Presbytery of Coastal Carolina – Summer Program at Camp Monroe

Fourth Week with Campers

Well, it was a wet week at Camp Monroe! Great group of kids but they didn’t have a chance to experience a night at the Outpost nor did they get a chance to sleep out in tents by the pool. I woke up one night thinking that we were having the 4^th of July all over again. The bright flashes and load booms scared me so I know that some of the campers had a tough night sleeping. Oh well, this is what happens at camp and we really do need the rain! I went out on Wednesday morning and watched a group go through several elements on the low ropes. Actually that is a misnomer, the first thing they tackled was a bridge, the next was crossing several steel cables attached to some of our bigger pine trees and last but not least was an element where several “stumps” were linked together by two by fours. I didn’t see a rope anywhere that day! These activities are all aimed at building teamwork and trust. After several (numerous) failed attempts at trying to cross the steel cables, Louie, Erin, Fredy and I lent a hand – if we hadn’t I think we’d still be out there. These were horse camp people – hopefully better on horses than on steel cable.

We had a bed frame painting contest – we’ll do anything to entertain ourselves at camp. Actually it was the counselors not assigned to a group who did the painting. Campers got to judge the art work by screaming and clapping when Jon pointed to each frame. I had to determine which bed frame got the loudest vote. We had a tie so two counselors shared in the prize. These wonderfully painted works of art will be on display at the “Outpost,” another reason to visit this exotic place when you come to camp in the near future.

The Expanded Explorer camp began last Thursday with 19 campers participating. Saturday was their scheduled canoe trip on the Lumber River and guess what, IT DIDN’T RAIN!! With this size group along with counselors, program directors, lifeguards, Jon and a guide, the group needed 29 canoes. This was not a canoe trip, it was a flotilla or an armada or some other term that means a lot of watercraft all grouped together!! It took all day to get everybody on the river, down river and then out of the river. Sorry I didn’t get to go on this trip! We only had one incident – a program director who’s name starts with “K” along with her canoe partner ended up getting wet. She says it was the canoe’s fault!! No surprise there!

I’ve been conducting an exit survey during the last four weeks and have received some interesting responses. First, just about everybody likes to go swimming – especially community swim when everybody gets in the pool. About 40% didn’t like the bath houses (Unit Lodges). Actually that’s about par for the course. They thought they had too many bugs and were dirty – should have grown up going to one of Pennsylvania’s state parks like I did. You haven’t experienced dirty until you’ve walked a mile in my shoes – never your bare feet. Actually New Mexico’s rest stops rank right down there with Pa.’s state parks. State parks in Pa. have improved significantly but I don’t know about New Mexico rest stops. Guess I’ll have to take a field trip and find out.

Other survey findings: the overwhelming majority like to dance so the Thursday night dance event was a big hit. Lyndsey’s IPOD along with some big speakers got a real workout on those nights. Our campers really fell in love with their counselors. Many felt a real attachment to the people who became their fearless leaders during their time at camp. Even though it wasn’t specifically stated in the survey’s comment section, the food that Mildred cooked was a real big hit. That conclusion is the result of personal observation. Some of our kids went back for seconds and thirds – some of the staff did the same.

As with about all surveys, the most interesting information can be found in the comments section. I asked the campers to give me what they felt was the best part of their week at camp. This is where I received comments about swimming and the counselors but also heard that they enjoyed riding horses and making “Hobo Pies” on Wednesday nights – most even enjoyed spending the night at the “Outpost” – they are made of sturdier stock than I. I asked them to give me what they considered the “Worst” part of their week at camp. A lot said “Nothing” and added that they enjoyed everything. Some mentioned the “Unit Lodges” while others told me that leaving on Friday was the worst part because they had to say goodbye to new friends - thank God that we were able to attain one of this year’s goals. The good news is that over 90% said that they would tell a friend about this year’s experience at camp and about the same percentage said that they plan on coming back next year. So parents get prepared to sign your child up next spring. Ann told me today that we have over 360 registered this year – almost 20 more than last year. A source in tells me that camp registrations in Wilmington are down about a 25%. That just tells me we must be doing something right here at Monroe. Oh, by the way, most of those campers who said they didn’t like the “Unit Lodges” said that they wanted to come back again next year. Must not be that bad after all!

A few minutes after the group picture below was taken, the bottom dropped out and the Lord blessed us with more of the wet stuff. The field shown on the left is relatively dry most of the time. As you can see it was not dry by the end of the week. I think our next mission camp will focus on ark building!!

Well it is time to go to supper or dinner or whatever they call it down south so I’ve got to close now and eat some more of Mildred’s down home cooking.

Bob

PS: I finished this week’s Blog on Sunday evening but since Camp Monroe does not have high speed internet service, I posted this Tuesday morning at the Presbytery office in Elizabethtown. Let’s work on getting some high speed service out here in the near future!