the green spot blog

Wow! Pond Hockey was amazing! Our Ninth year was one for the record books, for sure. The weather was about as perfect as one could ask for and we had twelve teams sign up for an incredible day of hockey, raising funds for camp programs, and a great time with family.  It really is magical when the sun breaks over the trees in the morning. Teams came from all over Alberta to play: Edmonton, Gem, Linden, and Calgary. It really was a team effort! We raised over $32,000 for camp! How amazing is that?! Someone from Gem even pledged to donate $100/goal - we're pretty happy that Gem scored a lot of goals! Year after year, it's just amazing to see all of the support. Spectators, players, staff, and volunteers come together to make Pond Hockey one of the most amazing one day events that we hold here at Evergreen. In nine years, would you believe that we've raised $204,640 for camp? Yes - you really should read that again... $204,640.00 for ...

Ooooooo - I love lists. Christmas time just screams lists, doesn't it? I'm sure with all that has been going on in your world - there's not a lot of time to make another one. So I went ahead and created it for you! Today marks only 15 days until Summer Camp Registration opens. If you haven't thought about Summer 2018 yet...you should really start (along with baking cookies, giant turkeys, wrapping gifts, and chasing the cat out of your Christmas tree). Camp is awesome. You know that - otherwise you probably wouldn't be here reading this blog. Or maybe you're a first timer...thinking about sending your son or daughter to camp and you are just trying to figure out if this "outdoorsy, crazy game-filled, Bible camp thing where my child is in the hands of complete strangers" is really the right thing to do... Let me help. I am what you call a camp veteran - a lifer . I'm not ashamed to admit that. I attended camp every year from when I was f...

Perhaps it was the snow that inspired me late last week to get all of our Pond Hockey Tournament information ready. We're less than four months away from one of our favourite winter past-times. The work begins now though. The sheds and cabins have been moved, boards are being prepped. Both the hand Zamboni and Quadboni are being prepped for another season of hard work. Surfacing and leveling for Rink 2 will be done very soon. Then we wait for the cold to come. We look for a consistent temperature of about 15 degrees before our the first water trucks get called out. And then it's all about making ice day in and day out until Pond Hockey. We are looking forward to a full tournament again this year. We've already heard rumblings of new teams looking to enter. These events only get more and more exciting as we grow. Our Pond Hockey Tournament isn't just about the hockey. It's also an Open House. A great day to come see the site, meet our staff, and get a feeli...

I think sometimes September is the month of "don't forgets". Don't forget your notebook. Don't forget your lunch. Don't forget your gym clothes. Don't forget to check your class schedule. Don't forget your locker code. I was watching the staff this last weekend as we served a large Guest Group. Each week seems little more busy than the last.  There's a lot of things to remind the staff as we welcome a new group on-site. There's a lot of... Don't forget to check your schedule. Don't forget to turn off the dishwasher. Don't forget to grab the activity binder. Don't forget the keys to the challenge course. Don't forget the code to the Playing Field Shed. Don't forget to check in with the Kitchen. That's a lot of remembering. It doesn't matter if you're a student at high school, college, or university - it doesn't matter if you're a staff member at Camp Evergreen. September is full of...

As we draw VERY near to Summer Camp there's been a lot of work done to prepare for our summer campers. Programs to be built, menus to be planned, skits to be written... These are things that are all done by our phenomenal staff. We really, REALLY couldn't do our summer ministry without them. As our Summer Staff Training Week approaches (2 WEEKS) - I thought I would write about some things that our staff would really get. Sometimes I think that only "camp people" will understand why we do what we do. I'm pretty sure that only half of my family get it. The long hours/weeks, hundreds of screaming and excited kids, low pay, the shaving cream games, and smuggling watermelons...it's really hard to put into words what a camp staff gets out of working at camp. Nobody will really understand that you can, in fact, survive two months on Oreos and Juice and that severe tan lines, bad hair cuts, and make believe Moofs can be sort of cool. I mean - I still have two M...

"After dishes I'm building the submarine. What are you scheduled on today?" I think there's a lot of things that make camp a unique place. One of them might be the funny things that you hear on a day to day basis. Oh, camp.  Where would we be without you? I've been at a number of different Bible Colleges over the last week and head out to Abbotsford to spend some time at Columbia Bible College next week. We're looking for students who are willing to do something life changing with their summer. When I was at Prairie Bible Institute last week, one of the Professors allowed the camp directors into his Youth Ministry class to share some stories about life transformation at camp. It's always very exciting this to sit around and share how God is moving, not only at Evergreen, but at camps from Vancouver Island to Manitoba. Thousands upon thousands of kids are hearing the Gospel and turning towards Jesus. There are studies ( Hemorrhaging Faith, 2...

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our Evergreeners out there! We had a quiet weekend here on site - the first weekend since mid-January where we had no guest groups or camp events running on the weekend. It was a little eerie to step out of my home on Saturday and Sunday morning and hear no meal bells, no Willsonball, no activity on site. There are a lot things that we're very, very thankful for as we look into the coming months. As winter begins, we officially close out our very busy 2016 season and start preparing to launch dates, registration, and our 2017 season. We saw some pretty amazing things happen this summer. Here are some pretty cool numbers from this last summer: We charged into summer with 45 staff. 33 additional volunteers joined us for at least one week of the summer, helping in the kitchen, on maintenance, or on Program. We can't do what we do without all of these staff and volunteers. 1,055 campers came through our summer camp programs in July and August. 20...

Now...who does this remind you of? Usain Bolt's grin perhaps? It was another great weekend at camp for our annual Sr. High retreat. The small but mighty retreat saw youth from Linden and Calgary get challenged from the Word by Brennen Dyck (Dalhousie Church, Calgary). The weather behaved...mostly. It rained while we were inside and the sun actually came out while we were outside. Basically - if it doesn't snow on Rise Up weekend we're pretty happy. As always, Jug 'n' Jog seemed to be the highlight of the weekend as students battled for the Kings of the Field. I still don't know how people can play barefooted in single digit weather. :S We did our best to incorporate Puzzles (our new donkey) into the game by calling a prison break when he would make his donkey sounds. We're not sure if this will continue to be the case but it certainly worked on Saturday. Chapels were challenging and busy with conversation. Brennen spoke to us...

  While we're not Apollo 13, we do have a problem here at Camp Evergreen.  Our 2016 Family Camp filled up in just three days.  Our summer camp registrations are significantly ahead of last year and we're on track to turn over 200 campers away this year, simply because we have no room.  Guest groups have grown steadily over the past six years and we're turning guest group after guest group away. I'm thankful for our problem.  It tells me that we are doing a good job portraying and representing Jesus Christ to our lost world.  It tells me that we have a strong community of "Camp Evergreeners" surrounding, supporting and uplifting us.  It also tells me that we have a great staff who love God and love our guests and campers.  And here's the good news... we have a solution to that problem!  Our Reaching Higher campaign addresses our need for space and will allow us to continue changing individual lives for the next 50 years. Reachin...