Family Weekends

Amazing things happen at camp when there are campers here. There aren’t always campers here though, and that’s when this job becomes full of politics and strife and leaves me wishing I was anywhere but here. I know that I’m just going through those feelings because I’ve had such huge changes in the past six months of my life, but it has left me more than a little frustrated.

As I was saying though, when the campers are here, this place is amazing. Family weekends are what we are running this time of year. They start on a Friday evening and go through Sunday just before lunch. And we cram a bazillion activities into them, trying to appeal to all the different desires of each family.

Around 2 pm on Friday, the volunteers, or vollies, as we call them, arrive at camp. They come from all over the state, and others fly in from all over the country. We have regular vollies here who do our airport runs and pick up the other vollies and then camper families later in the day because if you want to come to camp, and you meet the requirements, we’ll help you get here.

So the vollies arrive and then it’s time for their orientation and training. The program team, of which I am a part, does all this stuff. We take them through the medical needs, with the help of our Body Shop (that’d be the medical clinic) staff, as well as all the traditional stuff. Then we split out into specific job functions and show them what they’ll be doing in their area. I do arts & crafts, the woodshop, the maze and mini golf. Others are learning about procedures in the Fuel Stop, where we eat, or what to do at the Horse Power Garage (the barns), Fishing, Archery and of course, being a Crew Chief. Program Chiefs run the programs. The Crew Chiefs run the families.

Back into the theater everyone goes and we review the stuff the Vollies learned in their few hours, learn some dances that we do after breakfast and dinner in the fuel stop, and then head up to cabin row to meet the families. Sometimes we do a parade, waving streamers and pompoms and cheering as all the cars arrive. Other times, when the weather is nasty or 25 families are waiting eagerly in the parking lot, we meet the families at their cabins.

Vollies and families meet up, get settled in and head down to the Fuel Stop, and the weekend begins. After the dinner dance party, led by the program team, which is a huge stretch for me, we meet everyone in the theater. And there, the program team puts on a show that involves singing, dancing, acting silly or serious and whatever else we decide it needs. All the while our professional videography crews are shooting footage. Bright lights and a camera in my face are a bit hard to ignore, but the laughs and smiles in the audience make it all worthwhile.

Saturday starts bright and early with Pole Position before breakfast. The activities vary, but always include the Fab Shop. It’s our resident beauty salon, where we can turn your hair any color and make it stick up in all sorts of fun shapes. You can put on all sorts of glamorous make up, paint your nails, and get all dolled up. You can make your parents and Crew Chiefs look silly as can be. It’s just plain fun. And the boys spend more time there than the girls.

Breakfast and another dance party get the rest of the camp moving. Then it’s off to the races, so to speak. All the program areas are open, including fishing, crafts, horseback riding, sports and games, and whatever else we can think of. There are 4 different activity times throughout the day, called Turns. Turn 1 and 2 are before lunch and 3 and 4 are after lunch and Recharge Time. Recharge time is a really important thing because even a day at camp leaves you wiped out.

Dinner involves another dance party and then everyone is off to the Pit Stop for dessert. Dessert is hosted by a bunch of volunteers and includes a soft serve frozen yogurt, cotton candy and popcorn. There’s also one last chance to visit the Fab Shop before it’s time for Stage Night. Stage Night is an all camp talent show, where people do whatever they can think of or want to on the stage. It’s some pretty amazing stuff, to be sure.

Sunday has an optional worship service in the morning in place of Pole Position, and then breakfast. After that there is some sort of free choice or all camp activity. It’s never the same thing twice, because we might have a visiting entertainer like a magician or a band to come and play. And then there is a quick bout of t-shirt decorating, before we have an all camp game of kick ball in the brand new Superdome building. The Superdome is so new it doesn’t even have it’s sign yet, and hasn’t been dedicated but we play in it anyway.

Finally, it’s one last trip to the theater, where we do a camp closing and the camp director shows the DVD that the awesome video crew made over the weekend. Then everyone heads home with lunches to munch in the car, and promises to come back this summer. It’s one heck of a weekend, to say the least!