The following is from an old Facebook post, but it still applies. Please, spread the word.
~🦶~
Dear parents,
This is a PSA: Flip-Flops are terrible. 👣
👟 If your kids (or you) are going to summer camp, church camp, day camp, play camp, rec camp, bible school or any activity that isn’t the beach, a pool, or a shower, leave the flip-flops at home. They are unacceptable footwear for just about every activity that involves placing one foot in front of the other.
Relay races, kickball, volleyball, archery, hikes, creek walks, night games, and even campfires become dangerous when flip-flops are involved. Please, douse them in gasoline, set them on fire, and never purchase another pair. 🔥
Sent with love, Signed every camp counselor your child will ever have. 😬
I’m going to leave some proof below. Please share your Flip-Flip hate in the comments. This does not extend to sandals or Crocs, as they can be somewhat more acceptable footwear. You have to be ready to adventure at camp, and Flip-Flops are not the vehicle to that destination.
Here is an excerpt from my last letter to campers/parents:
We do have a few notes from past experience on attire. Please remember to have shoes appropriate for games and outdoor activities at a moment’s notice. Flip-flops or sandals are good for the shower, and that’s about it. It would be great if you had shoes appropriate for hiking, running, and maybe an old pair for a possible creek walk. Also, though it is sure to be hot, some long pants for hikes add an extra layer of protection against ticks and a hoodie or other light jacket will help for cool nights around a campfire. In addition it can help to have a sleeping bag and/or sheets blankets for the bunks appropriate for warm or cool nights.
And, from past checklists I usually include to remind kids & parents what to bring & what not to bring…
□ Sneakers – 2 pairs of sneakers if possible (Flip flops or sandals don’t count unless you want Eric to have some more campfire fuel!)
□ Walking shoes (bring an extra pair, if possible) Flip-Flops are never acceptable for any type of camp activity be it a game, archery, a creek walk, kickball, or anything other than being used as fuel for a campfire.
Let’s start a list of why we should hate flip-flops!
Typical mountain pie preparation, assembly, & cooking at church camp.
We used to make them every time we went camping when I was a kid, and we camped quite often. Nothing beats cooking a mountain pie over the hot coals of an aging campfire. We generally make pizza ones, and we have made Reuben ones, and you have your standard pie-filling from a can/powdered sugar on top ones… but other than that I haven’t gotten too crazy. One time I did make a baked bean one. I mean, why not? Also, once we put leftover nine-can vegetable soup in an electric sandwich maker that we got on clearance from Kmart for $5. So, that is sort of similar to making a mountain pie. I mean, it would have made a good one.
Look at those crimped edges!
You gotta use a cast iron pie iron though, not those goofy aluminum ones. I have melted many an aluminum pie iron. I make those coals blacksmith hot. Also, you need one that seals the edges. The ones that don’t make a seal are just sandwich-heater-uppers and that’s bogus. I know they also make round ones where you can cook an egg and make an Egg McMuffin-ish type of sandwich.
My wife & I counsel for church camp every summer, and my camp always makes mountain pies… a tradition my family brought to our camp group when I was younger. Usually my friend Laurel & I end up being the cooks, over a fire in a pavilion fireplace that rivals the fury of Mount Doom of Mordor.
Some of the campers have made cool ones with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I need to try that. (Side note: have you ever had a campfire banana? Do it!) An old preacher friend of ours enjoys one filled with butter & powdered sugar. I bet it’s like a donut.
Moutain Pielander? THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE! #MountainPieMadness
So, what are your go-to mountain pie recipes? I hear some people also call them hobo pies, pudgy pies, campfire pies, jaffle pies, and other crazy stuff. They have to rank up there right behind hot dogs and s’mores as the #1 campfire food. I have thought a cheesesteak one would be delicious, maybe an Italian Sub on, maybe a burger melt/’Frisco burger kind of thing, maybe one with baked beans and a sliced hot dog would be the ultimate campfire mashup? You could go with a classic grilled cheese.
Share your tried-and-true recipes and your zany ideas in the comments!
This was a few years ago at camp, and years before the wife & I realized that we kinda liked each other. Ha ha.
So, if you’ve known me for a while, you know camp Living Waters is a big part of my life, and has been for a long long time. It was near & dear for my family and many friends growing up, it’s where I met the girl that eventually became my wife. It’s where I have made friendships that defy logic and are somewhat closer to a family than being mere friends. It’s actually close to the feeling you have being in a band… it’s a sense of belonging, not quite a gang mentality, but there is a strong bond that goes beyond mere friendship that’s hard to explain.
This is where I stayed for the week.
I have been lucky enough to not only be a camper, but a counselor for many many camp functions, eventually inheriting the director title for Jr./Sr. High Camp that we had this past week. Luckily for me, all of our counselors have their duties and functions where they take charge, and I think we pulled it off. I don’t think we’ve had many direct discussions on who needs to do what… it amazingly all just falls into place and we understand what needs done and who’s best suited to do it. We dive in & do it as a team.
Church camp may scare some people. Those that know me from outside of camp may be surprised or questioning of my affiliation with such a thing. I try to take all the things that I have been taught, and lead life by example. I’m generally not preachy about religious subjects (or at least I try not to be), but I will delve into the subject if someone asks me about it. I have a respect for all religious beliefs or non-belief, and ask that in a conversation I am shown that same respect. (I have some good friends that should also be able to tell you that it’s pretty hard to offend me on such subjects.)
This is where we hung out for most of the week.
I feel like I have been called to work with the camp that has given so much to me, to provide campers with their own version of the experiences I had over the years that have helped make me into the person that I am today. I hope to be a good example to the kids on how go out into the world and be good examples to others themselves. You don’t have to run around spitting scriptures, knock on people’s doors, or force others to believe what you believe or feel what you feel. You do need to treat people with respect and kindness. We discussed being a good seed this week, and how we’re planted in the world to serve others around us. Serving can be as simple as listening to a friend’s troubles, cutting grass or washing a car, or just telling someone that they are important to you. We don’t often pause for the simple small things, yet they can have such an impact. Sometimes I had to be goofy with the kids to get the gears turning, but turn they did. Once we were able to get into discussions & past answers that were perhaps subconsciously what they thought I wanted to hear… I got some fantastic examples and ideas on how you can do small things to help those around you.
Some of the activities at camp besides bible study in the AM were Archery, a night game pattered after an one one called Get Smart & a flashlight tag game that has morphed into one we call Star Wars, a terrarium craft, a creek walk, a trip to Shawnee, team-building games, orienteering, making mountain pies, lots of singing, vespers every night headed up by Laurel, science time making bandanas with Kirby & Kaylyn, and a campfire where we talked about everything from what we’re thankful for to what our hardships are… and how we can help each other through them.
Archery!
I feel like Archery is such an incredible activity for teens… it seems like something that is hard to do, but if you listen to the instruction given by Kirby & Adam, you are consistently hitting the target within a day or 2, and you can become a great shot by the end of the week (when we start putting things like playing cards & water balloons on the targets for fun). It’s an incredible self-esteem builder, and teaches great discipline and focus. It’s easy to understand that you must do things correctly or someone can get hurt. The kids encourage each other and commend each other without any prompting from us old people. It builds a positive environment easily & organically. It’s amazing to see them light up when they hit a bullseye, hit a playing card, or pop a water balloon.
We of course sometimes had problems with losing attention quickly… and I blame social media. We’re luckily able to reel them back in. I think it helps that most of our staff are smart-asses. I try to show & tell the kids that you don’t have to conduct yourself differently at camp than you do at home, or vice versa. Also, I find it fascinating how many of the younger kids constantly asked me if they could go to the bathroom. It must be from school. I feel that they’re all old enough to conduct themselves responsibly & can take care of such things without disruption to whatever’s going on.
Some of my personal highlights for the week were when one kid had told us how he had never experienced any kind of group or camp setting before & couldn’t believe how all the other kids had been so accepting of him. In fact, I didn’t hear a negative word from any of the kids to another. They would instantly take to the kids that seemed to be outsiders and make sure to include them in the group. It was an awesome thing to see. It’s also great to see the kids that have grown up together in various camps form friendships that will last a life time.
We Are One Big Happy Family – Living Waters 2012 – Jr./Sr. High Camp & Recreation Camp
Camp Flags
The big highlight was our interaction with the other camp there this week… Recreation Camp is for special needs adults to come enjoy a camp setting. We did several activities with them besides our 3 meals & singing in the dining hall each day. We had science time where they learned about chemicals that make up ink and the separation, and we made easy tie-dye-like bandanas with Sharpies and rubbing alcohol. Our campers mixed with & assisted the rec camp, and it was fantastically fun. We also mixed again with our trip to Shawnee, singing on the bus and swimming and relaxing together as one big group. Campers from both camps expressed the need to do it more often. It was enough to move me to tears to see how the kids accepted the rec camp group who were so different, and made their day by just spending time with them, sharing a laugh, a splash, bouncing a beach ball, and lots of good-natured teasing. Then there was our campfire sing-along, our seeing one of their campers’ collection of over 150 flags I’ll have to talk about him in another post), and them visiting us on the archery range one day. It’s a feeling of great joy to see all of our campers make such connections. My wife & mom are directors at Rec camp, and I feel like that helps us bring the camps closer together.
That feeling is why I was moved to make this a while back…
Check out my photos and my wife’s photos on Facebook if you’re interested. If you’re a camper or counselor & want to share your photos too, please paste the link in the comments below!
I’ve had a task in mind and in progress for a few years now, I need to make new camp song books. It’s for a church camp where I participate several weekends out of the year as well as a full week during the summer.
I’d like the books to be usable by other groups if they want ’em, and have even thought about scrapping the book idea entirely and just using something to feed the projector that the camp has… but then you deal with the whole song being too much for a screen, and someone’s got to “flip pages”… could turn into a mess. I’ve also thought about putting them all on an easel… but I’ve amassed a collection of ridiculous proportions. Also, neither of these are practical at night around a campfire which is my favorite camp song setting.
There’s also the “what to include” trap. We have a book with a lot of songs that are (to me) traditional, I’d like to add some newer ones, and have even entertained the idea of writing some of my own. Some of the songs that I like, or that people want to sing, I really don’t have good chord progressions to back them up… and I need to get those. Some songs, I have 3 or 4 different chord progressions and they all sound off or terrible. I try to dumb it all down and change the key so I’m playing G, C, D, Am, & Em mostly. Some songs have the dreaded Bm. B, Bm, & Bm7, how I hate you. I’m not a great guitar player by any means, but if you can strum through some chord changes… you should be able to play anything in the book. Yeah, the songs can be corny or goofy, but I feel that it’s an important group fellowship dynamic to have that sing-along time. It’s also a memorable part of the whole camp experience.
There’s also the alternate lyrics/verses issue. People really take liberties with hymns, and it’s always been that way. With some songs, I have a plethora of verses. Some songs have alternate melodies or arrangements. Some songs have lines changed or have been lanced with inclusive language. (On a side issue, I know I’m UCC and on the whole it’s an incredibly liberal organization as far as Christian Churches go… but I don’t understand who’s so offended by gender-specific pronouns and why they need to change old hymns – Just write new ones and don’t mess with the words people have been singing for decades, or don’t sing the songs that you don’t like.)
I guess I generally like things to be more fluid than final, and I never have a “perfect” book idea in mind… but I need to get one done. Here are some ideas that I’ve had…
A song book with a lo-fi companion CD of how exactly the songs go would be pretty cool. (Maybe even two tracks each, one w/ vocals, one w/o so you can campfire karaoke.)
Mini 3-ring binders? Would make adding songs awesome… but could get costly, and perhaps it’d make it too easy for pages to fall out?
Chord progressions, not just lyrics in the song books. Lots of campers and counselors can play… so having all of the song books be the “master” would be good.
No page numbers. Just look for the title of the song. (We’re plagued by 2 or 3 different “editions” of the same song book with songs being on different pages and what-not.) Then again, a song book without an index would be ridiculous… maybe.
I’d appreciate the thoughts of any other camp song people, songwriters, guitar players, or any other musicians out there… or anyone who’s interested in becoming one.
I like guitars. I blog about a bunch of stuff, but I can’t believe I neglected adding a guitar category before now. Perhaps because I’m back to rocking out again, I’ve been more aware of guitars and music in general.
I have always loved music from an early age, and the guitar has always been my favorite instrument. Of course I wanted to learn how to play. I took a class in school because I needed 2 music electives one year. We did the Mel Bay “Marry Had a Little Lamb” crap and I skimmed through only sort-of learning to read music while I bought guitar magazines and learned my favorite riffs by tab at home or from the kids in the guitar class who already knew how to play & were taking it for an easy A.
I was also learning at church camp… the minister in charge used to play campfire standards & hymns for the sing-alongs, and taught me how to play chords to a whole song instead of the riffs that I was used to half-assedly piecing together. I think through this is where I first felt comfortable singing & playing at the same time. I remember that being a huge obstacle at one point, but now it almost seems ridiculous.
I took lessons at a music store for a while, and it was cool… but basically I learned 1 scale and how to play by ear. It wasn’t very structured, and I wasn’t a great student. I just wanted to rock… not learn.
Around the same time, I re-discovered punk rock. I had always been a fan of pop rock, punk rock, metal, & more… but when I learned that I could pop in the Misfits or Ramones and play along to the whole record, something just clicked. I fell into a three-chord way of life… and discovered that I didn’t need to be a great guitar player. Sure, there’s always room to improve, but I’m not trying to be Yngwie Malmsteen or Jimi Hendrix or anything.
With the punk re-awakening that I had, I wanted to write songs and be in a band. Playing the guitar was the means to that end. Luckily this was happening at the same time for me as some other good friends & eventually AiXeLsyD was born. I’ve played on & off in a handful of bands & projects since then and been part of a few different scenes. I’m very thankful for being introduced all the people that I’ve met through those endeavors. There’s a weird bond with other people in bands that you just don’t get if you’re not part of the whole thing. It’s like a weird brotherhood or religion or secret club… even within that I guess there are still more than a few who still don’t get it once they’re in it, but that’s a whole other blog.
This went a different direction than I intended, but you’ll have that. Maybe I’ll blog more about the band experience… I’ve had a few standard rants about bands over the years that I’ll have to rehash here.
My original intent was just to say that I was going to start blogging about guitars. I love guitars. I like to play all kinds, I’d love to own them all. I like normal guitars, but I gravitate toward the weird ones. I’ll blog about all of them here. Hopefully it’ll spark some discussions, awe, and ire.
We used to make them every time we went camping when I was a kid, and we camped quite often. Nothing beats cooking a mountain pie over the hot coals of an aging campfire. We generally make 
World (and Lunar) Domination 