Ben is at camp. Next week Hannah will be going to camp. Jim has gone to camp, Dave has gone to camp, Bethany wanted to live at camp, Joe couldn't wait to get back to camp, and Nate has loved camp too. Years ago a friend started encouraging the kids at church to go to OBC. She provided scholarships, she provided transportation, and most of all she heckled the parents until we finally gave in and let the kids go.My husband has always been somewhat hesitant to let go of his children. I was once reluctant to send the kids to camp, but for a different reason. I needed the break from the kids and they needed time away, I just wasn't sure OBC was the right place to send them...
Once upon a time two sets of parents decided their daughters should go to camp, so off they drove to a little old Christian camp on the shore of Lake Ontario. (Did I mention it was "old"? My mother's aunt and uncle owned a cottage there! ) My sister Priscilla and our pastor's daughter Tori spent a week at OBC in 1979. We had not been impressed with the "dirty, rundown old camp" back then, so I wasn't sure about sending my own kids 15 years later. To my surprise, my own children came home loving OBC and have begged to go back every year since.
This is how our cabin looks now. Back in the day it had a cute little front porch and the door wasn't boarded up. There were curtains in the windows and two sets of bunk beds where we slept. Kind of sad to see it this way. Most of the old cabins have been replaced and this one was rarely used when we attended. Hey, it's still standing!
This is our friend Tori, Priscilla, and our "counselor", Ella on front of our cabin. Next week when Hannah goes to camp, Tori's daughter, Katie, will be going along too.
I wonder why they would let it get run down like that. It seems like it would be easy enough to keep that little cabin looking nice. It doesn't make much sense to me to let it run down and then board it up and buy new. ?? More insightful thinking from me. What do you think, judi?
ReplyDelete....and so the circle will be complete. Isn't it neat when your kids get to experience the same places that marked your own youth? I've had that experience with my daughter a few times and it truly is like re-living it, but through their eyes....
ReplyDeleteYour photos are so nostalgia-filled....very nice!
Yeah for camp!! I think every kid needs to go to camp.
ReplyDeleteI think you are spot on Rachel, I sure wish I could have had the summer I was planning and got to meet you in person... you are fun to poke in the ribs :) and I tagged you for a meme.:)
Martha, Rachel, and Ms. P. come by my blog to see the rules. It's a fun one.
I have great memories of camp. both as a camper from grade 6 to 9 and as a counselor for grades 3/4, 5/6 and 7/8. Church camp was a place where you got a "fresh start" - different people than knew you at school, no history to be judged by and a group who are more accepting and tolerant of differences than school.
ReplyDeleteI also went to an American Red Cross camp once and some other school related camp - those I didn't enjoy so much. I hope your kids continue to make great memories at camp. :o)
A trip down memory lane! Oh what fun!
ReplyDeleteMaking memories today, too!!
Rachel, maybe this one was run down because it is so very small and rarely used. It only slept four people and at one point in time looked as if a tree branch had gone through the roof. Add that to being just 200 feet from the lake shore and things can get a little rough for a small building.
ReplyDeleteThe major part of the camp is privately owned cottages. For the most part it has been these people who have run and maintained the camp mostly through donations. It is now close to 90 years old and shadowed by the nuclear power plant which ominously spouts steam within walking distance. (I have a photo of the stack.) I suppose the camp's very existence has been somewhat hampered by the plant.
I have very fond memories of camp from way back when. I hope your kids have a wonderful time!
ReplyDeleteI liked that place. You did have to watch out for the "nuclear bees" on occasion though. they were as big as ping pong balls and had yellow and red coloring.
ReplyDeleteAh, OBC. Those were the good old days... If only I could've stayed...
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