Day #4 – Tulsa Summer Camp Director’s Journal – Hope Chitwood

We are gearing up for Christian Summer Camp near Tulsa! This is going to be a great summer! Yesterday Ron and I met with Joe and Angie (JA Mathis Company) to go over details for CHAMP Camp 2012. We met at McAlister’s – let me tell you, they serve some REALLY good food! Then we talked about the camp schedule, the camp food, the high school retreat for the older campers, and several other things. CHAMP Camp is a summer camp put on by Saint Francis Health Systems and hosted at Shepherd’s Fold Ranch for kids who have heart conditions. This camp allows them to have a great time and lots of fun with other kids. They get to trade stories and show off their scars. I actually grew up coming to Champ Camp. I loved everything about it—the horses, the food, the swimming, and the games! My absolute most favorite part of camp was the counselors. They inspired me to be on staff. They loved me just for being me.  I can’t think of anything better than coming to camp every summer.

Today I had lunch with Cody Chaney, Christina Ortega and Ron Griffin. I love it when we get to hang out! After lunch, my friend Johna went to the lake with me. I showed her where the kids who come to camp this summer will be rappelling off the bluff. Skiatook Lake is beautiful! The sun is out and the wind is blowing – the weather ROCKS! We didn’t see any boats though. Maybe it is because most people are in school or at work at noon on a Tuesday.

Tomorrow I’ll be going to a food show in Tulsa with one of our food vendors, US Foods. I’m really excited to see (and taste) new foods that we might have at camp this summer! I get to wear my new SFR shirt to the camp food show. The shirt is REALLY cool! It’s teal, with bright orange embroidery on it. Cane T-Shirt Company in Broken Arrow did the embroidery work for us. They also printed our fall retreat and spring retreat t-shirts. The Spring Retreat shirts are AWESOME! They are green with blue and yellow writing. If you sign up for the retreat by April 10, you get a FREE shirt! If you sign up after that, the shirts will be on sale for $10 each.

WE HAVE NEW PHONES IN OUR CAMP OFFICE!! They are SO COOL! The phones light up when you talk on them. If you call and leave a voicemail on my line, it says, “I’m practicing at the camp fire for the s’more making contest so leave a message and I’ll call you back when I get the chocolate and marshmallows off of my fingers”. I had a lot of fun thinking that up.

We’ve got several new churches coming to Shepherd’s Fold this summer! If you know anyone who would like to come to camp, be sure to send them our brochure!                 Blessings, Hope

By rongriffin