Disaster Relief Training

Rob Peavy had called me a week or so ago and wanted to set up some disaster relief training at the camp on the same day we had the Dads and Lads Super Saturday.  

Since they were going to be training in a completely different part of the camp it was no problem to accommodate both groups.  Rob and his wife stopped by for a visit one afternoon and we chatted for awhile about various things.  It was good to see them. 

I opened the gate at around 6:00 a.m. for both groups.  David Cochran from Mt. Zion came up with the group to do some training. 

Now you talk about a busy man; David is definitely that man.  Since the tornadoes he has been very busy with so many ministry-related things on top of what he does normally.  

I took some pictures while he was training a group and noticed how knowledgeable and professional he was.  

Jennifer Johnson, who I had met earlier in the week was there and busy doing many things.  It is my understanding that Jennifer was totally involved in the ministry to Pearlington, MS, and made quite a difference down there.  

I went around to several of the different stations and it appeared everything went smoothly. 

I believe Jennifer told me there were 46 signed up for training. 

This is not the first time we have had disaster relief teams up at the camp, we love to see them coming.  Not only do they get a great atmosphere for training, but the camp gets the benefit of having dead/dying trees safely cut down!

Trailhead Outfitters Event

A few months ago Jason Teal called me and we met at the camp for an official tour.  He has started a ministry called Trailhead Outfitters, which has both a website and Facebook page.   The mission of Trailhead Outfitters is to 'turn the hearts of the fathers to their sons, and the hearts of the sons to their fathers', and to train, equip, and 'outfit' dads with the tools they need to become strong, engaged, intentional fathers. 

Jason said that they had partnered with Whitesburg Baptist for an event called "Dad and Lads Super Saturday" and thought the Camp would be a great place to hold the it.  Well of course I agreed.  All the arrangements were made and in the weeks leading up to the event I met some great folks from Whitesburg that I had not previously known.  Guy Morton, who is the Children's Minister, came up a couple of times and he seems to be such a fine man.

Another gentleman by the name of Jerry Gwen came up and helped me add some stuff to the top pond that was supposed to help kill the algae.  Once we got finished with that Jerry stayed for a little while and did some fly fishing from his canoe.  

He was very involved in the big day with teaching the kids how to fly fish and cast a rod and reel.  Very interesting man and has quite a few hobbies. 

Other events going on were kids cooking their own meals...hobos I think and some dutch oven cooking (peach cobbler) demonstrations.  

I talked with Roger Graves (who handled the dutch ovens) for about 30 minutes and learned all kind of things.  He had quite an operation going on and you could tell this was not his first rodeo !  

He had six ovens going at once, had solid fold up tables they were sitting on and had even made his own devices to lift the lids off perfectly.  I must say the cobbler was good too.

Another man I met, and I cannot remember his name, was in charge of the air rifle event.  This was not some run of the mill event!  Come to find out that he had been heavily involved with professional competition shooting for years and had only recently retired.  

I am sure that he told me that his son had won several trophies and still holds some national records.  He had a tent set up, hay bales and a shooting area and all the safety equipment.  Talking about some nice guns...he had them!  

They also held a skeet shoot demonstration -- I hate that I missed it and the testimony time as well.  I hope Trailhead Outfitters decides to use the camp for future events.

Girl Scout Family Fun Day

Saturday we were very happy to host the Family Fun Day for Girl Scout Service Unit 30.  The weather was terrific ... clear, sunny skies -- warm -- but with a nice breeze.  The group got started up here around 2:30 that afternoon and had close to 40 families participate!  We had to head out, so we made sure they knew all the ground rules and had everything they needed, and promised to see them before they headed out.

When we got back to the camp, there were all sorts of fishing tales being told!  One fish was so big it didn't just break the line ... it broke the pole!  

One woman pulled a crappie out of the water and when she unhooked and tossed it back, a large mouth bass swooped by just as it hit the water, and swallowed it whole!  They were all laughing about that one.

The coordinator brought bait and bobbins for all and mostly they used worms and crickets.  

I think they realized too late in the day that our fish mostly prefer minnows ... and definitely not artificial bait. 

The girls didn't seem too terribly upset over it!

One patient young man, however, did catch a fish.  

He'd been patiently throwing in his line all day, and it was near 7 pm when his persistence finally paid off!

In addition to the fishing, the girls went through several presentations ... 

Each girl that participated earned both a recycling badge and a "green" patch. 

The coordinator, Jeanine Woods, was incredibly easy to work with and also very generous.  She'd been yard-sale hopping the day before and had found a terrific badminton set, which she donated to the camp!

How fun it will be to have use of this up here for all our groups!

We love having Girl Scout groups up here.  They always do a marvelous job of leaving the camp "as good or better than they found it!" 

And we're happy to be a part of Girl Scouts celebrating 100 years!!!

Sweet Sixteen

June could not have offered up a more lovely afternoon for an outdoor party than what it offered up last Saturday for the Kimbrough family.  Wayne Kimbrough (father) and Eddie Kimbrough (son) are both good friends of Todd's, and when Eddie requested use of the Camp for his daughter's sweet sixteen birthday party, we were happy to be able to oblige them.

The decorating committee got busy and soon had the pavilion all  prettied up with balloons, banners, and tablecloths.  I noted some intriguing candle holders and Eddie shared with me that he had made them himself out of cedar, and his daughter had the clever idea of using citronella votive candles in them to ward off the mosquitoes.

While the cooks were busy cooking and prepping for the food end of the festivities, a large crowd headed over to the upper field for games.  

I misunderstood their timing for the games and so I didn't get any pictures.  This is really too bad because from the stories that were told, flour was flying as were arms and legs and it must have been a very comical sight!

After the games, folks settled back down at the pavilion . . .   

And the master griller (Eddie) got busy preparing brats, burgers, and dogs . . .

The music played and folks ate and chatted and had an overall good evening.  Todd was working so he had to miss this one.  Hopefully the next time the Kimbrough family makes its way up here, he'll be able to fellowship with them just a bit!