We know its not quite Christmas yet, but from the HFCC office, Merry Christmas everyone! A lot has been happening this fall since we closed camp for the season and moved back down state to work out of our metro office. One of the biggest things that has happened is that we've changed our name! After much prayer (and lots of paperwork!) we are officially Huron Forest Camp CedarRidge. Much of our time in the office recently has been spent changing over and updating all of our documents, including our website! Yes, our website still has the same design, but all new information for the 2010 season, along with our new name. You can visit that website (and register for camp!) at www.campcedarridge.org. We also have posted a frequently asked questions link so that if you do have questions regarding our name change and some of the things that we are doing, you might be able to find answers there. If not, we would love to speak directly with you, so feel free to call us at the metro office!
If you're reading this, and have been on staff, or are alumni, board members, or volunteers, we want to be sure to invite you to the anuual Christmas party this coming Tuesday, Dec 29th at 6:30pm. It is a great time of fellowship with other HFCC friends, great food, and lots of fun! We also will be having our planning meeting for the 2010 season (where we choose fun themes, talk and pray about camp, etc) at 10:00am Tuesday Dec 29th. If you'd like more information on either of these two events, please contact us!
Again, Merry Christmas to all! May you experience the joy and love of our Savior's birth during this season!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Closing work weekend
Ptarmi and a few other board members/volunteers traveled up to camp for the weekend to do some final winterizing of our buildings. Their main goal for the weekend was to put boards over the windows of the hybrid cabins in the grove, hill, and ridge. This will help keep the interior of the buildings safe and dry during the winter! They also were able to clean out the fridge and freezer (which, by the way, being so large...holds more food!) and gave away some of the leftover, unused food to the Oscoda Senior Citizen's center.
They especially were excited about the minute maid juice bars that we gave them...since many of the senior citizens enjoy eating them (especially the blue ones) and sticking their tongues out at the cooks. (Or so we are told!)
After this closing weekend, the only thing left to do at camp is blow out the water lines for the winter which will be done soon! Pray for continued protection over our property throughtout the winter.
They especially were excited about the minute maid juice bars that we gave them...since many of the senior citizens enjoy eating them (especially the blue ones) and sticking their tongues out at the cooks. (Or so we are told!)
After this closing weekend, the only thing left to do at camp is blow out the water lines for the winter which will be done soon! Pray for continued protection over our property throughtout the winter.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
A weekend of activity!
It sure was a busy weekend for us here at HFCC. With our 2nd Annual Zoo Walk at the Detroit Zoo running simultaneously with our Father/Teen Daughter weekend up at camp, our staff had to divide and conquer! While Stilt and Archy, along with some other volunteers traveled north to run the parent/child weekend, Ptarmi and the rest of the board of directors and zoo walk committee spent Saturday morning at the zoo.
We had about 25 people for this year's Father/Teen Daughter Canoe Weekend, which was a jump from last year's numbers. Praise God! We had some new camp families, and some long time Father/Daughter campers come for a weekend that was filled with fellowship, canoeing, and learning how to be "Vessels", which was our theme for the weekend. God blessed our time with great weather, and everyone was able to go canoeing on Saturday afternoon without having to worry about rain! Some of the other highlights from the weekend included our "Get to Know You" games on Friday night when everyone arrived. We thought it would be a good idea to give the daughters a lesson on how their dads shave, and this is what happened!
Then we thought, "maybe they need a little practice....throwing cheeseballs!!!"
We had about 25 people for this year's Father/Teen Daughter Canoe Weekend, which was a jump from last year's numbers. Praise God! We had some new camp families, and some long time Father/Daughter campers come for a weekend that was filled with fellowship, canoeing, and learning how to be "Vessels", which was our theme for the weekend. God blessed our time with great weather, and everyone was able to go canoeing on Saturday afternoon without having to worry about rain! Some of the other highlights from the weekend included our "Get to Know You" games on Friday night when everyone arrived. We thought it would be a good idea to give the daughters a lesson on how their dads shave, and this is what happened!
Then we thought, "maybe they need a little practice....throwing cheeseballs!!!"
The girls had a blast with this, and the dads were great sports with being their targets. It was great to hear the Dining Hall filled with laughter! We hope that these families can come back next year for another great weekend.
Our 2nd Annual Zoo Walk took place on Saturday morning at the Detroit Zoo. Though it was a bit rainy, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and again, it was a great way to raise money for camp. We had face painting, games, and give aways before the walk began, and everyone was able to stay at the zoo after the walk was completed. Thank you to all of our sponsors, and to everyone who worked so hard to make the 2nd Annual Zoo Walk a success by getting pledges and inviting friends! We'll be posting pictures shortly from it.
Keep stopping by throughout this year as we update everyone on the happenings of camp! God Bless.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Aloha! Mother-Daughter Weekend
Our 2009 Mother-Daughter Weekend turned out to be a blast! The theme this year was "Luau" and everything we did reflected that! The Dining Hall was transformed into a tropical place with streamers, decorations, and some hawaiian music. With multiple first time families, it was great to see how quickly they settled in and enjoyed making family surfboards, beachglobes, and grass skirts to accompany our Luau dinner on friday night.
Our cooks did a fantastic job following along with the theme too! We had lots of tropical things, and little umbrellas stuck in many dishes! The food was wonderful and I'm sure everyone could have eaten more!
God blessed us this past week with great weather during the day. Though it did get a little chilly at night, there's nothing like a cup of hot chocolate in the morning to warm your insides! Saturday afternoon the moms and daughters had the chance to experience some of our normal camp activities like Canoeing, Archery, Riflery, and Lacing.
We ended our weekend on Sunday morning with a great worship service and message down in the Rec field. We hope and pray that this weekend was a great time for moms and daughters to fellowship together, spend time in God's word, and see His beautiful creation. Can't wait for next year!
Our cooks did a fantastic job following along with the theme too! We had lots of tropical things, and little umbrellas stuck in many dishes! The food was wonderful and I'm sure everyone could have eaten more!
God blessed us this past week with great weather during the day. Though it did get a little chilly at night, there's nothing like a cup of hot chocolate in the morning to warm your insides! Saturday afternoon the moms and daughters had the chance to experience some of our normal camp activities like Canoeing, Archery, Riflery, and Lacing.
We ended our weekend on Sunday morning with a great worship service and message down in the Rec field. We hope and pray that this weekend was a great time for moms and daughters to fellowship together, spend time in God's word, and see His beautiful creation. Can't wait for next year!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The weekends have begun
We successfully made it through our summer and have transitioned into our fall programming and weekend schedule. After moving the majority of our office BACK downstate to Farmington, the fall is in full swing!
Our first fall "weekend" was the Labor Day Work Weekend. It didn't feel like fall one bit as we had beautiful weather and sunshine the entire time. Good weather is conducive to work getting done! One of our summer campers came up with a few other guys from his troop to complete his Eagle Scout project, which was replacing the steps going up to the Rec Hall. They did a great job with the area and were able to get a few other jobs done as well including some work on our corral and planting a garden in front of our camp sign inside the gate!
In total, we had about 35 people at the work weekend. With that many people, we were able to take down ALL of the platform tents and prepare them for winter, finish carpentry on some cabins, paint cabins, clean a couple of our buildings, winterize the pool, AND complete the tiling project on the girls side of the Cedars bathhouse among other projects. We are grateful for everyone who was able to come up for the weekend!
We're looking forward to our parent/child weekends these next few weeks. Coming up next is mother/daughter weekend Sept 18-20. Continue to pray for safety and good weather as we serve Him and others through this ministry!
Our first fall "weekend" was the Labor Day Work Weekend. It didn't feel like fall one bit as we had beautiful weather and sunshine the entire time. Good weather is conducive to work getting done! One of our summer campers came up with a few other guys from his troop to complete his Eagle Scout project, which was replacing the steps going up to the Rec Hall. They did a great job with the area and were able to get a few other jobs done as well including some work on our corral and planting a garden in front of our camp sign inside the gate!
In total, we had about 35 people at the work weekend. With that many people, we were able to take down ALL of the platform tents and prepare them for winter, finish carpentry on some cabins, paint cabins, clean a couple of our buildings, winterize the pool, AND complete the tiling project on the girls side of the Cedars bathhouse among other projects. We are grateful for everyone who was able to come up for the weekend!
We're looking forward to our parent/child weekends these next few weeks. Coming up next is mother/daughter weekend Sept 18-20. Continue to pray for safety and good weather as we serve Him and others through this ministry!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
The Final Stretch
Wow! It's incredible to think that we are coming up on our final camp program for the summer. It's been a month since we've last posted an update, but a lot has happened.
At the end of Girls week 2 we saw 4 incredible young women graduate from our CILT program. Budgie, Lyra, Myna, and Scarlet all graduated, along with Augi, who was unable to attend week 2 but completed the CILT program and graduated a week earlier. Congratulations ladies! Despite a little bit of rain and having to transform the dining hall into a CILT grad and closing campfire location, it was a great evening and we are so proud of the ladies who graduated. The rest of the week was filled with lots of fun activities and new experiences as we were able to reach out campers and staff alike. Our cooks for the week took our theme of "Ancient Treasures" and ran with it as the created themed desserts such as popsicle pyramids and even served chocolate gold coins with browies one evening.
Week 3 was the final week of Girls camp that we ran for the summer, but it was still a blast! The drama class came up with a "Phantom of Camp Cherith" skit that was a real hit on friday evening for verse night. We had a great staff for that week, including our newly graduated CILTS who we are to stay on for week 3 as first time staff. All the staff worked hard during this week to make it a great experience for all the campers, and we were able to hear at the end of the week some of the things that they learned about God through their activities and morning watch/bible ex time.
Also during week 3, a few of our maintenance staff took on a huge remodeling project down in the Cedars Bathhouse. The girls side of the bathhouse received new tiling in the showers and under the sinks, which has made such a difference in appearance. Thanks to the staff who worked so hard to start that project!
Unfortunately, we had to make some difficult decisions for this summer and cancel 2 weeks of programming due to low registration numbers. Our Co-ed week, as well as Science Camp were canceled. A few of the staff stayed at camp after Girls Camp ended for what would have been Co-ed camp, to complete some other work projects and continue the work on the bathhouse, which included giving priming and painting the walls of the girls side, and also painting one of the cabins down in the Cedars. The new kitchen space that was created from replacing our fridge and freezer received the final touches for spakle and a coat of paint so that it would match the other parts of the kitchen. And if anyone of you were on site this summer, you probably saw the cabinets and cupboards that were hiding in the corner of the dining. Well, they are now in place in the kitchen filled with dishes! We've still got some more work to do, but the changes have made such improvements already!
As we conclude Camp 101 tomorrow, I'll try to give an update by the end of the week. Thanks for visiting again!
At the end of Girls week 2 we saw 4 incredible young women graduate from our CILT program. Budgie, Lyra, Myna, and Scarlet all graduated, along with Augi, who was unable to attend week 2 but completed the CILT program and graduated a week earlier. Congratulations ladies! Despite a little bit of rain and having to transform the dining hall into a CILT grad and closing campfire location, it was a great evening and we are so proud of the ladies who graduated. The rest of the week was filled with lots of fun activities and new experiences as we were able to reach out campers and staff alike. Our cooks for the week took our theme of "Ancient Treasures" and ran with it as the created themed desserts such as popsicle pyramids and even served chocolate gold coins with browies one evening.
Week 3 was the final week of Girls camp that we ran for the summer, but it was still a blast! The drama class came up with a "Phantom of Camp Cherith" skit that was a real hit on friday evening for verse night. We had a great staff for that week, including our newly graduated CILTS who we are to stay on for week 3 as first time staff. All the staff worked hard during this week to make it a great experience for all the campers, and we were able to hear at the end of the week some of the things that they learned about God through their activities and morning watch/bible ex time.
Also during week 3, a few of our maintenance staff took on a huge remodeling project down in the Cedars Bathhouse. The girls side of the bathhouse received new tiling in the showers and under the sinks, which has made such a difference in appearance. Thanks to the staff who worked so hard to start that project!
Unfortunately, we had to make some difficult decisions for this summer and cancel 2 weeks of programming due to low registration numbers. Our Co-ed week, as well as Science Camp were canceled. A few of the staff stayed at camp after Girls Camp ended for what would have been Co-ed camp, to complete some other work projects and continue the work on the bathhouse, which included giving priming and painting the walls of the girls side, and also painting one of the cabins down in the Cedars. The new kitchen space that was created from replacing our fridge and freezer received the final touches for spakle and a coat of paint so that it would match the other parts of the kitchen. And if anyone of you were on site this summer, you probably saw the cabinets and cupboards that were hiding in the corner of the dining. Well, they are now in place in the kitchen filled with dishes! We've still got some more work to do, but the changes have made such improvements already!
As we conclude Camp 101 tomorrow, I'll try to give an update by the end of the week. Thanks for visiting again!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Camp happenings
I apologize for the absence of an update to this blog! A lot has happened since the last update. Our summer program is in full swing now and God is doing amazing things as always.
During the 4th of July week, we were blessed to have 8 families join us for a fun-filled week at Family Camp. Though the weather was a bit more chilly than we expected, it was still a great week. Our schedule at Family Camp is a bit more flexible, allowing for the families to choose which activities they would like to do in a day, or even just spend some time together as a family in and out of camp. A couple of the dads and sons really got into fishing during the week and were asking if we can run a fishing camp next year! : )
Since our schedule was more open, everyone was able to do just about every activity that they wanted. Praise God that the weather stayed decent and we didn't have to change to "rainy day activities" throughout the week.
We started out our week with the 2nd Annual Family Camp Egg Toss; a great time for creativity...and cleaning broken eggs off the Dining Hall deck! Our theme for the week was "Once Upon a Time", so many of our evening programs focused on stories and fairytales. It was fun to see kids running around being "knights" and fighting off our staff to save the princess Spreo!
We truly enjoyed serving these 8 families in their stay at HFCC, and hope that they can come back for years to come! Thanks so much for coming.
This past week we filled our camp with loud and enthusiastic girls from 8-17 for our first week of Girls Camp. I was amazed at how loud they were the first night at songfest. That noise didn't change all week as they continued to learn more and grow in their activity classes and through the time spent with their cabin in fellowship and bible study. Our CILT program; a leadership training program for high school girls, began simultaneously with Girls Camp, and the group of 9 CILT I's (in their 1st year) and 5 CILT II's (in their 2nd year) is filled with young woman who will hopefully soon be part of our staff. They worked hard all week to complete requirements and learn more about HFCC as a camp and ministry. Keep up the good work ladies!
Girls week 2 starts tomorrow, and we are excited to welcome more campers into our gates. Continue to pray for us this summer and that every camper will leave their week of camp having been impacted and grown in their love for Christ and others!
*note: pictures should be uploaded soon for Family Camp and Girls week 1. Check back soon!!
During the 4th of July week, we were blessed to have 8 families join us for a fun-filled week at Family Camp. Though the weather was a bit more chilly than we expected, it was still a great week. Our schedule at Family Camp is a bit more flexible, allowing for the families to choose which activities they would like to do in a day, or even just spend some time together as a family in and out of camp. A couple of the dads and sons really got into fishing during the week and were asking if we can run a fishing camp next year! : )
Since our schedule was more open, everyone was able to do just about every activity that they wanted. Praise God that the weather stayed decent and we didn't have to change to "rainy day activities" throughout the week.
We started out our week with the 2nd Annual Family Camp Egg Toss; a great time for creativity...and cleaning broken eggs off the Dining Hall deck! Our theme for the week was "Once Upon a Time", so many of our evening programs focused on stories and fairytales. It was fun to see kids running around being "knights" and fighting off our staff to save the princess Spreo!
We truly enjoyed serving these 8 families in their stay at HFCC, and hope that they can come back for years to come! Thanks so much for coming.
This past week we filled our camp with loud and enthusiastic girls from 8-17 for our first week of Girls Camp. I was amazed at how loud they were the first night at songfest. That noise didn't change all week as they continued to learn more and grow in their activity classes and through the time spent with their cabin in fellowship and bible study. Our CILT program; a leadership training program for high school girls, began simultaneously with Girls Camp, and the group of 9 CILT I's (in their 1st year) and 5 CILT II's (in their 2nd year) is filled with young woman who will hopefully soon be part of our staff. They worked hard all week to complete requirements and learn more about HFCC as a camp and ministry. Keep up the good work ladies!
Girls week 2 starts tomorrow, and we are excited to welcome more campers into our gates. Continue to pray for us this summer and that every camper will leave their week of camp having been impacted and grown in their love for Christ and others!
*note: pictures should be uploaded soon for Family Camp and Girls week 1. Check back soon!!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Father-Daughter Weekend
I apologize that we haven't posted anything since the beginning of the month! It's incredible how quickly these past few weeks have gone by in moving up to camp for the summer and getting ready for our season.
We ended our spring programs with a great Father/Daughter weekend June 5-7. The dads and the daughters enjoyed the "HIStory" theme we had for the weekend. It was a great weekend, especially with our brand new corn toss game. We had the 1st Annual Father/Daughter Corn Toss Round Robin Tournament (a very easy name!) and also had a blast at the dunes at Lumberman's monument. We'll post some pictures this weekend when we are in town and have a better internet connection!
Precamp Training and Horse Camp have started this week. The horses and horse campers are doing great, and we are excited for a full week of preparation for this summer season! We have a great group of staff this summer and can't wait to have more campers arrive. Continue to pray for this summer and safety!
We ended our spring programs with a great Father/Daughter weekend June 5-7. The dads and the daughters enjoyed the "HIStory" theme we had for the weekend. It was a great weekend, especially with our brand new corn toss game. We had the 1st Annual Father/Daughter Corn Toss Round Robin Tournament (a very easy name!) and also had a blast at the dunes at Lumberman's monument. We'll post some pictures this weekend when we are in town and have a better internet connection!
Precamp Training and Horse Camp have started this week. The horses and horse campers are doing great, and we are excited for a full week of preparation for this summer season! We have a great group of staff this summer and can't wait to have more campers arrive. Continue to pray for this summer and safety!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Outdoor Education week!
This past week we had the opportunity to run an Outdoor Education program for the Northville Christian 6th grade class. Despite a little bit of rain, everyone had a blast! Volunteers and staff worked hard over our Memorial Day Work Weekend to get camp ready for the group to come, and it paid off!
Not only is our new fridge and freezer unit up and running in the Dining Hall, but the cabins were cleaned and prepped just in time for Northville Christian to arrive for their week at camp. Some other work we were able to accomplish during the work weekend included setting up our bike shelter, cleaning out the craft cabin, clearing away some of the fallen trees from the winter, and just a good general cleaning of our site. Now that's what I call spring cleaning!
We've enjoyed having Northville Christian come to do an Outdoor Education Program with us these past two years, and hope that we can continue to grow this program. Some of the activities the 6th graders were able to take part in included hiking to the beaver's dam and checking out the work the beavers (YES! We have beavers again!) have done this past year,
Not only is our new fridge and freezer unit up and running in the Dining Hall, but the cabins were cleaned and prepped just in time for Northville Christian to arrive for their week at camp. Some other work we were able to accomplish during the work weekend included setting up our bike shelter, cleaning out the craft cabin, clearing away some of the fallen trees from the winter, and just a good general cleaning of our site. Now that's what I call spring cleaning!
We've enjoyed having Northville Christian come to do an Outdoor Education Program with us these past two years, and hope that we can continue to grow this program. Some of the activities the 6th graders were able to take part in included hiking to the beaver's dam and checking out the work the beavers (YES! We have beavers again!) have done this past year,
exploring our swamp, and using the Outer Limits course to do team building challenges and other initiatives. On their first night here, they had the chance to hike through the national forest to the AuSable River, 
and were able to visit the river again on Thursday at the dunes at Lumberman's Monument. They had a blast running down the dunes and the *cold* water didn't seem to bother them!! 
Overall, it was a great week for NCS and they had a ton of fun! Hopefully we can run more programs like this in the future with additional schools! That's all for now, but check back soon as we are about to start our summer season and will have some great updates and photos to share! God Bless!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Welcome to the new HFCC blog! We hope this can be a place where the friends and family of HFCC can come and stay connected to camp! Our goal is to give parents, campers, and anyone else interested up-to-date information, events, activities of camp, as well as a weekly devotional! Also, we hope to be able to upload current camp photos from our programs throughout the year!
This past weekend we traveled up to camp, after what seemed to be a long yet very short winter! The winter season left us with a few downed trees, one that fell on our new cabin, Zuni, and another that fell on the slide in the Rec field. We're planning repairs already, and are grateful that there was only minimal damage while we were gone!
This past weekend we traveled up to camp, after what seemed to be a long yet very short winter! The winter season left us with a few downed trees, one that fell on our new cabin, Zuni, and another that fell on the slide in the Rec field. We're planning repairs already, and are grateful that there was only minimal damage while we were gone!
A group of men came up to lay the footer and pour our cement slab where in a few short weeks our new fridge/freezer unit will lay! Despite some (or lots) of rain and a few equipment issues, they were able to get the job done and were even able to tear out the old unit that was over 35 years old!
One of the other highlights of the weekend was being able to participate in the 10th Annual Oscoda Family Fun Fair put on by the Iosco County Family Coalition. It was our first time being a part of it, and we had a blast! Thanks to Ptarmi's parents, we had a new corn toss game for the kids to play...and they loved it! It was great to get connected to the community around camp, and we are praying that we can have a positive impact in that area.
One of the other highlights of the weekend was being able to participate in the 10th Annual Oscoda Family Fun Fair put on by the Iosco County Family Coalition. It was our first time being a part of it, and we had a blast! Thanks to Ptarmi's parents, we had a new corn toss game for the kids to play...and they loved it! It was great to get connected to the community around camp, and we are praying that we can have a positive impact in that area.
Our new corn toss game!
Our display at the Oscoda Family Fun FairWe look forward to returning to camp in a few weeks for the May 15th-17th work weekend. Continue to pray for the completion of our new fridge/freezer unit and the safety of our site. We'll upload some pictures in the next few days but we wanted to get this blog up and running! Thanks for stopping by!
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