Free Stuff

Camp is a non-profit organization. That means that the majority of our operating budget comes from generous people who donate money. In addition to money, people are also generous with things (like boats and vans) and their time. I am extremely grateful for everything this camp receives. Please be clear, I sincerely, deeply appreciate each and every thing, small or large, that is contributed to this place that I love so much.

That being said...

People donate things for a reason. If said item was in perfect working order, said donors would keep and enjoy it themselves.

For instance, the GIANT pontoon that was donated this year. It's huge. You can comfortably fit 15 kids an two counselors on it. It guzzles gas like nothing I've ever seen before, but it runs and it fits all the kids. The floor boards are rotting, but we also received a donation of the really expensive outdoor plywood, so at some point, the two donations will meet and everything will be great.

We've been using the pontoon (the giant, gas guzzling pontoon) to take groups tubing. It is killing the green part of my heart (as well as the green part of camp's wallet) to use it, but the speed boat (also donated) is really broken, and the boat guy says it is not worth the money to fix it. So we use the pontoon. Today, after the families left and we cleaned camp, myself and 6 of the staff took the pontoon out for an afternoon of tubing. It was hot and sunny and the water was warm. I got to work on my tan and go tubing for the first time since I've been here. So wonderful.

And then it made this funny noise and refused to start. Hmmm... We gave it a little while, and tried again. Nothing. So after about 15 minutes, we decided to send 2 staff (a lifeguard and a very athletic counselor) to swim to shore and get some more people and canoes to tow us in. Uh huh, ridiculous, but that's the story of how camp works sometimes.

About 30 feet from where we were floating, our swimmers ran into a boy in a nice pontoon and they asked him for help and he towed us in. A MUCH better plan than the canoeing thing.

I don't know what is wrong with the pontoon now. I guess I can call the boat guy to come have a look at it. Ugh. Sometimes it's just one thing after another......