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CAMP JOY
...was awesome.
I would like to warn you before you read this that I actually use this blog as
a personal journal and at times I write stuff in it just for my benefit.
However, these are usually very lengthy journals and may be boring for other
people to read. So, read this at your own risk of boredom.
Sunday:
I got up and went to Emory United Methodist
Church which is where everyone met to
go to Camp Joy. We stayed for half of the service
and then the Pastor recognized us, we all stood up introduced ourselves and
said how many years we have going. I don’t remember everybody’s years but I’ll
at least put their age:
Veterans:
Mr. Bob: Mid 50s?
Mr. Jack: Early 50s? (acts 12)
Mrs. Jan: Late 30s?
Zach: 22 (11 yrs)
Emily: 19 (8 yrs) (Mr. Bob’s daughter)
Amy: 19 (Mrs. Jan’s daughter)
Caroline: 17?
Alex: 16 (3yrs) (Mrs. Jan’s son)
Me: 15 (1 yr)
Kelsey: 15 (1 yr)
Rookies:
Mr. Sonny: Mid 50s? (Mr. Bob’s brother)
Amanda: 16 (Alex’s girlfriend)
Fortney: 15 (my friend/ex I invited)
Matt: 14
Zach2: 14
And we went on our way. I basically listened to my mp3 player and slept the
whole way there. After about two and a half hours of driving we finally got
there. All we really did the first night was eat dinner and have vespers
service. During vespers all the churches stood up and introduced themselves. I
think there were about 8 churches there. After that we all just screwed around
and did nothing.
Monday:
Woke up and went to the pavilion and had pancakes. After breakfast my church
made our daily stop at Sheetz and went to take our first look at our job sites.
We had 1 big job 4 small jobs and we split up into 3 groups, giving two of the
groups to small jobs and the 3rd group the big job. To save myself from
confusion I named the groups.
Gold Team:
Mr. Bob
Mr. Sonny
Emily
Me
Fortney
Our job consisted of re-tarring a tin roof, putting up lattice around a porch
to keep animals out, and re-painting the porch.
Silver Team:
Mrs. Jan
Zach
Caroline
Alex
Amanda
Job 1: Redoing the skirting on a trailer and painting it.
Job 2: Re-caulking outside parts of a house, putting down new linoleum in the
kitchen
Bronze Team:
Mr. Jack
Amy
Kelsey
Matt
Zach2
Job 1: Re-tarring a roof and some painting I think
Job 2: I forget
Once we got our site we pretty much started right away. In the first day we
were able to get part of the roof finished and we got up supports for the
lattice.
After we were done working we went back to camp and got ready for dinner. Every
night we eat dinner at a different one of the local churches in the area. Dinner
that night was soft-shell tacos and they were very good. After dinner we went
back to camp and organized a game of “Winkems” with some of the other churches.
I don’t really feel like trying to explain how to play on here but let’s just
leave it at this; Winkems is a very rough and brutal game, but it still kicks
ass. It’s also just a great way to get everyone to know each other. This is
when I first started getting familiar with the kids from St. Matthews UMC.
Tuesday:
On our second day of work we got up about half of the lattice and got about
half done tarring the roof.
Dinner that night was spaghetti I think. After eating we went back to camp and
tried to get another game of Winkems going but we couldn’t get enough people to
play. Instead, some of us just sat around and talked. This was when I really
started to get to know the St. Matthews kids.
Wednesday:
On our third day of work we finished the roof and the lattice and started
getting the old paint off of the porch. We got about a 3rd of the porch done
but then the power washer ran out of gas so we started painting the parts that
were ok without being power washed.
We get off work early every year on Wednesday to go to ‘Great Cacapon’ West Virginia State Park. They have a small lake there
and the whole camp goes swimming. We had lots of fun that day. But sadly Emily
and Zach had to leave. Emily left because she takes summer classes at Bucknell University in PA and she had finals on
Friday so she had to get back for that. I think Zach left because he had to
work. When it was time for dinner we walked over to the picnic area for dinner.
One of the churches was kind enough to come out to the park and cook for us.
They made a whole bunch of stuff including Sloppy Joes, hot dogs, delicious
baked beans, and some fresh fruit. My church was taking awhile to get ready and
I was really hungry so I walked over on my own. Since no one from my church was
over there yet I decided to sit with the St. Matthews kids. I made lots of new
friends, Priscilla, Jen, Gracie, Kristen, Emma, Erin, Brian, Evan, Rodrique,
and Julius just to name a few. Julius wasn’t actually from St. Matthews but he
was still cool too. Once my church finally showed up I went over to sit with
them. I saw a new ’05 Mustang over in the parking lot and I was like, “Oh, I
would look so hot in that”, then I looked at everyone sitting at the table and
said, “Oh come on, even you guys would look hot in that thing.” They told me to
go away after that so I went back over to sit with the St. Matthews kids. I
ended up sitting with them at vespers as well and afterwards Priscilla and Jen
invited me down to their campfire that night.
After we left the park my church went to DQ for some ice cream. I got a
chocolate malt milk shake it was quite good. I had to go to the bathroom and
while I was in there someone stole my camera and took like seven pictures which
I have no clue what they are of. Everyone finished eating and then we took some
pictures in the parking lot and went back to camp. I headed on down to the
lower section of camp to find the St Matthews site. I hung out with Gracie,
Erin, and Emma for a while because I couldn’t find Priscilla and Jen. After
about half an hour they finally showed up and I talked with them for a bit.
Then Evan and Rodrique came down the hill from the upper area saying that they
were going to play Winkems again and that they needed more people to play. I
decided to play and we were able to convince Gracie, Emma, and Kristen to
come up as well. I tried to get Priscilla and Jen to play but they said they
didn’t want to. Priscilla said she might come up to play later but if she
didn’t she would at least just come up to say good night, which I thought was
cool. It was a pretty good game but it wasn’t as good as Monday night because
Emily wasn’t there and she always makes it more fun.
Thursday:
On our fourth day of work we finished getting the old paint off of the porch
and started putting on the new paint. I had fun because I got to use the power
washer that day. Plus, in that heat, it felt good to have water spraying all
around me.
Dinner that night was home-made fried chicken and mac-n-cheese. That was damn
good fried chicken and mac-n-cheese. That had to be the best fried chicken I
have ever had. We also got our Camp Joy
shirts at dinner that night too. St. Matthews ended up coming in for dinner at
the same time as us that night so once I was done eating I went outside to hang
out with them. I remembered that Priscilla had said she was going to come up
and say good night and that she didn’t. She said she came up and someone told
her I was asleep. She said she was sorry and gave me a hug. Then she asked
someone to take a picture of us together and I gave them my camera as well. We
stood around and talked for awhile but their leader came over and said that
they had to go. Priscilla said she’d see me back at camp, gave me another hug
and left with her church.
Once everyone from my church was done eating, we went back to camp for vespers.
After vespers I headed down to the St. Matthews camp again. Jen and Priscilla
were standing around trying to convince Brian to build them a fire. They
finally talked him into it and Jen sat and talked to Brian while he was
building it. Priscilla and I sat alone on one of the benches just talking. We
talked and talked until it got dark. We did a little more but that’s none of
your business. I had to go because curfew was coming soon and she gave me one
of her bracelets, which I’m actually wearing right now.
Friday:
On our fifth day of work we got the porch completely finished and we went over
to one of the other jobs and just helped them do touch-ups on their job.
On Friday night we always go out to a restaurant for dinner. My church decided
to go to the buffet restaurant in Great
Cacapon State
Park. It was pretty good, but honestly, I think
the food at all the churches was better. After dinner we went bowling. Oakland United Methodist
Church also decided to go
bowling and while we were there, we talked with some of them.
One of the guys from Oakland
was like “Hey you’re Eric right?”
I said, “Yeah, how’d you know?”
He said, “Dude, everyone at the lower site saw you and Priscilla sitting on the
other side of the fire last night. Nice goin’ by the way, but I mean, come on,
Priscilla?”
I said, “What’s wrong with Priscilla? She’s an awesome chick and she’s gorgeous
too.”
He said, “Don’t worry, I’m just kidding.”
I said, “You better be. She really is a great person.”
Bowling ended up being pretty fun. We played two games and pretty much everyone
sucked, except Matt because he plays in a junior league. I think I ended up
coming in 8th place out of 10 people. They also had a juke box there and it was
filled with country, which was pretty good because my church is full of hicks.
Once we were done we went back to camp and once again I went down to hang out
with the St. Matthews kids. We all just sat around talking in the lower
pavilion for a really long time since there was no curfew Friday night. I sat
there with holding Priscilla because she kept dosing off on my shoulder but it
was ok. Around a quarter after twelve people started going to bed and Priscilla
and I went off and found a hiding place so people wouldn’t be watching us
again. Around one, someone almost found us so we bid each other adieu I went back
to my site. I went over to my tent to get my sweatshirt and Amanda and Alex
were sitting there and asked me if I was hanging out with Priscilla again.
I said, “Yeah.”
Alex jokingly asked, “Did you keep your shirt on?”
I said, “Mine” and walked off to where everyone else was sitting.
About 10 minutes later they came running over and said “We just got that you
little pimp. Tell us what happened.”
I said, “No, it’s none of your business.”
They kept bugging me and I just left it at “She’s a good kisser.”
I don’t really like showing off for that kind of stuff and I’m not really sure
why I’m putting it in this journal. I guess just because it’s a fond memory to
me.
Saturday:
On Saturday morning we had closing vespers and communion. After service we took
some more pictures of the whole group. I got screen names from some people and
I got people to sign my Camp
Joy shirt. It was sad to
see everyone go. I miss all the new friends I made, especially Priscilla. I’ll
just have to wait till next year to see them again. |
