Ohio, here I come

Starting out up North

I went to Cedar Hills Camp and Conference Center in Painesville, Ohio.  The Diocese of Ohio purchased the property in 1960 and is a key part of the diocese.

The history of the 191 wooded acre property is that it was originally a recreational lodge for entertaining…

Lodge

and over the last 41 years, the Lodge was updated to retreat space and the campus was converted to retreat cabins, and eventually the summer camp operation was started in the mid 90’s.  The Central Campus (shown below on one of my favorite center maps, that is 3-D) is close together which is great for community aspect of summer camps and bigger retreats.

And here is a picture of me and Peter Nielsen by the camp bell, who along with bringing the center to where it is today, no small task and has been there since mid 90’s, is also a Deacon in the diocese.

Heading down South

My next stop was in the Procter Camp and Conference Center near London, Ohio south of Columbus.

They are located on 1300 acres, making them one of the largest Episcopa centers, and have the unique fact of having 1200 of those acres being leased as a working farm.  Also on their patch of land is a small forest, where they have overnight camps, and a 35-acre lake for boating.

Overnight Camp Area

I wanted to show you one more building, their chapel, built in the late 90’s along with their conference center…

Procter Center is a bigger center and has an adult-friendly conference center, along with a kid & family friendly cabin setup.  And the little know secret of beautiful sunsets.

Next center, back to Waycross Center in Indiana…

New Jersey…

In Northern New Jersey, there is a tucked away camp and retreat center, Cross Roads Outdoor Ministries.  It has the unique awesomeness (not a term I use lightly) of being a combined ministry of the Episcopal Church and the Lutheran Church (ELCA).

At the camp, I came across two of their buildings, one newer, and one older that I wanted to share on the blog.

The Lodge

The Lodge is a 44-bed retreat house, and the great aspect, as you may can see is its roof, one side is fully covered with solar panels, that provides 20,000 kilowatts every year, that powers most of their center.  Pretty sweet right!

Yurt

The center also has a Yurt, a tent structure that is used as a quiet meditative space during summer and during the year.

The Flora and Fauna

Resident Fauna

Also, thanks to an initiative by current directors, Andrew and Marie, they have been letting the natural flora grow back in areas, which has brought back the fauna, the Red Fox, which according to this New Jersey fish and wildlife link, may not be so native… (but still a great picture )

Well this wraps up my East Coast camps, and my next visits are to the Mid-West, Ohio and Indiana.

NY, CT, NJ…what do they have in common?

Besides all being part of the orignal thirteen colonies, and during that time all having Episcopal/Anglican signers of the Constitution, that is right, they all have Episcopal Camps and Confernece Centers

New York - Long Island

DeWolfe Center is a center located on Long Island, and on 20 acres with the Long Island Sound as there back yard.   They are a year round operation with Camp DeWolfe in the summer.

And are one of the centers that have international summer staff, reaching as far as Sierra Leone and the Republic of Georgia.  Here is a picture of Umaru, the year-round intern and I (some might remember him from the Annual Conference in 2006 in Florida)

Bill and Umaru

And last but not least, the center also has a part-time Naturalist on site who built a Wigwam replica, that the native islanders lived in, in the 1700’s.

Connecticut - West Cornwall

Trinity Conference Center is a ministry of Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City, even though it is in another state.  They are an adult facility, with the little known fact that they had a summer camp until 1994, when they decided to focus their mission on adults.

The major highlight I want to share about their many best practices is there “Eco Footprint Statement” and their “Project 120″ a specific program to get organic and local food within a 120 mile radius and a beautifal producing herb garden.

New Jersey - Port Murray

…coming up, Cross Roads Outdoor Ministries in New Jersey is the next center I visited and is a retreat center of the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ECLA) …

Before there was ECCC, Inc., there was ECCC…

My next visit was to Incarnation Center in Ivoryton, Connecticut.  Only a couple hours from Camp Washington, I like when the sites I visit are in the same state. 

…And for a while it went by Episcopal Camp and Conference Center, ECCC…

Bill with old sign

Incarnation Center is a 700 acre wooded property with a one mile long lake in middle of it

& they are one of the biggest volume of activites of the Episcopal Centers.

The Incarnation Center Breakdown

A 200 bed Conference Center, consisting of 6 lodging building; Bushy Hill, their year round outdoor education center, with a summer day camp componet; Nature’s Playground, a year round day care facility & after school program; and last but not least Incarnation Camp, with a day camp component, that originally started in 1886, making the oldest Episcopal Camping Program, and oldest, if not the oldest in the nation!

The Visit

In planning this trip, I should have planned more days at the bigger centers, and will have to go back to visit here, but I did get a great glimpse at all the programs going on.  And the activity areas, that included a small year round petting zoo.

—and a quick side note about my arrival, on this trip I am visiting 22 centers across the US, 21 of which I have not been to before, so 21 new first impressions.  When I got out of the car at Incarnation, I thought it was the 4th of July or the Revolutionary War or the movie “The Patriot”.  Staying at the Conference Center was a group of youth and adults that were part of a Fife and Drum camp, getting ready for a muster/parade later that week, great music—

The visit also included meeting the Board of Directors of Incarnation Center, which is a unique center, since it is not owned by a diocese , but by 17 parishes.

The Camp

Two quick pics about the camp:

Incarnation's Summer Staff

A Dodgeball Court!!!

Off to my next visit and state, Camp DeWolfe in Long Island, New York….

Hello Bigger Episcopal Audience

Hello, this is Bill Slocumb, staff member and traveler for Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers, Inc.

Bill Slocumb

Here is a picture of me at a covered bridge that leads to Trinity Conference Center an Episcopal center that is in Connecticut.

When choosing this picture, I had to think of what first impression to give to all the new viewers who might have connected here, through Episcopal Life Online.  I hope is it’s a good one to describe me.  I am 26 year-old, raised in Dallas, Texas and have worked for the church since 2003. (you can tell that from the picture, right?)

For my regular readers, first of all thank you for reading and second, http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_99331_ENG_HTM.htm is the article where the story is.

Right now I am at Cross Roads Outdoor Ministries in New Jersey but I head out tomorrow for Ohio.

Real quick recap, I am visiting 24 of the 85 centers across the U.S. just to see the facilities and meet the director(s), and take pictures. Below is a picture of where all the centers are. (The quality is not the best)

So far, I am more than half way done and have met great people as well as learning how our centers are struggling and their successes.

And if you are wondering how I am getting around… My car “Sunshine” parked on a ferry.  (read how it was named in earlier post)

Bill's Car "Sunshine"

My blog is on the casual side, but feel free to read and pass on to friends.

-Bill

ECC, historic and welcoming

Hey gang,

Welcoming Sign

I am visiting Episcopal Conference Center, an 186 acre tucked away property, which started in 1948.  It is a wooded area with a lake front. (which is still a new concept for me growing up at a camp with only a pool)

I came to camp during their first week of camp, also know as Music and Creative Arts camp, where there were subgroups of Art, Music Theater, Creative Writing, Rock Band, and Acapella.  Where I got to see another talent show, then Friday was the presentation of what the campers did all week.  Amazing is an understatement, especially of the photos, and the condensed version of Hairspray!

The best part of this visit was being there from Wednesday to Saturday, being part of a whole week.  The staff, visiting staff unique to their camp, and summer staff made me one of their own for the week.

History of Rhode Island

…but going back a step, a little history… “The official explanation by the State of Rhode Island is that Adriaen Block named the area “Roodt Eylandt” meaning “red island” in reference to the red clay that lined the shore, and that the name was later anglicized when the region came under British rule.”

Score one for the Episcopalians (Anglicans are the mother church where the Episcopal church came from)

History of the Facility

The oldest part of the farmhouse, the Catherine Butler Home, dates from 1724, and is still in use today.

Building from 1724

Here is a picture of me and Sue Hurn, the Director.

The next week, I am off to Episcopal Youth Event, the gathering of youth from all over the US, and the dioceses/parished in South America, Mirconesia and Europe..

Off to Massachusetts, Vermont

Hey Friends,

In order to catch up, I am going to include 2 centers in this blog writing.  (some may say this is not fair to the two, they should get their own entry, and I agree, but as Morpheus says in “Matrix” …”Time is always against us”., especially when doing a three month road trip :))

Western Mass - Bement Camp

Classic Episcopal Sign - Bement

Founded in 1948, this is 580 acre is a spread out facility a boys area, a girls area, and a area  where there is an opportunity for older youth to live in yurts at an adventure base program.  http://www.bementcenter.com/campschedule.cfm shows all the programs.

I arrived on Wednesday for my 5th staff training on the road trip, the campers are coming on Sunday.  The staff were very energetic and even got to go to a staff run/training Talent Show.  Great Acts!!

Combined Staff Training

Bement Camp and Camp Washington Staff

Then Camp Washington came for a day (Camp Washington is the Diocese of Connecticut camp, 2.5 hours south) of combined staff training for Safe Church.  And lunch there was a fun exchange of camp songs.

…And then I was off to Vermont, Bishop Booth, my most northern visit.

Deer, Moose and Bears Oh My…

Driving up though Vermont, I saw the most variety of crossing signs that you see on the highway.  I did not see any of the animals on the signs, maybe they were on there summer vacation

Rock Point Summer Camp swimming hole

Lake Champlain is the swimming area for the Rock Point camp which takes place at Bishop Booth Confrenece Center, in Burlinton, VT.  Bishop Booth is a smaller retreat center that can host up to 62 people.

Peace Pole

And for those who know Debi Paterson, the recent former director and Annual Conference attendee, I had the chance to have lunch with her, and the above Peace Pole was dedicated to her.

Next blog, I am off to Rhode Island, the Episcopal Conference Center…

Back on the Road to visits…Christ the King Center

Hey Everyone,

I am at EYE right now, which is the Episcopal Youth Event, where 900 youth and 300 adults from around the nation, and Province IX Caribean and Southe American countries.  Check out the article on Episcopal Life Online, http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_98736_ENG_HTM.htm

But back to the road trip journal….

So I had left New York City, where it was great to meet new people and hang out with friends in Brooklyn, on the road to Christ the King Center www.christ-the-king.org the Episcopal Center in the Diocese of Albany.

Christ the King Center

It is a beautiful site, set in the rolling hills/mountians of northern New York, about an hour north of Albany.  One of the larger centers with 612 acres of an old horse farm, where they converted  a lot of the barns and buildings already on site.

A view of their chapel and the scenic background

One main unique and great thing about Christ the King Center, is the variety of ministry and content that goes on there.  Beaver Cross, their diocesan summer camp; The Healing Ministry, with a center for counseling; and also on site is The Sisters of St. Mary, a order of nuns.

[fyi The Community of St. Mary, founded in 1865, is the oldest indigenous Religious Order in the Episcopal Church]

It was a restful visit after the big city and they were most hospitiable.

On to the next center, Bement Camp and Conference Center in Massachusetts…

New York City

Wednesday, June 18th, I make the big drive to New York from Ohio.  Pennsylvania, is no Texas but has a long stretch of highway, I-80, that reminded me of my home state.
... and I make to Brooklyn, late Wednesday Night, to have dinner with my friends and hosts for my time in New York.

There is a favorite quote of mine from a little movie calls Wayne's World

"A new feature on Wayne's World allows us to travel through time and space. It's called chromakey, and it's handy for going to...
New York.

- Hey, we're in New York!
- I got a gun. Let's hit Broadway.

Or maybe you prefer Hawaii..."

Well, I did not make it to a broadway show, but I did see Rachel Ray's Show



okay, I did not make it to the show, but I did make it to where they filmed it.  



The main reason for trip to New York was to visit staff at the Episcopal Church Center, "815" as some people call it since it is 815 Second Avenue.
And to talk about using Episcopal Centers for national meetings.  It was a busy Thursday and Friday with 9 official meetings and several other hello's.

And also to put a face with the ECCC name.  Peter Bergstrom, the Executive Director of ECCC, and my boss, came Monday and Tuesday to meet with staff, so now they have two faces.

The rest of the time there was visiting sites, St. John's the divine a big Episcopal Cathedral, and then to have with a movie star of the YouTube.
Fr. Matthew Moretz.  We ate a greek place with great food and talked Episcopal Shop and ministry ideas,



I met Fr. Matthew at a conference in April in Seattle, where he went over how to do video blogs.  He is a Young Adult priest from Georgia and grew up going to Honey Creek. (it would be an interesting stat how many in Episcopal Leadership, lay and ordained, grew up at camps...)
(check out his YouTube videos, a variety of themes, and all entertaining http://www.youtube.com/fathermatthew)

Well, it was a great time, but I was ready to move on and back camps and out of the city.  Off to Greenwich, New York...

Off to the Great Lakes, Sheldon Calvary Camp

…or how it is most often called “Calvary Camp”!

This is my third camp stop on the tour, after Waycross, and Michi-Lu-Ca,  and third staff training, but this  one was a little different.  I arrived on Saturday, the day before camp starts, the last day of training… It was a normal last-day-before-camp-starts, with runs in to town to get last minute items, cabins getting cleaned one more time before parents and campers arrive, and an evening pep-talk and chapel time to prepare for the summer.

The only item new to me was the staff size, they have 60+ (most staffs I have been a part of have been 15-20 range) and Calvary Camp can house 200 campers for a week!!! (The biggest in ECCC)

Opening Day started with a church service in the chapel for the staff where everyone received their staff shirts, and at this service we had a baptism of the director’s nephew, which added a great start to a summer on a different level.

The Chapel on a Cliff

Sheldon Calvary Camp has the blessing and the challenge of being 30 yards or so from the Great Lake of Lake Erie.  The Chapel, as you can see in the pictures, is on the edge of a cliff, that was eroding away.

Luckily the staff notices in time and did a couple of tasks to stop it.  There are breakwaters on their shoreline and an engineered assmbly of rocks in wire cages inbetween the chapel and the lake.

A great opening week…

I was at Calvary until Wednesday morning and got to participate and see meals, campfires and chapel, where singing of traditional camp songs all took place.  They have a most energetic and joyful staff that I am glad I got to witness.

Here is a picture of the year round staff, some you may recognize if you have been to an annual conference in the last two years.  Ms. Anne Muhl, Admin Director, Mr. Tim Green, Executive Director, Rev. Lesile Reimer, Spiritual Director, PJ Williamson, Operations Assistant and Frisbee Director.

I am off to the Big City, New York City, for my next stop to visit with staff at the Episcopal Church Center, and then will be back on the face to face tour…

and to leave you a picture of Tim, PJ, and I, looking for a fourth for a euchre game of cards:)