Mel is another worker at Pine Cove, but she’ll be doing camp a lot differently than what I’m used to. My last summer out there was Mel’s first, and she’s been there ever since. This summer she has been tasked with leading one of the teams that will be running their newest project, Base Camp. Basically, Pine Cove knows how to do summer camps, but they’re no longer confined to doing camps just on their property. With Base Camp, they are now able to take all of the excitement, games, teachings, and all around atmosphere to local churches across the southeast. Let’s just say that this isn’t your typical Vacation Bible School.
I watched as they practiced setting up and taking down their two story contraption that is a climbing wall, bungee swing, inflatable slide, fast food play place, and I wouldn’t be shocked if it made slushees too. This thing is incredible. I was also able to tag along as they brainstormed the basic program that they will do week in and week out including Bible studies, skits, and basic theme for the week. It was a high energy day, which is just the type of team you want to accomplish something like this. Eleven week long camps in Tyler, Texas can be exhausting enough. Eleven week long camps throughout the southeast is a totally different ball game.
Mel is in charge of one of the teams (and yes, it is the one that is coming to Tuscaloosa) and she will have a revolving staff each week. She’ll have a leadership team of a few that will be with her all summer, but each week, the counselors will be pulled from one of the youth camps to take the exact same energy and work that is used each week in Tyler, and take it to these churches. Earlier I said Pine Cove knows how to do summer camps, and these Base Camps will be nothing less than the same experience these campers get all summer. You just get to do it in your hometown.
Mel is a great person for this job. While I haven’t seen her or talked to her for a few years, it was obvious she was setting the tone for her crew to follow. As I talked to her, I felt like it had only been a few weeks since we had seen each other, not a few years. But pretty soon, Mel will get to take her show on the road. In a little over a week, Week 1 at Pine Cove starts, and that included Base Camp. Mel will lead her team to do a program that very few people have ever seen, much less run. Like I said, this is a new initiative that Pine Cove is starting, so Mel will only be a couple of weeks ahead of her brand new staff members that are pulling into Tyler this week. But, she will take that same energy and strength that she has been leading with, and transfer it into this new endeavor.
Summer camps, especially Pine Cove, have been a huge part of my life and I will shamelessly plug this all I can. For us in Tuscaloosa, we’re hosting one of these weeks. The even more exciting thing is that our church is going to scholarship in a lot of the storm victim children to give them a week at summer camp. We’re praying about how many can be brought in, but as long as the financial support from churches and individuals nationwide continues to pour in, and as long as Pine Cove says we have spots, we’ll keep registering them. This summer won’t be easy for so many families in Tuscaloosa, but we can at least give them one week to look back on and smile at. So we’re praying for Mel and her team and this incredible opportunity we have to host.
