Busy as a Bee . . .

This past weekend was a busy one at the camp.  On Friday, we had the Whitesburg RAs in overnight. The group makes a regular appearance in both the spring and the fall, and we always enjoy hosting their campouts!  You can count on the group doing some kind of a craft:

And there's a lot of games, devotion time, hiking, and laughing going on! Plus food ... the grills are working overtime ... or in this case, the griddle . . .

And this year, they gifted us with a three-burner camp stove, which we really appreciate.

This will come in so handy at the next fish fry!

The guys stayed through Saturday morning ... they even got a good tour of the new cabin.  By noon the camp was quiet . . . for a little while.  Late Saturday afternoon, the camp played host to a special two-year-old's birthday party!

Everything was set up perfectly for this sweet little girl's "Busy as a Bee" themed party.

The weather was perfect and the kids had a great time.

The new deck is a real asset to the pavilion, and parents love to be able to let their kids 'go'!  The new permanent counter has also proved to be a tremendous asset, well-appreciated by all our guests.

And was a great place to receive lots of fun birthday presents, too!

After an afternoon of lots of good food, fun, and birthday cake, this group called it an evening and the camp was quiet once again.

That changed on Sunday afternoon, when Union Grove Baptist Church held their evening service up at the pavilion!

They had a terrific crowd show up, and enjoyed what was probably the best weather of the weekend.

We sure enjoyed having all three of these groups at Camp MACOBA and hope we'll see them all again SOON!

Shipps Baptist Camps Out

What a great group we had up at the camp this weekend -- and what a great weather weekend for them. Johnny Gurley and a few other guys from Shipps, came up early Thursday and eventually they all arrived by dark.

Of course they had fun in "The Secret Creek"; this has become the favorite go-to place in the camp.

Johnny and company made quick work of a tree we had across Beech Bottom Trail and we are very thankful for that. There was hiking, and corn hole and several fishing trips.

One of the guys caught 5 or 6 bass and others caught a few bluegill. 

The trip started out on an interesting note when Angela Gurley discovered a live possum in an empty garbage can that was trapped. I was not anywhere close when she found it, but I'm sure there was a scream or two let out.

I noticed there were several plumbers in the group one of which advised me the way to go on a future project. The pastor Sam Gulley came up for a bite to eat and hung around for a bit Friday night. We look forward to having them back in the near future!

Central Baptist Visit

It was a pleasure to have Pastor Shannon Johnson and crew up at the camp. It was a small but very active group.

Brother Shannon led them on several trail hikes and plenty of good food was prepared.

The kids seemed to have a good time but the heat was not making it easy. Come nightfall, several didn't stay the night, but those who did all stayed in the one large tent.

Plans were to stay until late in the afternoon but the heat must have really taken it out of folks as they were all gone by lunch.

We look forward to seeing the group again...maybe in a little cooler weather.

Wears Chapel Baptist Fish Fry

Sunday afternoon was a little rainy, but it cleared up just in time for our Wears Chapel group to come in and enjoy some fellowship.  When they got there, most of the crew headed straight down to Secret Creek and splashed their way up and down the water!

The group stayed down there until the fish were ready.  It was a fun afternoon of splish-splashing and chit-chatting!

Flint River Baptist Community Group

Even though we'd had a little rain overnight and on Friday morning, and the temps were going to dip down into the 40's on Saturday night, that didn't stop the Community Group and their families (and some youth, too) from Flint River from heading to the camp!  

They arrived right around 4:00 and immediately there were tents going up, folks headed down to the ponds with fishing poles, and some *serious* cooking going on!

Y'all . . . that really was *serious* cooking.

I think it may have been the first time there's been a shrimp boil up here. Isn't that gorgeous?? We were so tickled to be invited over for dinner and then Bill, the group's coordinator, also asked if we'd speak a little bit about the camp and about our ministry.  We were delighted!

There was a good sized group that was there for dinner and then it whittled down a little to the serious campers.

And campfire lovers! We have it on good authority that a significant number of the adults spent the entire night around the campfire . . . who needs a tent??

It was the perfect weekend for camping in the elements and suffice it to say, they had a great time. We hope the camp made some new friends!

Three Days, Three Groups!

This past weekend (the last in October) was packed with groups and people enjoying wonderful fall weather at the camp!  The first arrivals were the fellows from Boy Scout Troop 8, who were here for wilderness/survival training.

They came in after dark on Friday and got their tents sent up quickly in the main campground and spent their first night around the camp fire.

Saturday morning brought daylight and an opportunity to check out their tent village . . .

 Everyone was busy doing something.  Chopping wood, collecting water . . .

 Working on and in the "kitchen" tarp.

Already water was boiling for Saturday night's dinner!

Which we did come back for!  By that time, all the work had been done and everyone was kind of kicked back and enjoying a lovely Saturday afternoon.

 We took the opportunity to check out the shelters that the boys had gotten set up.

They looked pretty good -- and I daresay, out in the middle of the woods, they'd have been near impossible to find.

One of the utilitarian chests in the kitchen area:

Everything the outdoorsman needs to cook up a tasty meal!  Speaking of which, the spaghetti served up that evening was from an old Italian family recipe and was very, very good!

While we enjoyed our spaghetti, the guys were preparing dessert in the Dutch ovens . . .

 We had some of that, too.  Peach and blueberry cobbler in one bowl and strawberry cobbler in the other.

YUM!

This was the first time Troop 8 had been out here (Cub Scout Pack 8 had visited several years ago) and they were all so impressed with the Camp, the beautiful setting and how perfect it was for the kind of camping they enjoy.  One of the men mentioned that his favorite part of the day was sitting around the camp fire, after all the boys had packed it in.  Several men agreed!

Talk about opposites . . . our second group arrived on Saturday morning, full of giggles and laughter!  It was the GAs of Hillwood Baptist Church, who were here for the FIRST EVER campout!

First thing they did was get their sleeping quarters up and in order.  They camped out around the pavilion.

Saturday afternoon they enjoyed some great crafts (painted frames and pillowcase prayers), a nature hike, and even some small group Bible study out in the field.

Come dinner time, the girls had really worked up an appetite!  They had roasted hot dogs over the fire and had baked beans and chips and s'mores to round things out!

It was fare fit for a queen!  Or lots of princesses!  And their Children's Minister (Jeff Whitehead), too!  He'd come up to share dinner and a time of worship with these beautiful faces.

 And after dinner was the perfect time for a couple of rounds of checkers, in front of the big fireplace!

 The braver girls sat around the camp fire and did Bible drills from their lessons earlier in the day:

We were so pleased with how excited all the girls were to be camping and how much they each enjoyed it.

And as a service project bonus, they planted a lovely bed of pansies to help us get through the fall and winter with a splash of color!  We certainly look forward to their return and appreciate all their hard work and kind words!

Last up was Cornerstone Baptist Church with their annual church picnic on Sunday afternoon.  By that time, both of the other two groups had already headed out and CBC had the camp to themselves.

We'd asked the GA group to not douse their fires, so it was nothing to re-kindle them both.

And so it didn't take long for the group to congregate around the fire!

 The children headed straight for the playground!  Love this sweet smile!

 And this smile too .... who says swings are just for littles???

And of course, the day was perfect for a little football tossing.  And a little attitude tossing, too!

It would seem that a church picnic is also a good spot for a little church business discussion?

They had a great afternoon and enjoyed the ponds, trails and creeks.  Not to mention a great feast of hamburgers, hot dogs, and loads of home made goodies!

It was a hugely busy weekend ... of the best kind -- filled with lots of happy campers!