attending church camp. I don’t exactly recall how long I was gone the first year—probably only three or four days. Later, camp extended for a full week and my sister and I attended both church camp and Girl Scout camp. Both bring back memories—some fond, but a few are less warm and fuzzy. Since we’re at that time of year when children begin packing for camp, I thought I’d share a few of my memories.When someone says church camp to me, I remember making crafts to take home to our parents—those lovely key chains woven out of plastic strips or painted plaster molds for Mom to hang on the kitchen wall—simply lovely. Then there was the canoe paddling, and falling into the lake, my sister’s horrible bout with poison ivy, swimming in the lake and swallowing all
that nasty water, eating in the cafeteria, vespers around the campfire, and early evening skit time. Skit time was held after supper and each cabin took a turn performing for the rest of the campers. On the final night, the camp counselors would always present a skit—usually something that would scare us enough that we didn’t sleep at all that
night.A little later in the summer there would be Girl Scout camp where it would be a different group of friends and a few different activities. We had horseback riding at scout camp, but the food wasn’t as good. And the cabins were way too far from the latrine and shower area. Oh, and the skunk. There was always a visit from at least one
skunk that required us to air out everything in our cabin.Now that I reflect upon all the things that happened, I’m not certain why I enjoyed camp so much but I did. I would come home from church camp with a renewed spirit, and I was supposed to come home from scout camp feeling prepared. I never figured out exactly what I
was supposed to be prepared for, so I think I failed in that area.And now that I’ve shared a few of my memories, I hope you’ll share some of yours. Come on—don’t be shy. You can fess up to all the things that went amiss on your camping ventures. I promise I won’t tell.
Memories are a wonderful thing! May you find joy as you share some of yours. ~Judy
P.S. I would greatly appreciate your continued prayers for my family. It has been another long and difficult week, but we are seeing prayer answered.
Judy, your walk down memory did stir up my childhood memories of Vacation Bible school. Growing up in the little southern town of Hartsville, South Carolina, you could count on it being hot and humid. But somehow as a child it did not matter so much as we all sat out under a very large shade tree and listened to our "teacher" read us Bible stories. We were given a colorful card with the Bible character of the day which had a memory verse on the back (wish I had a collection of those cards today,I could take then to the Antique Road Show!). Trips to Campbell's pond to swim and have a picnic. Seemed like the Hot Dogs just tasted better sitting at a picnic table under that big old open barn with the scary Moose head mounted over the outdoor stone fireplace.
ReplyDeleteI loved my vacation bible school teacher and wanted to be just like her when I grew up. She was very kind and really knew how to relate the truths of God's word through Bible stories. AND she made the best Grape flavored Kool-aid with sliced lemons in the world!
So Judy "Thaaaanks for the memories" (Remember Bob Hope used to sing that at the end of his show?) Wow! now I feel ancient! LOL
Love, Veronica
Oh! and praying for you and your family. God IS faithful!
ReplyDeleteHi Veronica,
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing about Vacation Bible School!! VBS brought to mind another whole set of wonderful memories. Like you, I had a VBS teacher that I really loved--she was the best. Even after I moved to Kansas, I made sure I saw her everytime I went home for a visit. And I love hearing about the Kool-aid with sliced lemons--never would have thought about doing that! :)
Most of all, thanks for your prayers, Veronica. Please continue.
Judy, what a wonderful post! My parents weren't big on the idea of summer camp, but they did let me attend 4-H camp one year. I was utterly homesick for the first few days, but by the time we went home, I didn't want to leave. LOL One of my favorite memories was of the deer head ("Anthony") mounted in our cabin. We always had to make sure we dusted Anthony's nose so he'd be as clean as the rest of the cabin when it came time for the daily inspection. Many years later, we sent our son to a youth camp. It turned out they were holding it at the same campgrounds I'd attended. I told him he had to be sure to stop by my old cabin to tell Anthony hello. : )
ReplyDeleteI'm still lifting up you and your family in prayer!
Hi Carol,
ReplyDeleteLoved hearing about Anthony--was he still there where Kevin went to check on him? I'm guessing 'yes.'
Thanks for the prayers!
I went to camp ONCE. A tornado came through. That was enough for me. lol
ReplyDeleteI remember singing around the campfire and in the bus.... and the snipe hunt.. playing tricks on the other cabins...and the "no mixed bathing" rule that made the boys and girls swim separately and the girls had to wear one-piece swimsuits with a T-shirt over it!
ReplyDeleteThe tornado story is enough to make me happy I went to camp in Pennsylvania, Kim. LOL. I think that would have cured me of ever want to go again, too.
ReplyDeleteAnd Cathy, I'd forgotten about the separate swimming times and playing tricks on other cabins. I remember both now that you've mentioned them. :)
Thanks for sharing your camp experiences with us, Judy! ~ I didn't attend any camps as a child (way too shy then, LOL) but always enjoyed VBS in the summer time. ~ As a young adult, I enjoyed a singles retreat my church (at that time) sponsored in the north Georgia mountains. It was always held on Labor Day weekend, and those memories are priceless (yes, I had finally outgrown some of my shyness by that time!). Besides having worship services, we played all sorts of fun games, did skits, etc. - - guess maybe we acted more like teens than "mature young adults"LOL! I haven't thought about those times in ages, so thanks for stirring up some fond memories. ~ Praying for your precious family. Hugs, Patti Jo P.S. After reading Veronica's response, I now have the urge to make a big pitcher of grape Kool-aid and put lemon slices in it - YUM! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, Judy, Anthony was still "hanging around" in the cabin. I didn't get a report on whether his nose was still dust-free, though. ;-)
ReplyDeleteJudy,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. I was pretty shy as a youngster -- shocking, I know! =) Any church camps were pretty far away and I wasn't interested in leaving home then anyway -- major homesickness!
However, I did do some Girl Scout day camps and then eventually some overnight campouts. Those were generally fun. I can still make a handwashing station out of a clorox bottle and a sit-upon, if anyone needs any help with that. (ha!)
Plus I went to Camp Daisy Hindman (Girl Scouts) a time or two. I was an incredibly picky eater back then. (I'm only a picky eater now.) And I did not like cooked spinach! Camp is supposed to be fun -- so it's like throwing a big wrench in the works to serve cooked spinach and then force everyone to take 3 bites. Eeeeew!
There were things about it that I liked I guess, but I was never one to get excited about camp. But I sure enjoyed reading about your fun times.
Still praying,
Susie
Thanks for sharing, Patti Jo. Loved hearing about the "adult" campe. You know, even as adults, it's fun to act like a kid once in a while--especially at a retreat.
ReplyDeleteAnd, Carol, glad to hear Anthony was still hanging around--literally. LOL.
And Susie--thanks for reminding me of sit-upons. I hadn't thought about those, but boy do I remember making them. Not sure I could still make one, but I was good at weaving one together back "in the day."
Thanks to all of you for sharing your memories. ~Judy
Ok, one day late again. (sigh) But my favorite memory of summer camp--aside from it being in the middle of the West Virginia mountains--was the week our group suffered under the pranks of our 2 counselors only to get them back good at the end of the week. :)
ReplyDeleteThey were pulling pranks and practical jokes on us all week, including a middle of the night "punishment" for supposedly breaking curfew where we had to go to the tabernacle and sit on the cold, marble porch and do sit-ups in our pajamas. That was only 1 of the many.
The end of the week, though, they were on snack bar watch, so we sneaked into their room, short-sheeted their beds, put shoes in their pillows, squeezed toothpaste at the bottom of their beds, sprayed their perfume, and pulled all of their clothes from the closet and drawers to put them on the beds and chairs.
Best part, though? Writing, "We got you back, Love Blue" on their room and bathroom mirrors. Our group was Team Blue that week for activities and games. By curfew, we were all in our rooms, but the screams that followed not long after made us all laugh. :) Ahhh...the memories.
Thanks for a walk down memory lane.
Loved hearing your story about the counselors, Tiff. I think at most of the camps, some of the counselors were worse than the kids with their pranks! I appreciate the smile--even a day late. :)
ReplyDelete