Camp Visit

I am an ACA (American Camp Association) accreditation visitor. That means that once or twice a summer, I leave my camp and go to another camp to walk around, go through their accreditation paperwork so that they can get re-accredited. Each ACA camp goes through the process every 3 years.

It is a great chance to see other camps, get ideas and also be familiar with the standards so that when camp goes through re-accreditation again, it is easier because I know the standards well. I've only been on a few visits, but they've all gone well.

Until today.

In June, their camp director left and they requested that their visit be moved to next year. But the accreditation chair said they had to go through it. The head visitor and I were nervous going into it because they seemed to be a little bit disorganized.

The camp was in the middle of NOWHERE and I got lost. The head visitor was also lost (even more than me) so we started the day a little late and a little crabby. When I actually arrived at the camp, the director didn't greet me or direct me where to go. None of the staff stopped me as I wandered through camp.

When we finally began the visit, the tour went well. It is a cute little camp that needs some fixing up, but has potential. Their programs left a little to be desired. When we talked to the kids and staff about what they were doing, it sounded like it was mostly unstructured and a lot of group games. They ran arts and crafts, nature, and swimming, but nothing else.

When it came time to look at the paperwork, they brought out the binder and a stack of loose papers. We spent the next 5 hours searching for necessary documentation and checking "no" on standard after standard. Even the easy ones like insurance (which they definitely have because they are part of a bigger organization) they didn't have because they didn't take the time to print off the paperwork.

I understand that it is chaotic when there is a change to the staff, but they had almost 2 months and they didn't appear to even make an attempt. What was even more frustrating is that the program manager has overseen the camp for 12 years so she knows what is expected. She said that 3 years ago, they "passed with flying colors" but if that was the case, why didn't they have ANYTHING for this visit?

In the end, they missed 4 mandatory standards, which means they have 10 days to correct them or they automatically lose accreditation. They got "no" on a lot of other standards so I'm not sure if they will pass anyway.

It was frustrating to give up my whole day for a camp that put in such little effort. It was also frustrating to see a camp with such lax safety standards.

Driving back to camp, I felt like I was returning to a 5 star hotel. When I got back, camp looked bigger, cleaner, more organized, and fancier overall. They staff and kids were cheering and busy with their well planned, very structured scheduled activities. I was filled with pride.

Sometimes a little perspective helps re-align your sight. This has been a summer of flooding, cleaning up, mold, and messes. But it could be worse...

Crabby Start to the Week

I'm having sort of a crabby start to the week. It is our teen week with a special schedule and there are MANY returning kids, so it should be a great week, but right now, I'm crabby.

On Friday, we assigned cabins. It's usually a pretty easy job, just plug people in and rotate them all so they get a different co-counselor and different age group. However, last week, there were 4 people (all females) on "special projects" and 2 females on kitchen week, all 6 females needed to be in cabins this week. This week is bigger than last week, but still sort of small. That left only two other openings for female counselors and 4 female staff to fill them. Of those, 3 had already been on kitchen duty.

In the end, it was going to be unfair for someone. I ultimately decided to have Counselor B in the kitchen for a second time because she is a mediocre counselor and I ultimately want my best staff working with kids.

When we announced cabin groups, she was SO upset and after the meeting, came to me in tears. I explained what happened and told her I was sorry she was upset, but there wasn't anything I could do. She decided to take the week off instead of being in the kitchen. It all worked out fine, but I don't like people to be upset and I don't know what the other staff think.

Speaking of other staff, I am also crabby about the way 8 of them spent their Saturday. This description will make me sound like a bad person and I am trying to get over it, but I'm annoyed anyway.

I have talked with the flood relief center MULTIPLE times to get volunteers and I have been so thankful and said, "thank you so much, I don't have anyone to do these things." So when 8 of my staff signed up to volunteer on Saturday, while I appreciate how giving and helpful and what wonderful people they are, I was annoyed that they didn't give their time to camp. They told me it's different because they work here and I said I'd be happy not to pay them.

I volunteered a lot in high school. And I am sure that when I came home telling my parents stories about raking yards or cleaning bathrooms, but then complained when I was asked to help around OUR house, they felt annoyed. So this is probably karma.

I suppose if staff volunteering is my worst problem, I shouldn't complain. I know there are other camps firing staff for drinking, breaking rules and other bad things.

I was a little petty and it helped me feel better about this whole thing earlier today. After a flood, often there are a lot of dead fish because the oxygen levels in the water drop. This morning, there were probably 200 dead fish on the beach. Someone had to clean them up, so I assigned all of the staff who'd volunteered to clean them up while the rest of the staff did other pre-camp projects. I know they were annoyed with me, but someone was going to have to clean up the fish and since they are such hard workers who are so motivated, I figured they'd be the best choice.

It is going to be a good week. I just need to get my attitude straightened out.

Recovering...

This week has been crazy and I'm not sure where the time went. It was a smaller week of campers and so I had 4 staff on "special projects". They did a ton of projects like chopping wood, painting around camp and washing (and putting in!) docks.

Getting the docks in was great because I feel like we are getting close to being back to normal. The archery range is still on the field because the real archery field is still muddy and disgusting, but we are almost back to normal.

After all the work that I put into the trailer house project, this was the week that it was supposed to be delivered. Supposed to be. Except that it wasn't.

The flood relief center found us a team of volunteers that are professionals at cleaning mold. They came out and walked around stone house and were super confident in their ability to clean it. They said it wasn't as bad as other houses they'd been to and it would be no problem.

I was so excited because we didn't need the trailer if we could fix the stone house. Also, I was getting cold feet about the trailer. I was nervous that it would end up being expensive and require more fixing then I could see. So I called the seller and backed out. It was a good exercise and learning experience and if I ever need to buy a trailer again, I will know much more!

The volunteers came back the next day with about 10 volunteers. The volunteers were local people who'd signed up to help. They were wearing tee shirts and paper masks. I was a little skeptical, but they seemed to know what they were doing. They gutted almost the whole basement and got the big wet couch and other furniture out of the basement. But at the end of the day, some of the sheetrock was still up and there were still some piles of stuff left in the basement. They told me they were done and that all I needed to do was take the rest of that stuff out and then powerwash the walls and hit them with some bleach.

Um...

I thanked them for their hard work, but I was so disappointed. When they'd described what they planned to do the day before, it was much different than what they actually did. And I had NO intention of putting any of my staff in there to "finish up".

My next step was to call an actual mold removal company. The woman who came out was VERY thorough and I wasn't surprised when she said, "this is BAD!" because I know that it is really bad. She told me NO one should be in that building without a haz-mat suit and an oxygen mask and that my description of the volunteers was pretty concerning. She also told me that power washing and bleaching was a terrible idea.

$5000 to finish gutting and soda blast the basement. .

Yikes.

The board approved but didn't really like me spending $5000 on the trailer. And to fix the stone house plumbing, electrical isn't even factored into that price.

I called our insurance company to see if it would be covered under "mechanical failure" since it was the sump pump failing that caused the mold. Unfortunately, mold is not covered under any aspect of any of our policies. So we're out of luck.

So now I'm back to square one. I don't have a solution to the housing problem yet.

I am frustrated and my whole week has been spent on this stuff. I feel detached from the campers and staff and I am ready to go back to normal camp and not "flood clean up".

Kitchen

Even though it is mid-July, it is technically only the second week of camp. It is the second week of camp and my cook is already driving me crazy! I was fully prepared for this when I hired her. She was honest about not being ready to be a head cook but I was desperate.

I've had a great cook for two years who knew everything about menus, ordering and food prep. I didn't need to know anything and so I don't know anything. The cook 3 years ago knew very little when he started, but he managed and the cook before him had been here for 15 years and knew everything.

Because I've been so hands off, the kitchen is the place at camp that causes me the most anxiety because I can't just step in and take over if necessary.

Perhaps this year is a blessing in disguise because I am learning everything you need to know and from now on, I won't ever be anxious again.

At the beginning of the summer, I created 3 weekly menus. It wasn't that difficult once I started- I looked at some school menus online and thought about all the meals we've had at camp. I worked hard to add variety so that we didn't have something with chicken or pasta or on a bun for both lunch and dinner. My best friend X proofread the menus and helped move meals around so that each day and each week had variety.

It turns out that the food company that we order everything from is VERY helpful in quantities, so Cook Z has been working closely with the food rep to plan for the week.

Camp Administrator A is good with math and also with details, so she worked on breaking down our budget to calculate how much each meal costs and then worked with Cook Z and the food rep to find the most cost effective foods to order.

We should be in great shape except that despite all of this, Cook Z is not good with detail, forgets things, gets SUPER anxious about EVERYTHING, can't manage her time and doesn't seem to have the "with-it" quality that competent people have to learn something and then use it.


'A' is picking up the slack and doing a lot of work with ordering. Assistant Cook V is SUPER competent, calm, easy going and is picking up MOST of the slack by doing all of the prep work, keeping Z calm and really doing most of the work. I don't want to fire Z because it will leave just V alone, so I am hoping that Z can calm down and get into the swing of things in the next few weeks. All of the meals have been on time, kids have had enough to eat and they are enjoying the meals, so I can't complain. I'm giving her some time- it is only the second week after all.

Progress

What a good day!

Before the trailer can be brought to camp, I need to get a permit from the county. It was a long application and I wasn't sure if it was entirely complete, but I finished it and was ready to put it in the mail and hope for the best. When I called the county, they told me it would be at least 2 weeks before an inspector could come out and issue the permit. I was hoping it would be sooner and I started worrying that if the application was in the mail, it would take even longer for it to get processed.

So I decided to drive 45 minutes to the courthouse and drop it off. I'm not a cool person who knows how to sweet talk or charm people, but I was hoping if I dropped it off, at least I could ask some questions and maybe get it to the person in charge quicker than the mail.

I am so glad I decided to make the drive! When I arrived, the man at the window said, "2 weeks or more, no exceptions" and when I said, "it's sort of an emergency" he said, "every application is". I didn't think I was going to get very far, but then the inspector who conducted the visit to the kitchen last week walked in and said hello to me by name. He was happy to hear my whole story and the other guy got a lot more helpful as well.

I ended up being there for over an hour. They pulled up zoning maps, gave me tons of information, helped me fill out the application so it was more complete, checked the inspector's schedule (and told me he could be out by next Wednesday) and even let me know that if the trailer was already there when the inspector arrived, we might have to move it if it isn't in the right place, but we wouldn't get fined (so basically a "go-ahead" with the project).

When it was time to pay the fee for the permit, they gave me the private resident fee, rather than the commercial fee (which I was supposed to pay since camp is a business).

I still haven't gotten this approved by the board, but this afternoon, I emailed Board President J to ask him if he would be willing to come up and look at the trailer and he agreed, so on Saturday, we are going to look at the trailer. I am not letting myself get excited yet, but I am making progress!

Water

The county website says that there are no swimming restrictions for the lake. So I was a little surprised when Pollution Control came out to sample the lake today. I asked if they'd already been out and they said no. When I asked about the county website, he said, "it hasn't been tested, I wouldn't swim in the lake." Since we've been taking kids on the pontoon and letting them jump into the middle of the lake to swim (with life jackets of course), I was concerned that perhaps I had the wrong information.

When I called the county, I found out that "no swimming restrictions" doesn't mean that the water is ok (which was my assumption), it means that they don't know of any issues (because it hasn't been tested). Not only did I feel as though I'd been mislead, the woman on the phone was rude about it. I was LIVID. I was fuming mad. I was ready for a fight. When I asked to speak with someone else, she transfered me to the sheriff's voicemail where I left a VERY angry message that ended with, "please call me back as soon as possible. In the meantime, I will be directing parents of sick kids directly to you."

I have been personally assuring parents of the safety and citing the county website. I was SO mad, not to mention concerned about the safety of our kids and staff.

The sheriff called me back within the hour and I have to give him huge credit- his customer service skills are terrific. He let me explain my concern and listened to my outrage and then he very patiently, very calmly, very kindly responded. He has a lot of crabby people to deal with but he didn't lose his temper. He assured me that the middle of the lake is fine and listened to my suggestion to change the wording on the website.

After the call, I wrote him a thank you note because I appreciate what it is like to deal with a bunch of angry people about something you have little or no control over. He is doing a great job.

On another note about water- my house and the health center have water again! It took the plumber and electrician all day. They had to dig a ten feet deep trench from one house to the other and it was quite a mess. I was worried that something unforeseen would delay water even longer, but it was pretty straightforward and I am back to living like a normal person. I am already slightly annoyed at my new living situation. M&M are fine roommates, I just need soe quiet time to recharge and having them live here is an adjustment. Also, having the break area on my porch makes it feel like I'm living in a fishbowl because they can see in my house and can watch everything I do. It's awkward to cook or sit on my couch knowing I'm being watched, but overall, the whole situation is working out ok.

Hot and Crabby

Today was hot. Really hot and humid and disgusting. Being on the lake provides a nice breeze and keeps the temperature pretty mild for most of the summer, but that was not the case today.

I was crabby all day and I kept asking myself, "is something going wrong at camp or is someone doing something wrong?" and the answer was no. I tried to stay in the office as much as possible because it wasn't anyone's fault that I was crabby. I was just hot and there still isn't water in my house or the health center and we don't have a beach because it is still flooded.

I want camp to be perfect... okay, well, perfect doesn't exist, but I was unhappy that kids couldn't swim and that everything isn't exactly the way it should be. That being said, instead of swimming, kids were able to sign up for water games on the field and they LOVED it, so I don't think they were as bothered by the situation as I was.

I am hoping that tomorrow is cooler and I stop being so crabby.

Finished Cleaning... Sorta

Yesterday was a low point for me during this clean up week. Despite an incredible amount of hard work and enthusiasm from my staff and much of camp looking significantly better, I was still feeling discouraged. 


The process of getting the permits, the moving company and everything I need to move the trailer has been much more complicated than I'd expected. I spoke with two of the board members who were both less than enthusiastic about my trailer home idea. I spent the day trying to accept the fact that I'm going to have to share my house and that there isn't an easy solution to anything that is wrong with camp right now.


X and I went to the flood relief center. We got some clean up kits, snacks, water and gatorade (thank you FEMA) and I put my name on a list for people who need clean up help. The county called me about an hour after I was at the flood relief center and I am hopeful that someone can come out and help clean up the Stone House. 


In the afternoon, the staff moved all of the furniture out of the Stone House and into the Rec Hall. The Rec Hall is in the center of camp and not exactly the ideal place to spend their break, but it's the best option for now. My original plan was to use my house, but since I haven't had water for 3 days, I'm not exactly ready to open it up to everyone. 


Did I mention I don't have water? Unfortunately, years ago, someone connected my house, the stone house and the health center water together. So when the Stone House flooded and the pressure tank tipped over, not only did Stone House lose water, but so did the other two buildings. I am incredibly frustrated, but the plumber thinks he can run new lines by Tuesday, so I just have to hang on until that time. 


The morning was beautiful weather, but right around the time we started moving, the heavens opened up and it poured on and off. The staff were amazingly hard working and positive, despite the rain. X did my dishes by heating bowls of water in the microwave and I just sort of anxiously bounced between different areas, unsure what to do with myself. It's been a productive week, but I still feel a little discouraged. I am hoping that I'm just tired and once I get some rest, I will feel excited for the campers to return on Sunday. 

Trailer House

Leave it to best friends to have the best ideas.

With the Stone House un-usable, X did some searching on Craigslist and found two trailer houses for sale. Actually, one of the trailers was free and one was listed at $3000. We emailed both to ask if we could come and see them. The free one was already spoken for, but yesterday, we went to see the other one. It was only  40 miles away, and I needed a break from camp anyway.

When M & M heard our plan, they were skeptical. They thought it sounded really trashy and were afraid it would be terrible. I was a little leery as well, but figured it wouldn't hurt to look. The trailer happened to be at summer camp. It used to be the property manager's house. It was in great condition, clean, bigger than I'd expected and possibly even nicer than the Stone House had been before it flooded. There is a lot of open space for staff to hang out and I was thrilled. 

I wasn't sure what the board would say, but I told him I would take it and X and I headed back to camp to google a moving company that could bring it to camp. Finding a company to dis-assemble, transport and re-assemble it was tougher than I'd expected and it cost about the same amount to move it as it will be to purchase it. It will also require permits and paperwork and it's not quite as simple as I'd hoped. I still think it is a good plan and between yesterday afternoon and today, I've learned a ton of information about trailer homes.

I am hopeful that we can get it to camp before the end of the summer. I am not excited to have roommates and for the staff to use my house as a break area. I am an introvert and I need a lot of quiet time to re-charge. I don't take breaks like the staff get, so at the end of the night, in the hour or so before I go to bed, I want my house to be quiet. It's only 6 weeks until the end of camp and I can make it, but I am so hopeful  this trailer will work out.

Mold

The Stone House has been a problem building for years now. It needs a new roof, the basement is always moist and it's in bad shape. It's about 5 feet off the shore of the lake and when it flooded, the basement filled up with water. I knew that once we pumped the water out that the house would need a lot of work, but I had no idea what to expect.

Yesterday, Property Manager T got almost all of the water out and we started pulling the furniture out of the basement. The walls were covered in black mold. We kicked holes in a few places to see inside the walls and the mold was thick inside the walls as well.

I know mold is really bad, but I was optimistic that if we pulled out all of the sheet rock and insulation and got down just to the beams holding up the walls, we could clean up the basement. The upstairs of the house has 3 bedrooms for lead staff and it is the area that all staff go to hang out on their breaks and on the weekends. It is an important building that we can't use until the basement is fixed.

Last night, I couldn't sleep. I was up from 3-5am, stressing out about camp, all of the work that is still left to do and I couldn't stop thinking about the moldy basement. It occurred to me (as most ah ha moments come at 3am) that putting staff in that building for any period of time is dangerous and that clean up needs to be done by professionals, not 20 year olds. Even Property Manager T shouldn't be down there. I googled photos of people in white suits with masks on- the rooms they were in weren't as bad as the basement we'd been in with nothing on. What was I thinking putting people in a place with that much mold? 


So today I told T to leave it be until we figured out a better plan. We put up caution tape across the doors and we'll get to it when I figure out what to do. 


In the mean time, M and M don't have a place to live and there is no where for staff to go during their breaks. With only 2 hours off per day (the rest of it with kids), break time is very important to staff. They need a quiet place to go to get away from camp, check their email, and refresh themselves. I have no idea where I am going to put them now and I am super stressed out about it. 

Cleaning Up

Staff arrived yesterday and today and we've begun cleaning up camp. Even since I got back to camp on Monday, the water has receded and it looks better each day. The beach and archery range are still flooded and around the chapel is pretty muddy and the ground is squishy. The fire circle is a mess, but most of the water is gone.

Property Manager T has been pumping the water off of the grounds and will start the Stone House basement next. I was shocked by how quickly the projects on the to-do list got checked off today. With many hands, the jobs are easier and go more quickly than I plan.

In addition to re-organizing everything we moved in case of the flood, staff have been re-creating areas that we don't have access to. The archery/slingshot/tomahawk range are now on the field and the canoes, life jackets and paddles are up on shore, near the boating bay. Staff are also re-painting some areas around camp to make it look fresh and bright. My best friend X is visiting this week and she has been planting flowers in pots around camp to replace the ones that drown when the rains poured down. 


I am feeling confident and optimistic about the condition of camp. I think we will be ready for campers on Sunday!

A Week in the City

I’ve had a week of errands, relaxing, eating good food, hanging out with my boyfriend and enjoying my time away from camp. On 4^th of July, I had a BBQ for several good friends. The weather has been RIDICULOUSLY hot (100 degrees) and so the BBQ actually turned into an indoor event and I made sloppy joes instead. This was the first year we were going to run camp over 4^th of July and we had great programming planned. As I sat in my house in the city, surrounded by friends, it felt a little bittersweet. I was happy to be with everyone I love, but I was supposed to be with a bunch of crazy kids, grilling out, playing games and having a really cool day at camp. A few cocktails later and I wasn’t thinking about camp anymore, so the day turned out ok.

On Thursday I spent the day with my best friend. We went shopping, saw a movie, ate good food and chatted. It was wonderful.

I have a few days left at home before I return to soggy camp. I have talked to Property Manager T a few times. It has rained several times and the archery field is worse than when I left. It’s going to be messy, smelly and disgusting when I return. It sounds like the lake is still receding, despite the rain, so maybe it will be better than I’m imagining.

I am nervous about what is waiting for me. I am trying not to get ahead of myself or worry or let the dread ruin my last days at home. I am planning on running camp on July 15 even though there will be standing water around camp and we will have to rope it off and move some of our programming. I think it will still be a great week and I hope no one is upset about the condition of camp. I’m trying not to think about it though- I still have a nice weekend ahead.

Back to the City

I’m out of the flooded woods and home to the city. It was not an easy trip.

Because the road to camp is covered in 15 inches of water (at the shallowest point, deeper along the edges of the road), driving a car or truck through it is not possible. Last Friday, when we first heard about the flood, we parked the camp van about a mile away on the other side of the road. We’ve been walking through the water and up the mile long huge hill to use the van to go into town this week so we haven’t been completely stranded on this camp island.

We all packed the least amount of stuff we needed for the week and loaded everything into a kayak, which we walked across the water and then loaded into the van. It took three trips. I also have two fat bulldogs who are too short to walk through that much water, so they were the last kayak load.

It was unbearably hot while we did all of this and besides just being uncomfortable and sweaty, I was super anxious about my dogs who have very low heat tolerance. The van doesn’t have air conditioning but I thought that once we were driving and the wind was blowing through the windows, it would be okay.

I was wrong. After about 30 minutes of anxious, distracted driving, I asked A to drive for me and I sat in the seat with the dogs. I continuously squirted water into their mouths while also rubbing a bag of ice on Griffin. I have terrible motion sickness but had taken a pill as soon as I switched from driving, and while it helped, I was still carsick, kind of woozy from the medication and my shorts were soaking wet from the water and the ice. And I was still SUPER anxious about the dogs being okay.

It was a miserable drive, but A, M and I made it to my house eventually and cranked the air conditioning so that it was refrigerator temperature quickly. M and A got picked up today to head back to Iowa for the week. They have been SUCH amazing help and emotional support this whole time, so while I was excited to be home and have a week of relaxing and hanging out with my boyfriend and friends, I was also sort of sad to see them go. I am an introvert and need plenty of alone time to re-charge, but at camp, I get used to being surrounded by people constantly and usually have a week of being sad when camp ends in the fall as I re-adjust to normal life.

With only a week off, it’s not really an adjustment and I am happy to be home. I spent today running errands- dropping the water samples off at the health department so they could be tested, going to Whole Foods, Trader Joes and Target, running on my treadmill and tonight will make dinner for my boyfriend and I. It’s such a weird feeling to be home, but I am enjoying it so far…