. The decision was a fortunate one for the children of Palm Springs.
Crawford came to the desert from Carthage, Texas, in 1951, when her husband, Samuel, came back to collect her and bring her West. He had heard that there were plenty of jobs in the desert that paid pretty well and set out for a better life, hoping to get established. He got a job with Earl Neel at the Palm Springs Nursery and soon returned to Carthage to bring Cora back with him to California. The couple landed on Section 14, in the middle of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation, and rented a house from Samuel’s brother and his wife. With a place to live, Cora and Samuel started a family.