Camp Macoba

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-22T19:33:00.000-06:00

Final Camp-Out of 2011

2011-12-12T07:00:00.001-06:00

I am not sure if Pack 94 was after their "Polar Bear" badge or not, but when I got up early on Sunday morning there was no doubt about it that Jack Frost had made a visit sometime during the wee hours of the morning. The whole camp looked as if glitter had fallen from the sky during the night. For the weeks leading up to the camp-out I had been talking and e-mailing with Derylnn who lined up everything. I met the scout master, Rick Dynes, around lunchtime on Saturday.

Last year when the group came up it was on a weekend where the main campground was full (see post here), so they asked if it would be ok to create a fire-ring on top of the hill. I thought it was a great idea and now we have given the area the official name of Cedar Top Campground. I moved several picnic tables up there a few weeks ago. Though Pack 94had the whole camp to themselves this time, they actually chose to stay where they did last time.

I asked Rick if the storyteller was in the group this time and he said no. I remember from last year quite a big group, with a still, clear night and the storyteller recounting tales at the campfire as everyone gathered around to listen.

Late Saturday afternoon several of the boys earned their knife badge. I don't know of anyone who doesn't like a campfire and we sure never tire of its smell. Sometime during their stay they went on a trail hike that covered almost 3 miles. It was great to have the Pack up here and to be the group that closes out our season.

Dual Duty Weekend

2011-12-05T09:00:00.004-06:00

A weekend of Scouts. You never know what the weather is going to do in the month of December but for this past weekend it was not too bad for our guests.

When a lady from Pack 391 filled out the camp reservation form I noticed under event she listed it as "Winter Freeze Campout". After asking a few questions I discovered that one of the badges the scouts needed to earn was camping when the temperature dips below freezing.

Now while the official temperature never quite got that low, one of the dads assured me it was definitely that cold on top of the hill where they were camping.

Usually the scout groups have a good time when they come and once darkness fell there were some night games in the new camp ground area Cedar Top Campground, which is located at the top of the paved hill. Chris Wilson, who is one of the leaders from pack 357, asked if the boys kept us up at night. I said no and that we actually enjoy hearing them running around and having a good time outdoors. If things go too late we just turn on our giant fan which pretty much drowns out all the noise.

Scout groups always come prepared with pack 391 bringing their own firewood and even setting up a screen to watch the SEC Championship game.

The two groups overlapped their time up here a bit as one stayed Friday night and the other staying Saturday night so for awhile on Saturday everyone was here. I spent some time with both groups, though not as much as I would have liked, and met some great folks.

I remember standing around the campfire and asking one of the men about this giant rock about the size of a bowling ball hanging from a rope suspended by three sticks that looked like a miniture teepee set up. Oh that's our weather rock he told me. I said oh really so how does it work? He told me that if it's swinging--it is windy, if it's wet--it is rainy, if it can't be seen-- it is foggy, and if it's covered with ice-- pretty cold. Hmmm ... I thought to myself ... if the wind is able to move that rock too much, our campers in the tents are in trouble!

We are always so glad to have the scouts at the camp and when they have packed up and gone they do such a fine job it is hard to tell they were even here.

Return Visitors

2011-11-26T21:00:00.023-06:00

It is always a joy to have Sara and Bill Rotenberry's Sunday School Class from New Market Baptist Church up at the camp. I think this is the third time they have been up since we have been here; it's a regular event. They generally like to come in the evening, have a little supper, and then do some socializing and participate in some events around the fireplace. This visit was no different!

We joined them for a bite to eat and a little fellowship. The potato soup is Denise's favorite, though I went back for more of the chili and the stew. Either way, the food and desserts they bring are always great!

This is a very friendly group and we have actually visited their Sunday School class at the church a few times. I know several folks from the church and they all seem to be that way - friendly. We look forward to their next outing (hopefully this Spring) up at the camp.

Improvements and Projects

2011-11-12T12:30:00.006-06:00

It's been our hope to make a major improvement to the camp at least yearly. Last year we had the new iron gate with solar operator installed. This made the camp more secure and made it easier for those who were using the camp to get in and out. This past summer the new deck over Serenity Pond went in, making it easier (and safer) for fishing, especially for our younger visitors, and it provided a nice place for a group gathering or picnic. We're already in the 'vision' stage for next year's project, a team-building obstacle course for children and youth.

We asked our very talented friend, Amberley Gutscher, to help us capture the vision onto paper, and she did a most excellent job:

The thought is that we'd have two of everything, and we'd locate it at the far end of the upper field. This would be a wonderful draw for youth retreats and RA/Challengers groups, as well as boy (and girl) scout troops. We realize we may not be able to complete it by Spring 2012, but we'd like to have made good headway into the project.

A few of the other items on the Camp MACOBA to-do list:

* Move the older picnic tables out into campground area.

* Spray dock with Thompson's Water Seal.

* Spray picnic tables with Thompson's Water Seal.

* Remove large tree blocking trail (High Ridge Trail).
* Replenish firewood supply.

* Clean out shed.

* Take down broken seats in playground area.

* Install plexiglass on wall over stove.

* Move concrete blocks from upper field to the entrance gate and to the fence by pavilion area.

* Remove brush from campground area.

* Burn/clean-up brush pile near pavement (bottom of hill).

* Trim cedar trees (low branches) in new camping area.

* Replace plugs in campground electrical boxes.

* Label breakers in pavilion electrical box.

* Rewire lights in bathrooms so all work off same switch.

* Hook-up ice machine.

Of course this list is not exhaustive (there are *always* others), but this is a good start. There are some other ongoing projects we hope to have wrapped up soon -- a lavatory up in the main campground, and maintenance shed at the top of the upper field.

MBA Father-Son Campout 2011

2011-10-30T17:00:00.001-05:00

I am not sure exactly how long this event has been going on but this is the second one that has taken place since we have been at the camp. Chris Wilson from Willowbrook is in charge of organizing the event and lining up a missionary to speak every year. This year we had Mark Busby who has been serving in Japan for 20 years.

I spoke with Mark a few minutes, "Hey Mark, I heard you are from Sand Mountain?"

He said, "Yeah that's right; you know something about the mountain?"

I told him I'd heard that there used to be some snake-handlers up there, and asked if there was any truth to that? He grinned and told me that oh yeah, there were, but he was never in that group. We had a laugh and then talked ministry for awhile. He did a great job with the kids as the groups rotated in and out.

The day started out rather iffy as at noon it was still raining at the camp and the Weathermen said it would be rather cold on Saturday morning. I called Chris and he said things were still a go. There were over 100 father/sons registered to come and while the weather did affect the attendance some, there were still a great turn-out as 88 showed up!

One of the first ones to make it up was Sam Kelly with a truck full of equipment. Sam is always prepared for whatever comes and is one of the most resourceful guys I know. He is one who is out doing what needs to be done when everyone else is still thinking about what needs to be done.

I am not sure how many churches were represented but my conversations revealed at least three different churches. Right before supper I saw a familiar face from the Fire Department, Brant Maynard. Brant is pretty good ol' boy and runs and owns an equipment place out on Highway 72. I have heard good reports from those who do business there.

The boys were divided into three groups when the day began on Saturday morning. Each activity was about 30 minutes to an hour long. There is the missionary group, the trail walk and then the events. Under events there is an air rifle shoot, bow and arrow, slingshot and a hatchet throw. Now the hatchet throw seemed to be the hardest one but I will say the guy in charge of this event was good, he could put an axe in the wood no matter how he threw it or from what distance...he reminded me of Grizzly Adams.

The last event of the day, after lunch on Saturday, was some sort of pumpkin chunkin' contest. There were two groups who'd built launchers and everyone gathered up in the top meadow to see which team could chunk their pumpkins the furtherest. Denise and I rode up on Easy to check it out.

Originally we'd parked behind the launchers, but a friendly fellow came over and said we would probably be safer somewhere else. He went on to add that he'd looked the launchers over pretty well and we really probably did want to move!

We went off to the side and watched. The team got ready to shoot their pumpkin up in the air. I had my camera poised, ready to catch that pumpkin mid-launch.

Huh. Nothing but clear blue sky. I wonder what happened to the pumpkin? Oh . . . that's where it went. And I think it actually rolled most of the way there!

Everyone seemed to have a good time and we are always glad to have them up. It seems I missed the banjo picking and wash tub playing that went on late Friday night involving the missionaries. Not sure this was a Japanese custom...must have come straight out of Sand Mountain!

Ladies SS Class from FBC Gurley

2011-10-24T09:00:00.001-05:00

Todd and I made some fast and forever friends during our service at First Baptist Church Gurley, among them was a great group of senior ladies. We've kept in touch with them and they were terrific to us after the accident and brought meals and sent their love, prayers and encouragement. We wanted to have them up to the camp and have some fellowship with them, so we picked a Sunday afternoon that worked for everyone, and we scheduled a fish fry.

When the day came, Todd got a station set up for the prep and cooking area. We've gotten the stove up and running so there's now a pretty decent cook station at the upper end of the pavilion.

The day was beautiful. Though it wasn't sunny, it wasn't too cool and there was no wind.

The Camp is looking glorious now as Fall displays her wonderful color scheme.

At around 3:00 pm we heard a car coming up the drive . . .

Yep, they were here!! All told, including Todd and I, there were twelve of us.

And even though we'd wanted to do this for the ladies, they insisted on bringing slaw and baked beans, drinks and DESSERTS! These ladies can cook, too -- and their wonderful offerings were definite proof of that.

Look at this lovely group of ladies -- it was so nice to see their smiling faces and hear their fun chit-chat and catch up with them all. But here they were congregating up front when Todd had build a warm, wonderful fire in the fireplace.

So we all headed down fireside to continue chatting and catching up, while Todd and Ed (Ann's husband) manned the fryer end.

They were hard at it, too! Todd's got a pretty incredible system for cooking the fish, french fries, and hush puppies.

And as soon as the chow whistle blew, we were back up at the business end of the pavilion!

The food was plentiful and delicious.

And I think pretty much everyone went through the line at least twice. And quite a number of us went back a third time, I think!

All I know is that there were not a whole lot of leftovers when it was all said and done.

After a lunch, several of the ladies took off to do a little exploring. One of the ladies who'd stayed behind noted the two walking away into the woods and commented, "That's why I asked if there were restrooms up here, so I didn't have to take a walk in the woods." We all laughed and laughed, watching the other two walking around, looking like they were looking for a "safe" spot! It was a fun afternoon.

All too soon it was cooling off and dusk was rapidly approaching. The ladies packed up and got ready to head home, but not before we got in some good hugs and promises to continue to keep in touch!

New Life Community -- A Service and a Picnic

2011-10-17T17:00:00.001-05:00

I regret that we were not able to spend time with New Life Community, who recently came out to hold a morning service and then have dinner on the grounds. They were coming in as we were headed out to church and because of a couple of stops we had to make they were already gone when we got back. Brother Paul seems to be a very friendly man and the group is very nice as well. They came out last year for the first time and we did enjoy our time with them, I do remember. We hope they'll be back next year, too!

Neely's Chapel Fall Picnic

2011-10-17T09:00:00.013-05:00

Earlier in the week Pastor Lamar McGriff from Neely's Chapel called with some questions about the camp. He wanted to have the church up for a picnic and come out for a pre-visit as well.

We made the arrangements and he and the youth guy from the church came out for an official tour. Brother Lamar was very down to earth and easy to talk with. He also told me several stories as well. He said that it just might have been him who brought the first group up here back in the late sixties early seventies.

Plans were made and early Saturday afternoon folks began arriving. All in all there was about 35 or so folks who made it out. The aroma of food on the grill filled the air as I wondered on over to do a little socializing. Everyone seemed to be having a great time and I even thought I heard a ballgame or two from a radio here and there.

While a deposit is required from every group that comes up to the camp there is no charge for groups that are officially affiliated with the Madison Baptist Association. I was pleasantly surprised when Brother Lamar handed me a $50.00 check and said they wanted to help out the camp. What a great bunch of folks and I hope to see them use the camp even more in the future.

Morningside Baptist Church

2011-10-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

As far as I know they had never been up to the camp before.....I know the new youth leaders, Darin and Christian Lightfoot, had not been up here anyway. So far these last two months, all groups who have been here have enjoyed near perfect weather.

Morningside stayed for a long weekend, since Monday was the Columbus Day holiday, and from what I have been told they had a great time. My time spent with the group was limited as Denise had surgery but I managed to get a few pictures and talk with Darin a few times.

I have noticed that many youth ministers also play guitar and sing, but I discovered that Darin and Christian had been doing praise music for several years. Darin gave me a CD he'd made and I will have to admit it was very good. As a matter of fact one particular song, Keep My Eyes On You, really blew me away and is my favorite song right now! Here is a link to some of their music: Praizenet. Now the version of my favorite song here is pretty good but nothing like the CD. I look forward to the time we get around to visiting them at Morningside to hear them in person and having them at the camp again as well.

Whitesburg RA's and Challengers - Fall Camp Out

2011-10-03T17:00:00.042-05:00

It is always good to have the group from Whitesburg up to the camp. The RA's and Challengers do a group camp out in the fall and a separate one in the spring. The more I get to know these men the better I like them. Tim Lawrence, Richard Silar, Ray Romine and John Crocker represent quite a few years in the ministry when you add it all up....somewhere around 1,000 I believe.

The older group, the Challengers, were looking for a service project and just so happened there was one to be found. I took Tim and Richard down High Ridge Trail--the one the tornado in the spring had completely shut down--to look around. Now I was not expecting much as there had already been groups up here who had taken one look and were overwhelmed by the destruction. I said, "Gentlemen, I know there is not much you can do with this, but anything you can do will be a huge help."

Now this trail is probably the steepest in some places and has some narrow spots so really the only way in would be to carry the necessary equipment with them.....well that's what I thought anyway. On our way back out I heard Tim mumble something to Richard about his truck being four-wheel drive and he was sure they could take it down there. It is a good thing I am not a betting man because I would have definitely bet against the truck making it in and out again.... without any damage anyway!

Ten minutes after I had gone to get the camera I heard voices from down in the hollow and chainsaws firing up. I went back down the trail and there were men at work everywhere. I got a few pictures and then left them to the task. It must have been a couple of hours later when they finally came back out. Once they were gone I snuck back down there and saw where they had made some huge progress. As a matter of fact there was really only one bad spot left! What an outstanding job by the whole crew !

Earlier I had been over at the Pavilion talking with Ray Romine, who seems to have drawn the role of camp cook. I usually get to sample at least one meal from every group but not this time. Oh, they offered, but I had other things to attend to. If memory serves me correctly, Ray cooks every time they come up here...probably because he is pretty good at it.

The group brought a surprise with them when they came up this time...a brand new grill. John Crocker told me that they wanted to donate this to the camp. I thanked them all many times for this most generous gift as it is a wonderful asset.

Speaking of John, I heard him mention something to the younger guys about the Lake Monster. Just when I thought this had passed completely out of memory. Very few know anything about this and we had hoped it would just remain a legend, but there John was talking about it in broad daylight! Now he should know that only on certain nights when the moon is full is the thing even capable of leaving the lake, and even then for just a few hours. There really is no need of me even talking about this ... but there have been a couple of times when whole suet feeders have come up missing, coupled with strange sounds outside of the RV. Oh, and there was that one time down at Serenity Pond where I saw a head come up out of the water that was so big that.......oh wait it surely had to be an Alligator Snapping Turtle.

Anyway, I took a few more pictures and then most everyone pulled out around lunchtime. I secured everything down and then later settled into an afternoon of college football.

2011-09-24T17:00:00.004-05:00

Well the Fall Jamboree for 2011 is over and done! We could not have asked for a better Fall day and we had plenty of folks that came to help. Let me just start out by thanking those who made this day possible. Chasing The Light from First Baptist Gurley were the first group to sing and they sounded great. I overheard several say how much they enjoyed their group. These are a great bunch of folks we got to know during our time spent at Gurley. Norman is very talented and has put together a great sounding praise team there.

Next I would like to give a shout-out to one of the new church starts in our association Ignite City Church. This group, led by Pastor Robert Ekis, is very excited about reaching our younger generation and they have such a serving heart. We were so thankful to have them out to help with events and then serve the food.

Chris Crutcher brought a group from Lighthouse Baptist Church out to help us with the games and events as well, and they did such a fine job. Chris is really committed to growing the youth program out there in Toney and is making some great progress. Their pastor, Randy Watts, also came out to support the camp. He is a dear friend and we go way back.

Pastor Charles Miller from Owens Crossroads Baptist also came out and brought his wife and grandkids to enjoy the festivities and even do a little fishing. Brother Charles is a regular to the camp and has been one of our biggest supporters.

As always, my buddies from the Fire Department were a tremendous help. Derrick Stuckey let me borrow his Gator for the day and let me tell you it was such a help. I would love to have one of those up here all the time. Retired fireman Malcolm Davis brought his two Gators and trailer to help with the parking and I don't really know what we would have done without his help. John McNeal, and his lovely wife Annette, made themselves available to do whatever, whenever. John brought his trailer up and we used it for the hay rides. John and Annette and dear friends, and their assistance -- both on the day of the Jamboree and in the days leading up to it -- was invaluable.

Pat Merchant, a great friend of mine, and the Flint River Praise Team did a outstanding job. They were our second group to sing out here, and I knew they would be fabulous. You can always expect to get quality from whatever Pat is involved in.

I want to thank my whole family including my wife Denise, daughter Jocelyn, son James, daughter-in-law Kim, and son-in-law Jason for giving up part of their Saturday to help out with the Jamboree. Jason agreed to take pictures and video for the day and he got some great shots; he is multi-talented and always ready to help out.

New Market BBQ gave us a great rate on the food and it tasted very good too -- lots of folks wanted to know where the food came from. I hope to continue this partnership in the future.

The door prizes were great this year as well. Two Friends, Lowes, Dicks Sporting Goods, Wilsons Lumber, Kaleido Scoops and some individuals donated some wonderful gifts.

In the Lawnmower Race this year the four churches represented were New Market Baptist, Ignite City Church, Flint River and First Baptist Gurley. Last year Brother Don Shultz, after getting off to a slow start, managed to pull away from everyone the last 100 yards or so to win going away. This year was a different story. Julia from Ignite drove with reckless abandon as she took a commanding lead coming down the first hill. There was some jockeying back and forth between the rest until Brother Don begin to make his move coming up the hill in the last 50 yards. Julia had the race won but a couple of rookie mistakes cost her dearly. As Don pulled out to pass her in the last 20 yards if she would have blocked him it would have been all over but she didn't. Still they were side by side and as they were within 5 feet of the finish line Julia stood up on the mower and reached for the finish line tape not knowing the mower would cut off and Brother Don won by an eyelash!

We appreciate Camp MACOBA board members Chris Wilson for coming out to support us and Sam Kelly who is responsible for the great new signs we have. As busy as Wells Johnson is he was able to come out for a little while and we are so thankful for his donation to the camp and everyone else who contributed as well.

Whew. Good thing there's a whole year to go before the next Jamboree!

ALERT Cadet Alabama 3rd Alpha

2011-09-12T17:46:00.003-05:00

This past weekend we had the Alert Cadet Squad up at the camp. I believe when the numbers finally came in there were a total of 12. Vernon and his two boys were the first to arrive on Thursday afternoon and quickly set up camp. He was the head man or 'General' for this particular outing and definitely an experienced camper. I got this directly from their website, "The vision of the ALERT Cadet program is to “turn the hearts of fathers to their sons and to assist fathers in winning and keeping the hearts of their 8-17 year-old sons.”

ALERT stands for Air Land Emergency Resource Team. Vernon had been to the camp before and we communicated via e-mail several times during the week. He wanted to know if there was any particular project they could help us with while they were here and just so happened I had a couple ! Now he had a schedule already made out from the time they arrived until their depature which was Saturday at noon.

Thursday, I took him around on Easy and pointed out a couple of problem areas that could use some clean-up. Several of the guys brought tools and equipment and made quick work of these tasks. They did a great job, we could really use more groups like them.

They did some hiking and some specific projects related to ALERT as well. They could not have picked a better weekend as the night temps were in the 50's and days hovered around the high 70's. I asked if they had any encounters with critters and one of the guys said they thought there was a situation that envolved a large snake...only to later find our it was one of those sneeky black belts that get loose occasionally and coil up somehow.

I also received a call early in the afternoon on Saturday about a lost shoe from one of the boys.....well it seems that maybe it had actually been hidden. Mom put her son on the phone and he told me right where it was so I went and retrieved it. This is not the first time a shoe had coming up missing here at the camp. All in all I think they enjoyed themselves and we enjoyed having them. We definitely look forward to future outings from the ALERT Cadet Group.

Lighthouse Youth Retreat

2011-09-05T17:00:00.001-05:00

The weather was gorgeous this past Labor Day weekend and stayed that way just long enough for the youth from Lighthouse Baptist Church, in Toney, to enjoy their three-day retreat. The festivities started Friday evening. The group -- about thirty, total -- came in and got their tents sent up pronto, while a few headed down to the pavilion to cook up a spaghetti dinner.

For the most part, it looked like a fairly experienced camping group. The tents went up without a problem and campfires were started. Not even the girls were bothered (too much) by the idea of "roughing it" for the long weekend! Although I did hear that on that first night, one of the adult chaperones did sleep in their car -- with a box fan anchored in the window.

Chris, the event organizer/leader had set the schedule up very nicely -- there was group devotional and study time, but he also gave them plenty of time to explore the 103 acres up here. And they did! I heard tales of youth wading Hidden Creek, playing down in Crawdad Creek, walking the trails, and fishing down at Serenity Pond. They were everywhere! And it was great to hear the woods of Camp MACOBA filled with the happy sounds of youth.

They did have their serious moments -- and the pavilion provided the perfect place for those times. As you can see, they had quite a sound setup!

Of course, they also did some serious eating -- between Brian and Dena (two of the parent/chaperones) this group was one of the best fed I've ever seen! I was happy to receive (and accept) dinner invitations to both their Friday and Saturday meals. Mmmm, mmmm good!

Sunday morning, first thing (before breakfast even), all those tents came down lickety-split. There was rain coming in, and they wanted to be packed and ready before the downpour started. They did a great job cleaning up, too. The camp looked terrific. And yes, the rain did come -- in fact, we had another group scheduled to be up here Sunday afternoon into Monday that got rained out.

Every weekend in September is booked up here, as well as three weekends in October, two in November, and even two in December! We're looking forward to seeing everyone.

Catching Up...and Gearing Up !

2011-09-05T12:49:00.001-05:00

Now while summer has officially come to and end I am sure there are still some hot days ahead. For the last three weeks we have not gotten any rain and that may be the only time that has happened this summer. Today however we are getting rain all day, and tomorrow as well. The break from the temperatures is nice. I would say this has been an unusual year for the Camp but since we have only been up here a couple of years I am not sure what normal is.

Bethlehem Baptist from Lacy's Spring was scheduled to come up here for the last part of the weekend but the weather has caused them to reschedule. I had a call early in the summer about the possibility of a fall wedding up here...we will see how that pans out. Our first Kid's Camp was called off because of the extreme heat as well as a few other groups who planned to come up during the high temps as well. For about a month or two it was quiet up here.....we did manage to get some work done.

I took some pictures during the summer of some interesting flowers/plants in MACOBA land. The one above was in the lower field not far from the woods. Not sure what it is but it certainly caught my eye one day as I was walking.

These were coming out of the edge of some moss as you can see. One day as I took Easy down to explore the "secret creek" these little dainty flowers were everywhere. They seemed to bloom out overnight as I was just down there the day before.

I caught sight of these one day right next to the main road. Like many others they were not all over the place but only a few here and there. While there are no sign of them now they were very noticeable at the time.

One day as I was coming around the back side of the pavilion this bright orange thing was sticking out like a neon sign. I am sure it is some kind of fungus and very pretty.

The wood azaleas are aways pleasant to look at and are sprinkled all throughout the camp in the early part of the spring. The blooms don't last very long but they sure brighten up the place while they are here.

I wanted to include this unusual flower that also was near the pavilion. I nearly stepped on this one as I was headed over to get on the lawnmower one day.

This year we are going all out for the second annual "Fall Jamboree". We have rented space on an digital billboard located on University drive just past Jeff road. If you are coming into Huntsville it is on the left right before you get to Jeff road. Plans are to talk with a reporter from channel 31 about a spot for the camp. New Market BBQ will be providing our lunch this year and we have changed some and expanded the activities for our big day.

We will still have our church lawnmower race which was a big hit last year. The kids will enjoy several activities including an inflatable jumping house. For more up to date details see our Facebook page or visit the website at campmacoba.org.

Fall Jamboree 2011

2011-08-19T13:30:00.002-05:00

It's going to be GREAT!

Archers and Storms

2011-06-22T13:00:00.007-05:00

This past weekend the Mable Hill Youth and the Christian Southern Archers both had events scheduled up at the camp. Everything was worked out and ready to go when the weather decided to intervene. It rained most of the day on Friday, so Mable Hill decided to reschedule for a day in the fall. The Archery Shoot was not supposed to take place until Saturday morning, so the rain was of no concern for them.

Earlier in the week CSA came out and set their targets up in the lower field and just off the nature trail. Our grandson Sawyer spent the night with us on Friday and he loves to go for a ride in "Easy" so Denise took him around the camp. A couple of targets really caught his attention and he was okay from a distance but the closer she got to the animals, the more concerned he got and would even growl under his breath.

On Saturday morning my dad came up for a visit and we hung out around the pond for awhile until it got hot. I saw a few friends of mine who were participating in the shoot. Heath Quick and Greg Able were here along with their boys Drew and Bryce. Carla Brown came up to hang out with her daughter, Rachel, as well.

The event organizer, Chris, said the shoot went well and I believe there were close to 40 folks involved. The shoot was scheduled to be over at 2:00 but sometime around 1:00 a quick storm came through with some extremely strong winds that brought down some huge trees. Already the High Ridge Trail is completely blocked off and now the Nature Trail is as well. It also brought down a very large tree that snapped the top of the utility pole and put the main lines down on the ground. We were without power from about 1:30 p.m. on Saturday until about 8:00 on Sunday night. The utility guy told me that when he came into work on Saturday morning they had 145 tickets still to go from that quick little storm.

Plans are to have the Disaster Relief Team up here this week--if they are able--thanks to Harold Sellers and Wayne Miller. There is one section of the pier that needs spindles put on the handrail and it will be finished. If the weather cooperates I will finish that up today. We now have a working stove up at the pavilion which is a big asset for those SS Fellowships and Church Picnics. As a matter of fact Kay Howard and Company from Winchester Road Baptist were glad to have it yesterday as they began their yearly Hispanic VBS! We have recently acquired an ice machine and hope to have it up and running next week. Willowbrook is scheduled to have a camp-out this coming weekend and we're looking forward to having them.

Challengers Overnight

2011-06-14T23:01:00.000-05:00

Tim Lawrence and his guys brought out the Challengers from Whitesburg Baptist last weekend for an overnight stay. The group was rather small this time; Tim said they had several cancellations. I was going to get some pictures but by the time I went back over there it was already dark and with the fire ban in effect, there was no campfire going. I heard one of the boys suggest turning off the lantern to see how dark it would be, whereupon one of the men replied, oh don't worry darkness is coming a little later.

I don't see many churches who have AWANA and RA's and especially the older RA boys, called Challengers. By the time the boys reach this age most churches have them in the youth group. While I think AWANA is a great program, it does not seem to be as focused on missions as the RA/GA Program.

Tim and some of the guys were sitting around the table after dinner talking about how big the groups used to be and how they have dwindled in the last few years. I can remember growing up how we were pretty much outside until dark every night playing football, baseball or something. Kids now-a-days don't seem to find the same pleasure in outdoor activities. Whitesburg generally uses the camp a couple of times a year and for that we are very thankful and always look forward to their outings.

Watts Family Fishing Outing

2011-06-04T10:10:00.000-05:00

It's was a sultry, hot day, yesterday . . . too hot to do much of anything, which made it the perfect day for fishing! And that's just what the Watts family came to Camp MACOBA to do. Todd & I have known Brother Randy & Miranda Watts for a long time and count them as dear friends. And they are not only friends, but Brother Randy is also the pastor of Lighthouse Baptist Church, our sending church! So we were very pleased to have them up here, enjoy a picnic lunch together, and spend a lazy afternoon down at Serenity Pond.

It was the new dock's first official outing, too. It made it very nice to put out the chairs and sit over the water! Peter, the youngest of the Watts clan, was working the water, anxious for a bite.

He got one, too!

A turtle! Yikes! This was a decent sized snapping turtle, but Miranda saw one swim by later on that she claimed was probably two or even THREE times this guy's size. I'd heard of fishing tales, but turtles tales . . . ?

After spending some time feeding bread to the little fish under the dock, Miranda felt like it was time to get serious and bait the hook!

Jonathan, following his dad's advice, headed down to Silty Bottom pond, and caught himself a nice big bass! A little later he changed up his bait and hooked another nice one up at Serenity, but as we were watching it freed itself when he tried to pull it in. Ah well, every fishing outing has to have a story about the one that got away!

Brother Randy spent a lot of his time getting rods ready, untangling lines and supervising, but he did finally manage to throw his line in the water, too. He caught a nice little bass down at Silty Bottom, too -- but the fishing was tougher up at Serenity!

After Miranda had fished for a bit, and while the guys valiantly continued to cast their lines, she and I headed off on Easy (dubbed by Miranda as our "all-terrain golf cart") for a thorough tour of the camp. I took her down Beech Bottom Trail to the Secret Creek, and then we headed down the Nature Trail to play around in Crawdad Creek. Finally, we swung around to the upper meadow and then into the main campground. It was nice playing tour guide for the afternoon! It also afforded us plenty of "girl talk" time!

Right about the time we were finishing up our tour, the guys said they were ready for watermelon. So we grabbed the lovely, seedless melon that the Watts had brought, and headed back down to the pond.

Brother Randy did the honors, and we stood around for a bit, munching watermelon. It was the perfect way to cap off a nice afternoon. We hope the Watts family will come back soon!

Trying to Catch-Up!

2011-06-01T17:00:00.009-05:00

So much has been going on with conferences, projects, storms and just life that I have gotten behind on the blog. There is no way I can remember everything so this will be a summary of what has taken place concerning the camp since about April??? Well starting with most recently in the last week or so I cut grass for 8 hours one day and six another. We had storms that came through the camp the same day as the tornadoes and took out about 13 trees. Every single trail was blocked and one of the roads. A friend of mine from Southern Exteriors came up and we took care of the situation in about half a day.

The storm that came through last week, sometime shortly after midnight that only lasted 30 -40 seconds, took out at least twice as many trees than the first storm.

There were and are trees down, others that have the tops ripped out of them and many more that have been uprooted but have not come all the way down.

One very large tree came down and missed the RV by about 10 feet. This time I got out the chainsaw again and spent another 8 hours clearing a completely blocked road and some from around the RV.

The new iron electronic gate is up, looks good and is working great. Just recently we added an electronic eye for safety purposes.

The Pier project is one day from being finished. The actual pier is finished but the handrail has yet to be built. With all the storm damage all across the county this project (rightly) took a back seat for awhile. I hope to have that completed this coming week.

We are one step closer to having the new bathroom in the main campground area complete. It appears one more good day of work there will finish it up.

Sam Kelly and a group from Willowbrook are working on two new signs for the camp and from what I have seen so far they look great.

At an upcoming committee meeting in June we will be discussing various plans, projects, and other things concerning the camp.

I know of at least three times Brother Charles Miller from Owens Cross Roads Baptist has been out to do a little fishing and I think two of those times Brother Glen Bobo has been with him. The last time they came Brother Glen brought his dad with him.

A husband and wife from New Market Baptist came out and spent a night just to get away from hectic life for awhile. Another day a family came out and spent a day fishing. Met a fine gentleman from Cornerstone Baptist in Park City who came up and I gave him the $100.00 tour of the place. He was impressed enough that he has scheduled a Kid’s Camp here for a week in July.

Brother Wayne Cooper brought a group of RA’s from Hillwood Baptist and they spent a night.

If I remember correctly they had a little storm that came in the wee hours of the morning. No damage done but a few leaky tents were discovered.

Brother Jeff Whitehead was also part of this group and led their devotional time. I was able to spend a little time with Jeff and like so many folks in the ministry he is one busy guy! We think alike on many things and it is always a pleasure to come across quality people like him.

We've had a number of cancellations and reschedules because of the weather. Ignite City Church, a new church start out of the Madison Baptist Association, held a Sunday afternoon fellowship and prayer meeting up at the camp and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Early in April, Ray Romine brought a group of RA’s from Whitesburg up for an overnight outing. They had a good time and have been regulars to the camp for several years. John Shocke was also there and took the kids on a nature walk where they came across a box turtle I think they named Turbo.

Interesting story on John. I had talked with him and we went out to lunch back in the fall to discuss a possible partnership on an upcoming project at the camp. He was scheduled to lead a mission trip to Israel. I asked him about that trip and then he proceeded to tell me what had happened. It seems he had been having some back pain but nothing serious for quite some time when it took a turn for the worse. He said the back pain was really bad and never let up. The doctor found a growth on his spinal cord. They went in and removed it and found it to not be cancerous but had to remove some vertebrae and then fuse his spinal cord together. John told me for the next two weeks he experienced pain like he had never before but forced himself to walk every day. This has been a few months ago and now he says he can’t tell there ever was a problem! God is great !

I hope this catches me up for now and I did not forget anything or anybody. This weekend we have a group coming in for a family picnic, then we have a Camp Committee meeting next week, along with the Whitesburg Challengers coming in!

Young at Heart Picnic

2011-05-10T17:00:00.002-05:00

It was the perfect day for a picnic. The skies were clear, the sun was shining, and it was just breezy enough to keep the bugs at bay! The only thing it needed was a light-hearted group of picnickers, and a picnic spread fit for a king! Don't you know we got both up here when Flint River's senior adults, fondly referred to as the Young at Heart group, headed up for for a relaxing, fun afternoon.

Brother Pat got things started off right with some toe-tapping music. And this was not a shy group; they all lifted their voices in song!

Brother Carl Tate even stood up and did a special! He and his wife, Ms. Evelyn, are wonderful people and have a long history with the fellowship of Flint River Baptist Church.

In fact, Ms. Evelyn shared that she'd been commissioned as the clerk for the Madison County Baptist Association, right on this very pavilion, many years ago!

The woman to the far left of Brother Carl? That's Fran Norton. She and her husband, John, were the original hosts of the camp, when it was first purchased! What wonderful, marvelous stories they shared with us.

Along with song and dear friends, there were two tables full of great cooking, too!

These ladies outdid themselves putting on a spread. We were so thankful to be invited to spend time with them that afternoon, and blessed for accepting the offer!

Spring Break Activity

2011-04-20T19:05:00.000-05:00

This has been one of the wettest springs I can remember in quite some time. Someone said the other day that corn planting may be at an all time low as farmers have not had enough dry weather to get in the fields. We certainly have had our share of the rain up here at the camp. Two or three times now I have had folks lined up for work on a project only to have to cancel. Now last week we did manage to squeeze in a few visitors as Chris Wilson brought his kids up during spring break and Sam Kelly's son came along as well. Sam and his friend James, who seems to be a jack-of-all-trades, came up and worked most of the day on the new bathroom in the main campground. Chris cooked lunch for everyone on the grill and the kids seemed to have a good time. The girls spent much of their outing down at Crawdad Creek.

Here I got a picture of Reid, (Chris's oldest boy) in a rather odd position for taking a nap.

Taking Care of Business

Yesterday before the rain came I spent about three hours on the mower. There is this one section of grass right where the pavement starts that seems to grow faster than the rest for some reason. With all the extra rain this year it almost got too far ahead of me.....but it didn't! The storms did come through but we did not seem to get all that much rain and missed the severe weather. There was something that happened last night off of Ollie Howard Road around 8:00 or 9:00 that caused the power to go out for 3 or 4 hours. The Utilities said the crew was having to cut up a huge tree that had fell across a power line. One of our neighbors said she had heard something about a fire in that area. Not exactly sure what happened but we did not get very much sleep. Funny thing I just purchased a generator for situations like this but have not had time to get it ready and try it out.

Storm Patrol

As is my habit I always go through all the trails and roads as soon as I can after a storm....this morning was no exception. Not too many big limbs down this time so I decided to take some pictures while tooling around.

I know they have been here all along but the dogwoods are really noticeable up here this year. As a matter of fact I did not realize just how many there were growing wild throughout the camp.

On the lower field these tiny little orchid colored flowers are all over the place and remind me of stars from a distance.

Noticed these yellow ones for the first time today...not sure what they are.

This is the entrance to "The Hidden Pathway". It winds around and eventually ends up in Beech Bottom Trail which in turn leads to the Secret Creek.

Pictured here is The Secret Creek. I could tell we did not get very much rain as the creek is pretty much at the same level as yesterday.

The Wood Azaleas are very distinct and scattered all over the woods up here.

Now as you can see in this picture the Hidden Pathway can be treacherous and has caused Easy and I some trouble in days gone by. I cut a new trail around this part but it is pretty wet right now as well.

The Dragon Flies were all over the place today. Not sure if they eat mosquitoes or not but if they do they are my new favorite insect!

I ran across this picture from when the workday crew was up here a little while back. Here we see some kind of salamander. I think this was the third or fourth different kind Eddie's son caught that day.

I look forward to another great year up here at the camp. There is a report to be given at the Executive Board meeting on Monday and a Golf Tournament to benefit the camp May 20th. Last year was a good start but this just might turn out to be the best year yet!

SS Class Fellowship - Repeat Visit

2011-04-09T21:00:00.002-05:00

Today Camp MACOBA had the pleasure of being the host site for a returning group -- Ms. Sara's SS class of New Market Baptist Church. Their last visit had been late in the fall of 2010, and Todd and I were able to join in their fellowship fun. (See HERE for that entry.)

This year, unfortunately, Todd was on shift for the occasion, so I had the group to myself!

They had a pretty decent turnout of about 14, which makes for a good variety of covered dishes and quick conversation! They also had a lovely afternoon -- warm and sunny -- and an evening that cooled off nicely (but didn't get COLD). They didn't need a fire in the fire place this time around!

Ms. Sara is no ordinary SS teacher -- she gives her students homework. HARD homework, and expects them to deliver, too! Her homework assignment was for each of the students to pick a book from the minor prophets, read it five times, and then answer some questions she'd given them.

Two of her students had agreed to give their answers at the picnic! Both of them did a great job; in fact, some of her students felt like the first two had set the bar so high, there was no point in continuing!

Of course, one of the two volunteers was Bill, Ms. Sara's husband. I wonder if that makes him the teacher's pet?!

They talked, laughed, walked, ate, studied God's Word, and just had an all-around good time.

It's always a pleasure to have this group up here -- we look forward to seeing them again soon. Ms. Sara even mentioned that she & Bill might be up here soon to do a little tent camping!

The Work Went On

2011-04-07T16:06:00.044-05:00

Everyone’s lives are so busy these days you can be sure when you plan something there are many other things planned on that day as well. The first workday was planned about a month ago and it looked like we had around 40 or so folks coming out and then the weather decided not to cooperate so it had to be canceled. I will say the weatherman hit it right on the money as the day was a total washout. Between us going to Tampa for a week to be commissioned by the NAMB and work schedules, the next available time was this past Saturday. We were so thankful for those who were able to make it and did manage to get a few things on the list accomplished. One big thing is the progress we managed to make on the fishing pier. In order to maximize the effectiveness of the crew working on that project we kept shifting crew members from the brush patrol around to the pier project. As a matter of fact at one point we all were down there. We kept them stocked up with the necessary materials they needed so they never had to stop work. Andy Dobbs brought his RV up on Friday and decided to spend a peaceful night at the camp before the work began on Saturday. I actually met Andy last year through association with the camp. Now I will say he is a busy man and a world traveler !…..well maybe just a US traveler. He told me about a trip they made to see the shuttle lift off and had the best seats in the house! He is one of those good guys you run into occasionally during life’s journey and are glad you met.

I was up early on Saturday making coffee for the crew and opening the gate. I started a small fire in the fireplace at the pavilion and was enjoying my coffee watching and listening as the camp began to wake up. Andy and his boy were the first to arrive. I had never met Jonathan before but was really impressed with him by days’ end. He is 24 attending UAH and gives me plenty of hope for the generation coming up. The first part of the day he was on a brush crew where he did plenty of work without complaining and then ended up down on the pier. Now he was not just a gopher but they handed him a power tool and put him to work. He did a mighty fine job too.

Jonathan Dobbs has been drafted!

Joining us on the brush crew and general clean-up were Pastor Charles Miller, Pastor Wayne Kimbrough, his son Eddie and two of Eddie’s sons Joshua and Jacob. Now I was glad to see them and they are pretty regulars at the camp. Brother Charles is a busy man but he did make time to come out and help us for awhile in the morning.I wish he could have stayed for lunch. Now this was a working crew and quite a bit was accomplished when we got started. Brother Wayne worked as hard as anyone but then again he has been serving people all his life….the next generation could learn quite a bit from him. I learned a little bit about Eddie’s middle son Jacob on this trip as it seems he is a regular Jack Hannah. He must have found two or three types of lizards, salamanders and who knows what else. He also pitched in to help with the pier.

Eddie Kimbrough Is Right In The Thick Of Things

Jack Hannah.... I Mean Jacob Kimbrough Is No Stranger To Work

I had asked my son-in-law Jason to come up and take a few pictures and some video of the workday and he ended up actually working as much as anyone! I did not intend for this but he is the kind of man who will do whatever needs to be done and without batting an eye…so glad to have him in the family. After taking some video he actually laid the camera down and helped the put the dock together. I swapped him out with Eddie’s oldest boy Joshua at around 10:30 so Jason could get lunch started. Now Joshua did not seem to mind at all and the next time I saw him he had a screw gun in his hand and was hard at it.

Joshua Kimbrough Is A Natural Carpenter

Everyone came up around 11:30 to eat and take a little break. Oh I forgot to mention that the pier crew, Joe, John and Greg actually arrived and went to work before anyone else. As a matter of fact I didn’t even know they were down there working until they cranked up the generator. Joe could not stay for lunch but has already been up here three or four times working on the pier. He has been such a big help. I can’t say enough about Greg and John…especially on this project, they both really know what they are doing when it comes to building!

Joe And Greg Working Side By Side

John Cuts A Slot Around The Post

Right before lunch we set the big brush pile on fire which was sitting in the double fire ring. In almost no time at all the evidence of the mornings work was gone! Most of the focus in the afternoon was shifted to the pier project as we continued to replace folks who had to leave. By around 2:30 everyone who was left was working on the pier. At around 4:30 we called it a day as we had gone as far as we could. It was necessary to stop where we did so we can pour concrete around all the supporting posts, which will happen sometime during the coming week. Once that happens we will put down the rest of the deck boards, install the handrail and it will be finished. After everyone left and I made a round through the camp making sure all fires were safe, trash was up and the usual things. About an hour before dark Denise and I made a trip down to look at the dock as she had not seen it yet. Well three deck boards were up so we walked out and sat down on the edge by the water and just enjoyed the sun going down and the day coming to an end.

Workday 2011

2011-03-29T17:04:00.014-05:00

The first time we scheduled the workday this year many folks had planned on being there but the weatherman said the day was going to be a total washout so we canceled it. He was right. This Saturday is supposed to be sunny and in the 70's so I hope plenty of folks will be able to come out. There is another big event scheduled that involves many of the churches that I was not aware of when this new date was scheduled. We will just have to make do with those who are able to come. Lunch is still going to be provided at 11:30 and we have around 17 different projects on the agenda. Everything from grass cutting and tree trimming to clearing out an old fence row and help with the new fishing dock. There will be plenty for everyone but we can not provide tools so folks will have to bring their own. This present Camp MACOBA Committee has really been a pro-active one as several things have been accomplished and are presently in the works; what a great bunch of men with such a heart for the camp!

The new electronic gate has been installed and looks good. Still a few minor adjustments and additions to take care of but it is fully functional. We would like to thank First Baptist Huntsville for providing the funding and New Market Iron Works for the great looking and very secure gate.

The Fishing Dock on Serenity Pond

The dock will be 40 feet long down the bank and 10 feet wide with secure hand rails on three sides. The edge of the dock will be about even with the water's edge. Flint River and Bethlehem provided most of the materials for this project and we are so thankful! Lowe's on North Parkway gave us a great rate for the materials thanks to Jessie Whitaker. Most of the labor up to this point has been courtesy of Fire Station # 6 (3rd shift crew) John McNeal, Greg Freese and Joe Aritas...part of my second family. I look forward to Saturday -- a day filled with fun, fellowship, food and accomplishment!

Signs of Spring?

2011-02-10T14:00:00.001-06:00

At about 12:30 this afternoon, the blue skies came and it warmed all the way up to 35 degrees, which melted most of the snow we got last night. As I finished my walk and fed the birds, something green caught my eye. I am not sure what the groundhog said it was going to do -- but this is definitely a sign!

Snowy Days

2011-01-12T20:00:00.000-06:00

I have lived in Madison County most all of my life and don’t remember getting this many days of snow.

Up here on Limestone Ridge it has been quite beautiful this year!

Now I will say that the ground has been wet since about November so some projects have been slow going.

The day we got the deep snow…almost a foot here at the camp..I was not able to make it to our RV in my truck. Oh I tried several times to make it up either hill but there was no success. About the 5^th try I got a running start and tried to go around the backside hill but ended up sliding off and all the way down to the woods.

I called a friend of mine with a four wheel drive pick-up to come pull me out and he got stuck in the attempt. Finally with a chain and the tractor we managed to get both of us out and then scraped snow off the roads.

One thing about the snow is it allows you to see further into the woods and things that might have been camoflauged before.

The group of does that frequent the spot right outside of our window were looking for something to eat since the snow had everything covered.

After a while, two of them got tired of digging and took a little break.

The birds were out in force on our feeders and the white landscape really made the cardinals stand out!

You can get an idea of just how deep the snow was as it came up to the bottom rung of the gate. Most of the snow we have gotten in recent history, at least before this year, has been in March--so we may get even more still!

We Have Progress

2010-12-30T13:52:00.019-06:00

Just like so many other things, making all the preparations and making sure the proper paperwork is done takes longer than the actual work. The roofers from SWAT came out and went to work early. If there had not been a delay in getting the new shingles here, they would have completed this project in one day I believe.

By the end of the second day, the roof was finished, including the BBQ Pit and all new fascia boards were installed on the pavilion. The next day we had a really good rain so I was quickly able to inspect their handiwork. The roof not only looks good but the leaks we had are gone as well.

All this and it did not cost the MBA anything. The best way!

We wish you a . . .

2010-12-25T06:39:00.000-06:00

And the Flood Came

2010-12-08T14:07:00.007-06:00

It rained and rained and when it got through raining, it rained some more. The news said in some places we got 4 inches in 24 hours and I believe that must have been the case here at the camp.

This is not the creek -- it's the road:

Serenity Pond:

The Secret Creek (not such a secret, here):

The next day I went looking around and had to do it by foot, as Easy would surely have gotten stuck. On my morning walk I went down Beech Bottom Trail--which leads to the Secret Creek--to see just how bad it got. The creek was so far up in the woods you could not tell where it was supposed to be. Best estimate was I could only get within 300 yards to the original creek bank. I went around clearing the roads of limbs that had blown down and occasionally ran across a crawdad or two in the process.

Several days later, when things had almost returned to normal and the Secret Creek was a little more secretly again, I went on trail patrol this time with Easy. It is amazing how powerful moving water is. There were huge logs across the trail in a few places. Some I had to cut away and a few I was able to move just enough to get off the trail. I set out to find a new way down to the creek as there were a couple of places on Beech Bottom Trail that were low and too wet to cross over with Easy.

I discovered an old trail that had been forgotten and actually had large trees across it from a long time ago. I spent half a day clearing it out and making a few detours here and there and finally managed to make it once again connect to the Beech Creek Trail. This "Hidden Pathway," as I am going to call it, was a great new route and has already been marked with trail markers that I had ordered and which came in a few weeks ago.

The camp is officially closed and I kind of look forward to things settling down a bit and watching the critters during the winter months. Oh, I still have a project or two in the works, and will continue to make improvements during this slow time of the year.

So long, Oscar

2010-11-24T17:00:00.000-06:00

Most of the morning was spent clearing an old trail that had become impassable. Earlier in the day Brother Charles Miller had called to see if it would be alright to bring his grandsons up later to fish. I told him, "Sure, y'all come on up when you get ready."

To tell the truth I was so into the trail cleaning that I forgot about all them until my cell phone rang around 1:30. Brother Charles said, "You wanted me to call if we got him right?" I said, "Uh yeah right, who do you mean 'the big one'?" He told me I'd better head their way with the camera.

These days the camera goes with me just about everywhere, so I hopped in ol' Easy, turned around on the trail, and made a bee-line to Serenity Pond. The three grandsons together had caught six bass--and some pretty good ones at that.

One of the boys was telling me that his grandpa was actually on the phone with another pastor when his cork went clean out of sight! Brother Charles said into the phone, "Hold on, I’ve got a fish!"

It didn’t take long to realize this was not just another bass, but it had the very real possibility of being Oscar. The biggest bass in the pond was given the name Oscar by me. He has outwitted many a fisherman, even though Shannon Crim’s son almost landed him a week or so ago. There would be no escape this time as Brother Charles landed him and Oscar was on a stringer when I got there.

I got the scale and even though it's unofficial, he weighed 7 pounds. Brother Charles could put his whole fist in Oscar’s mouth and he did!

They left shortly after and turned all the fish back loose, except Oscar of course, who is going on the wall.

Sunday School Fellowship

2010-11-21T16:40:00.004-06:00

I called Bill earlier in the day just to make sure things were still a go for the Sunday School Fellowship this afternoon. He said they were and folks were to begin arriving around 3:00. Actually Bill and his lovely wife arrived around 2:00 to began setting everything up. I had met them the first time up here at the Fall Jamboree earlier in the year. They seem like really great folks.

Over the next few hours people began to drift in, one car at a time, until around 5:00. Denise and I made our way over to do a little meeting-and-greeting and to take a few pictures. I spoke with Russell Merriman who I knew from the Fire Department for awhile, while Denise made her way around taking some pictures.

We were about to leave when they insisted that we stay and eat with them, which we did. This was a fun group and seemed to enjoy each others company quite a bit. I spoke with a dear lady who is part of the WMU at New Market Baptist Church and has been living out here since the early 50’s. She was a fount of information about the history of New Market.

Russell told me a little about how 20 + years ago he helped put the ponds in here at the camp, and get them stocked. Someone even referred to him as the Mayor of New Market…now I am sure there is a story there.

One of the women grabbed a stick and began to poke at the fire and of course half the folks had something to say about it...kind of reminded me of the fire department for a minute there.

The company was great and so was the food. I had some chili and stew and my wife had some potato soup that was very good as well. There was a roaring fire going and it looked like they were getting ready to play some games as we excused ourselves and made our way back to the RV.

He & Me Day

2010-11-14T14:00:00.001-06:00

Todd was on shift on Saturday, but I was happy to step in and play host for our guests that day, especially since it was a group I hold dear -- Girl Scouts!! Troop 660 had elected to have their annual "He & Me" day up at the camp. They had a terrific turnout, with over 80 girls and their fathers participating.

The first activity of the afternoon was a nature hike/scavenger hunt. The pairs of dads & daughters could hike wherever they wanted in the camp, but were to collect as many things on the list as possible. I heard tales of folks wandering all over the place!

After about an hour, groups of dads & daughters brought their scavenged loot back up to the pavilion.

While leader, Dena Yell, and co-leader, Dana, got the supplies for next activity (a craft) ready, the girls and their dads rested at the tables . . .

. . . and played out in the playground!

Finally, when all the girls and dads had made it back, on of the leaders called roll (to make sure we hadn't lost any of those dads out in the woods), and the groups got busy making critters with their scavenger finds!

Some of those dads were pretty intent on their craft!

After they'd finished with the craft, girls and dads headed out to the campfire circle for a round of campfire songs and my favorite, s'mores!

Once the event was over, folks cleared out very quickly; but I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that Auburn was in the middle of a game and Alabama was playing a few hours later!

Outside is the place to be!

2010-11-11T18:30:00.002-06:00

A friend of mine, Shannon Crim called me early in the week to see if it was ok to bring his boys up to the camp to do a little fishing on Thursday, since they were out of school. They had never been to the camp before. I told him it would be a great idea. Actually I think most of this conversation took place in texts back and forth. I had a lunch meeting so I missed their arrival by about 30 minutes. I asked Shannon to please take some pictures if they caught anything so I could put it on the blog. I went on to say that there was a chance one of them might catch “Oscar” and I really wanted a picture of him.

Oscar is king of Serenity Pond, which is the camp's upper pond. He can eat just about anything that comes swimming by, so the fish left in there are either friends, family or great at hide and seek. One of the pastors who fishes up here a bit saw Oscar earlier in the year, when he rolled at a fly the pastor was fishing with. I have seen Oscar a time or two myself, when he was running minnows along the banks. Best guess is that Oscar weights around 7 pounds.

Early in the afternoon I got back from lunch, parked the truck, got in Easy and went down to spend some time with our visitors. It was a beautiful day with hardly any wind and the temps in the lower 80’s. Shannon had brought his kayak with him and we managed to get one of those huge spools that had somehow made it into the water back out on the bank. He showed me on the camera where the boys had actually caught 4 decent sized bass, and then went on to tell me a story. He said they had been catching nothing and then like someone had flipped a switch they started biting.

Charlie, Shannon’s oldest son, hooked into one and the fight was on. Shannon ran down the bank and saw that it was Oscar. Charlie kept fighting him and had him close enough to the bank to net. Shannon didn’t know whether to grab his camera or the net and in that split second Oscar sensed a little confusion and made a run back out toward the middle of the pond and snapped Charlie’s line. Now both Charlie and Shannon were able to get quite a good look at Oscar and judging by the dimensions that were given to me Oscar may be a little bigger than I thought!

Jack Parker and Charlie took turns in the Kayak and Charlie did manage to catch another bass that I took a picture of. Not sure if they spent any time trying their luck in Silty Bottom, the lower pond, but they seemed to have a great time.

Twice the fun!

2010-11-07T17:00:00.002-06:00

It was a first -- at least since we've been up here -- two separate groups camping out at the same time. We had the Royal Ambassadors group from First Baptist Huntsville and Cub Scout Pack 94. Sleeping areas had been arranged ahead of time and everything seemed to go very well.

Wes Blake from First Baptist had come up to the camp early on Saturday morning and brought a bunch of food and the cooker. He then headed out until the afternoon because of soccer tournaments and such.

Around 9:30 am the scouts began to arrive. I went out to meet them and to chat for a bit. They hung around the pavilion for a while, built a fire and did some other things. They camped out in the middle field just off the main road and around lunchtime, they began to get serious.

They asked if it was okay to build a fire ring up there and I thought it was a great idea.

They did a great job making a double fire ring.

Around 2:30 pm or so, folks from the other group began to wander in and set up their tents in the main campground.

I moseyed on up there and spoke with several of the guys. Most of them had begun to setup some different events in the upper field.

Wes had some kind of catapult set up with a unique name, but I can't remember what he called it. If I'm right on the story, it was a leftover science project. It was a pretty cool contraption. The boys had to make several different calculations in order to fling the object to the desired spot. String length, weights, how far you pulled it back, when you let it go, how you held your mouth, the wind . . . I don't know what all went in to the figuring. Certainly it took an engineer!

At a second station -- which was real popular with the boys -- they were shooting air rifles at soda can targets.

And further on done the meadow, there was a station with some of the men teaching the boys how to shoot a bow and arrow.

Just before supper time, Denise and I wandered over to the cub scouts' camp, checking out the commotion going on over there. It seems they were playing a game called "Chase Your Tail."

The boys were confined in a circle (made up by the adults) and each had a length of rope tucked down into their pants pocket at one end, and dragging the ground at the other.

The object was to step on another person's rope (tail), so that it came out of the pocket and landed on the ground. The last boy with his 'tail' intact was the winner. They were really getting into it!

We were taken around the campfire by Glen Smith, the scout leader, to check out what dinner would be.

There was some spaghetti stew that smelled really good.

And on the other side of the campfire, someone had some chicken chili that looked great.

We were invited to join them later.

We made our way back to the other group. They were getting ready for some flashlight tag, then some burgers and dogs cooked on the grill, and finally some s'mores. Doesn't everyone like s'mores? We took Easy and took a drive around the camp before heading back to the RV to finish watching the game. Once that was finished, we eased on over to the RA group and had a little dinner.

It was very good, and plenty of it. After chatting with some of the folks there, including John Shocke, Easy took us back over to the scout group.

We were just in time for some homemade peach cobler, cooked in a Dutch oven over the camp fire.

It was great as we hung around and listened to some stories and ate warm peach cobbler by the fire. We thanked them for their hospitality and turned in for the night, but the wonderful smell of the campfire lingered on. Glen said they planned to have a small service in the morning right after breakfast. Everyone from both groups was gone by around lunchtime and both groups did an excellent job cleaning up.

Father-Son Camp Out

2010-10-30T14:00:00.000-05:00

The 5^th annual Father/Son camp out at Camp MACOBA is over and there was a pretty good turnout.

Most of Friday afternoon was spent setting everything up, and then some cooking and hanging out around the fire.

On Saturday morning everyone woke up to near freezing temperatures, clear skies, and calm winds. This later proved to be the recipe for a great day!

I arrived after breakfast and the groups had already started their rounds. There were three different groups: the trail, missions, and the events. Sam Kelly was busy with many things one which was clearing off all the trails. I drove up to the top field where the events were held. Chris Wilson was manning the snack booth and informed me that we had 100 participants this year! I went around taking some pictures of the events first. There was an archery shoot, air rifle, hatchet throw, slingshot, and finally blow darts.

Speaking of that last event, Chris Wilson had evidently done this before as he was pegging the bulls-eye.

There was a missionary from Iraq who had some stories to tell and held the boys attention.

Everything finished up around noontime, a little earlier than in years past due to some fall festivals and other things going on. All in all things went well and we look forward to this event again next year.

"Easy" on Trail Patrol

2010-10-27T20:00:00.004-05:00

Every time a storm blows through the camp I go out on Trail Patrol very soon afterward, to make sure all roads and trails are clear. With so many trees on the place there are bound to be limbs and even possibly trees down somewhere. Me and "Easy" headed out this beautiful afternoon to see what we could find. Now since Easy has come along it has made this venture a whole lot easier.

Before coming into the ministry, Easy had a life that was, simply put, easy. For the first 15 years it traveled the paved streets about a mile, twice a week, down to the Valley Hill Country Club, where it transported its owner for 18 holes (maybe even 36, on a great day), go up and down the hills and fairways that was almost as nice as a road, then carry him the mile back home where Easy was kept in a nice garage out of all the weather.

I would say while his life was filled with luxury, it was lacking in adventure. That has drastically changed! Shortly after the Fall Jamboree, Easy came into the ministry and I must say it's adjusting well, along with a few scratches and bruises.

A lift kit and some off road tires would probably save it from some bumps on the trails but other than one flat on a real rocky stretch things have been just fine. Just the other day I installed some headlights so the adventure would not be limited to just the daytime.

Anyway, the first place we went was down Beech Bottom Trail.

This is the trail that leads down to the secret creek and has been blocked by some huge trees. Since I don't have the equipment yet to handle quite that big a job, I managed to cut a trail around the trees. There were a few limbs down but nothing too big to handle.

After all the rain in the past week and especially yesterday, the creek was up and rolling. Right now this is the only trail that you have to eventually turn around and come back the same way you came; I'm working on changing that.

Next we went across the road to High Ridge Trail which begins shortly after you enter the gate, on the left. It goes up, down and around, and when the leaves are off the trees there is a beautiful view of the ponds, especially the Upper Pond.

Speaking of the Upper Pond, I created a new picnic area there this week and cut a path down to it from the main trail. Plans are to put another picnic area there in the spring or maybe even the winter. As we were nearing the top of the last hill there was quite a big tree that was blocking the way. I managed to pull it back just enough that it cleared the way. There were a few more smaller ones but nothing that was a big deal. We left that trail and traveled up and then across the field to the Nature Trail.

Easy must have thought it was back on the golf course for awhile -- well, maybe the rough any way. We started down the path and right away there were a few limbs in the way. Now this trail was cleared off by Sam Kelly earlier in the year and Sam did a great job. Easy's brakes got quite a workout for the next 15 minutes or so as I had to stop several times in the middle of going down the big hill.

Really there were no major obstacles, just some small limbs and a few rocks I moved out of the way. The squirrels did not seem to appreciate all our work as they were barking at us everywhere we went. Occasionally a chipmunk would dart in front of our path and would be gone in a flash.

Of all Easy's duties, I would guess Trail Patrol is his favorite, though last week he was a workhorse and there was some groaning going on. On patrol you just never know what will pop up. Here is a picture of what was discovered on High Ridge Trail last week. I am sure they could tell a story of days gone by.

Whitesburg RAs -- The Raincheck

2010-10-22T20:00:00.002-05:00

The Whitesburg RA's had scheduled an outing up at the camp back in the spring, but the weather caused them to cancel. This time it all went according to plan. I had talked to Ray Romine but had never really got to meet him until this outing. He seems to be a great guy and a little younger than I thought. The younger and older groups were both up here on this trip. After everyone was settled, Denise and I drove up to chat with them a bit and get a picture or two

Later that evening I went back up and did a little mingling, snapping a few more pictures and meeting a few folks. I met John Crocker, which I had heard quite a bit about before this day. John seemed to be a very outgoing guy and suggested we have lunch sometime in the future. This sounded like a great idea to me.

They had everything laid out for supper and were finished when I arrived up there.

Matter of fact John was just about to begin their devotion so I quietly eased on off.

The moon that night was full and bright. We didn't need any headlights on Easy that night!

Earth Movers . . .

2010-10-18T20:00:00.004-05:00

I arrived home on Tuesday morning and was refilling the bird feeders, when I heard a vehicle coming up the hill. It drove on over to the upper field and parked. In a few short minutes Easy and I were on our way over to check things out. It was Louis Rickets and his son. Mr. Rickets is a friend of Sam's and had been helping clear out some areas of the campground and the permanent location for the new campground restroom.

I had never met these men so we spent some time in conversation as they loaded up the dozier to take back to the farm. Sam had told me that when it came to equipment Louis Rickets was the man. I thanked them both for all the help with the camp and they said they were glad to do it and would help again in the future. I think Sam had told me Mr. Rickets was close to if not 80 years old. Man I pray I am in half the shape he is in at his age.

Birthday Celebration

2010-10-10T20:00:00.001-05:00

After church we had our kids and their families up for Denise's birthday. I grilled out some burgers and some dogs and even through in a couple of brats...or as some folks call them sausage dogs!

Jocelyn made a birthday cake which was chocolate on chocolate and very good.

Sawyer, our grandson was present and this always brings a smile for Denise. Everyone had a good time and after a few hours folks dispersed.

Later this same afternoon the Kimbrough family came out to do some fishing and just walking around the camp. They had relatives from out of town - Michigan, I believe. Eddie and I were up at the pavilion talking until dark. After awhile folks finally started returning to the truck.

Grandma had gone for a walk and was coming along but the hill below the pavilion proved to be too much. Eddie's wife asked if I could go down and help her. Well this is before Easy had lights but we could still see enough to make the trip. I also had a flashlight just in case.

We traveled down the hill, scooped up Grandma and completed the rescue mission without a hitch. She was very thankful and we were pleased to be of service.

Mayfair Weekend

2010-10-08T20:00:00.003-05:00

Doug Smith from Mayfair brought the "Young Pros" out for a weekend of rest and relaxation and they picked a perfect weekend to come.

He has come out before and we really love having them. They did some exploring, walking, talking around the campfire and even had a small service on Sunday morning before packing up.

Weekend

2010-10-03T14:30:00.004-05:00

This morning at Lighthouse we had the privilege of hearing Dr. Charles Richards preach. Our normal pastor, Randy Watts, was away on some much needed R&R with his family.

Brother Richards did a fine job and has been a member of Lighthouse for quite awhile now. He is often away preaching at other churches or teaching from the book he wrote on the end times. I really like Brother Richards and have known him for several years.

Rob Peavy had called me on Friday night and said he had a willing and able group from Willowbrook Baptist Church that he wanted to bring up to help around Camp MACOBA on Saturday. Well of course I was glad to hear it, though I would be away at work during the time they would be here. Rob asked for a list so I left one. They did a mighty fine job and many trees were cut and brush picked up. They also split quite a bit of wood and stacked it for future campers. This will be great as I believe there are still four more groups scheduled for this year.

Fall's Turn

2010-10-01T13:00:00.000-05:00

My wife's favorite time of the year has finally arrived "Fall". Summer is quite a strong season and really just did not want to let go, as it was still in the mid 90's only a week or so ago. The other day I took a tour around the camp just doing some reflecting and getting ideas for the spring. I took a few pictures like the one here of the first sign of fall up here. Summer is only the boss for so long.

The ponds look good, especially the upper one, and there will be some major changes coming up there before spring. While I was easing around up there I caught this little critter just sunning himself on the bridge. Won't be too long and he will be hidden away for several months awaiting a warm spring day.

We are proceeding with our plans to replace the gate at the entrance of the camp. Last week we placed the order for the gate and the electronic opening system. The actual gate is scheduled to be installed in about 4-5 weeks while the electronic parts will be here next week. The owner of New Market Iron Works, Inc. has been gracious enough to sell it to us at cost...we are getting a great deal on a quality gate! We appreciate this very much.

Fall Golf Tournament Promo

2010-09-29T14:00:00.000-05:00

I took off work for a little while today to promote the Golf Tournament Fund Raiser for Camp MACOBA. My dad and Joe Whisenant were cooking fish and hush puppies, and Blake cooked some mighty fine chicken as well, so I made the trip to In-Line Electric.

I had contacted Randy Blackwood the day before, a friend of mine who just happens to be one of the owners, to see if I could pass out some fliers at the fish fry to help promote the camp. Not only did he say yes but he had a table set up for me before I got there. Randy is a good friend.

Last count I believe there were around 700 folks in attendance. I managed to pass out a few fliers, meet some great folks and eat some outstanding food. There was quite a mix of folks attending--most of whom were blue collar construction workers--but I caught sight of a few politicians as well. You get that many folks together and they are bound to show up. I even saw and spoke with my brother there which I had not seen in a while.

Toney Family Reunion and New Assets

2010-09-27T18:58:00.006-05:00

I called Mrs. Audrey Jacks the day before just to make sure everything was a go for the Toney Family Reunion scheduled for Saturday. The weatherman was a little iffy -- aren't they always --about a chance of rain. She told me last year it rained on them at her brother's house, and they had to move it to the church fellowship hall. The event was still on and her brother was coming up a little early to get things ready.

On Saturday morning Denise and I went to pick up a used golf cart we found for the camp at a great deal. We had borrowed one from a friend to use at the Jamboree, and found out just what an asset it was. Though it's an older model, it's a nice one and has really been taken care of.

We returned from our trip down to south Huntsville the Reunion folks had already begun arriving. After getting everything situated I made my way over there to take care of the paperwork and meet some folks. The smell of the many foods present was mighty fine though I did not hang around long.

Later after lunch I dropped in again to meet some other folks and take a few pictures. There were only a few kids in this bunch though Mrs. Audrey said several from the family did not make it up.

Before the college football games really got cranked up they were all gone and had picked the place up nicely...one could hardly tell anyone had even been up here. Final count was 42.

Denise and I took a ride down to close and lock the gate in the new golf cart. One thing I really love about the electric carts is how quiet they are.

While we were at it we went over to the upper campground to take a closer look at the new bathroom facilities that had been delivered a week before

Sam Kelly and crew had been working on this thing and I have to say it is pretty nice. The inside is close to finished and in a few weeks the lot will be cleaned off. If all goes well it will be hooked up and ready to go. Not sure who all participated in this project, but I want to send them my thanks!

We tooled around for awhile and then made it back in time to have a great cup of hot chocolate and settle in to watch the game

Fall JAMBOREE!

2010-09-18T21:00:00.004-05:00

It is finished! At least it's finished for this year, anyway. The first annual Camp MACOBA Jamboree has come and gone and there is much to say. Not sure if there has ever been a week I worked so hard preparing for anything. For months leading up to the event we had mailed out fliers to churches, sent e-mails, met folks for lunch and did just about everything we could do to promote the event. In the final days I even personally went around to churches to touch base with some folks. What I found was a little surprising; many of the churches still had no idea about the event.

We met with some Christian businessmen who helped sponsor the event and had lined up our folks to help on the day. We were ready as we could be. I want to insert here that without the help of my family along with John and Annette McNeal, we could have never pulled this off.

On Saturday morning I had not slept much anyway so at 4:00 a.m. I was up and getting things ready. The Christian Southern Archers (CSA) group were the first to arrive, which was right after daylight. They were having a separate event on the same day but had graciously said they would donate all money made to the Camp. This is the third time they have been up to the camp this year. It has turned out to be a good partnership. I really like Chris Hester and his crew.

It wasn't too long before Shawn Reed arrived to help out with the youth event. I went with Shawn a couple of years ago to Shocco, when he was part of the MBA Leadership team. I believe God has big things in store for him soon. Some friends of mine from the fire department came to help shuttle parking along, with Billy Taylor and another guy from Hometown Lenders. Walter McGehee, quite possibly the best chicken cooker in North Alabama came along about this time and I was glad to see him. We have been friends for awhile now.

Not too long after that Wells Johnson and his lovely wife showed up to help Walter. Now these are some quality folks I would like to get to know better. Wells came up here earlier in the year as part of Disaster relief.

My daughter Jocelyn, and her friends Amy & Kimberly, came along to handle the kids craft tent, and I will just go ahead and say they did a fine job. I knew they would.

My son James came up to take some pictures and film a little video. With that camera of his you can just about spot a flea on the moon. By the time he gets through editing something it looks like a picture in National Geographic magazine. He took the picture of the pond with the canoe that I use in the blog header, by the way.

My lovely wife, Denise, and Annette worked the information tent and did a top-notch job. People started arriving shortly after 8:00 a.m. to some freshly brewed coffee.

There was much activity, faces got painted, and a few fish were caught.

On one trip down the backside of the hill, a fawn darted across the road in front of the shuttle crew. Once the chicken started cooking it was hard to focus as it smelled so good. There were several folks who had never been up here before that I got to talk to which was great. One couple even volunteered to help out in the future.

I spent some time speaking with Brother Don Shultz (Pastor, New Market Baptist Church), and he told me quite a story. He said in his church it all came to a head last Sunday -- found out there had been a bunch of lying going on for a long time. Several weeks ago he said he could feel an undertow in the church; something was going on but folks were avoiding talking to him about it. It finally reached a point where he called the Deacons in and told them he needed to know if folks were trying to get rid of him; just let him know and he'd go quietly. They assured him nothing like that was going on and everything was fine. Well Brother Don said he believed them and the feeling he had went away. The next Sunday came and come to find out it was all a celebration for him the church had arranged for his "50th year in ministry". They had invited folks he had gone to college with to be there, including former Tennessee football coach Johnny Majors (who was Don's room mate). There was food and music and a great time of fellowship. They even bought him a brand new John Deere riding lawnmower. I heard someone say there is not even dirt on the tires yet; that he has it sitting in his den at home and watches TV while sitting on it. Anyway back to the Jamboree.

Eleven o'clock was getting close so we rounded everyone for the Pastor's Lawn Mower Race.

We had four riders with one, Brother Don, who brought his own mower (it wasn't the John Deere). The course was about a half mile long and they were to follow me as I led in the golf cart.

As the gun sounded -- or rather, as the golf cart pulled forward -- the race began. There were two Craftsmen, one Murray and I am not sure what Brother Don was riding though one of the other riders said there was a strange canister attached to the side.

Everyone was even for awhile and then Don slid back to fourth as they left the field. As we came down the hill headed around the backside the Murray and one of the Craftsman were neck-and-neck. But the big hill was coming up, and this was sure to weed them out.

I got to the top of the hill and waited for a minute and there came the Murray pulling ahead by 3 lengths and one of the Craftsman was nowhere in sight.

When they entered the field once again headed towards the starting line interesting things began happening. Brother Don begins to pass the Murray as the rider was reaching out trying to pull him off the mower.

The rider of the Craftsman that could be seen was off the mower with it running and walking beside it.

The Murray was giving it all he had and protesting about Don pulling ahead. He was yelling something about nitro and that canister on the side.

With only about 50 yards to go from out of nowhere came the lost Craftsman who was gaining fast as he was being pulled by some guys in a Polaris!

It was almost a picture perfect finish but Brother Don managed to hold everyone off and crossed the finish line among cheers and clapping from the crowd. I believe he was sandbagging all the way.

After the race we all gathered for lunch as Brother Harold Sellers said a word of prayer. We gave away some door prizes including a brand new circular saw donated by Wilson Lumber. There was a good time of fellowship, plenty of great food, and then a trophy was presented to our lawn mower race winner.

Jason Merkel did a great job with the burgers and dogs..he knows his way around a grill pretty well.

Sam Kelly had some great Camp MACOBA tee shirts made up. If anyone would like one they can find him at Bedz for Kidz on South Parkway close to Mock Electronics.

Everyone had left by around 1:30 or so and after everything was put back in order I settled in to watch a little SEC Football. It was a good day. Already planning for next year, which by the way the date is the September 24th, the 4th Saturday of the month, so go ahead and put it on your calendars!

Before the Jamboree

2010-09-07T18:45:00.002-05:00

I had really been wanting one of those chainsaws on a pole for the camp; they say be careful for what you wish for you might just get it! A great friend of mine from way back who owns "Southern Exteriors", volunteered to bring his crew up to the camp to help prepare for our big day coming up on September 18th. Today was the day.

It just so happens he has one of those chainsaws on a pole, and he gave me the choice to be the cutter or the one who picked up and hauled the brush to the pile. I jumped at the chance to use the saw. Shannon, the owner, worked with me while the rest of his crew went off to begin trimming around the ponds. We trimmed trees and overhanging limbs from all the roads. The saw was easy enough to work and for the first hour limbs were falling left and right. Every time Shannon would return there would be plenty more to haul away. At the end of the second hour he had just about caught up with me. By the time the third hour came I could barely lift my arm; good thing we were finished! I had a meeting to attend but he and his crew stayed another three hours working on the ponds. They are some of the most hard-working, trustworthy folks I have been around. Oh, and by the way, if you ever need anything done connected with landscaping, don't hesitate to call "Southern Exteriors" at 256-656-5487.

That evening before dark I took a quick walk up to the pond to see what a fine job they had done up there.

Camps and More Camp Visits.

2010-08-25T09:08:00.008-05:00

Last week Denise and I visited three more camps. One was a camp I'd gone to as a kid, Camp Ney-A-Ti, so it's been there for quite some time.

This particular building looked new.

The dining hall, the bunk houses, and the bath house were all concrete block structures with a metal roof.

They had a great open auditorium with bleachers on wheels and a little stage. The bleachers could be pushed off to the side and there was a basketball net at the other end. Great space for worship services, devotions, skits, and a little pickup b-ball action.

Another camp which was not far from Ney-A-Ti was Camp Trico, a Girl Scout camp. Because of the timing of our visit, we weren't able to get an escorted tour, but they'd left the buildings open for us to be able to take a good look around.

These were primitive, wood bungalows. Denise remembers staying in cabins like these when she was a Girl Scout leader. The sides push open (or roll up, if they're canvas) and reveal a screened in room.

There were also lodges a bit more comfortable . . .

This lodge had bunks, a full kitchen at the back of the room on one side, and a bathroom with several toilets and showers on the other side. There was enough space at the end of the room for the group to meet and have devotions or do some training.

Camp Trico was built in 1950, and Camp Ney-A-Ti was already established at that time, so both of these camps have been around for a long time -- better than sixty years. They both seemed to be in a maintenance mode, for the most part.

Later this same day, we headed to Camp Helen, which is owned by the Limestone Baptist Association. The caretaker met us there and we were able to get a good look around.

There was a large multi-purpose building which housed offices, storage, and a full industrial kitchen.

They also had two bunk houses, which were concrete block buildings. These were set up with bathroom facilities at one end of the bunk house.

The grounds were well-kept and there was a pond and a swimming pool. The property was small, unless you include the soccer fields down in the lower area.

Anyway, it was a pleasant day and I have the information needed now to put together a proposal which I have already started working on.

Okay, enough with the camps, it's time to focus on the the mission at hand! Proposals will go on the back burner for now, until the Fall Jamboree is over. It looks like we may have a bathroom up on the upper campground area ready to go before the Jamboree gets here. The committee voted and one was purchased; we just need to get it up here and working.

A Flurry of Weekend Activity

2010-08-09T17:42:00.001-05:00

Well I had spoken with Brother Shannon Johnson and e-mailed a time or two and it was set, a group from Central Baptist was coming up to spend the night this past Friday. The weather man threw in a chance of rain, actually fifty percent, and one by one the folks started canceling. By the time the phone calls stopped, only Shannon and a couple others were left. They stayed a little while but decided to not spend the night and to possibly reschedule in the future.

On Saturday afternoon, right about the hottest part of the day, Brother Jim Kidd and his lovely wife showed up to prepare for their church picnic. Another couple showed up shortly after to help. I had a connection with the gentlemen as his father had retired from the Fire Service years ago. I chatted with the folks for a few minutes and then went back to the RV for awhile. Sometime after 5:00 the rest of the church started trickling in.

Close to 6:30, Denise and I made our way over to do some meeting and greeting. By this time everyone was through with dinner and they extended an invitation for us to have a bite, which we did. Never been to a Baptist outing yet that chicken was not to be found and this was no exception.

The food was great and Denise said the homemade pimiento cheese was really good, as well as the potato salad! We sat around and talked for a bit, took a few pictures and then helped them pack up. I enjoying listening to some of Brother Kidd's stories about work and ministry and there was even a few he said he could tell me but then he would have to kill me!

He did tell me of a story about a lady who came to a church he was the Pastor of in Florida that wanted to put her dog in the nursery. Don't think they cover that in Seminary! I think everyone had a good time despite the heat and I look forward to seeing them again in the future.

Busy & busier!

2010-08-01T19:29:00.001-05:00

What a week it has been. Last week Denise was bitten by a spider. Now we live out in the woods, but where does she get a bitten? At work! That day we thought it was no big deal. It looked and felt much like a mosquito bite. The next day it changed and produced a dark center, so we went to see the doc who gave her an oral and topical antibiotic. A re-check appointment was made for Monday. Well it had changed quite a bit by that time. When the doctor came in and saw that her leg was swollen and the effected area was bigger than a large dinner plate, he was caught off guard. He immediately admitted her to the hospital, which is where we spent the next three nights. Finally they found something on day three that had some effect. He told us that it looked like a brown recluse bite, for which there is no known treatment. Anyway I stayed up there with her until finally she was released on Thursday morning. We had great nurses and techs, but I was sure glad to get out of there. So now we are back home and everything is gone except the center, which is the size of a quarter. We pray that it will just go away...we will see. Denise has two doctor appointments for Wednesday, one for the bite and the other for her foot. We hope she begins physical therapy this week.

One thing great about ministry is the people that you meet. Last week, in the continuing effort to prepare for the big day coming up on September 18, I met with a great guy from First Baptist Huntsville. I hope to get to know him better in the future. He is a Christian businessman with a heart for the camp and has pledged to help. So far that makes two businesses on board.

I spent about four hours up at the camp cutting grass on Friday. I did not get it all done but put a dent in it. Today I took a mower up there that was donated from Restoring The Church Ministries. Now we have two in case one breaks down.

There is a lot of planning and logistics that goes into a day like the upcoming Jamboree, but I am very encouraged by how things have been coming together in the beginning. Next week will be filled with meetings with camp directors and possibly RA leaders, touring other camps, meeting with possible sponsors, doctors appointments, therapy sessions and the first mail-out of the Jamboree flyers. Oh yeah, and Lighthouse is having their 15th Anniversary coming up this month, so I will be making sure that letter gets out tomorrow (which will be no small undertaking) and then there is something called my job to deal with as well.

Making improvements.

2010-07-23T15:24:00.005-05:00

What a busy day Wednesday was. After the committee agreed to move forward with the camp's fundraiser, I have hit the ground running with both feet.

First of all, I spent most of the day with two different camp directors, asking questions and getting a tour of each of their facilities. The first stop was made a Camp Maranatha in Scottsboro.

The guy over the camp, Gene Joiner, was very helpful and very passionate about his ministry there. He is very program-oriented and has really added some great things to the camp in the short time he has been there (just shy of two years). As a matter of fact, he told me that the camp finally turned a small profit last year.

He's installed several different youth activities including a climbing wall, a giant slip-n-slide, and there's soon to be a zip line. They have a great place and location as well . . . right on the water. They have a newer facility which is similar to a hotel, which he says stays booked.

I was more interested in seeing the cabins, which was the main reason for my visit. They used to have some very small cabins that he called hogans, but those are now used strictly for storage.

They did have several cabins, however, that are bigger and are used often.

The next place I went was the Marshall Baptist Retreat Center, in Guntersville.

The manager there, Phil Robeson, was very helpful and spent some time with me, even though he had one group that had just left, and two more groups coming in. Phil spent 25 years in the Park Service before the Lord led him to Marshall. This retreat area is also located right on the water, and has much to offer.

We toured the place and I was especially pleased with the set-up of the bunk houses. I believe this is something we can do -- Phil is going to try and find me a blueprint.

Both of these camps had an obstacle course for the kids to go through. I thought it was a great idea when I saw the one at Maranatha, but knew we could not afford the set-up they had. I was ready to discard the idea when Phil said he wanted to show me something. We took the golf cart (which would be nice to have), and drove around to an area tucked back into a corner. It consisted of a wall and some tires and a couple of things built from ropes. The light went on -- this would not be too expensive or difficult to build! I am on this.

I left around lunchtime, full of ideas and happy to have spent some time with these two gentlemen. Next I had a meeting with some local Christian businessmen, to see if they would be interested in making an investment into the camp. What I'd originally anticipated being a 15-minute meeting turned into two hours. I left that meeting feeling like I had really made a connection with one of the guys there. They both assured me they were on board.

Tuesday I had lunch with a couple of fine men from Christian Southern Archers (CSA) Ministries, who said they will bring out a crew to help with our fundraiser event. The Camp MACOBA Fall Jamboree is counting down. It is scheduled for Saturday, September 18th, from 8 am until noon. This is only the beginning -- there is much blood, sweat, and tears to go here; excitement does not begin to describe how I feel about this right now!

VBS vs. Disaster Relief!

2010-07-15T14:35:00.003-05:00

With so much going on lately, we had a close one out at the camp this past Tuesday! I had contacted Wayne Miller about having the Disaster Relief Team come out and cut up a couple of trees that an earlier storm had blown down near the pavilion.

Kay Howard, who has been doing the Hispanic VBS out at the camp, had told me (I thought) that they would not be out at the camp on Tuesday, as their own church (Winchester Road Baptist) would be having their VBS that Tuesday, and they would take the kids there.

Wayne had called me the night before and everything was set. I got out there early, made some coffee for the guys, and awaited the arrival of the Disaster Relief Team. And who shows up bright and early? Kay! I apologized for the miscommunication on my part.

Just as she gets everything set up and leaves to pick up the kids, the team arrives! They had a great bunch of men on this outing and they made quick work of all the downed trees.

Let's see, working this particular project were Wayne Miller, Wells Johnson, Bob Dougan, Gordan Raney, Al Drost, and Forrest Callicut.

About four different churches were represented and one of the guys even took off from work to be out there. They did a great job.

I think Kay moved game time around to the beginning and the disaster relief guys were finished before the next Bible study session started, so everything worked out fine in the end.

Wells told me bits of a story about how he was involved with the camp back when the ponds were put in. I'll do a follow-up entry on this at a later date.

Wall Highway rained out . . .

2010-06-27T14:54:00.007-05:00

Josh Harris from Wall Highway had called me early last week to schedule an overnight outing for some of the youth from the church. Everything was set and scheduled. The weather forecast had a chance of showers for Friday and Saturday but it usually does this time of year. I told Josh that I would see them around 9:00 a.m. on Saturday morning.

As I was entering the camp on Saturday morning, it was apparent that a storm had come through. Even before entering the gate I had to stop several times and clear some large limbs that were blocking the road. Not long after easing down the road I noticed there were no vehicle tracks of any kind.

Upon topping the hill, besides stopping several more times and sawing some limbs off large branches that had fallen, I could see that two relatively large trees had fallen near the pavilion area. One was actually touching the pavilion on the left side but no damage was done. Also there was no one in the campground or anywhere else for that matter. The lower road was blocked as well so I took care of it on my way out.

I later e-mailed Josh and he told me the story. He said that they had gotten there in the early evening and set up tents. No too long afterwards, the rain began to fall and the wind really picked up. They took refuge under the pavilion, which provided only limited shelter, as the rain was blowing right through it! He said they later went back and took their drenched tent up and headed back out without staying the night. The worse of it must have come later because they could not have driven over the limbs I picked up on my way in. Sorry I missed them. He said they may try and give it another shot later on in the year.

Mayfair Youth Group

2010-06-20T09:31:00.002-05:00

The sun had not quite set yet as I passed through the gate at the camp. I was looking forward to meeting Doug Smith who was the group's leader. We had spoken a couple of times on the phone but had never met.

As I topped the hill a couple was making their way back toward the ponds so I pulled over. It was Doug and his wife. We talked for a few minutes, took care of the necessary paperwork and then I parked and we all made our way to the ponds. The whole group, twelve in all, were fishing around the top pond. I walked around meeting folks and taking a few pictures on my own. One of the guys actually was doing the same thing with two different cameras. I asked if anyone had caught any fish and they pointed to a lone guy all the way at the other end of the pond..seems he had some luck.

After a few minutes Doug made his way down to the loner right about the time he caught a small bass. I watched as one of the fish tricked a particular young lady a couple of times by snatching her cricket when she wasn't looking.

Doug and his wife made their way back to this end and we spoke for a few more minutes. It seems that this outing was just a getaway to have a little time to relax and fellowship and nothing was really structured. He had been out to the camp before and really thought it was a great place to come...come to think of it so do I ! They were only staying for one night but you never know with young folks just how long of a night it would be.

Boy Scout Pack 8

2010-06-13T10:33:00.006-05:00

It started out to be the biggest group of the year but events during the week changed all that. With so much rain during the afternoons and so many ball games delayed and postponed until the weekend, the attendees were cut roughly by two-thirds.

I met Dow and his son at the gate at around 4:30 on Friday. He had the Boy Scout trailer with him and they were prepared for a great weekend. We made brief introductions and I headed out only to return later in the evening for some fellowship and a few pictures. Dow and company have been coming up to the Camp for years and they had everything set up an going strong by the time I returned. Supper was over but the smell of burgers and dogs still lingered in the air and smelled quite good. There was plenty and they were quite hospitable as I was invited to grab a plate. I met a couple of the other guys who were present and involved.

As Dow was dragging out the stuff for an after-dinner craft, a container slipped out of his hand and poured a couple thousand beads out on the picnic table. Like a waterfall, they ran all over the concrete floor. Only one of the boys was even close to the area when this took place. You could tell these leaders were pros at this as (John) without ever missing a beat yelled out "contest" to all the boys and they began running. He whipped out a dollar from his pocket, grabbed some Dixie cups and announced, "The one who collects the most beads gets a dollar!" You've never seen the likes of boys scurrying over that floor picking up beads. In five minutes they had them all up then carefully were pouring them out in their plates to count them to see who had won the contest. A winner was announced and the boy eagerly went away carrying the prize waving it to and fro. I made the comment that really Dow was the winner here! All the adults agreed.

Now you can tell those who have been doing this awhile. I took this picture of Dow's tent right before darkness set in.

When I arrived at the pavilion on Saturday morning they were having a beanbag toss contest. It seems that when they had chosen teams the first go round, one of the boys did not chose Dow for his team mate. I heard the boy say at the start of the next round he *wanted* Dow on his team....of course this came as his team got smoked in the first round.

There was plenty of exploring that took place along with a few organized activities as well. A long hike down to the main creek was made though I'm not sure if anyone ever made it in the water. Oh I almost forgot something. It seems after a recount two boys ended up tying on the beads and when John handed the second boy a dollar it looked to me like the very same dollar the first boy was given....hmmm !

Boy Scout Weekend

2010-05-30T13:56:00.001-05:00

Well the holiday weekend was originally scheduled for Willowbrook Baptist Church and a weekend family camp out, but that kind of fell apart about a week ago. Instead, Chris Wilson scheduled it for Boy Scout Troop 757.

I hung out with them for a while, learned a thing or two, and took a few pictures. Several, well actually, most of the boys up for this trip were new . . . this was their first official outing. I think the word 'tenderfoot' was used.

One of the leaders, Ken Boyd, explained the three pot system they had going here.

The first pot was hot boiling water, the second one was water with Clorox, and the last was just cold water. Wash, sanitize, and rinse.

There was plenty of food and activities were going on as well. When everyone first arrived, the pulled up into the upper campground and the rain began to fall. They dropped back to Plan B, which was to camp out near the Pavilion. They were certainly prepared, as the camp trailer was packed.

I think it was Saturday morning when I could finally get back up there and I heard quite a commotion going on about something. As I got closer it was clear there was a contest going on. A standing jump contest I guess it would be called. Instructors were standing by with tape measures.

Everyone seemed to have a great time and I'm sure much was learned by all!

Family Reunion at MACOBA

2010-05-23T09:24:00.002-05:00

The Kimbrough family reunion reminded me of the early years of my life when MaMa was still around we had a family reunion every year in August at her house. She had seven kids of which my dad was the youngest. Those were some good memories filled with plenty of food and always meeting a cousin or two I had never seen before. The men would end up pitching horseshoes, telling hunting stories, and discussing where the fish were biting. The women would be in a big group filled with laughter one minute and almost a hush of silence the next. Dad always said they were sharing prayer concerns during those quieter times while other men referred to it as something different. One of the sad things about my grandmother's death was the reunions also seemed to die out as well. Oh they tried to all get together a time or two after that but other things always seemed to come up.

I spent a little while with the Kimbrough family and they seem to be such good folks. I have known Wayne (Pastor of Five Points Baptist) for several years now. He and his wife are such servants of our Lord. I also spent some time talking with Eddie, Wayne's son. Eddie and I share a lot of the same thoughts and beliefs when it comes to the church and ministry. It was good to see a family these days and times to make it a point to get together on a regular basis so as not to lose touch. I hope to see them again.

Pastor's Conference

2010-05-19T10:08:00.002-05:00

The last Pastor's Conference before summer break was held Tuesday at Camp MACOBA. This was also the fish fry. The best I could determine there were about forty folks present for this event, including all the staff. Chris Wilson and Sam Kelly also made it up. I noticed Bobby Gordan, pastor of Legacy Baptist Church, was there and I spoke with Don Shultz of New Market Baptist.

The food was great and there were no leftovers...except maybe a few hushpuppies. The weather was not too hot and everyone seemed to have a good time of fellowship. Brother Jones and I talked for a bit about ministry and various things. I am at a loss for his first name but I know his son (Steve) real well, as he is Captain at the Huntsville Fire department.

When everything was all cleaned up and people left there were three of us who stayed and talked for about another hour. Tom Parker and Josh Harris, both youth guys from Wall Highway, and I had a good conversation. I had heard good things about these guys from my daughter and son-in-law. They seem to really have a good head on their shoulders.

Christian Archers' Event

2010-05-16T13:55:00.002-05:00

Bethlehem Fishing Outing

2010-05-09T06:45:00.000-05:00

I am getting a little behind on this blog....things have been busy! On Saturday, May 8, we had a great bunch of folks from Bethlehem Baptist in Hazel Green. I was very specific there because we have two Bethlehem Baptists in our association. The other one is located in Lacey Spring.

Anyway the week before, much of this same group came up and cut the grass at the camp and did an outstanding job trimming around the upper pond. One of the guys cooking was Ron Glass. I knew his son Ron from Flint River. They had the grill going and things smelling good.

My wife and I walked around the pond taking a few pictures and talking with some of the folks who came up. It wasn't long before one of the younger guys who came along landed a bass that was close to two pounds.

Bethlehem has been up here before and we really appreciate their help in keeping the camp up. Their Pastor Lon was helping one of the kids in his search for a nice sized fish. Talking with one of the gentlemen fishing on the bank he said that Lon could very easy be a guide if he wanted to.....but then again isn't that a mark of a good pastor? Well it wasn't long before the boy landed a good shellcracker.

I would have to say this one was just shy of a pound. The weather was very nice and never really did get hot. It seemed that everyone enjoyed themselves and we certainly loved having them up here.

Whistle while you work . . .

2010-05-06T20:00:00.000-05:00

All the weathermen were calling for the weekend to be a wash-out. I guess that is why they call it a prediction. We had a group come in from Betheleham Baptist last Thursday and did an outstanding job at the camp. Karen from the church called me the week before to reserve the camp for a fishing event on Saturday May 8th. This group of men brought their own mowers and had the grass looking good; especially the upper field as it looked like new carpet had just been put down. It is my understanding that the Pastor suited up in his waders and got in the water to give the upper pond a good trimming back. I have been told this group came up here last year and did the same thing. I did not get to meet any of these guys but hope to in the future. I want to send out a special thanks to the following for such a fine job: Lon Ostrzycki, Alan Ostrzycki, Dean Hamaker, Phillip Eady, Bob Milner, Jack Phillips, Billy Medlock, Dale Finley, Ron Glass, and Greg Culver

Saturday was a great workday and much was accomplished. Not sure if the threat of weather kept anyone away but we had a great group of guys. Andy Dobbs brought a crew from Locust Grove and they spent most of their time working on the equipment shed.

He had heavy equipment going this way and that, and even had a mishap or two, but no one was hurt (beyond a pinched finger) in the ordeal. It appears that the shed is close to half-way finished which is a major accomplishment. One of the guys in Andy's crew (Todd Gipson) really knew his way around a tractor/front-end loader. I guess when you do that for a living it helps.

Gipson's son was overheard saying, "A ninety pound boy carrying an eighty pound chain!" That's about the size of it all right!

Dueling tractors!

Clearing the debris from the site where the new shed is going . . .

Putting the sections together . . .

Watch out for your fingers!

Sam Kelly was all over the place and involved in every project. He was up there with the guys putting the shed together one minute and then down splitting a cord of wood the next. Now I have seen a lot of fires but the one Sam had going was ...remember the movie Towering Inferno?! I don't think there is anything he can't do.

Rob Peavy was there and brought along some help as well. He is another one who is always involved. President Reagan was called "the great communicator" but Rob just might give him a run for his money and Rob's pretty handy with a chainsaw as well. John Prince, the guy that came with Rob, was a great help as he assisted me in loading and unloading three huge piles of brush. I was thinking the whole time he was riding with me.....you sure you ain't kin to Rob?

Chairman of the Camp MACOBA committee Chris Wilson was on the scene and did some mighty fine work on the grill as there was almost no food left over!

Oh yeah and Chris certainly has the heart of a servant as he was cleaning the camp bathrooms earlier in the day.

My lovely wife Denise was such a help with many things, especially serving up lunch and then taking care of the clean-up. Only for about ten minutes out of the whole day did we head for cover because of the weather.

Everyone enjoys a break for lunch!

Let's see many of the guys brought their kids with them as I believe the total was 18. The adults were: Rob Peavy, Sam Kelly, Chris Wilson, Andy Dobbs, John Prince, Todd Gipson, Tom Brink, Dewayne Hall, Jonathan Dobbs and me and my wife.

Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs . . .

2010-04-28T16:39:00.000-05:00

New trail signs went up this past week:

Marching forward.

2010-04-27T16:42:00.000-05:00

Back on Tuesday of this past week we had our first "official" Camp MACOBA committee meeting. Present were Chris Wilson (Chair), Rob Peavy, Sam Kelly, Andy Dobbs and myself. It lasted a couple of hours and we covered several issues. The main goal of this meeting was to set up priorities for the work day coming up on Saturday May 1st. Also several questions were addressed that have come from over a period of several months of people asking. We made some decisions on a few of them and others were tabled until the full committee is able to come together. It was a productive meeting which accomplished the main goal, with everyone making substantial contributions. It is going to be such a blessing working with such a great group of men with a heart for the Camp.

On Thursday progress was made on clearing out the main road coming into the camp. Three large trailer loads were hauled to the burn pile as the road was cleared out all the way up to the gate. Speaking of the gate, we are currently trying to raise enough money to replace the current gate with a more secure and user-friendly one. Preparations were made for the group from Whitesburg that was scheduled to come in on Friday afternoon but the weather caused a cancellation.

Providentially the campground avoided being hit by any of the severe weather that came through the county on Saturday, though there were some limbs that had to be cleared off of the roads. Wayne Miller and his group from Disaster Relief came in on Saturday morning to cut down three dead trees. These guys really knew what they were doing and made quick work of this project. Bobby Smith and Bob Gordan, who are from Southside Baptist, were also there as part of the Disaster Relief Team with Wayne. The crew finished up at about 9:45 and no sooner had they loaded up then the rain began to fall.

Sunday a group came in for a Sunday service and fellowship. The Pastor's name is Paul Little and the information sheet he filled out says the group is called Faith Community Fellowship. We had already left for church when they arrived, but they were still there when we returned so some time was spent talking with Pastor Paul and a few others who were still present. They reported there were 55 present for worship; they had a beautiful morning to hold outside services.

This week will be spent (among other things) preparing for the workday on Saturday. We are hoping for a good turnout and lunch will be provided....plans are to even cook up some fish to go along with the hamburger and hot dogs!

Campers everywhere!

2010-04-20T10:00:00.000-05:00

Whitesburg brought a group to the camp this past weekend led by Tim Lawrence. I believe it was the 7th - 12th grade boys group part of Royal Ambassadors, called the "Challengers". At around 5:00 I came out of the RV and there was a van in the campground and I could hear a couple of guys down the hill in the vicinity of the old wooden bridge. They were the first to arrive with the rest showing up about a half hour later or so. This group knew what they were doing and quickly went about setting things up.

Now some of the sleeping quarters were a little different than previous groups as we had some tree sleepers.

It seems that this was a simple set-up with a hammock tied between two trees and a tarp as covering.

Some of the guys were walking down the trails and a few were throwing a football around in the upper field. I met Richard Silar who was the contact person for the group and a leader as well. He is a great guy and we had several conversations throughout the evening. I asked Tim how long he had been involved with this ministry and he said 18 years. Like many of us, he began when his kids were involved and has continued because of his love for young folks and being involved in their lives. We need more men like Tim and Richard.

Tim had said that this was not really a structured event but was more of a reward for all the hard work these guys had put in. He did say that after dinner there would be a time for devotion but other than that it was pretty much free time. I was in and out and trying to meet everyone as the evening progressed.

On the dinner agenda was "Hobo's" with everyone responsible for their own plate. Tim said a prayer, followed by directions on putting the hobo together and then the guys went to work.

Let's see I met of course Tim Lawrence and Richard Silar, then there was David Tritt, Rick James, Eddie Richardson, Kyle Ellison and George O'Boyle. They couldn't have picked a better evening for this outing. The winds were calm and the temps were in the upper 70's right here before dark. A clear night was ahead, but not too cold. As I wandered around talking to folks I noticed Tim was working on something kind of off to the side. After doing some inquiring he let me in on the surprise desert for the evening...peach cobbler.

The dutch oven was heating up by the fire while he was getting the old family recipe mixed up just right. The pot was smoking when the batter was poured over in the pot and then strategically placed into the coals. He then heaped a few of the coals on top of the lid. Like I said earlier these guys knew what they were doing.

Certainly there is an art to this type of cooking as he checked it two or three times to make sure it was coming along nicely. I went away for awhile to take care of some things and returned close to 9:00. Just so happens there were a few bites of the cobbler left and when offered I did have a little. Personally I love cobbler, well most desserts for that matter, and I will have to say it was pretty good. They were all gathered around the campfire as I retired for the evening.

When I left for work the next morning, just before 6:00 a.m., there was no activity to be found around the campground. Later I came to find out that it had been a late night for all and breakfast did not come early.

Another busy weekend.

2010-04-12T06:56:00.001-05:00

I was privileged to be a part of the MBA Leadership Team that went to Shocco this past Thursday & Friday.

Upon returning home I rushed out to the camp to prepare for a group coming over from Mable Hill Baptist. It was another father/son event and I was looking forward to spending some time with these guys. Wednesday I had met Chris Hester at the church, as we took care of the necessary business part of this outing.

Chris's brother, Shane, and his son were the first to arrive shortly after 4:30, and went right to work setting up their tent.

Chris says there is nothing slack about Shane, he gets on with it. Chris and the others began arriving a few minutes later. I believe when it was all said and done, there were sixteen total in the group. Heath Quick came up for a while, but returned to his home for sleeping accommodations. Heath is a good guy and we have known each other for a long time now. I used to go to church with him at Flint River. Actually his brother, Mitch, was also one of the ones camping out.

Let's see I also met Chris Lindsey, Mark Clark, and Jo Jo Clark. It seemed the boys had a good time fishing, riding around the camp and having an air rifle competition. Shoot, Chris's son had one of those high dollar air rifles that looked like a 30/30 with scope and all. Heath's son Bryce told me he caught a bass weighing about a pound and a half and most all the kids caught some bluegill. One of them was having such a good time I heard him say he was never leaving the camp!

Chris is my kind of guy.... one that loves the Lord and an avid outdoorsman. There was food to be had and a bunch of chicken cooked on the grill on Thursday night. They talked into the night around the campfire which is really good therapy sometimes. There were no planned events just a time of rest and relaxation. Mitch might have set a record on how fast a tent can be set up and taken down but another one of the guys had everyone beat on tent size. I heard several comments about a palace and the Taj Mahal.

I went out and spent some time with the last two guys as they packed everything up. By lunch time all were gone and as they were pulling out I heard some chatter about meeting up later to go fishing.

Willowbrook Camping Weekend

2010-03-31T09:30:00.000-05:00

I believe the date had been in the book ever since last year at this time. Willowbrook has been coming up to the camp at least twice a year for the last couple of years anyway maybe more. We made preparations as the bathrooms were cleaned, stocked and ready to go. Sam Kelly was the contact person listed for this outing. I had never met Sam until my involvement with Camp Macoba. He really has a heart for the camp and is an avid outdoors man. Word is out that he is a pretty good cook as well.

Folks started arriving Friday afternoon. I made my way up there and met several of the guys. We talked about the camp and I mentioned that the new website for the camp had been launched:

http://www.campmacoba.org/

I saw one go by on the four wheeler and another brought his motorcycle. They went about collecting fire wood for the event. This particular one was connected to Royal Ambassador's (RAs) and was labeled as a "Lad and Dad" outing.

There was a good bunch of guys and I met so many that I can't remember their names....I should have written them down. I know that Chris Wilson came up after I had left. Darren Ferree and Michael McNabb were there and involved as well. Speaking of Chris, he is another guy I met through Camp Macoba. He's a gentleman and really has a heart for the camp. As a matter of fact, a few weeks ago he was voted by the MBA Executive Board to chair the Camp Macoba Committee.

I went back up there later and Sam had brought a log splitter which was making quick work of an otherwise difficult task. There were some logs being placed on the splitter that I just knew would jam it up, but didn't. Many of the guys were helping out stacking wood including some of the boys, one which rolled up a log that was as big as he was!

Saturday morning before work I got up early....4:30 and was going to make a giant pot of coffee for everyone. Sure that I would be the first one up, I ambled over to the camp and looked for the coffee pot but the coffee was already going and Sam was up by the fireplace. We talked for a bit and I made my way back to the RV before everyone began stirring about.

The next morning when I returned, everyone was gone and they did an excellent job at cleaning up the place. The official count came in at 44 for this outing and there probably would have been more had the temperatures not dipped down into the 30's early Saturday morning!

Friday, March 19, 2010

2010-03-19T21:00:00.002-05:00

The camp had it's first campers of the 2010 season last night! I arrived out at the camp this morning and saw that everyone was up at the upper pond doing some fishing. Eddie Kimbrough had called the day before about coming up to spend the night with his three boys and a friend of theirs. My wife, Denise, had checked with them before bedtime and everything was well.

Overnight there was a little incident with a skunk and their dog, Biscuit, which stirred things up a bit. It seems that they were doing some sleeping out under the stars (without a tent) around the campfire, when the polecat wandered in. Biscuit commenced to chasing him and the skunk found a place to hide among some chairs and and old lectern underneath the pavilion. After all the excitement settled down there was a distinct smell in the air and especially on the dog. In spite of it all, the group managed to get a few hours of sleep before the sun came up--but not much!

I had never met Eddie before today but have spoken with him a few times on the phone. His family has reserved the place for a family reunion later on in the spring. Now I know Eddie's dad, Wayne, pretty well as we were part of a group that used to meet regularly on Mondays mornings for about a year or so. On the phone Eddie & Wayne sound close to the same. Well when I walked up to the pond there was Wayne with a pole in his hand.

We all made introductions and settled down to talk a bit. Wayne had some business to tend to connected with the church, and had to leave about 10:00 a.m. I sat down there with Eddie and talked for a couple of hours at least. The boys were in and out and catching a fish now and then as well. I managed to get in a picture or two. I don't know if there was anything Eddie and I talked about that we didn't agree on . . . especially church-related things. He caught several bass--one that I would guess went about a pound--while I was sitting there. Oh, and a few bluegill as well.

Then kids came running up with news that Biscuit had managed to run the skunk out of his hiding place at the pavilion, and had caught and killed it. A few minutes later the dog came running up, dove into the pond, and then rolled around for several hours in the dirt. Glad he wasn't coming home with me!

I went up to the RV to get a bite to eat and change clothes while they went back to the pavilion to eat as well. I started back on the project I had worked on earlier in the week, clearing out the overhanging tree limbs from the lower road. I am thinking about calling that road the "back door." After hauling two good loads to the brush pile, I stopped back and went out to check on the crew. Eddie and I sat under a tree and talked a little more there with his youngest son. While we were all sitting there the boy caught one, which I promptly took a picture of for posterity.

We saw the buzzards circling overhead . . . not sure if it was for the skunk or not . . . but they were getting mighty low. The Kimbroughs loaded up, skunked dog and all, and we all said our goodbyes around 3:00 or so. I hauled off one more load and then called it a day. I went inside, made me a late afternoon cup of coffee, and waited on the deer to come up by the RV which has become a near-daily ritual.

It was a beautiful day, some things were accomplished and I made a new friend!

Sprucing it up!

2010-03-08T17:00:00.000-06:00

Today was a great day to be outside and outside I was. You never know what to expect in March but today was tee-shirt weather with the temps in the high 60’s. There is no shortage of things to do up here at Camp Macoba and today I started trimming back the trees from the roads. The low road appeared to need it the most so that is where I began. The road into the camp splits at the hill. The high road of course goes up the paved hill and then splits again while the low road goes around and slightly above the lower field. It then goes up and to the right by the Pavilion. Both roads run into each other eventually.

I filled the trailer up three different times and if you look at the pile one might think a little work took place today, which it did, but that really did not even scratch the surface of what lies ahead.

This is the start of what just might be a mighty big bonfire!

Disaster Relief Training

2010-02-27T17:00:00.001-06:00

The day started early this morning as I was up at 5:00 a.m. getting the coffee ready for the Disaster Relief group. Rob Peavy had given me a heads up about this event a few days before. The first to arrive right before 6:00 a.m. was Wayne Miller. He was one of the instructors and was making sure everything was in order before everyone got there. It was good to meet Wayne and we talked all throughout the day. He bought four dozen doughnuts to go along with the coffee. This helped get the cold morning off to a good start.

There were forms to sign, speeches to be made and then finally three groups were formed and off they went, well after everyone had all the necessary safety equipment in hand. Did I mention this was the “Chain Saw Division”?

This group of guys had already been in the classroom but needed some hands on training to be officially certified. It was a very diverse group as several counties were represented. Each group had three trees to cut down but first everyone watched closely as the instructors first demonstrated the proper technique. I asked Wayne who the guy was with all the patches on his jacket. He said that was Mr. Chainsaw...he wrote the book on cutting trees down. One of the guys in the group, Walter McGehee, I have known for years because he and I both work for the Huntsville Fire Department. This training lasted until about 12:30 p.m. and the guys were good and ready for lunch. Everything seemed to go well though one group had to get a rope to get one of the trees down and another group had to cut another tree down when the first tree hung up.

I asked Wayne to send me the list of names of who was present on this particular morning. Instructors: Wayne Miller, Ron Warren, Billy Key, and Jerry Butler. Students: Dwayne Blackmon, David Colvard, Billy Entrekin, Paul Fuehrer, Jim Headrick, Neil Jensen, James Knight, Les McCollum, Walter McGehee, Steve Pinion, Bobby Smith, David Beach, Marc Salverson, Rowe Smith, and Charles Sanford.