WHAT REMAINS...

See this beautiful stone fireplace?

There is supposed to be a building around it.

Last winter we sadly watched the local news while listening to the story of how this building was burned to the ground. It was determined to be an act of arson. While I wish no SERIOUS harm to come to the arsonist, in the words of one of my college professors "may the fleas of a thousand camels infest his armpits..."

Is that bad of me?

Because, this building was the mess hall for our church camp.

The camp ground is actually owned by another church and for years our church has rented it for two or three weeks in the summer so that kids like Kayla could grow up with the memories and tradition that adults like Paul have. See, Paul grew up going to this camp too.

Being the heathen child that I was, I never got to go to church camp.

But I sure heard a lot about it from Paul. Mainly, I heard about the church camp romances, but we won't get into that.

And now I get to watch my sweet daughter thoroughly enjoy this phase of her life.

Except she has to finish her church camp career without the original mess hall.

A lot goes on in the mess hall. Most importantly, that's where the kids get fed. And I've never heard a complaint about camp food. In fact our kids have always come home asking me to learn to cook pulled pork barbecue like the camp cooks, or try to find the sausage that the camp cooks serve.

Camp food, camp food, camp food.

The mess hall is where the kids work on their crafts. Or at least the younger kids. I don't know if high schoolers do crafts. Probably not. It's also where the kids hang out when the weather turns stormy.

It's where we parents would deposit our children at the beginning of the camp session, write our check and turn in the kids' medication to the camp nurse. It's where we negotiate with our kids on how much money they need for the canteen.

Because, really, how many Mountain Dews does a child need in six days? How many Skittles is too many?

It's where mail is distributed. And if you get three or more letters in a day you have to sing for your mail.

Whatever you do, DON'T write to me! Was always the instruction we received from our kids.


Thankfully, the campground has a Retreat Center that they have opened for our use. It has a kitchen facility and a big room in which to hold services and the talent show. Actually, the retreat center is probably nicer than the mess hall. It's definitely nicer than the pavilion where most of the activities had been held - the pavilion that has now been torn down because it's been decided that it will be replaced with a large multi-purpose building that will hold the new mess hall and other rooms for the campers' activities.


But I am sad. I am sad that somebody decided it was okay to enter a clearly marked church property and set fire to one of its buildings. I am sad that somebody decided it was okay to not only destroy this property but also to take away a place that is full of memories and tradition - a place that has spanned generations in the impact it will have on young lives.

In the grand scheme of things, losing the mess hall is really no big deal, I guess. Thankfully, nobody was injured. The kids will still obviously have a great time, though I'm sure they've needed to retrain their feet on which path to take when the meal time bell rings. Memories will still be made. New traditions will be born.

Memories and traditions. As long as these are present, I guess we can do without a building.