Sunday, February 19, 2012

Big First Camping Weekend of 2012

This past weekend we had our first two groups of the year up at the camp.  Early on Friday afternoon, Asbury United Methodist brought about 75 guys from their youth for the annual "Manly Man" weekend and did they have a time. 

They played football and frisbee and explored the trails and though the temps weren't too bad for February, it was still a bit cool for the shorts and tee-shirts they were sporting.  I guess that's what makes them manly men. 

I enjoyed meeting Peter Dahlin, their Director of Youth Ministries, and the other leaders were all very friendly and appreciative.  At suppertime they made their way to the pavilion where one of the leaders cooked steaks for everyone. 
I love the smell of steaks cooking in the great outdoors.   
 
Around 6:00 that evening, Boy Scout Troop 96 out of Epworth Methodist arrived. 
Their main purpose for the weekend was to earn their Wilderness Badge.  They spent the first night acclimating and receiving instructions and then put it all to the test on the second day/night. 

This involved them building their own shelters to sleep in and cooking their own dinners as well.  While the temperature was not too bad they did have to deal with some rain. 


I did not get to speak with the leaders at the very end to see if all had earned the badge or not, but I have a feeling they did.  We always enjoy having the scouts up here and especially Bob Drinsick and Mary Breeden. 

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Work Day Number One

Wouldn't it figure that we picked the coldest day of the year for the Camp MACOBA workday?  It was last Saturday (February 11) and with the 25-30 mph winds, the temps were down in the single digits.  This would cause most people to just roll back over and say we need to do this another day but not the Disaster Relief guys from Willowbrook Baptist Church! 
Everyone who came out on Saturday was from Willowbrook with the exception of Bill Rotenberry who was from New Market Baptist.  Speaking of Bill, I would like to thank him for the donation of a chainsaw and a gallon of hydraulic oil to the camp. 
Sam Kelly was the first to arrive, which is usually the case for anything he is involved in at the camp and that was shortly after 7:00.  I made coffee and got out the breakfast snacks and then started a fire in the fireplace.  Sam got his tractor ready and started dragging trees over to where the crew would be working.  This was not his first rodeo.  Chris Wilson, Rob Peavy and the others began arriving shortly after 7:30. 00 We all shared conversation around the fireplace and discussed the game plan for the day. 
In all I believe there were about fifteen brave souls who made it out.  There were three different groups cutting, splitting, hauling and stacking wood and I tried to participate in every one of them at least part of the day.
Lunchtime came and we took a break and enjoyed the hot dogs Chris had cooked on the grill.  After lunch most everyone stayed for another couple of hours and by the time everyone had left there was quite a bit of wood that had been stacked up in four different locations. 
As a huge bonus, one of the teams came with me to clear out one of the trails that still had two huge trees blocking the path.  I was very impressed with the way they made quick work of the task.  I don't know the specific dimensions of a cord but I would guess at least 8 cords of wood is stacked and ready to go for all the groups who will be up here in 2012!