SAVING CAMPER RYAN
My wife Julie and I just got back from camp. We were program directors for a 3 day
"First Timers Camp" which consists of 1st-3rd graders. The point of the camp is
to provide a pleasurable first time experience for kids so they will come back to
camp over and over. Julie and I have been program directors for Woodland Christian Camp together
and separately for many years, ranging from elementary to high school ages. I can
never come back from camp without a sleeping bag full of stories.
First of all, being a movie buff I have noticed that the cabin full of kids I have,
no matter what age, are always a mirror image of the typical military grunts you
will find in any war picture. Like "Saving Private Ryan" or "Full Metal Jacket" or
"Stripes" for that matter. There is always the loose cannon that is about to snap at any moment.
Then, there's the guy with the nickname like Snake or Killer. And of course there
is always the guy that all the others make fun of, that has the deep-south accent.
There's also always the guy who lives for when he can finally get home, pulling out
a tattered picture of his mom, or dog or something to otherwise live for.
The kid stories from camp are always the best too. My favorite from years ago is one
where this little boy got stung by a bee and we have him in the nurses station being
attended to. The nurse pulls out "Adolf's Meat Tenderizer" to put on his sting. The
kid then ask's "how does it work," to which the nurse gives this long discourse on how
the meat tenderizer powder has a chemical in it that draws away the pain or the sting
from the bee. After some profound silence the boy finally says, "I meant, how does
it work on meat."
The best, true incident this time around at camp was when a camper came up to me and
told me that a friend had thrown up during lunch. As I looked around for some minion
to send in to do the dirty work, the concerned camper continued. He proceeded to
tell us that he friend had a loose tooth and it had come out during his.. uh.. regurgitation,
so they were all looking for the lost tooth. Gross but true.
Our daughter Olivia, who is almost 4 gave us a lot of fun by visiting camp too. She
made all the announcements with me and she stayed one night in the boy's cabin to
get a first-hand feel for sleeping in a hot, hard bunk. She took particular pride
in repeating every instruction I made to Snake and the gang. After lights out and I gave the
guys instructions that I didn't want to hear another "peep," they, of course, continued
moving, whispering etc.. Olivia quickly and quietly instructed me that the boys were "peeping." She then proceeded to tell me that when she got to come by herself to
camp, she wanted to "stay in the bunk with the little kid Nicholas."
Despite my coronary, the heat and the thunderstorms that wiped out two swimming sessions
and one canoeing session, we had a great camp and typically most of the teaching
was coming out of the mouths of babes.
Billy Murphy -- 8/2/99