Summer Camp

This is gearing up to be a busy week for me. Not only do I have summer school during the regular work day, but I then go out to our local church camp for high school week as soon as I get off of work. By the time I leave from camp to go home, it could be anywhere from 9:30 to after 11pm.

I absolutely love summer camp. Our church is the host church of our campgrounds because we are one of two churches within 10 miles of the camp. It is officially out in the middle of no where (considering the nearest "town" is 6 miles away and that town has a population of less than 3,000). We have kids from churches all over the Ozarks show up at camp--even kids from a few Arkansas churches manage to make their way up to our camp. We basically have the same faculty there every year (mostly made up of the church youth ministers), and during high school week, most of the campers have been there for years as well. It's a very small town/family environment.

All camps seem to be different, and this one is nothing like the summer camps you see in movies. We don't have individual cabins; instead we have a boys dorm and a girls dorm. The boys dorm is a converted house, so there are individual rooms with multiple bunks in each room. The old girls dorm is the same as the boys, but a new girls dorm has been added to the old house. The new section is a large room with about 20 bunk beds in it (room for around 40 girls). As old and run-down as the house is, most of the girls would still prefer to be in the old dorm because of the more private rooms.

We have a multi-purpose room that acts as a gym and a dining hall. Lots of activities go on in there throughout the day.

There is also a worship pavilion. It's very unique considering it is all open air. They have put tarps on the side where the rain would normally blow in, and there is a wall stage-side, but other than that it's fairly open to the outdoors. Churches have donated old pews for the kids to sit in as well.

Classes are taught in the multiple small pavilions that sprinkle the camp grounds. They are usually found under shade trees, looking picturesque.

There is also a pool, outdoor basketball court, soccer field and sand volleyball for rec time.

I never have a real job at camp. Instead I act as a gopher/secretary/snack sales person/jack-of-all trades. This year I am also taking the camp pictures, which is proving to be a profitable summer side-job.

I hope this causes you to think back to your days at summer camp. Whether camp for you was a week long or all summer long, the memories will last a lifetime.

I may post pictures as the summer progresses, but right now I'm at work and can't really load pictures up for everyone to see the beauty of the camp.

For more small town moments, check out On The Front Porch.