Anyone who has ever worked at Camp knows that “volunteering” is part of the job description. Working at Camp is not just a job. It is a lifestyle. It is part of us. It is a calling. That’s why I am never surprised when people volunteer to show up when I ask for help. The majority of our staff members are considered seasonal. That means that they work during our Summer Camp season in the summer. Outside of the summer, most of them are students. Luckily for me, Summer Camp alone does not satisfy their appetite for Camp. They want to be here. They want to see their Camp friends. They want to stay connected.
We’ve been trying to get Camp ready for Open House season with the first one coming up next Sunday, March 18. We scheduled a couple of days for the year-round staff to rake leaves and clean up. The first day, we had rain so we focused on cleaning up the Matolly Dining Hall. The next scheduled day was too windy to rake leaves, so we found ourselves falling behind. I put out a last minute call to the Ocky staff for volunteers to come out to Ocky on this past Saturday to rake a mountain of leaves. I figured it would take about 5-6 guys to get the job done. Being so last minute, only 2 could show up. I was not optimistic about getting done. We needed to rake Cherokee, Seneca, and Algonquin Villages.
Mike Brown and Kris Parker showed up at 10am to get to work. I had told them we would be done by 4pm (when I thought there would be 5-6 of us). Leaves can be very deceiving. It doesn’t look too bad until you get them piled up. Mike and Kris were like plow horses. They figured out their system of raking piles and then how to quickly tarp them up and load them onto the back of the truck so I could go dump them. We finished Cherokee and most of Seneca by lunch time. They were thrilled to find out that Chef Jason made chicken fingers specially just for us! After lunch, they banged out Seneca and began to tackle Algonquin. Apparently, this is where all of the falling leaves congregate during the winter! There were lots of leaves! I figured we would just get done as much as we could. At 4pm, there was still a lot to do. Mike and Kris said they wanted to keep going. I was thankful! We finally finished up around 5:30pm. We moved about 12-15 truckloads. The villages looked great and I took them with me on the last dumping run to see the pile of leaves they had moved. It was a mountain! They both looked very satisfied with their accomplishment. They agreed that this had been the high point of both of their weeks! I had to do a double-take. “The high point of your week?!!” Then it really hit me what Camp means to these guys. It is their second home. They care about Camp and feel responsible for its success. They’re here to give back.
So today, I would like to give a shout out. Not just to Mike and Kris, but to the thousands of staff members/volunteers that have given Camp their all over the last 107 years. It has taken the love, sweat, and tears of all of you to make this Camp what it is. Thank you.
Brent Birchler
Boys Camp Director