Summer camp was something every kid new about. Depending on what type of kid you were, you either always wanted to go or you dreaded going. I was in the group that wanted to go. But it wasn't really for the basic reasons of summer camp. Because my view of what those were like came from all kinds of 90s cartoons, PBS kids shows, TV shows, and movies that depicted how epic they were supposed to be. They made camp counselors look goofy and that kids had more free reign than they did at home. The epic competitions, prank wars, and doing all sorts of crazy stuff late into a summer night was the stuff of dreams.
But we all know that TV tends to exaggerate things and summer camps were not cheap endeavors. Plus none of my friends went to summer camp so it wasn't something that was in the cards for me. But in the summer of 2004, now living in Cleveland, OH, opportunity arose. It turns out that the church group out here ran a multitude of summer events for the youth and one of them was called Jr. High Family Camp. It was a week long Christian youth camp that focused on kids in Jr. High (5th-8th grade), but was open to families as well. And who were the counselor's? Any high schooler, college student, or adult who so desired to give their time and heart to serve. The big kicker? It was located in a remote area of Pennsylvania. The town was called Laurelville and it was almost halfway between Cleveland and Abbottstown, PA.
All the young people I had met through church were going and my family thought it would be a good idea to get involved. So while my three younger brothers were not old enough to be full participants, the camp was open to families so everyone, my parents included, made the journey. A three hour drive later I found myself in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by trees. Then buildings appeared. Some that appeared to be old and some on the modern side. I wondered which ones would house us. The camp itself was huge.
First stop was check-in. We let the leaders know we had arrived and we received our room assignments. While there were more rustic, camping style options, the organizers went for the more luxurious options. We exited the check-in and drove up a back hill where we found ourselves in front of a small motel and a lodge. The lodge had two floors with plenty of rooms on each floor. The rooms were hotel style with big comfy beds, a full bathroom in each room, and an AC unit, but no TV. The motel was the same, but it was like a standard motel where it was a one floor building and each door led to a room. The families were put in the motel and all the campers and their group leaders were put in the lodge. All the boys were put in the second floor rooms and all the girls were put in the first floor rooms. Strict rules were put in play where if the boys entered the lodge, they were only allowed to go up to the second floor and not linger on the first. The girls were not allowed on the second floor for any reason. Violators were warned there would be repercussions if those rules were broken. This arrangement would bring about a very interesting turn of events later in the week.
The only scheduled thing for the first night was the welcome meeting where we were given our packets and supplies needed for the week, the schedule layout, the rules and regulations, and all other necessary information. The general schedule for each day was as follows: Breakfast, group time, large meeting, lunch, afternoon activities, group time, dinner, break, group time, large meeting, evening activity, lights out. The last day's schedule would be different as it would contain two big events known as the talent show and the grand finale called the Bible Bowl. More on those later. One other note is that all the events throughout the week earned points towards the Bible Bowl. That included having the cleanest rooms, verse memorization, and not losing your belongings.
But with reward also came consequence for failing the standard. Another aspect to this camp was to teach people how to be responsible human beings. Having a clean room and not letting it look like a pig-sty was one of those life lessons. During one of the activity times, room inspectors would do an inspection of the rooms, take notes, and report back to the leaders. Room inspection announcements normally came at dinner so the inspectors could make sure the room looked tidy throughout the whole day. Some rooms were spotless by lunch, but after the afternoon activities, they became a disaster. Being a camp rookie, I didn't think our room was that bad. Turns out I was dead wrong. Our room was announced as the worst room that night. We got nailed for sloppy beds, towels on the bathroom floor, clothes in places they didn't belong, water on the bathroom floor, etc. Our one saving grace was that it was the first day. First day offenders got a warning so they would know what the standard was. There was no mercy for second failure. When we returned to the room, we had to see the other rooms that got high marks. It was apparent why ours was the worst. Our serving one who was in the room, Tim B, apologized and said he knew better having been a junior high camp veteran. That "worst room" label put a competitive jolt in him as he said we were going to have the best room at some point this week. I was determined to see that happen.
Before I go on, I have to talk about Tim B for a minute. I got to know him a bit over the past year living in Cleveland. He gave me a lot of grief for the Pittsburgh Steelers shirts I wore (rightly so as I was an Eagles fan in Browns territory), like to make very bad dad jokes, and loved playing basketball with the young people. But this camp was where I'd really get to know him more. I discovered that he had to take a week off work to serve a bunch of rowdy junior high kids. I learned that he found joy in seeing joy on the kid's faces and would do things to make it happen. He deeply loved the Lord and desired the kids he was with to find that same love. To him, it was worth giving up vacation time for. I will share some of the moments that inspired me as we go on in this tale.
For the first big afternoon activity, we all went to the on-site gym the camp had. When we arrived, there were dodgeballs all lined up in the center of the floor. Then the obvious was announced that we would indeed be playing dodgeball. And when they announced it was going to be boys vs girls, the boys let out a loud roar while some of the girls did not look to enthused. To start it was jr. high vs jr high only. The two sides lined up on either end and when the siren blared, it was off to the races. Chaos ensued in blazing speed. One minute I was charging the line and the moment I blinked, a ball nearly took off my head. The rest of that game was a blur. But I do remember the slow build-up to a full scale onslaught. The teams changed from Jr. High and HS girls vs Jr. High boys. Then the HS boys were added. Followed by any college girls that wanted to join. By then if your senses weren't honed in, you were going to taste rubber. I witnessed some kids take some heavy blows. After a few tears and some comforting, they eventually re-entered the chaos. The play of the day came from the girl's side. A HS boy was targeting a specific HS girl. He unleashed a throw so hard that when it connected it knocked her down. But instead of having to leave the field, she hung on and caught the ball, not only eliminating the HS boy, but getting one of her eliminated teammates back with that spectacular catch. Everyone in the building went nuts. The play was so iconic that it was talked about the entire week.
After about an hour or so, they announced the split of activities. The girls were off to the pool and the boys were going to stick around in the gym for more dodgeball punishment. Here's where things went crazy. The older boy serving ones who weren't allowed to play when it was boys vs girls were now allowed to enter the battlefield. It was like unleashing powerful cannons that were hidden until the final salvo. One person in particular, Johnny P, had a deadly throw that was both risky and effective. He would load a ball into one hand, turn his back towards the firing line, then do a full 180 and unleashed the ball in a direction that could not be predicted. If it connected, you were in a world of hurt, but he also turned his back on enemy fire, so it could turn into an easy KO. One loose cannon of a throw ended up causing a casualty to someone not in play. One team was losing pretty bad. As more people got out, the longer the line that was waiting for a caught ball became. As the line got longer, people slowly shifted out of it to see the action. It wasn't long before the back end of the line curved into the field of play. Johnny wound up one of his no-look throws and fired it at full strength. The ball took a direction of its own out of his hand and scored a direct hit to the face of an unsuspecting jr. high kid in the "out" line, but standing in the field of play. Game action was suddenly halted as aid was rushed to the poor kid. After a few minutes, the kid had his marbles back in place and was helped to the restroom to clear up his sore face. The onslaught resumed shortly after. We dodged, ducked, dipped, dived, and dodged for another hour before it was our turn to cool off in pool.
The rest of that first day was a combination of excitement, relaxation, and getting a deeper understanding of God's word. The group time I mentioned previously happened after multiple times a day and usually consisted of going over a section in the Bible to find the facts. For a jr high kid, those times would only be as good as what I was willing to put in. If I got bored or distracted, I gained nothing. But if I paid attention and my curiosity got the better of me, I would actually learn something I didn't know before or gain something about life that was useful. The nice thing about the small group time after dinner was that it was always a "get to know your group" time. Lots of interesting ice breaker questions. I found that one so much fun because the social side of me was more than happy to share the parts and quirks that made me tick.
The day would eventually wind down for an altogether group time with singing and a message from the Bible. In a way, I found these messages more fascinating than a typical Sunday morning message because these were given by mostly college kids who would sometimes perform mini skits to better portray the story they were sharing about. The messages combined with the massive group singing was an uplifting way to nearly close out a long day.
The last thing each night was always a different activity. For the first night, the boys returned to the dodgeball arena but this time to play a different game. The dodgeballs were traded for basketballs and it was last man standing in a fiercely competitive game of Knockout. For those unfamiliar with this game, everyone forms a single-file line from the foul line on the basketball court going straight back to the wall. The first two people in line each have a basketball. As soon as the first person shoots, the second person shoots. If the first person scores, they pass the ball to the next person in line and go to the end. If the second person scores before the first person, the first person is out and the second person goes to the end of the line. This pattern continues until one person outlasts everyone else. Seeing as there were over 40 people involved, the games got intense and there was a lot of cheering, laughing, and the occasional light jest when someone got knocked out. I wanted so badly to win one, but that night wasn't my night. But I did get to experience something I really hadn't before. That was the joy of being able to play large games with a large group of kids. As I was homeschooled most of my life up until this point, I lacked a lot of that type of experience. And I was loving every moment of it.
Stayed tuned as I continue this journey through my first summer camp, as I have more exciting and life altering stories to tell, more people of my life to introduce you to, and more memories to explore. This was only the beginning.
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