Woodland Hills : Campers Say Goodby With Water Balloons

Summer camp counselor Bob Gross was in trouble. In desperation, he scooped up a water hose, and whirling his torso like a tank turret, he began blasting the children as they swarmed in from all directions.

But the youngsters, armed with water balloons, kept coming. Gross, who was now drenched from shirt to shoes, was learning the hard way that even a garden hose is no match for 40 determined kids with an arsenal of 1,000 water-filled balloons.

“We’re having fun,” said a gleeful Shacher Ross, 11, of Reseda, who was busy at a sink filling balloons for other children.

Thursday’s battle at Calvert Street Elementary School marked the close of a summer camp run by the West Valley Boys & Girls Club, which was formed in January. Its first summer camp, attended by about 200 children, has been a success, said Gross, the organization’s executive director.

The club is now making final preparations for an after-school program, which begins next Thursday. For information call (818) 340-3562 days or (818) 348-0405 evenings.

Meanwhile, the fighting raged at the asphalt-covered schoolyard, which was drenched and littered with balloon fragments. The tide suddenly appeared to turn, however, as Gross’ ally, the camp’s director, Suhail Mulla, brought out a nozzle for the hose. This gave the beleaguered counselors greater range and accuracy, and for a while, it held the children at bay.

But the children’s numerical superiority proved too much, as wave after wave rolled in. Gross, in a last-ditch effort, began lobbing balloons toward the sink, where children were rearming for a fresh assault. But most of his missiles fell short, and one plopped to the ground, unbroken.

Finally, sounding a hopeful note, Gross said, “I think they’re beginning to tucker out.”