Closing Day Awards Update

Saturday, July 31, 2010
5:30 PM

Closing Awards

2A Spirit Awards: Gray Eiland, Austin Peterson, J.T. Sparks and William Dickason.

2B Spirit Awards: Wyatt Schwausch, Holden Lum, Brock Culwell and Matthew Drobnich.

Sportsmanship Awards: Calvin Turrell, Hank Clements, Will Timmerman, Z Clements and Will Johnson.

Black Eagle Chief: Travis Braithwaite

Aquatics Experts: David Banks, Robert Brown, Tyler Dare, Kinloch Gill, Nick Greenberg, Will Johnson and Graham Pergande.

All Around Cowboy: Graham Pergande.

Eight and Nine Year Campers: Will Johnson, Mack Tripodo, Will Wade and Will Carney.

New Maltese Cross Bulldoggers: Ty Heironimus, James Dodson, Johnny Butler, Kyle Kurtz, William Lum, Welcome Wilson and Jack Sankary.

New Running W Bulldoggers: Noah Love, Charlie Clements, Roscoe Prince, Sawnie McGee, Christopher Buell, Quinten Adabie and Locke McGee.

War Canoe: +

War Kayak: +

Term Total: +: 81,326 and W: 81,539.

Final Friday of 2010

July 30, 2010

Shotgun of the day: Trey Dorman
Cowboy of the day: Sawnie McGee
Ranchhand of the day: Elliot Schwausch

Daily Menu -
Breakfast: Toast and sausage
Lunch: Meatball subs, potato chips
Dinner: Beef lasagna, veggies, and garlic bread

Birthdays: Mac Aulbach and Gordon Williford

Hello La Junta Family!

It is our last full day at Camp La Junta, but instead of being sad about it, we are having as much fun as we can! The morning is full of classes (periods 1 through 3) – the last activities of the summer! After lunch and rest period, we will have the Grand Mega – an intense all-camp relay! The boys will all be stationed across camp, and the two ranches will race through a crazy array of games and tasks in order to win the Mega. It’s always a blast, and we are really looking forward to the hilarious antics! Tonight’s activities include a campfire with CIT initation and Filthy Foot initiation, which both involve food being thrown and boys getting messy. After this, we all get root beer floats, something the boys look forward to all term! It has been a fantastic term this July, and we are so glad that each of the guys chose to come to La Junta. We’re not ready for summer to be over just yet! Don’t forget to check out the new video, which was posted last night! As I’m sure you haven’t forgotten, Closing Day is tomorrow afternoon; the gates will open at 1:30, and the kids will be released from their cabins around 2. Drive safely, we are looking forward to seeing all of you!

Your tatler,
Katharine

Our Last Thursday

July 29, 2010

Once upon a hot summer day,
the campers woke up and wanted to play.
When the bugle blew early at eight,
they rushed to the dining hall to fill their plate.
Lots of bacon was on the table,
they were so excited – “it’s better than cable!”
Brock Culwell, our shotgun of the day
called out choco-lotto and into the mic did pray.
They finished their meal, went back to their cabins to clean,
the floors were spotless, they know the routine.
The bugle blew again and off they ran,
they know their schedules, they have a plan!
Many went down the Guadalupe,
and jumped off the rope swing and into a hoop.
While some headed up to the ropes course,
other’s went into the river on their horse.
The boys in SCUBA were breathing underwater,
while the sun at archery makes it hotter and hotter.
Mountain bikes geared up for their afternoon ride,
and water games went down the slip n slide.
The men of Indian Lore jumped off the bravery tree,
and in sailing today, a pirate ye may be!
The lunch today was fingers of steak,
and rest period gave the boys their afternoon break.
Hill Johnson was our daily cowboy,
a title for which is recieved with great joy.
The afternoon continued on with all their classes,
and kids ran to commissary in lethal sized masses.
Chris Buell is voted to be the daily ranchhand,
and he said the prayer at dinner as planned.
The activity tonight is ranch initation,
where each ranch goes up to their secret location.
When the evening is over and the day is done,
we can all agree that it was tons of fun.
Yes, we are aware that closing is in two days,
but we are still wishing the campers would stay.
We look forward to seeing you on that afternoon,
though the end of the summer has come too soon!
There are still many videos, tatler, and photos to view,
so don’t forget to keep checking back for more news!

Your tatler,
Katharine

Wacky Wednesday!!

July 28, 2010

Shotgun of the day: Miller Humphreys
Cowboy of the day: Erthan Woodward
Ranchhand of the day: James Butler

Birthdays: Austin Albrecht, William Sheats, Z Clements, and Mason Weems

Daily Menu -
Breakfast: Kolaches and muffins
Lunch: Sausage pizza
Dinner: CIT hot dog cook out

Evening Activities -
Wranglers: Capture the Flag
Cowboys: Kingpin
Tophands: TBA

Hello La Junta Family!

It’s Wednesday, the middle of our week here at CLJ. Today is much like any other, except it is our last full day of MWF classes! Today’s breakfast was muffins and kolaches, and was followed by a cleanup and a PI of laundry bags. We are making sure that your boys have their laundry where it is supposed to be! Lunch will be served at 1 pm, and today we get sausage pizza! We are pretty excited about that. The afternoon will continue with rest period, commissary, and afternoon classes. After dinner, the boys will play activities with their age groups; the wranglers will be playing capture the flag, and the cowboys will be playing airlift. The tophand activity is yet to be determined. We have four birthdays today, so we are looking forward to celebrating those at lunch! We are also looking forward to seeing all of our wonderful parents on Saturday, but we will be sad to see the summer end. We will post more information about times for Closing Day as soon as we can!

Your tatler

Tubular Tuesday!

July 27, 2010

Shotgun of the day: Wyatt Schwuasch
Cowboy of the day: Max Holsomback
Ranchhand of the day: William Lum

Daily Menu -
Breakfast: Sausage and egg tacos, potato and egg tacos
Lunch: Build your own nachos
Dinner: Chinese food night!

Evening Activities: All camp ranch games!

Devotional: 10

Hello La Junta Family!

It is a beautiful day here in Hunt, and we are having a great time. This day is much like any other, with classes filling the morning with fun and excitement! Campers are qualifying in their classes today, because unfortunately, we only have a few days left here. So everyone is working hard to earn their patches for all of their activities! Today’s PI was shirtless PI, so we made sure that your boys aren’t bumped, bruised, or sunburned. Tonight we have a different dinner than usual – Ranch Yell Supper! The dining hall is split between the two ranches, with the strawbosses and bulldoggers in the middle. Throughout the entire meal, everyone does yells for their ranch. It’s a fun – and loud – time! After dinner we will have all camp ranch games, where the boys will get the chance to play lots of different games across camp. Tonight’s devotional will be done by a member of cabin 10. Keep checking back for more news!

Your tatler,
Katharine

Remember: Closing on Saturday for Second Term and 2B.



Mustache Monday Part 2

July 26, 2010

Shotgun of the day: Reed Boisture
Cowboy of the day: Miles Garcia
Ranchhand of the day: Noah Flowers

Daily Menu -
Breakfast: Biscuits, sausage, and eggs
Lunch: Corn dogs, waffle fries
Dinner: Chicken strips, tater tots, and veggies

Campouts: 00 and 6

Devotional: 34

Evening Activities -
Wranglers: Movie
Cowboys: Live Clue
Tophands: Kingpin

Hello La Junta Family!

It’s Monday, the start of a new week here at La Junta! The sun is out, and we are having fun in all of our classes! The bugle blew at 8 am, and we were fed a deliciously nutritious breakfast. Today’s PI was clean hair, so all of the boys showed us their shampoo. The morning continued with classes, which will continue through the afternoon. The evening activities are divided by age, with the wranglers watching a movie in Marshall Hall, the cowboys playing Live Clue with the counselors, and the tophands playing an intense game of kingpin. Also tonight is the Archery Hunt, where tophands from archery go on a trip with some of the counselors. They get to fire their arrows at live things, so you know they will have lots of fun! The devotional tonight will be done by a member of cabin 34, and tonight’s campouts are for cabins 6 and 00. It should be a great night; keep checking back for more news!

Your tatler,
Katharine

Merry Christmas and Then Some

December 17, 2010

The longer I get to be at Camp, the more often I appreciate what happens on our stretch of the river. It’s probably not the time to write a summer observation entry, but I’ve been thinking…

The other weekend I had a chance to go to the NCAA Division III national soccer finals in San Antonio. I love a well played game, and this didn’t disappoint. Messiah College was the two time defending nation champion and played as such that day. However, Lynchburg College, their competition was up to the challenge and spent most of the game in control. In fact Lynchburg took a 1-0 lead early in the second half. Sports fans know that just makes the game that much more exciting. Messiah, true to championship form, scored the tying goal with less than four minutes left, on what some (Lynchburg Fans) would call a questionable play. Lynchburg had dominated nearly the whole game, and now we were headed to 20 minutes of sudden victory overtime.

Sudden victory started much as the rest of the game, with Lynchburg pressuring to score. In the second minute of overtime, Messiah had a break away and scored the winning goal! Fast and furious. Totally unexpected after the previous 90 minutes. Messiah celebrated. Lynchburg was shocked, deflated and even some tears.

Two days later as fate would have it, my son Josh had high school soccer game in San Marcos. It was pretty even, well played, tied at one after regulation and headed to 20 minutes of sudden victory overtime. After 19 minutes of overtime, San Marcos scored on a diving header into the corner. A true Sportscenter moment. Our guys were stunned, a bit deflated but as much at the shot as they were at the loss. What a difference playing for a national title makes….but should it?

Isn’t that a microcosm of one of the challenges our kids deal with so much as they grow up. At the finals, both teams were in the top two in the nation. Both had climbed to the top with hard work and months of success. It’s a shame that one had to feel like a “loser”. Who ever said their could only be one winner? Thousands of other players didn’t even make it to the playoffs. On the scoreboard, only one winner, but in life wouldn’t it be great if more kids were able to walk off the field feeling like they didn’t win but they’d done their best, were proud and ready for the next challenge. We still only have one winner, but maybe we don’t have to have so many losers.

That’s always been one of our goals at Camp. By design, we set numerous goals and challenges for our boys. From Indian Lore to Riflery. From Black Eagles to Rough Rider. From Ranch Games to the Ranch Term. We know that life, like a soccer tournament, is full of more defeats that it is victories. But hopefully we get our perspective across to our guys, that striving for success and reach for excellence are as important to the future as getting all of those victories. Everyone who improves is a winner, not just the one at the top of the scoreboard. Better grades, better health, better friendships and better skills are all byproducts of goal setting and defeat.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Have a blessed season. Enjoy the house full of mayhem!

Blake

Happy Thanksgiving

November 23, 2010

The Thanksgiving Holiday is always one of my favorite times of the year. Folks might guess it’s because of football games, the start of Christmas shopping or the quickly approaching Skiing season. To me, it is all these things, but it’s also the time of year that all of our hard work in the fall starts to reach you camp families, signifying that another camp year is right around the corner.

Since the summer of 2010 ended, we have been hard at work getting ready for 2011. This month, much of what we’ve been up to is coming to a climax. Scott has got the Video Yearbook off to the production house so as to be ready for delivery before Christmas. The print yearbook is off at the printers, ready as well, to be sent to everyone at the start of the Christmas holidays.

We’ve been busy working with a design firm to get our website updated and current. We’ve had a great presence on the web since it’s inception, but this summer we noticed we were lagging behind in photo, video, social networking and graphic technology. All that will be solved soon. Our new look website is scheduled to go live on January 1. We’ve also completed a study to help us best use our CampInTouch services so that we get everyone the most up to date camper details as efficiently as possible. Last summer we started the switch to paperless and CampInTouch is helping us get even better at it this Spring. We actually had to put together a calendar to help us remember when to update our numerous BLOGS this Spring. Don’t worry, that won’t happen every time we run to the store or see a new video, we’ll do it every week or two and you’ll find all the links on either CampInTouch or our new La Junta website.

Our new office is coming along on schedule. We tried to save some of the varmits we pulled out of the demolition, but even Wrangler Dave to too scared to mess with them. We’ll finally end up in an office that puts us all on the web, networked together and ready for the newest technology. We’ll have some more apartments to accomodate our growing staff and a meeting room for rainy day staff meetings and maybe even the Black Eagles and Counselors in Training.

I went to a Hunt Middle School Basketball game last night. Some of you might not appreciate the pace or the frantic nature of 7th and 8th grade ball, but in Hunt we celebrate it. (We don’t have much else.) After watching the end of the girls 7th grade B game, I can’t wait for summer. The game was evenly matched, although Hunt had only dressed 5 girls. It went back and forth, from goal to goal. Toward the end of the second overtime, one of the girls stepped to free throw line for 2 shots. She missed the first. Nervously dribbled the ball, banked it off the backboard and made the second one. Half the crowd went wild. It turned out to be the game winner. Both sets of fans were spent. Both benches were exhausted. Everyone had that certain sense of accomplishment that comes with being in the game, doing your best, having a shot, making some, missing some, but knowing your effort meant something. The girls did themselves proud. The game ended 5-4. You don’t have to be LeBron to have fun. What a great ball game!

Scott, Kile and I have already started work on counselor recruiting, summer programs and staff training. We’re looking forward to see how many places we can make the La Junta experience even better. The kids will be the ones who see most of the changes, but we’re also working on ideas for the video, news and photo links in your CampInTouch account. We’ve had them for years, but want to take them to a new, improved place next summer.

We can’t wait for the new year to arrive.

We are thankful that you are part of the La Junta family. We know that we wouldn’t have the summer fun and personal success stories each year, without your trust and support. Have a wonderful holiday weekend. Good luck with the end of the school semester.

Live is Good. Camp is Better.

Blake



Director’s Notes

August 5, 2010

The most melancholy moments of the year always fall in August. We are sad to see the summer end but a bit relieved to have a few minutes of quiet family time. Our lives as camp folk are actually the most hectic at this time of the year. We are of course uniquely busy from April through Closing Day, but then we have to squeeze in a summer of transitions into a couple of weeks.

Our most exciting transition of the month was over the weekend. Almost as soon as closing ended (and even an hour or so before) we emptied and scrubbed 9 cabins in anticipation of our DreamKamp. DreamKamp is our non-profit program which hosts 100-150 Kerr County kids each year. They are nominated by their teachers for their strengths and leadership potential and attend an awesome Christian Leadership camp for a week, at absolutely no cost to them. Camp La Junta covers much of the cost, but we have partnered recently with the Kerrville Board of Realtors and Kerrville’s Young Men’s Business league to cover the rest. The kids get a chance at Riflery, Archery, High Ropes, Climbing Wall, Riding, Kayaking, Canoeing, Rope Swing, Water Slide and all sorts of games and team challenges. Our goal is to send over 100 middle schoolers back to town excited about the challenges of middle school and staying on a path to success. It’s a fast change over from 270 hard charging La Junta men, to 125 5th and 6th graders, boys and girls. It’s a great change of pace, and a first transition back into the local community after camp.

As soon as DreamKamp is over, we transition quickly into another turn around and host the local private high school’s football team. Rather than pure football, they want team building, fellowship and worship services to prepare them for the rigors of school and a long ball season. It’s great to share some of the La Junta philosophy with a bunch of sweaty high schoolers!

The next transition allows us to host a neighborhood wedding at the outdoor theater. Gowns, makeup and music. Sounds like skit night, but it’ll be a great time to watch a life journey begin under the majestic cypress trees and the beautiful river. Alot like the life journey’s of campers but with silk skirts and bow ties.

Finally we get to transition back into mom and day and squeeze in a little family vacation time between then and the first day of school….that’s a transition in itself.

If that weren’t enough, this year we’ll be transitioning into a new office. Our current digs are over 70 years old, patched, crooked and falling apart. We’ll be building a new office to accommodate the next 70 years and all the new technology that comes with it. We hope to do it seamlessly, with the phone and email answered every day. Cross your fingers.

Finally, we do get to sit back and reflect each August on the tradition, humor and value of the summer. After 29 years on the Guadalupe, I can still say it’s the best summer ever. A new idea here. A new challenge there. 270 laughing, squealing, crying, yelling, running, throwing, swimming campers. It couldn’t get any better. We’re already counting the days until we transition back into a camp next May.

Thanks again for sharing Camp La Junta 2010 with us. We had a blast and hope that your little guy (young man) did too.

Have a great school year.

Life is Good. Camp is Better.

Blake



Special Edition

July 28, 2010

I don’t normally like to steal other folks work, but thought I’d make an exception. I got this link forwarded to me this morning. I’m making it available to you. Follow this a link to a “USA Today” article about summer camps and the art of letter writing. Be forewarned, it’s got pictures of girls, but it’ll do.

Who’d have thunk it! (besides the odd camp director or two) “Camp is an opportunity to unplug and develop authentic relationships,” Coleman says. “There really is no substitute for Mom or Dad’s handwriting on a letter, the smell of Mom’s perfume, the clipping dad has enclosed of a box score. You really can’t replace that with technology.”

Enjoy your letters home! Take some time to practice at Christmas.

Life is Good. Camp is better. Pony Express is still cool!

Blake