The exciting news this week is that we have once again registered two simultaneous camps. We currently have Streams of Faith I and Rockin on the River in full swing. The amazing thing is that with both groups eating meals together, we are almost at capacity in Woelke Lodge. At meal time we are serving over 80 plates! The good news is that this means we had a great camper registration for this second week of camp.

The days continue to be exceedingly hot. Yesterday it hit 100 degrees again! The weather is taking a toll on our a/c units. This morning we lost the a/c in our staff cabin but fortunately this week we only have one person in there and she can move to a different staff cabin until it is repaired.

I just received a call from our UCC Volunteer from India who was about to board an Air France flight to the US. I will be picking her up in San Antonio tomorrow evening and her arrival will bring our SALT (Summer Adult Leadership Team) up to 7 people. That is great news since we have been short handed.

Finally, I want to close this entry with some additional great news. Last week we had two twin boys who attended our Eco Camp. When they got home, they were so excited and had such a great time that the mother called us today to sign them up for another week of camp. Those are the stories we love to hear!

See you soon at the Falls.

Charles

Rev. Charles L Stark
Director of Outdoor Ministry

Our 50th Anniversary Year of Outdoor Ministry is really exciting. This first week we are experiencing what it is like to host two camps at once and it is exciting. Yesterday, the Eco Camp had a grand trip to the Natural Bridge Caverns. You can check out the web site for some photos.

This afternoon, Robert (our Maintenance Director) and I erected a special Tent of Hope which is part of a program to raise awareness of the needs in Darfur. This tent was purchased by some members of Faith UCC in New Braunfels where it was first on display. The program works by having folks paint messages of hope on the tent. The tent will be at Slumber Falls Camp through the Anniversary weekend of Aug 15-17. In the fall, the tent will join tents from all over the country in a mass demonstration on the mall in Washington D.C.  The tent is located near our Horseshoe Pits where it is visible from Vesper Point. The tent is a vivid reminder of the need for peace and hope in this war torn area of Africa. If you have a chance to visit the camp this summer when you are dropping off or picking up campers, come make your mark for peace.

Both of our camps this week are gone to Landa Park to swim in the spring fed pool. With the temperatures running in the high 90s, (even hitting 100 on one day so far), the cool waters will be a refreshing break.

Keep checking the web site for photos as the weeks of camp progress. We should also have some video up pretty soon from this first week of camp.

Stay tuned for more from this 50th Anniversary Year at the Falls

Charles

Rev. Charles L Stark
Director of Outdoor Ministry

Well we have kicked into high gear here at Slumber Falls Camp. Yesterday we registered campers for two simultaneous camps. Roaring Rapids and Eco Camp are off to a great start. The campers are having a blast and the SALT staff are doing an awesome job of keeping everything on track. We have SALT workers both directing and counseling Eco Camp and we have three SALT workers staffing Roaring Rapids.

Today we saw a couple of snakes. Fortunately, they were both harmless snakes but they did provide some excitement for the camp. We had a golf cart break down as well as the a/c on one of our cabins. Again, we were fortunate that the a/c problem did not affect a cabin with campers.

It has been a long day for everyone. As I look at the clock, it is 12:18am and we are already into day two. Gee, time does fly by at camp!

Stay tuned for more updates from camp during this 50th Anniversary year!

Charles

Rev. Charles Stark
Director of Outdoor Ministry

Well it is hard to believe but this weekend marks the official kickoff weekend of the summer along the Guadalupe River. The new bridge over the river at Gruene opened Friday morning just in time for all the traffic. The New Braunfels paper reported the "the new bridge, built by Austin Road and Bridge at a cost of about $2.3 million, has two 12-foot lanes and a five-foot sidewalk on both sides to provide a safer way for tourists to cross while carrying inner tubes, according to officials. The structure is several feet taller so tubers can pass more easily under the bridge."

All of the outfitters are ready for the onslaught of tourists. It is estimated that the campers along River Road this weekend will number into the tens of thousands! This weekend is one of the big three for the summer along with the 4th of July and Labor Day weekends. The cars, trucks and RVs are bumper to bumper along the road by the camp.

I usually take a trip down River Road on Saturday evening just to be amazed once again how many people can fit into such limited camp sites. The reality is that folks are almost sharing tent stakes. It is a sight to behold!

Fortunately, here at the camp life is little slower. We have a family reunion here this weekend and only one facility being used. Next weekend will be a different story as we have all three facilities booked.

Next week, our SALT (Summer Adult Leadership Team) workers will be arriving and we begin orientation on Thursday May 29.

Stay tuned for more posts as things swing into gear here at summer camp!

Charles

As I have always said, "Every day is a new day at Slumber Falls Camp!" Last evening we had an event which is a first for me. We experienced what the news is calling "mud showers." Basically, we had some rain last night and I didn't think too much of it. This morning, I noticed that the pool had changed colors. When Terri, my Administrative Assistant, came into work she asked me if I had heard about the "mud showers." The news reported that due to dirt rising into the atmosphere from Mexico, we got that dirt mixed with our rain. The result is that everything at camp is covered in a light film of dirt. At first you don't notice it but when you look close, everything is covered.

Here is what a San Antonio television station posted on their web site about the event. 

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Mexican Dirt Causes Muddy Rain In South Texas

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The result is that we are having to vacuum the pool today which of course was not a planned event on the maintenance schedule. All of our cars are covered in this dirt and of course most everything at camp is dirty as well.

Life is full of surprises!!!

Charles

Rev. Charles Stark
Director of Outdoor Ministry

Wow, what a fantastic weekend. We had 43 workers who turned out over the weekend and tackled over 20 projects.

We now have a beautiful newly remodeled  Kum Bah Yah Camp store with lots of new merchandise. Our Well House has been remodeled with a new door and opening to allow removal and installation of water pressure tanks. We worked hard at completing the Kelsey Fire Circle and cleared the hiking trail through Cactus Flats. We also installed 60 new signs on all of our facilities as well as added 9 posts with new directional signs to assist folks who come to the camp for the first time. We hauled off a lot of scrap metal items and we picked up a great piano here in New Braunfels which was donated recently and moved it to Kelsey Lodge. We worked on the pool to clean the tiles and painted the ladders, lifeguard stand, the benches and the wooden cover over the old baby pool. We cut up a ton of fallen trees and limbs and hauled it to the wood pile behind Woelke Lodge. We also cleaned up and did some repairs to the area by the river gate. We had a number of folks cleaning out flower beds and raking leaves.

I could go on and on but the bottom line is that it was a fantastic weekend of work and fellowship. Check out our web site for photos of the weekend. They should be posted sometime this week.

Thanks so much to everyone who came and helped out. We couldn't have done it without you!

Charles

No I am not talking about a big party. This morning as I raced out to rent an electric jackhammer for some work on a project here at the camp, I was met by 3 wild turkeys at the front gate. They just stopped and stared at me like I was being a real pain for making them move out of the driveway.

It is times like these when I am reminded that we share this planet with a whole host of God's creatures. We typically see a whole flock of wild turkeys each fall numbering 30+. They are a sight to behold. When they are scared, they all take flight and the sound is deafening. It sounds like a giant helicopter with all the wings flapping.

This camp is indeed an amazing place.

Charles

Work Camp is just a week away! This free event for volunteers is a great weekend to get away from the home base and come make a difference at the camp.

We only have a little over 20 folks registered. We need more volunteers for all the projects we have.

Please sign up on our web site today.

Charles

Friends,

While this Slumber Falls Camp blog is only a couple of months old, I have decided to take it in a new direction. As we enter this year of 2008 and the celebration of our 50th Anniversary of Outdoor Ministry, I have decided to use this blog to share an inside look at Slumber Falls Camp.

As Director of Outdoor Ministry, I have lived here on this holy ground for over 10 years. In that time, I have witnessed so many incredible sites and shared a vast array of experiences with a wide variety of people. Unfortunately, not many people get to share in this ministry except for those times when they are here on retreat or participating in one of our programs.

When I was called to Slumber Falls Camp in the spring of 1997, my good friend the Rev. Glen Schoeneberg urged me to keep a diary of the experiences. It was a great suggestion, but one that I didn't think I had time for. Well, friends the time has finally arrived.

My goal is to use this blog on a regular basis to give folks a glimpse into life at Slumber Falls Camp. It will be a journey for me and for the readers. I hope you will join me as we enter into the day to day life of a camp.

Charles

Slumber Falls Camp now has summer camp registration now online! You can now register and pay online using a credit card using our secure server and PayPal as our secure credit card processor.

The deadline for Earlybird Registration (discounted fees) is April 15.

We have a number of new camp offerings so check them out now.

Don't be the last to register. Do it today!