Camps prepare to welcome summer guests

Staff and volunteers are prepping the three Conference camps for a shortened summer youth camping season.

June and July will teem with events for young people, due to changes in public schools’ scheduling. Camps Director Randy McGuire noted that winter weather closures forced some education officials to extend the school year deep into May, and the 2010-11 year starts early in August for some schools.

The camps are utilized year-round. Meeting on March 25, trustees heard impressive numbers about the new Holliman Lodge at Camp Egan. It hosted a total of 842 camper nights between September, when the lodge opened, and the end of December.

Egan manager Dave Perrin also reported major renovations under way for the McSpadden and Homestead cabins.

At Cross Point, manager Ken Long said, a disc-golf (Frisbee) course is new for campers this year and the ropes course has some additions.

A nine-hole putt-putt golf course has been donated at Canyon, said manager David Combs. A church also plans to place benches at the cross.

The managers thanked the individual and group volunteers for invaluable maintenance at the sites. Long said people from Lost Creek and Stillwater performed "hidden ministry" recently by working at Cross Point.

Combs said 12 youths from Fairview UMC served at Canyon during their school’s Spring Break. A Volunteers In Mission workweek for Wilderness Camp, located within Canyon’s grounds, drew 23 participants. Among accomplishments, they built six outhouses, a bridge, benches, and tables; cleared trails; and removed a beaver dam.