New Market Baptist -- SS Fellowship

Sometimes, when a particular group visits often enough, they start to feel like family.  That's certainly the case with the group we had on Saturday night -- Mrs. Sarah's Sunday school class from New Market Baptist.  They've been using the camp for their class fellowships two-three times a year since we came to the camp six years ago!

This go 'round the group was smaller than usual, but still enough for a rousing game of scrabble!

And after dinner, Sarah treated us to her review of Sunday School materials from the last quarter. 

Truthfully, this is one of our favorite parts of their get-togethers -- always a lot of fun, spirited competition!  They're already on the schedule for fall -- we can't wait!

Mable Hill Seniors

The weather was simply perfect for the senior group who came up to picnic at the Camp on Tuesday. They ventured all the way out from Mable Hill Baptist in Ardmore, Alabama, and were ready for an afternoon of fun, fishing and food!

When they got there, the power was off at the pavilion -- the stars had aligned and we were able to get workers, an electrician and the utility company to all be there on the same day for some work to be done -- but that didn't daunt our Mable Hill group!  They were such troopers!  Someone exclaimed that they didn't need any electricity -- the sun was bright enough to give them the light they needed. They sure were right!

After lunch, they headed off down to the pond to enjoy the 'pond breezes' and to put out some fishing poles. They were a fun group to have around and we hope they'll visit us again soon!

Porch Pals of Cove Baptist

On Friday the camp had the honor of hosting the Porch Pals of Cove Baptist Church.  They laid out a serious spread under the pavilion and served up lots of smiles . . . 

And then they got down to business with the croquet mallets!

I think there may have been some croquet 'smack talk' going on out there.

And there were definitely some enthusiastic sideline cheerleaders!

I think this is the first time I've known of a group to set up croquet in the upper field -- it was a great spot for it and everyone had a great time.  We hope they will come back and enjoy us again!!

Farley Youth Picnic

The youth from Farley Community Church picked a pretty spectacular September Saturday for their picnic up at the camp.  They horsed around and enjoyed the weather, ate some good food, and had fun putting the obstacle course to the test . . . 

We always enjoy the happy laughter of young people up here at Camp MACOBA and the group from Farley were no exception to this.  They had a great time and we look forward to seeing them again!

Day Camp in the Dog Days of Summer

The weather was oh-so-warm on Friday, but that didn't stop the children from Grace Summer Camp (of Grace Lutheran Church) from having a good time!  

When we caught up with them early in the afternoon, they had finished having lunch at the pavilion and were spread out in the upper field, enjoying a rowdy game of kick-ball!

While most of the kids played, some of the younger children hung out in the shade.  

Along with them was the bus and its driver, Richard.  

Richard and Todd got to talking and we found out that Richard drives a tour bus and has taken trips all over the country . . . one of which lasted forty days!

The game was close and the competition was fierce.  

An in-field error allowed this kicker to bring in all four runners and tag home himself, and that won the game.  

There was a fair mixture of cheers and good-natured ribbing as the kids came back towards the bus for a much needed water break.

It was a fun group of kids and they seemed to enjoy having a safe space to roam and play.  

We hope to see them back!

Girl Scout Family Fun Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sweet Sixteen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Familiar Fellowship

Not long after the Willowbrook group left, we had another group come in for an evening of food and fellowship.  The incoming group was Bill and Sara Rotenberry's Sunday School class from New Market Baptist.  They make it up here at least twice a year and this was their annual spring visit.

They gave the gals a break and decided to cook burgers and hot dogs over the grill.  Their 'master griller' did a terrific job and, as always, the food was marvelous.  We're always so thankful that this group includes us in their fellowship and mealtime!

After everyone had finished up eating, Mrs. Sara handed out a sheet and a pen to each person.  We spent twenty minutes reading a single paragraph and trying to find the names of sixteen books of the Bible.  Do you know that not a one of us were able to find all sixteen?  Most of us came close, but we had to have a little help finding the last two.  There was a lot of laughter and ... discussion ... as this exercise took place.

I did hear one of the class members say that she though perhaps they should make this a quarterly outing, instead of just bi-annually.  Someone else then suggested that they make it a monthly event!  We're all for that!

They had a lovely, cool evening and we certainly hope they will at least be back in the next three months, instead of having to wait for the fall.  I think they'd enjoy an afternoon of fishing on the dock!

Watts Family Fishing Outing

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!