A funny thing happened on the way to Camp – 35C – Westminster Woods Beginnings

            Presbytery Action;  Richard was  elected to be an Elder at First Presbyterian Church in Santa Rosa after we moved there in 1969.  He volunteered to be the Elder Delegate from the church to Redwoods Presbytery meetings.  

Through Presbytery meetings Richard became acquainted with several men from the First Presbyterian Church in Napa.  When they heard that Richard and I were involved with camping at Calvin Crest, they invited Richard to walk the grounds at Westminster Woods and get the lay of the land, water sources and buildings. Westminster Woods was owned by Redwoods Presbytery.  These men, along with a few from Vallejo and Santa Rosa, First Presbyterian Churches, and their families had invested a lot of volunteer hours maintaining the facility, and repairing buildings through the years. These churches had also sponsored some camps through the years.

In 1972 the issue of selling Westminster Woods was being voted on at Redwoods Presbytery. There was minimal participation and it was becoming a financial burden for the Presbytery to maintain.  The Christian Missionary Alliance camp next door made an offer to buy half of The Woods property in order to build a swimming pool and recreational area for their camp.

At the Presbytery meeting Richard stood up and suggested since we were able to make camping a viable ministry at Calvin Crest in San Joaquin Presbytery, we could try it at The Woods.   At Calvin Crest numbers of campers  had significantly increased.   More churches and pastors were participating and the model was working.   He suggested we explore  possibilities for Westminster Woods before selling it.  He urged the members of  Redwoods Presbytery to hold off selling the property.  

The vote to sell was defeated.   Well--you guessed it!  He who opens his mouth gets the privilege of being appointed Chairperson.  The Moderator of the Presbytery at that time was John Najarian.   He was a long time friend of ours from the Armenian Churches Evangelical Union days in the early 1950s when we were younger.  He appointed Richard to be the Chairperson of a Task Force to explore the possibilities of developing a camping ministry at Westminster Woods.

Making Life Work - 34L – I NEED YOU AND YOU NEED ME

            I need you and you need me.  Do you really need anybody else at home, at work, with friends?  Who do you need?  Think about it.  Why do we need others?  Identify people or groups.  When is the last time you actually thought about those you need in your life?  When is the last time you thanked the people around you for their support and encouragement?  When is the last time you thanked the members in your family for their love and helpful tasks?   Who were the people who helped you achieve your goals in ministry?  Write down who you need in the different walks in your life.

            Building a life together with others and/or working with a team depends on how satisfying these relationships are.  We are not on an island by ourselves.  With every new person in the circle, different ideas and individual needs enter the picture. 

            I need you and you need me.  Our friends are the mirrors in our lives.  They help us see how we project ourselves to others.  I believe God has given us each other in the Christian community to witness to the world that Jesus loves us all.  Jesus came to show us how to love.  It is not so much how we speak but how we live our lives that others see and want to join our families and teams.  At camp when asked campers why do you want to be a part of the faith community.  Hands down they would say it was because they saw how the staff and counselors loved and supported each other.  Their love for each other and God was contagious.  Jesus came to show us how to love even to the death.  Let us celebrate Jesus’ resurrection by being intentional positive witnesses of that love.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Camp - 34C -HISTORICAL NOTES

For those interested in History, you may enjoy the following paper discovered in the files written by  Henrietta Volmer, one of the early Board Members.

            “There was a Presbyterian Church in Camp Meeker.  Camp and Conference programs were held there for the churches in the Presbytery of the Redwoods.  There was swimming in muddy water, sleeping in the church basement, and the sewage system was very poor.

            A little further down the road was a piece of property, 75 acres, held by Mr. and Mrs. Evans.  They planned to build a summer home.  However, they decided to put the property up for sale because their son was killed in action during the war.  They wanted the property to be used for good purposes.

            Many people from the Vallejo and Napa churches showed great interest in purchasing the grounds.  A group led by Lee Vernon, the pastor of the Napa Presbyterian Church, and others from the Vallejo Presbyterian Church began to campaign to raise funds to purchase the property.

            Mr. Gordon Oxtosby, Professor of the Old Testament at San Francisco Theological Seminary, made a motion at Redwoods Presbytery to charge a per capita tax on the member churches of the Presbytery to raise the funds for the down payment necessary to purchase the property. 

            The Westminster Woods Commission was formed to carry out the development and maintenance of The Woods.  Through the years many hard working volunteers from Napa, Vallejo and Santa Rosa First Presbyterian Churches maintained the property.  They built cabins for girls and boys, bathrooms, swimming pool and kitchen.  At that time the cost came to $100 for materials for each cabin.  Churches began to use the grounds and had camps even during food rationing.

            A special Westminster Woods Sunday was held periodically at many churches hoping to raise the equivalent of $1.00 per person in the Presbytery.  That goal was met.”

Choosing to Make Life Work – 34L – STARTING OVER

Let’s follow up on Family Council one more time.  Last week we used this method to gain information and ideas from those we live with and/or work with as a team to accomplish our tasks.  We have talked about being committed to each other’s success before.   If we do not know what others on the team/family/church members are thinking or feeling, how can we be a support and encouragement to one another?  

Whether we believe it or not, how we feel about each other influences whether we accept or reject each other.  It usually results in how we treat each other.  One of my clichés through the years was, “If I feel the effects of your feelings towards me, I have a right to know what that feeling is.”

We need a safe place to help each other out.  We need a safe place to share feelings and accept each other as we are.  We need a safe place to accept helpful ideas that will encourage us to grow as a person.

        This is also a time where we can talk about the positive and negative feelings we have for each other.  It is a safe time to express forgiveness and accept forgiveness.  

        Each of us also needs to hear the good things others appreciate about us.  In this kind of setting we learn to tell each other what we love about each other.  We are all in need of being affirmed.  It is amazing how many of us have a hard time hearing good things about ourselves.  Try it in the family first or as a couple or with a friend.   

         End this time with prayer thanking God for sending Jesus to show us how to love one another.  One of Richard’s and my  favorite phrases at the end of our time together was - “Let’s start over again today” and walk away trusting each other’s love and acceptance.  We started over many times through the years!

A Funny Thing Happened on the way to camp --33C -– OTHER GENERAL STORIES FROM CALVIN CREST

           It was thoroughly enjoyable brainstorming different programs and ways to do ministry.  It was not always easy to communicate your vision to financial people but it was very gratifying when it all came together. 

            A couple of summers we had someone who would be available to take the campers on hikes as part of the nature study experience.  She was available to identify plants, talk about the earth and ways we can take care of the land as a part of our stewardship responsibilities.  The campers called her “nature lady.”  Sometimes they would get confused and not sure if I was “nature lady” or “Lady of the Forest.”  We had fun with the campers and laughed about this often.

            At Calvin Crest I lived in the bottom apartment of what was called The Barn.  It had a bedroom and a bathroom that was built in the back of a garage that was converted into a family-den type room.  One night when I had come home from observing the campfires for the camps,  I walked into the bathroom.   I saw a huge--I mean three or four inches long--black bug.  It was as though it was staring at me.  I froze.  I knew I could not go to sleep with that thing in the apartment.   Great Lady of the Forest, right?   I slipped carefully around the bug. It did not seem eager to move.  I put my coat on and went up to Bob and Barbara’s house.   Luckily I saw a light on.  I knocked on the door and asked if Bob could come and do something with the bug.  He laughed and came and got rid of it.

            Richard and I celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary at Calvin Crest.   Our children and the staff arranged a surprise party that they held the last week of camp in August of 1974.  They bought us a gas BBQ.  It was a fun time with many folks coming up for the event.  

            During our time at Calvin Crest there were a lot of improvements to the grounds and facilities.  Ted had gifts in the area of land use and development.  There was the building of the dam which created a recreational lake and a small island;  The Infirmary;  Office Trailer;  the remodeling of the Friar’s Hut that provided a room for the Pastor and his or her family and the first aid station in Sherwood;  the new housing units and meeting room at Lakeview;  A covered patio for eating at the main camp;  Sherwood Forest;  The pond at Sherwood—an alternative swimming area when campers did not go up to the pool;  new vesper areas;  Outdoor camp up the hill for junior highers, etc.

            When we moved to Santa Rosa from Modesto, Richard remained as an affiliate member on the Board of Calvin Crest  because we no longer lived in the San Joaquin or Stockton Presbytery areas.  I still was the Program and Personnel Director at Calvin Crest and of the satellite camps at Westminster Woods.