Fall is Here

Well it's been quite some time since we have updated the blog. Sorry about that! After finishing our summer up at camp, we moved back downstate but hit the ground running with the Labor Day work weekend, then Mother/Daughter weekend, and finally, our most recent event, the 3rd Annual Zoo Walk! All that to say, the month of September was pretty busy for us!

We're at the end of our fall season, which means we'll be closing up camp for the winter. It's hard to imagine camp in the middle of winter because most people see it in the summer. Everything is the same, just with lots of snow on it! (I know, I already said the "s" word!) Our site team will head up to camp in the next few weeks to winterize our buildings and clear all of the water out of our pipes so that they don't freeze and break. Hopefully next time we're up, we'll be able to take a few fall pictures of camp and post them so that everyone can see the difference when the leaves are falling!

Our 3rd Annual Zoo Walk was on September 25th. It was a beautiful day for the walk, and we had a blast! We were suprised to see so many new faces that morning, but we were grateful for all the people who invited friends and family to come along for this great fundraiser. Though we didn't reach our goal of $20,000, we still have pledge money coming in and are blessed by what people did raise through pledges and for all of the support that was given for this event. There were games (the kids loved playing the toilet paper toss), and breakfast food donated from Einsteins, Tim Hortons, Trader Joes, GFS, and Bagel & Bites. Also, we had prizes that we gave out for the top fundraiser, the person that traveled the farthest to come, the longest involved camp member, the youngest walker, and a few other prizes!

Talking about the zoo walk...if anyone is interested in buying a zoo walk t-shirt, we still have some available for $10. Let us know and we can get one to you!

I think that's about all for now. I apologize again that it has been so long since we updated, but hopefully we can improve from here on out! So check back soon!

Blessings!

Winding down

Greetings from Girls week 3! It's hard to believe that we are almost finished with our Girls camp sessions. This week has been a very uneventful week (which is usually a good thing!) weather wise. The weather has been beautiful other than a little bit of rain during outpost night, so the pool has been busy most days with lots of swimmers.

After we finish this week, we will begin our transition into the end of the summer programming. Culinary Camp had to be canceled due to low registration numbers, but we are still running Science Camp and Camp 101. After that, we will pack our things up and move back down state to open up our metro office again. Then, until October, camp will be busy most weekends with work weekends and parent-child programs.

I'm hoping to get a few other summer staff on the blog to comment on this season, so be on the lookout for that!

Please continue to pray for camp and all of the staff who will be departing this weekend. Also for those that are staying to finish out the season. Thanks for checking in!

Summer just keeps on rolling

The title of this post really describes how camp goes once we get into full swing with programs. So far we've had Horse Camp, Boys Camp, Family Camp, and our first week of Girls Camp. All of these went well! Hopefully I can take some time to talk individually about each program, but for the sake of time, I will keep it short.

One of the highlights that came during Family Camp was saturday morning's theme! The theme for the week was Happy Holidays, so we had a different holiday to celebrate each day. Saturday was Christmas which entailed wearing our pajamas to breakfast, having christmas ornaments all over the commons, "snowing" the bird and the dining hall with cotton balls, and exchanging secret santa gifts between the families and staff. Oh...and I can't forget...red icing on the cinnamon rolls!

We just started our second week of Girls Camp. It's becoming a regular thing for it to rain during registration on sunday, but no one seemed to mind and everyone got here safely. Our theme this week is "Week at the Museum", so we're excited to see what type of fun activities we'll be doing.

Our apologies for not updating every week like we were trying to, hopefully the remainder of the summer will be better!

What's been happening

So, we made it past the April 1st Early Bird Discount deadline. Thanks to everyone who registered ahead of time! If you're still thinking about registering, you have up until..well..up until you come to camp! Obviously, we'd love to know beforehand that you are coming, and it would sure make things easier for the Business manager, but hey, sign up whenever you can! Be sure to tell your friends too!

Is it really already April 12th? Seemed like just yesterday that we are working on planning out the brochure and summer season, and now we're just about to start opening camp up! Ptarmi and Stilt will be up at camp for the first time in 2 weekends to get things cleaned up and ready for our first work weekend. We have a special service project going on at the end of the month. Solid Rock Church will be bringing a group to replace roofs in all of the Cedar Cabins and the Lodge. It'll be a great start to our season!

Things here in the office are getting busy. We have volunteers that have been coming in and helping update our ACA Manual for our inspection this summer. Who knew the ACA standards manual could be SO big! Some of the other big things happening in the office are clothing selections for the summer, church packets going out, AND our newsletter just went out in the mail! Keep an eye out for it!

Check back soon and we'll hopefully have some pictures up of our new apparel!!!

Some new ways to check us out!

A lot has been happening here in the office as we've been working on promoting and getting the word out about camp. Things are coming together quickly and we really appreciate the work and time that Linux has put in on our website, as well as helping with other promotion opportunities.

You can now find us on YouTube! We've put a few videos up so far, including short testimonials about camp and our 2010 promotional video. If you want to see more about what we do, the promotional video is a great place to learn about that! Grab your friends and have them watch it too.

And just to remind everyone, we are on Facebook under the page "Huron Forest Camp CedarRidge". Become a fan today! We update that regularly, so be sure to visit our page.

We are getting excited about the 2010 season (despite the recent 6 1/2 in snow fall and cold weather), and can see the summer approaching quickly! Can't wait to see everyone at camp this summer!

Metro Parent Camp Fair

I hope you all are enjoying the snow!

This past weekend we were at the Metro Parent Summer Camp Fair in Ann Arbor and West Bloomfield, Michigan. Saturday's fair was held at Briarwood Mall, which was a new location for the Ann Arbor portion of the fair. Though the configuration of the booths was a bit interesting because of being in the center of a mall, our booth was conveniently placed directly across from the Starbucks kiosk! Meaning there was a lot of foot traffic through the area. Two staff members from this past summer joined us on Saturday in Ann Arbor, and we were able to connect with many people.

Sunday's portion was held at West Bloomfield High School. Though this day started off a little bit slower, we still were able to promote camp and have many people come visit our table. We even had a family come stop by who joined us for family camp last year! They said they are looking forward to seeing us again this summer!

Overall, our first camp fair of the season was a success! Our promotional materials got into prospective campers/families hands, and we are excited to see registrations come in! I've included a picture of our table so that you can see just what it looked like! Have a blessed day!

February promotion month

Happy Monday everyone! As the month of January seems to have flown by, welcome to February. February is probably one of the busiest months for the camp office as it is the beginning of many promotional events and happenings.

This saturday and sunday, Feb 6th and 7th, we will be taking part in the annual Metro Parent Camp Fair. On Saturday, Feb 6th, we will be at Briarwood Mall in Ann Arbor from 11:00-3:30pm with our own promotional table. Sunday Feb 7th we head back east for another day of the fair at West Bloomfield High School from 11:00-3:30pm. You can get more information about the fair by calling us, or visiting the Metro Parent website: www.metroparent.com Click on the "Summer Fair" icon on their main page. If you, or anyone you know wants more information about camp, please feel free to stop by our table either of these days! We will have brochures, information sheets, and other flyers for our individual programs.

Another way we are trying to promote camp this season is by asking the friends and family of HFCC to help get the word out by providing us with 20-30 names and addresses of their friends and family who might be interested in learning more about us and coming to camp. Look for an email soon regarding this event and how you can help out!

Keep sending in those registrations. We want to fill camp this summer! Have a blessed week.