Testimonies

Testimonies, Tips and Tidbits Administrative Challenges Camp Raining

by Robin Ulbredtch
06/12/17
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Camp “Raining”

In northern Idaho, the June weather can vary from hot and sunny to rainy, windy and cold. Within brief moments of time, the weather can change from one extreme to the other. You can see bright sunshine quickly fade away as dark black thunder clouds roll in. The sun rays disappear behind the clouds, and rain, hail, sleet or sometimes even snowflakes fall from the sky. During this week, while I was serving as a counselor at Children’s Camp, the weather became a big challenge for almost everyone involved. It was overcast, rainy and cold nearly the whole week, and the camp leader had not prepared for bad weather.

Our camp was located near a river, and in north Idaho, the water is usually extremely cold. Rarely does the weather or the water warm up enough for swimming until the mid July or early August. Yet our camp leader planned for the children to spend most of their afternoons swimming, and did not have a backup plan.

Because of the cold, rainy weather, the children could not go swimming. Consequently, the leader and counselors scrambled through the camp cabins, trying to find some indoor activities to occupy the campers during the afternoons. The owners of the campground opened a multipurpose building and loaned the children some rubber balls. Unfortunately, there were not enough to go around.

When packing for camp, I generally try to bring some craft projects for the campers in my cabin to do. This year, I brought some sun-catchers for the girls to paint. This activity kept the girls in my cabin busy for a couple of hours but there was not enough craft supplies for campers from other cabins. But even with the multipurpose room, balls, and craft supplies that were available, many of the counselors and children were extremely bored with “Camp Raining.”

This experience at Camp Raining taught me some valuable lessons. First, in north Idaho, you should never depend on the spring weather to be nice so your children can play or swim outside. If it works out well, praise the Lord! However, you should always have a backup plan. Also, it would be helpful to have the parents of the campers make sure they include several sets of warm clothing. Finally, it might be helpful to pack some extra craft supplies and projects in case it ends up raining.