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.