Today was our re-accreditation visit by the American Camp Association. Two visitors came out and went through the paperwork and toured around camp. 'A' has been working on the paperwork for months and she is very organized. We are both visitors for the ACA and so we're both comfortable with the paperwork and camp follows all of the policies and procedures anyway, so I knew everything would go well and we would pass without any issues.
Over the weekend, we worked hard to do a little extra cleaning, pick up and put away all of the random things that seem to collect in corners, and camp looked fantastic. Both visitors are also camp directors and it was fun to show them around camp because they oohed and ahhed at several areas, asked to take photos of a few things and seemed generally impressed by camp.
Sometimes I forget how magical of a place it is. It looks like a camp out of the movies. It is filled with beautiful buildings with gleaming wood, bright signs that burst with color, beautifully built stages in several areas, new lights in several buildings, and lots of unique features that give it so much character. Sometimes all I can see is the dirt, the things that are broken, the steps that need to be repainted, and the random lost and found items or programming supplies that have been left out.
Sometimes too, even though it's been 9 years, I think about the garbage, the broken furniture, the buildings in disarray. And as we walked through each building and program area, I was so proud as we all looked at organized, labeled shelves, equipment neatly arranged, everything put in assigned places. I got to see camp through our visitors eyes and I was proud. This place is awesome and I know how much time and effort (and blood, sweat and tears!) it took to get there. And I was part of that. I have been a significant part of making camp what it is today.
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