the green spot blog

It's certainly easy for me or anybody that works at camp to tell you why it is so awesome and why it is so important for kids to experience. I started attending camps when I was five years old and kept attending straight through graduation, when I turned into a seasonal staff member - working during the summers between university semesters. I still couldn't keep away - I then became a full-time director. You can see why it's easy for me to talk about the life-changing role that camp plays in one's life. It played that role in mine. Many people agree with me. The activities, games, and the outdoors obviously make camp so amazing. When we ask kids what they love about their week the normal, expected answers pop up. But would you believe me if I told you that one of the things that campers talk about when asked what they love about camp is that it's a break from their devices? Camp is a place unlike any other. Freedom from devices and technology, outdoor advent...

I had a bit longer of a blog written and decided to delete it because something a camper wrote in a Pit Crew application is better than anything I could say today. Pit Crew is part of our Junior Staff program. It's the first program you can go into (grade 9,10) to train to be staff here at Evergreen. It's a two week program where campers learn what it means to follow Jesus, to be a servant, and to start experiencing and serving camp from behind the program. Signing up for Pit Crew (and Internships) is more than just a registration form for parents to fill out. There's an application where we ask about the camper's testimony of faith and why they are wanting to be part of our Junior Staff program. Here's how one applicant responded in their 2016 application: "When I was in grade 6, my friend told me about this camp that he heard from his friend called Camp Evergreen. We asked our parents to sign us up, and they did. I had no idea who Jesus was or God. I he...

That's right! Campers you have mail coming to you! Letters from your cabin leaders and brochures for this next summer. There's even a poster to hang up on your wall to remind you to dream sweet dreams about    Jug 'n' Jog for the next six and a half months. Registration opens on January 4th, 2016! In the spirit of camp brochures and looking forward to Summer Camp 2016 - here's what one camper (we'll call him Jeff* ) had to say about Camp Evergreen during his week at Impact in 2015 and why he keeps coming back. CE: Hey Jeff, how has your week been? Jeff: It's great! Like, seriously awesome. CE: When did you start coming to camp? Jeff: I have been coming here since I was in grade four. CE: Wow! Four! Why do you keep coming back? Jeff: The people here keep me coming back. You know activity-wise there's always another zipline, right? So, it's not that special in a way - but what makes it special is the people. Like, Cam (S...

It's a strange thing to walk out of your house at 7:45am on March 9th to find puddles already formed and eavestroughs dripping. It's strange to watch the horses start shedding or rhubarb trying to grow. My brain is still trying to convince me that it's winter and yet everything around me screams that spring is here. Do you know what spring means? It means that summer camp is just, JUST around the corner. Ever since I was a young'un - I loved camp. Loved, in my case, might be a slight understatement. While my brother experienced a wee bit of homesickness - I was the kid who was hauling their bags out of mum's car, insisting that I could register myself. One year I even told mum that the camp ended a day later than it actually did. The camp directors figured that one out pretty easily though. The day that camp ended I was counting down the days until I got to go again; 357 days...356 days...355 days...354 days... I loved the food, the silly dress up nights, night ...

We had our second Seniors Day this past Wednesday.  Man that was a great day.  A BIG shout out to our staff for loving on our guests for the day.  God blessed us with perfect weather.  Ken, as usual, out did himself with a fantastic spread at lunch.  The cinnamon buns in the afternoon were very, very cinnamony and sticky.  And wow do our seniors drink a lot of coffee! My highlight was walking around camp, (actually that's me driving around camp in our newly donated Gator!) with the people who started camp, hearing their stories. Camp Evergreen has a rich history.  Story after story was told of how camp was started with God's leading, with volunteers and hard work!  Stories of how three individuals found our first quarter back in the 1950's. Stories of how individuals and families volunteered to clear the land.  Stories of how tractors and trucks came from farms in Linden to help build the road.  Stories of lost boys a...

Somewhere along the line here, summer 2012 started creeping up on us! It's seriously right around the corner. We're well into staff recruitment and camper registrations are rolling along nicely ... we had more registrations in January than we ever have before! In anticipation of the coming summer, I have a tale to share with you, submitted by Alyssa. It's her take on her experience as an ARISE camper in summer 2011. ARISE is our learn-to-be-staff camp and it's three weeks of lots of fun, lots of hard work, and lots of relationship and community building. ARISE campers spent one of their weeks in a cabin, working alongside one of our veteran cabin leaders, and they help with games and dishes and cleaning. They also do lots of intensive Bible study time and more! Here's what Alyssa has to say: Before summer, I wasn't sure if I really wanted to do ARISE but looking back, I wonder why I ever doubted it. It was the best 3 weeks of my year. One of the biggest things...

A. is a lifer here at Evergreen. This summer, she spent three weeks at camp, for PUSH and Impact and she says they were the best three weeks of her summer! Here's A.'s story, in her own words: PUSH was almost more fun than Impact for a few reasons. With PUSH, you got to know and work with everyone and your group became pretty tight. Despite the fact that we did a ton of cleaning, it was all in how you looked at that made it fun. If you went into it thinking it was going to suck then it did, but if you went in looking for all the fun you could have then you would have fun. I even had fun cleaning urinals. There was one time were we got this idea to go into the outdoor bathrooms like the FBI, so we grabbed our spray bottles and rags and brushes and that good stuff. We would have one person leading and one crouched with someone else holding a spray bottle over their head ready to fight the grime. One morning our PUSH crew decided on what Koda would say if he could speak, it woul...

Allison (on the left) was a FANTASTIC addition to our staff team this summer. She was a stellar kitchen staffer and a great cabin leader. She also responded promptly and graciously when I asked for summer stories. So, without further ado, this is Allison's story: Hi! Hi! Something that I learned at camp. Should be an easy task, right? You would think so. This entire summer was a learning process for me. Some things were significant, like hot oil will literally disintegrate plastic containers and melt the cupboard doors in the kitchen. (Sorry, Ken!) Some things were not so significant, like no matter how fast you go in, how hot the day is, or how long you stay in for, the water in the creek is always cold. Always. But that’s not the kind of thing you’re looking for now, is it? I guess one of the most important things that I learned at camp, the thing I will remember the most, is that it’s okay to ask for help. No matter what you’re going through, no matter what you’re dealin...

Every summer at Camp Evergreen I learn new lessons from God. This past summer was no different for me. While I was leading a cabin I encountered a camper who came from a particularly difficult living situation. Being from a group home and having little contact with family, the camper had a difficult time accepting that God loved him because he had so few experiences of love in his life. While he was enjoying the week, it was clear that the camper had set up a wall between him and God. One night, the camper uncharacteristically refused to go to chapel. He was visibly upset, so I followed him through the woods, listened to his story, thoughts and feelings, and eventually calmed him down enough to sit outside of the chapel. It seemed like the walls he had built would never come down! After my encounter with this camper, I was quite exhausted but for some reason, I was compelled to walk. I didn't know why but leaving my co-cabin leader with our campers, I had to keep walking. Befor...