It Happened Again!

Well it happened again.  One of our student guests came with his band camp in March of this year, had a great experience with our staff, and went home very excited about Camp Evergreen.  His parents caught his excitement and registered their family for Family Camp - only to find out that Family Camp is full.  (Remember our first Family Camp filled in less than an hour after registration opened!)  This family is now 7th on the waiting list and hopefully there is enough movement on the list that we can get them in.

This challenge is not new to us.  We are entering our very busy spring season next week.  From Tuesday until the end of June (actually till the end of October) we will have a guest group on site every day.  Many of our student guests will have the same great experience this young man had.  They will bond with our staff, (we have a great staff!) and will go home excited about Evergreen.  However, when they try to register for summer camp it will be full.  As of writing this blog we are 132 campers ahead of last year at this time.  16 of our camps are full.  We have made some adjustments to ages and camps in an effort to squeeze a few more campers in this summer.  And yet, we have been turning children away as early as January.

Between now and the end of June we will see approximately 1,500 guests, the majority of which are camper age.  We will be turning campers away for the next two months.

That is why we are Reaching Higher.  The board has recently talked about increasing our ministry capacity by 50% in 5 years.  That is an aggressive goal.  But the reason is as simple as it is clear - we want to see more children have a life changing experience here at Evergreen.  Pray for us as we work hard to accomplish that goal.

With all our guests and campers we are still looking for a few more spring staff and summer volunteers.  The spring staff positions are paid positions and you can contact Lane for more information.  staff@camp-evergreen.com

In summer we're looking for adult volunteers to spend a week in the (fun) kitchen.  And if you're 16 years or older and love working with children, we need you to volunteer for a week or six!  Again, please contact Lane for more information.

And what about that blog word of the week?  Some of you are thinking, "How is Ranger going to tie hatchet into Reaching Higher?"  Sometimes I wonder the same thing myself.  Well, this weekend is our Ladies Retreat.  There will be lots of ladies.  (read LOTS of ladies!)  The small lodge reno was finished just in time.  We have a coffee plan ready to kick in, (did you catch the pun?) and it looks like we will huck some boots again.

New for this year...well you will just have to wait to find out about the hatchet.  But I can say with great confidence, there is a hatchet somewhere in Ladies Retreat 2018!

Thanks for your continued support.

Bob "Ranger" Kroeker
Executive Director

A Little Of This...

-35 is what I woke up to this morning.  Minus Thirty Five!!!  And then it got colder!  -37!  It seems that winter is trying hard to hang on here at Camp Evergreen and so far it's doing a great job.  We experienced the same snow storm yesterday as most of you did which created perfect snow shoeing and snow shoveling conditions!  In spite of the cold and in spite of the snow, our guest group arrived on site this morning which is a great segway into sharing our need for a new lodge.

You may have heard of the phrase - there is no such thing as bad weather - only bad clothing.  While that may be true we are finding more and more of our guest groups have temperature guidelines from their school districts or head offices.  We're pretty happy working in -20.  (Well, pretty happy is a little subjective and it's safe to say we're usually not ecstatic!)  But once it gets colder than -20 things stop working.  Gators, quads, our hands, even Scamp.

Today is a great example of why we are reaching higher with our new lodge  As we continue to push into the colder months we need the flexibility to keep on programing when it's -37 outside.  More meeting space today would have allowed us the opportunity to be more creative with this school.  An Adventure Centre today would have allowed us to climb inside and to have archery indoors.  Believe me it's much easier climbing inside than outside with 36.3 layers of clothes on!

If you're wondering what it would feel like to serve a school when it's -37, bundle up, stop by Courtney's office for a Hand Warmer, and join us as we do our best to give this school a great experience.  We're hoping some of the students come back as campers!

Speaking of campers - as of the writing of this blog we are 161 campers ahead of last year at this time with a total of 732 campers registered.  11 camps are full.  Remember last year our family camps filled up quickly.  29 minutes is all it took for our first family camp to fill this year.  That's got to be a record.

What's currently happening at camp these days?  A little of this and a little of that.  We re-painted and touched up the Creative Arts Building.  We're in the process of hanging curtains in there so when we use it as a band clinician room the trombones won't bounce off the walls quite as much.  The Mini Lodge's main room got a fresh coat of paint.  Rolf is working on the new beverage bar counters when he's not plowing, plowing or plowing.  Max and Dylan are working on garage shelves for the new homes.  There is no shortage of things to do.

With weather like this - I can hardly wait for summer!

Thanks for your continued support.

Bob "Ranger" Kroeker
Executive Director

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.

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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

Dylan Peters!

One of the reasons for Reaching Higher is Dylan Peters.  Dylan shared with our seniors last Friday (read last weeks blog) and I was once again encouraged how Camp Evergreen has impacted individuals.  You've heard us talk a lot about numbers lately.  How our Guest Group Ministry and Summer Camp Ministry numbers are up - in fact we now have 1,012 campers registered for this summer!  You've heard us talk about how we do such a good job year round that guests are sending their children to summer camp.  That happened again last weekend.  But through all these numbers, through all the good challenges we have with space, individual lives are being transformed by the power of Jesus.  Dylan is one of those lives.  Listen to what he shared last week.

"When I was nine, my parents brought me to my first ever summer camp.  I was so excited that I forgot my sleeping bag and had to use the old blanket we kept in the van, but it did not dampen my week.  I had the time of my life!  Archery, climbing wall and candle making were just some of the things that filled my heart with joy.  On Roughin' It (Teepee Camp) we filled every available pot with small amphibians.  Our team name was "The Understatements" and our cheer was "We're OK".  And I learned about and experienced the life changing love of Jesus Christ.

I started working at camp in the summer of 2010 when I was 17 and the love I already had for camp grew.  I felt so blessed by the opportunity to come alongside campers and walk with them through an exploration of faith, to lead worship, and see the Holy Spirit stir change in their lives.  I now knew what I wanted to do with my summers!

I came back the next summer and stayed for fall where my love for camp continued to grow.  It was cool to experience another side of camp - our Guest Group Ministry.  Even though we don't have chapels its amazing how many different ways we can share the Good News of Jesus Christ.  I was at camp for the next three summers, this past summer as one of our Pit Crew Directors.  It was the most amazing summer of my life!

Currently I'm the assistant food services manager working under Ken Underwood.  Not bad for a wrench turner eh?  In the kitchen I've seen so much growth in my life as Ken challenges me to be a better person and to really have a servant heart!"

Dylan will continue to experience growth this summer as he takes on another new role as one of our Intern Directors.  Our unique style of ministry allows us to mentor young people.  It allows us to train leaders which ultimately allows us to see kids come to know Jesus.  As we continue to reach higher, we will see more lives transformed by the power of Jesus!

Thanks for your continued support.

Bob "Ranger" Kroeker
Executive Director