Summer camp wrap-up:
Numbers tell part of the story
By Annette Bender
On one hand, the statistics are revealing, says the Rev. Randy Pasqua. The total number of 2004 summer campers at the conference's four camps fell only slightly behind 2003 numbers: 2,836 compared with 2,905.
Camp Dickenson experienced an attendance decline in 2004, while Camp Lookout had an increase. Attendances at Buffalo Mountain Camp and Camp Wesley Woods remained about the same this year, compared with last. Statistics also show that Wesley Foundations and the conference colleges are well represented among staff members. Nineteen of this year's counselors plan to enter the ministry.
"The statistics prove that camping is a significant ministry not only to campers but also to staff," says Pasqua, director of camp and retreat ministries. "We seem to be steady and stable in our ministry. It also seems that our efforts to meet the highest quality standards continue to be very important."
"When you think about it, there is no other ministry that deals with 3,000 children for a week at a time," says the Rev. Charles Maynard, camp development officer since April. "It's amazing."
On the other hand, numbers only tell part of the story, camp leaders say. Every summer, the stories roll out of camp like rain down the mountain trails.
At Dickenson, counselor Rachel Buchannan told about an experience she had with a camper at Celebration Camp - for children with mentally challenging conditions. "We were eating lunch and he asked me to pass the mayonnaise," says Buchannan. "I didn't realize that he didn't know when to stop putting mayonnaise on his hamburger until he had already put too much. At that moment I realized how much I take for granted everyday."
At Buffalo Mountain, Director Christina DowlingSoka told of the "smiling camper," a scholarship recipient, who stopped smiling when he developed a toothache. His family wasn't able to come get him, so DowlingSoka took him to a free dental clinic in his hometown of Bristol, Va. "He was a trooper," she said. "In the midst of a long night, I fell more in love with this little boy."
At Lookout, Director Don Washburn told of the boy whose Big Brother paid for him to attend camp over two summers. This year, the Big Brother died. But his grieving "little brother" was able to attend not just one week of camp, but two, thanks to a camp scholarship. ?I know my Big Brother is in heaven, because he made sure I got to come back to camp,? the boy told his counselors.
For information about giving to Holston Conference Camp and Retreat Ministries, call (423) 929-9037.
Number of 2004 summer campers: 2,836
Number of 2003 summer campers: 2,905
Percentage from United Methodist churches: 66%
Percentage of returning campers: 56%
Number of camp-sponsored scholarships: 323
Number of local-church sponsored scholarships: 698
Number of district-sponsored scholarships
(Abingdon, Big Stone Gap & Wytheville): 278
Number of summer staff & counselors: 170
Number attending conference colleges: 22
Number participating in Wesley Foundations: 22
Number preparing to enter the ministry: 19
top
|
Bishop's Column
Cover Stories:
Secret Visitor Returns
and
Disaster Relief Continues
Inside:
Camp Wrap
Great Scott
It Still Fits
National & World News
Back to The Call Home Page
|
|
