From Cove Kids to Cove Kids Staff

For the Steeves family, rolling into the Bluffs family camp in 2003 was a first-time family camp vacation. Little did they know, as they entered the gates, that their daughter would eventually make the transition from camper to counselor, and from being served to serving others.

Kat “Drops” Steeves (far left) was one of the original Cove Kids Bears and is now a staffer in Cove Kids, 15 years later.

Kat first came to the Bluffs family camp in 2003 in its opening summer. She was five years old and was a part of the “Cove Kids Bears,” which basically is what Wild Kids are now! Kat and her family are still week 7 campers. Kat is attending Blinn college studying communications with a minor in Spanish.

Steeves didn’t always know she wanted to work at Pine Cove, but it took her sister being a Baby Ruth to convince her to try it out! Kat became a Counselor in Training (CIT) at the Bluffs in 2016, and little did she know how much the program would change her. After that summer, she knew she wanted to continue serving, so she came back in 2017 as a Cove Kids counselor and absolutely loved it. Kat explains, “I love being with the little bitties! Also, the community within the Cove Kids counselors is unlike anything I’ve ever had even outside of camp.”

Coming full circle from being a bear herself, she says her favorite thing about working with the Cove Kids is that the kids receive the gospel so well.

“Seeing these kids really grasping the simple truth of Jesus is incredible, because as we get older we can really become numb to it and become skeptical.”

Pine Cove has made a huge impact on her life. While being at Pine Cove, “Drops” was always surrounded by Godly community. After a while though, she realized she was experiencing the “camp high” many face after a week of camp.

It wasn’t until her second summer at Pine Cove that she realized that she wasn’t walking with Christ outside of camp. Katie Sherrod, wife of Bluff’s director Chris “Hip Shot” Sherrod, was instrumental in helping Kat recognize this and keeping her accountable. Since then, she’s realized that the Christ-like community that she’s formed through Pine Cove can last year round.

For Kat “Drops” Steeves, being a Cove Girl has definitely revealed how full circle she’s come, since being a camper here. Crazy to think that when the Steeves family entered the Bluffs, they’d have no idea that their “bear” would soon be known as “Drops” to so many bears now.