Nestled on a small peninsula in Maryland directly off the Chesapeake Bay, sat a large, but quaint camp known as Camp Wabanna. Beginning in 1997, our church along with other sister churches on the east coast decided to have a bi-annual retreat and this was the chosen location. Sitting on 23 acres, the camp consisted of a large lodge, many bunkhouses and lodging areas, a gymnasium, beaches, a craft house, a small farm, and many other interesting facilities.
I always looked forward to visiting Camp Wabanna because it meant many fun activities, a road trip, seeing all my friends from the DC area, and so much more. We almost always went down in a three car caravan. Al and Sue drove one of their cars, my parents drove another (usually the Ford Aspen) and Alice drove her camper van with her daughters Melinda and Joanna. That camper van was incredible. It was built to go on long road and camping trips so one could live in it. The bench seats were parallel to the wall, facing a little table in the middle. Behind the bench seats were windows with curtains we could open and close at will. It was always a treat for us to ride in it especially on long car trips.
Whenever we went, the first night was always simply check in and settle down. But if you were feeling ambitious, they'd have a campfire on the beach, where a small group would gather and enjoy some songs and the sound of the crashing waves. We decided to check it out once and we met up with the Bishops there. Wesley and I spent most of the time hopping around on the empty log seats, possibly annoying some adults in the process. Eventually our parents decided it was time to get us off to bed, but right before we left, Wes and I sat down on a log and he he pulled a small stack of cards out of his coat. "Have you heard of Pokemon?" he asked. I told him no as this was 1998 and the game had just landed on US shores, but the craze hadn't erupted yet. He explained what it was and gave me two cards to start a collection. I received a Weedle and a Drowzee. I thought these were the coolest thing ever and my introduction to Pokemon had officially begun.
A typical daily schedule of events looked like this: Breakfast in a large room in the main lodge (or in a large outdoor tent), morning meeting for adults, kids to children's service, lunch, afternoon was a free-for-all full of activities, dinner, adult meeting and kids in children's service, and finally end of day. The schedule sometimes varied depending on circumstance, but that was the general plan.
From my perspective, there were no boring moments throughout the day. You might think that the meal times would produce some yawns, but on the contrary, they were always exciting. I was able to interact with many different people because we weren't split up into age groups. I would usually gravitate towards kids playing a Gameboy or whomever Wesley was eating with (if not me). Sometimes I would be at a table with kids whose parents thought the best form of entertainment were dad jokes and they usually were. Every once in awhile, something unusual would happen including a scary moment. The incident happened one of the years we ate in a large outdoor tent. The morning announcements had just been made and the staff was preparing to serve the food when a nearby golf cart motor roared to life. No one thought anything of it until someone on the staff shouted "Oh my god there's a kid on there!" Lot's of people stood up to see what was going on as the staff raced out of the tent to attempt to wrangle the wayward golf cart going in circles with a young boy at the helm. Much to everyone's relief, one managed to jump into the rogue golf cart, ease it to a stop, and return the boy safely to his terrified but relieved father. Then came the thunderous applause from everyone in the tent for the heroic actions of the staff. It was a happy ending to a scary moment.
During the adult meetings, which took place in the Lodge, the kids were left with a handful of adults in various designated places. Sometimes we ended up in a small building with a lot of chairs where some people would play instruments while we would all sing songs. Then a Bible lesson would be given and my favorite ones were when the lesson-givers created a skit. Watching adults be silly and goofy had us enthralled and was even better when they used some of us kids in their skits. After that portion, we'd be split into groups. Some of us would end up in the craft hall and the rest in a large gymnasium. If we found ourselves in the craft hall, we would spend the time constructing a craft based on the bible stories we just heard. Some were cool and some not so much, but either way we were proud of our creations and ended up excitedly showing them to our parents. Some crafts made the trip back home, some did not, and most ended up being thrown out eventually as they became interesting pieces of clutter. The gym, however, was the best part of the whole children's service. This was the place where we got to burn energy, play large group games we normally didn't get to play, and really get to know a lot of new kids. It was at this very camp that my out-of-state friend circle grew. Wesley knew many of these kids beforehand because they lived close to him in Fairfax, VA. Sure enough, I made some fast friends who I could always have a good time with on trips like this. The short list of those people include Andrew B. and his older sister Renee, Paul G. and two of his sisters Mary and Elizabeth, Rebecca G., Kyle M. and his older brother Morgan, and Asher W.
The first half of gym time always consisted of organized group games that the adults set up and we had to play. Sometimes they were fun and other times they were torture. One game in particular is one I will never understand why adults thought it was a good idea to play with mixed age groups, sometimes themselves included. It is none other than the classic game of Red Rover. The game was simple. Split the group into two teams with the same number of people on each team. Then everyone would line up side by side about 50ft from the other team and face them. Each team would then link hands and spread out as far as their wingspan would go. One team would be declared it and they would call out "Red Rover Red Rover, send (name of person on the other team) over!" That person would then let go of their chain and charge full speed at the other team's chain and try to break it by running through a pair of linked hands. If the chain broke, the runner would get to choose one of the two people in the broken link to join their side. If the chain held, the runner had to become part of the opposing chain's team. The winner was declared when a runner broke the last link of the final two people on a team. Now when this game was played with just kids my size and my age, we had tons of fun trying to crash trough each other's arms. But when we were the smallest ones there, the bigger kids targeted our arms because they were the easiest to break through and it was near impossible for us to separate their arms. One of the times we played, poor Wesley got clothes-lined when he went for what he thought was the lowest chain link and ended up smacking his head into the arm link and going down. He ended up being fine, except for maybe a bruised ego. I don't think I managed to break through any arms that day either.
The real fun began when we could play our own games. The gym had basketball courts, volleyball nets, and floor hockey goals. The most popular games were Knockout and floor hockey. For floor hockey, we'd pick teams schoolyard style naming two captains and they take turns picking players. We never had to worry about uneven numbers or someone not getting picked because we let everyone play and it was pure chaos. Imagine 20 kids with hockey sticks as a mass horde charging a bouncing ball or puck. Sure kids fell, crashed into each other and got the occasional whack from a poorly placed stick, but no one took it personal. One time I had a really good game and scored a few goals. Sometimes we wouldn't play a game, but instead have someone stand in the goal and see how many shots they could stop. No pads. We were hardcore.
After the adult meeting ended, our parents would come get us and we'd go get lunch. Then came the afternoon free-for-all. This meant a few hours of doing whatever you and your family decided to do. If you wanted to take a nap, you could do that. Explore the camp? You could do that too. The camp also offered tons of fun things to do. You could go paddle-boating or canoeing in the bay, rock climbing in the gym, horseback riding, hiking, and so much more. The first time I tried rock climbing, I failed to make it to the bell. But the next time we went, I was determined to ring it. I went fast and furious up that wall, but about the halfway point I started to struggle. I took a minute to get back in the groove and continued upward. The bell was in reach. I was going to ring it! But then my muscles started to ache. My sweaty palms started to slip. Was I really going to be denied this close? I forced my body to make one last grab, gave myself a little boost, swung my hand at the bell and heard the sweet, sweet "DING!" I felt like a legend in that moment. And to prove it wasn't a fluke, after a few minutes rest, I went up the wall again and rang the bell a second time. I was on top of the world that day.
One year they had a special pendulum swing. You had to be a certain age and sign up for a time slot. Once it was your turn, they put you in a harness, attached you to a release cable, and pulled you until you were at a high angle off the ground. Then, whenever you were ready, you'd pull the release handle and let gravity do the rest. Instant freefall and sheer thrill. Unfortunately I was too scared to try it at the time, but Wesley did it and had a blast.
The swing-set was a popular place for kids my age to go. There was one year where Wesley, Morgan, Rebecca, and I would claim all of the swings and spend most of the time swinging away and talking about Pokemon. We would kill what seemed like hours doing this and usually ended by seeing who could jump the furthest off the swings.
The afternoon time was followed by dinner and then the last adult meeting of the day. For this time, they sent all the kids straight to the gym and had everything done in there. The singing, the stories, the group activities, and the free-for-all. To me, the evening times were way better than the morning ones, but it was at one of these times where my life would take a drastic turn.
I had a love/hate relationship with thunderstorms as a kid. In the summer, they were the coolest thing ever and fun to play in after the lightning stopped. But if they happened in the dead of night in a place where I was far from home, I couldn't stand them. One of my irrational fears as a kid was being in a place where an ocean, river, or lake would severely flood the area. During one of the evening times, all of us kids were in the gym. It was a free-for-all period and due to it being hot out, they had the large doors pulled open to let some air in. Wesley, my siblings, and Melinda and Joanna were occupied with other activities. I can't remember what I was doing, but I remember hearing the low rumble of thunder in the distance. I went over to one of the open doors and saw large black clouds coming off the ocean. I looked back into the gym and saw the chaos of happy children, running, playing, and being obnoxious and also saw that the small number of serving adults didn't have an eye on every kid. These adults were not my parents and to me, it didn't seem as if they cared about the coming storm. Fearing the storm and not knowing what was going to happen, I decided to put a plan in motion and plot my next move. I casually walked just outside the garage door and began staring at the vending machine, acting as if I was going to buy something. Then I managed to fully conceal myself behind it, peeking back into the gym to see if anyone noticed. No one had. Then at the next rumble of thunder, I bolted. I ran as hard as my little legs could carry me across the open field towards the lodge. I didn't look back until I had made it to the lodge doors. Once there, I looked behind and saw that not a single adult had come after me. Not one. I weaved my way through the lodge to the doors of the meeting room. I slowly pulled it open and saw hundreds of people listening to the speaker. The speaker was making closing remarks and then noticed me. He said something along the lines of "It appears that a storm is coming and I think it's time to pick up the kids as one has shown up. Hundreds of eyes turned upon me. A terrifying moment became more terrifying. My mom and Alice recognized me and rushed over. They asked me who brought me here and I told them no one. I said I saw the storm coming and ran over here. Concerned for the rest of my siblings and Melinda and Joanna, they brought me to Dad and then took off towards the gym. Right as they made it to the gym, the storm came sweeping through the camp. Loud thunder, violent lightning, and high winds thrashed about. It took out the power. None of the kids that were in the gym were able to leave as it was the safest place to be until the storm passed. All I could think about was what would've happened if I had stayed there. I was concerned for my siblings and friends, but I was more concerned for myself. Finally the storm passed, but the power wasn't restored right away. My mom and Alice eventually returned with everyone else in one piece. Everything should've been fine...but it wasn't.
That terrifying experience that I went through caused me to develop cruel anxiety. Because no adults kept an eye on me in a scary situation and because not a single one came after me as I fled, made it incredibly hard to trust adults who weren't close friends or family. I don't fault those adults now as I realize they were short-handed and had way too many kids to handle, but to let a kid under the age of ten escape without notice could've made for a bad situation. The anxiety that I developed from this experience ruled over my life the rest of my pre-teen years and into my early teenage years. It impacted the way I acted, experiences and opportunities that came my way, as well as many other facets of my life. It ruined a lot of things for me and it began before the turn of the millennia.
Now I don't want to end this chapter on a sour note, so I'll end with this. Camp Wabanna will always hold a special place in my heart. It allowed me to experience life outside my small little world in Pennsylvania. I got to experience many little joys of life that I didn't get to otherwise. I had the best of times with dear friends I only got to see a few times a year and we always picked up where we left off. Many of them I haven't seen since childhood and the memories of this camp reminds me of all the fun we had in those days. There are more small stories I could tell, but I may save those for another time.
