A Last Night at Camp

[RoyalCanadian]

Folks & Friends,

I have had the joy of serving as the camp pastor to nearly 100 campers this week at a Lutheran children's summer camp in southern Ontario. Tonight was our last night of camp. Most of the campers will go home tomorrow. The CITs and the teen campers will stay over the weekend and then another group of campers will arrive on Sunday afternoon.

My DD is here at camp with me. Whereas she has stayed in the chaplain's residence with me in years past this was her first year in the cabins with the other campers. I have been watching my 6.5 year old grow up before my eyes this week. She has done things I never dreamed of doing at that age and she has enjoyed most every minute of it.

The staff have been very patient with me as I have fretted over her every move. They did all they could to assure me on Tuesday night that DD would be just fine sleeping in the woods but I still went to her campsite to make sure all was well. All I could hear was her infectious giggling from inside the tent and I knew that all was well.

Tonight I watched DD dancing around the chapel in the woods as we celebrated our last night at camp. Her eyes were so bright and her smile went from ear to ear as she sang the songs she has learned at camp over the years.

My thoughts went back to the discussion on these boards in the late winter and early spring about sending our children to camp and the worries and the fears that some parents might have about letting their children go to camp. I've had the honour to watch our children this week. If their camp is anything like here, Please know they are having a great time at camp and they are being well taken care of.

Hope the rest of your summer is just as enjoyable as this 1 week of my summer has been.

best wishes to all,

 

[Dakota_Lynn]

My daughter goes to camp every year...it's a special camp for gay and lesbian kids. She has a blast! I'm all for sending kids to camp if they want to go.

 

[disykat]

cool post!

I had to laugh at Dakota Lynn's response though - my first thought was "they have a seperate camp for gay kids - I can see gay teens, but gay kids?" I was trying to puzzle through that notion when I figured out it was for the kids of gay parents!

I'm glad everyone's kids are having fun!

 

[Dakota_Lynn]

cool post!

I had to laugh at Dakota Lynn's response though - my first thought was "they have a seperate camp for gay kids - I can see gay teens, but gay kids?" I was trying to puzzle through that notion when I figured out it was for the kids of gay parents!

I'm glad everyone's kids are having fun!

Nope, it's for gay kids from 13 to 18! lol! Hey...she's still a kid to me, she always will be! lol. There's also a camp session for kids who have gay parents. My daughter qualifies for both but finds it more fun to be with other gay kids.

 

[barkley]

my dd leaves sunday for 2 weeks away at sleepaway camp, and i know she will have a blast! she went for a week 2 years ago (had to skip last summer due to orthopedic surgery) and loved it.

one of the neat things the camp she goes to offers (esp. for hesitant moms) is a session of 'family camp' that runs before the regular sessions open for the summer. families of any size can sign up and get an abreviated version of what the kids are offered during the session (plus some special family activities)-you stay in the same cabins, eat the same food, do the activities, crafts, sports, horseback ride...we did it the first year she wanted to go and it gave me a great sense of how the place operated (and it's so popular with moms they have another session for 'mom's only' that runs for a long weekend-i have'nt gone but i've seen video-all these grown women sitting around singing camp songs, making bead necklaces, going on trail rides-they look to be having the time of their lives ).

i think it's a tremendous testament to a camp when you see the 'kids' you attended with decades ago (dh went every summer for years) sending their kids. i also like that their website has a link to their employment site-so you know exactly what criteria/screening is for seasonal staff (they have full time managment staff because they offer up the place for retreats/school field trips during the off season). i wondered how they managed to get so many college students (esp. in grad programs) to work at a place that i could'nt imagine paid a great deal (as compared to alot of summer jobs) but when i saw that in addition to housing, food, a decent wage-they offer a 50% tuition match (50% of the wages earned by an employee over the summer) to the governing church's colleges-i can see why it's a highly competitive place to get a job (and why you see alot of the same faces moving up 'thru the ranks' year after year).

 

[noodleknitter]

Awww. Camp is an awesome experience! I'm so glad it went well for the 2 of you!