Camp Lone Star is over [ended June 17], and I wanted to let all of you know that we had a great time at a very successful camp down here in soggy south Texas this year. A very enthusiastic staff of 74 guided the 93 campers that had very high levels of energy each and every day.

The rain couldn’t dampen our spirits as we worked around Tropical Storm Bill on several occasions. And when it did rain, we just moved inside for a while. The radar would show heavy bands of rain, and although we did get rain, it was never that bad. One major band on the radar showed the storm spitting in half and going around our camp, sparing us the heavy downpour going on all around us.

It seems as if camp was focused around water, as we kept the lake in use almost constantly with fishing, canoeing, zip line and swimming. Canoeing was split from fishing this year, and the campers loved more time in the boats. I also heard very good things about the water safety class that the older dorms participated in. It was taught by one of our camp nurses, Bonnie Turner, as well as our own overall camp coordinator, Ken Treybig. I think one of the canoe classes enjoyed giving Mr. Treybig some stress by trying to sink a canoe! (They came pretty close!)

Archery was interrupted by rain on a few occasions as we didn’t want to get the equipment wet. But for riflery, the crew put EZ-UPs over everything and tried to keep the interruptions from the weather to a minimum.

The camp theme was a great hit with campers and staff alike, as there were so many ways to use it throughout camp. We started each day off with great Compass Checks given by some of the younger men in the Church, and everyone felt they were written just for them!

One way we used the camp theme this year was on the first evening of camp. While all of the dorms were settling in for their first night, our teen activity staff got together for a quick Bible study. It was really a panel discussion with several of the adult activity staff members discussing when the “pearl” became their own. Then we opened the discussion up for questions. We do this every year, but this was the first time it was in the format of a panel discussion.

With 10 dorms this year, up from eight in all the years past, our schedule was very busy. Each dorm participated in 22 classes or activities over a 3½-day time frame. These were not 22 different activities, as each dorm went twice to each activity. But we were very busy! Thankfully, we had minimal trips to the nurse’s office, which is always great!

One thing we do each year is have teen night at camp one evening where all of the teen staff gets time together at the end of the day to just hang, be with each other and have snacks. For the teens, this is a highlight of camp. We also do the same for the adults, as they all get off for a few hours one evening (after campers have gone to bed). We’re all together getting to know each other and spend a few hours together while the teens are keeping an eye on the dorms. It runs very smoothly and this year we were spoiled by a very elegant spread of treats that a few of our ladies on staff put on for us. We had a very elegant evening with champagne glasses filled with sparkling grape juice, a s’more station complete with chocolate fountain, printed napkins with the camp theme on them and so much more. It was a very special treat for a wonderful staff that everyone thoroughly enjoyed!

Elisa Hees, Director