Friday, June 16, 2017

Almost Here!

My favourite time of year is just around the corner - summer camp!  I'm looking forward to our staff and campers arriving.  Wednesdays BBQ in the field are always fun (and tasty)!  Can't forget tuck - every day!  But most of all I'm excited about the growth we will see in our staff and campers lives.  This is what we've been working so hard for all year long.  This is why we are reaching higher.  We're very excited that we can clearly share the Good News of Jesus Christ with all of our guests who are coming as campers.  Please continue to pray for staff unity, health and strength.  Knowing that we have prayer support every day is very encouraging.




One of our tipis is up.  The other one needs a quick fix.  The wall tents at Foothills Outfitter Camp are up.  Rolf will be putting a roof on the front porch of the wall tents as quick as he can.  (He only has one or two things on his "to do" list this time of year!)  The staff are working on our Shine theme.  Ken's got the summer menu planned out.  We've ordered some more registration signs and the big news (well not really that big) is that we will be letting our campers know next years dates already this summer!  I won't let the cat completely out of the bag (or I guess I should say Scamp out of the office) but we are switching things up a bit for summer 2018!


I would like to say a big thanks to Mel (Rolf's lovely wife) for making our Welcome Centre look great with flowers.  And I also need to thank Doris who keeps the concrete spotless every day!


Our AGM/Open House is next Saturday, June 24.  More information can be found on our web site.  Society members are crucial to our ministry and if you could join us that would be great.  The Open House in the afternoon is a great way to test drive camp and an opportunity for you to bring your neighbours so they can understand why you are so excited about Camp Evergreen!  A good number of our activities will be open and the day ends with a BBQ.  The cost is free - so really there is no cost!

Our new homes continue to move forward.  The local Home Hardware crew was busy putting on gutters and down spouts.  We're still waiting for the frost to completely come out of the ground around the homes and for the basements to dry out.  The furnace is on, the sumps are pumping and we're looking forward to seeing the siding and drywall go up.  Home Hardware also put a gutter up on our new freezer roof.  Dylan is excited to BBQ next time it rains without serious drippage on his head!


Thanks again for your continued support.  We need it heading into summer more than ever.

Bob "Ranger" Kroeker
Executive Director

Friday, June 9, 2017

Getting Ready

In case you missed it, today is June 9th.  Already!!  Remember when you were a kid and time seemed to drag on forever.  I'm wishing time would slow down already!  It seems like just yesterday that our spring staff arrived and we are now over half way through our busy spring season.


In the midst of spring we are getting ready for summer camp.  Last weekend we were blessed by a group from SunWest who helped us with some summer preparations.  They built planters, cut grass, split wood and helped tidy our new staff homes.  Thanks very much for serving us SunWest!


We are still looking for volunteers to help us out this summer in the kitchen and at the barn.  Starting July 9th if you would consider helping us out that would be super appreciated.  Working in the kitchen will be one of two shifts, morning or afternoon.  Food prep, maybe even some food sampling will be the focus.  At the barn we're looking for people who can tell the front from back of a horse.  Being able to shovel poop and some riding experience would be an added bonus!

In an effort to have a more kid friendly barn this summer we had a bit of a horse exchange for some calmer horses.  Let me introduce you to our new friends at the barn from left to right.  Lenny, Duck, Skip, Garfield and Diamond. 



Our Father/Son retreat starts tonight.  101 fathers and sons are joining us for the weekend.  We're excited about hearing from God through our chapels and spending time together as men.  We're also excited for what is new this year, a kit car race, and Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer!  We're looking forward to a great weekend together and as always there are rumours of cinnamon buns, fancy ice cream and bacon mushroom burgers!


Helmut and Rolf are busy strapping the trusses over the new freezer.  We may even see tin going on today!  This roof will allow us to keep our freezer protected as well as allowing us to BBQ in all kinds of Alberta weather!

We've had three of our four pancake breakfasts (actually the one in Edmonton was a lunch!)  to help raise money for campership aid.  Our fourth one will be in Calgary at Highland MB Church on June 17 from 8 am to 10 am.  So far we have raised $10,780 - thank you very much.  With increased camp numbers this summer comes an increased need for campership aid.  If you live in Calgary and like pancakes, we'll see you on the 17th.

Reaching Higher continues to move forward.  We have raised through cash and pledges $732,000!  Behind the scenes we are getting very close to printing our case for support and this Saturday we will be filming the next video for Reaching Higher.  We're still waiting for the ground to dry out at the new homes, Kevin and Kurt were going to continue backfilling today...but it rained again last night!

Thanks again for your continued support.

Bob "Ranger" Kroeker
Executive Director