Camps report good attendance under district management
By Suzanne C. Hickerson
This summer, due to a series of unrelated events, a young man found his way to Camp Laurel. At the end of the camp week, he gave his life to Christ and was given a Bible. Before he left camp, he told a counselor the Bible was the first he had ever had.
“It's hard to know how you touch lives at camp,” said Sarah Bowling, who along with her husband, Don, works at Camp Laurel. “Every day it's something new … We hope they are touched in a godly way.” At Camp Fort Blackmore, a young man, who has attended camp for several years, eagerly asked volunteer Camp Director Becky Bryant about upcoming camping opportunities.
“Just to know that he knows who God is and to see him want to come back every year is a joy,” Bryant said of the teenager who is from a single-parent home and only attends church if someone outside his family takes him.
Chuck Jones, director and caretaker of Camp Ahistadi, remembers a young girl who learned to ride a bicycle about a week before coming to camp. One of the activities at Ahistadi is a 17-mile bike ride along the Creeper Trail. The girl was nervous about the ride and took a few tumbles along the trail. “At the bottom (of the trail), when we were loading the bicycles up to go back to camp, you could see it all over her face. It was the biggest victory,“ Jones remembers.
These are just a few stories about young lives that have been touched by district-operated camps within Holston Conference.
Holston has seven camps within its boundaries. Three of the seven were converted from conferenceoperated facilities to district-operated sites during 2002 Annual Conference. This was their first summer under the new structure.
Camp Ahistadi is located in Laurel Bloomery, Tenn., and is part of Abingdon District. Camp Fort Blackmore is located in Fort Blackmore, Va., and is part of Big Stone Gap District. Camp Laurel is located in Rocky Gap, Va., and is part of Tazewell District. As the summer concludes and children return to school, officials at the three camps reflect on this year's camping season.
The three facilities remained busy throughout the summer hosting district camps and community, church and family groups. Laurel also offers a fishing and wilderness camp as well as motorcycle and Appalachian Trail hiking camps for adults.
“We've had a good year so far,” said Camp Fort Blackmore's Bryant. “Our churches are coming through and meeting their $1,000 gifts,” she added, referring to pledges to support the camp. When the decision was first made to operate on a district level, Bryant said there was some skepticism. Despite the concerns, the money has been there. “If anything needs to be done, it's being done,” she said, referring to the involvement of local churches. “They have taken more ownership and responsibility. They are more enthusiastic.”
Camp participation remained steady and increased in some cases for the district-operated camps. At Camp Ahistadi, 44 campers participated in the elementary and junior high camps in 2003 compared with 28 campers in 2002, according to Jones. He hopes to add a senior high camp next summer. Participation remained steady at Camp Laurel with 100 campers in 2003 and 99 campers in 2002, according to Don Bowling.
Ft. Blackmore had 46 campers participate in junior-high and senior-high camps, compared with 46 in 2002. An average 167 students participated in vacation Bible school day camp in 2003, compared with 161 in 2002, Bryant reports.
Despite progress at each camping site, opportunities exist for mission groups to assist with maintenance and facility upgrade projects.
At Fort Blackmore, organizers have created an Adopt-a-Project program. The program allows local churches and community groups to donate supplies or help with upgrading facilities. Some groups have donated items such as a washer and dryer, pingpong table, and ceiling fans. A local Boy Scout troop is making trail signs.
A fund-raiser is planned for Camp Ahistadi to raise funds for needed roof repairs, Jones said. The event will be held Oct. 4 beginning at 11:30 a.m. and will include barbecue lunch, bluegrass music and testimony from several former campers.
For Camp Laurel, the camping season has also been successful, both in financial support and participation, said Don Bowling. One of the ongoing needs for Camp Laurel as well as other camps is continued use of the facilities by church groups and other community organizations.
For more information, contact Bryant at Fort Blackmore, (276) 995-2542; Jones at Ahistadi, (276) 475-5215; or Bowling at Laurel, (276) 326-3470.
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