the green spot blog

With snow in the forecast - I thought it would be fitting to start talking about Pond Hockey! It's only a mere three and a half months away! And though it might be something to get excited about the hockey magic that happens on that day - are we ready for winter to begin...probably not but that's not going to stop me from getting us ready for POND HOCKEY!! Pond Hockey is our biggest fundraiser and we're excited to tell you that we want to hit $45,000 in January 2017. That means we need 10 teams who are willing to raise, play, and score big for Camp! Our Pond Hockey Tournament is set for January 13-14, 2017! Pond Hockey isn't just a day for players. It's fun for the whole family. Spectators are Free ! How can you say no to that?! We've got wagon rides, a kids' skate, and games ready for everyone who comes out for the day. There will be a Silent Auction table and prizes for the winners of the tournament and the most coveted prize - Top Fundraisin...

Hi folks! Thanks for checking in! Camp has just been hopping for the last couple of weeks. September is our busiest rental month of the year seeing nearly 1100 people through our site. Isn't that crazy? We'll get back to blogging pretty regularily now but it almost always seems like we need to take a step back from the GreenSpot in September to take a deep breath. The beginning of September also means that we see our new generation of Germans through and this year we've expanded to see a staff member from Ireland and one from New Zealand. It's been so much fun to hear all of the fun accents amongst our staff. We wanted to introduce you to all of them in a fun way so here's a bit of an introduction to our six internationals: German Generation #5 - Left to right: Julian, Jonas, Sophie, Franca, Marina Left to right: Emily (New Zealand) and Shauna (Ireland) I (Jogee) asked each of the staff questions about their impressions of Canada, what they ...

There are very few better ways to finish off a summer camp season than Family Camp. We love Family Camp here at Evergreen. The schedule is relaxed and it's super fun to engage with kids and parents in our activities and games. The weather held - it was cold(er) than we would have liked but hey - it didn't snow like it did in 2015 - right? So things were looking up right from the beginning. Ruth Peters joined us as the speaker this last weekend and engaged our community by doing a fort building exercise. It was hilarious to watch the different families run to their cabins to pull their mattresses out to make their fort bigger and better. We want to thank all of our volunteers and families that joined us on the Labour Day weekend. It was a fantastic mix of new families and returning families and our staff and volunteers, as usual, pulled out all of the stops. Family Photos was a really fun addition to the schedule this year. And seriously - if you thought Jug 'n...

Summer camp is over (not that any of us needed THAT reminder as our kidlets are all back in school and the camp has started filling up with Guest Groups) and that means we shift into a totally different gear. How fitting is it that the leaves seemed to have changed with the summer coming to a close. It's getting a little too yellow out there (and a little too early for this bear). You'll see a couple things change with our seasonal shift. There are events coming up. These are things that we want you marking on your calendars...things that you should be aware of that are very nearly just around the corner. Because...Summer 2017 Registration opens in just under FOUR months. Crazy, isn't it! You can keep your eyes peeled for our 2017 dates to be announced mid-October. Don't get too crazy...registration will not open until the beginning of January 2017. September is filled with a bunch of Camper Connection Days. You might be wondering what these days are all about. Th...

Here we are. Summer 2016 has sung its last tune. For us at Camp Evergreen - this summer has been full of some amazing memories, growing points, challenges, and so many victories. This past Friday marked the last day of Base Camps, which are any camps that happen up in our cabin area, lodge, etc... After we say goodbye to our campers we set to a GIANT clean of the site. The evening concludes with our staff doing their own Testimony Sticks at the creek. Our campers aren't the only ones experiencing life change here at camp. Many of our staff experience it too but one thing is often talked about during the last campfire...how do we go on from here? Camp is this crazy place where the world seems to fade away for the week (or sometimes multiple weeks) - all there is in front of you is camp. Games, challenging speakers, lasting friendships that form overnight, and "ah-ha" moments where God takes something as simple as the Leap of Faith and uses it to speak to you about ...

That's it folks. Base Camps for Summer 2016 are finished. Today, Impact 2016, our Sr. High camp, wrapped up our summer save for one more out-trip (Charge 3 next week) and our Labour Day Family Camp. As I type this, every staff member is cleaning up summer - pick up the thousands of pieces of individual Starburst wrappers crammed into the dirt around the Willson Pit, hand mopping underneath bunks, and organizing the Program Sheds for winter storage. I could go on and on about all the things that we end up finding after 8 weeks of summer fun but you may just think I'm making it up (like a full "man" stuffed with sleeping bags up in the linen closet). You will just have to trust me that the Big Clean that happens on the last Friday after the last camp is an epic one. Impact is our fullest week for programming and we really don't hold anything back. From midnight socials at the Archery Range (wings, ice cream floats, and more) to our famous Homemade Jam on Frida...

There you have it. We've closed out our sixth week at Evergreen and it was awesome. The weather was (mostly) cooperative and no matter what the sky handed us - we had a heap of fun. Before I get into Ignite 2 - I wanted to take a moment to talk about our Interns. We have two different "phases" to training up young leaders before they start working as staff. The first phase is Pit Crew. A two week, fully immersive program for kids in Grade 9-10. They learn the "behind-the-scenes" and what it means to have a Servant Heart for God. The second phase is a 6 week Internship. Thirteen young leaders joined us from our first week until the end of last week - each choosing an area of focus (cabin leading, barn, kitchen, A-Team, or A/V) to practice living out their passions and love for camp. It was amazing watching these young leaders grow in confidence and courage through the six weeks and we're very excited to see them back here next summer as full time staff...