Staff romances were
almost a “given.” Periodically, I
would have to call the couple in and remind them to use discretion in their
demonstrating their affection for each other. One year some of the summer staff men were
housed in the apartment above me.
One afternoon someone observed a male and female staff person standing
in front of the upstairs window naked. Hello!
At
Calvin Crest our candy store was in an old cabin on the hillside. There was a partition that separated a storeroom
from the store items. We
discovered that some on staff would climb over the partition and help
themselves to the goodies. They thought
that was fun!
One night after
campers went to bed, there was noise coming from the pool house at The Woods. For some reason, I was close at hand and went
over to see what was happening. Several
of the male staffers were having a water fight with hoses. Loved seeing their faces when they realized
they had just hosed me with water as I came around the corner.
It is never easy to
take disciplinary actions with employees. My style of leadership was first a warning
and alerting the staff person of the indiscretion or whatever behavior that was
not lending itself to positive modeling and effective work habits. If it happened again, it was
“goodbye, try again next year.”
I was very open to hiring ex-staffers who blew it the previous year. I would ask pastors or teachers for
recommendations indicating ways the applicant was modifying behavior and moving
in positive directions.
It really is remarkable that in the 30 years of my involvement in
camping there were very few times that I had to release staffers of their
duties
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