Pine Cove Sweethearts

It’s no secret that many people that have attended or worked at Pine Cove over the years have met their sweetheart at camp. We’ve gathered a few of their stories together for you to read and enjoy, and we’d love to hear yours as well! If you met your significant other while at camp, be sure to leave us a comment telling us your story.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Jon “Silly Rabbit” and Lindsay “Guppy” Davidson

Met: Pine Cove Timbers, Summer 2010

I met Lindsay the summer of 2010 at the Timbers. I was working with Base Camps, now Camp in the City, and Lindsay was on staff with the Timbers. I met her, found out she went to college at the University of Nebraska as well, and then made sure we/our friend groups started to intersect a bit more the following school year.

We started dating the ensuing spring, worked another summer at camp together, and got engaged the following year in 2013. I couldn’t imagine what my life would have been if I hadn’t met Lindsay that summer! I’m so thankful!

Braden “Hip Bone” Shaffer and Randi “Gnomes” Pitcock

Met: Pine Cove Forge, August 2012

Randi and I were students in the Forge class of 2013. In January of the program I started to crush on her and by the end of March I knew I wanted to ask her on a date. We were really good friends in the program, so I was sure she would say yes! I asked her out in May, she said yes and we began to date. After the program was over I worked at the Ranch and she worked at the Bluffs.

Once the summer was over, I started full time at Pine Cove as a Camp in the City Site Coordinator and Randi moved to Houston to work there. We dated long distance until December 21st when I proposed to her on the dock at the Woods, one of our favorite places at camp. We got married on September 7th, 2014!

Brent “I’m Taken” and Jessica “Gazunt-Cry-t” Bertolio

Met: Pine Cove Woods, Summer 2007

Jess and I met the summer of ’07 at the Woods. She first caught my eye while she was getting her camp name on stage and I knew right then…well…that she was extremely attractive and I didn’t have a shot! I played it cool all summer tossing hints around that I liked her but she knew she was out of my league. I didn’t ask her out until I got dared to on a half court basketball shot. (Thanks for draining that, Preston “Rock the Flock” Seibert!)

We’ve been blessed to work a summer together, get engaged at the Woods, host our wedding reception at the Woods, work on full-time staff together, and have our three kids grow up around Pine Cove. I’m truly thankful for Pine Cove hiring amazingly, awesome women of God, and that I could reel one in!

PS – Shout out to Craig “Dutch” Langemeier for hiring us both…forever in your debt!

Caleb “Wheelin and Dealin” and Hannah “Patilla” Carter

Met: Pine Cove Shores, Summer 2007

We met at the Shores in 07. All I (Hannah) remember from that summer was that Caleb did a backflip when he got named and I thought he kind of looked like a thug. He was a 2nd half counselor and I was a Mama Ruth first half so besides Orientation our paths didn’t cross much.

The following summer, the Timbers opened and he hopped over to help start the camp and be a senior counselor. The summer after that, 2009, I came on full-time and he was back for another summer on summer staff. I was program director and Caleb was assistant program director. I was certain that I would never date a summer staffer, but we shared an office and the rest is history.

Stan “Bushwacker” and Mindy “Windbreaker” Ward

Stan “Bushwacker” Ward worked for Pine Cove in a variety of roles from 1991-2001, including Ranch summer staff, Towers program and interim director, and Woods conference director. His wife, Mindy “Windbreaker” Ward served as a Towers counselor in 1992, and later taught lifeguard training and provided nursing oversight.

The summer before my senior year of college, Mindy and I broke up. Pine Cove was (partly) to blame. She was on her way to Africa for missions work, and I was on my way to be the Ranch Program director. I was concerned about going to camp “attached,” so I quite rationally explained the situation to Mindy. Her response: Because she was on her way to work with people in remote parts of Uganda, her dating prospects were slim. So, she seized the initiative and broke up with me first. We wrote back and forth during the summer, and when she returned from Africa, I told her I had reached two conclusions:

1. I wanted to work full time for Pine Cove.
2. I wanted Mindy at my side.

While not exactly a proposal, because there was no exchange of jewelry, it was certainly a statement of strong intent. Flash forward two years, and Mindy and I were married and living on the Ranch Camp property while I served as interim director at the Towers. We often joked that it would be fun to sneak into Commando Forrest to see if the Ranch staff could catch us smooching.

Now that we’ve been married over 20 years, and our Pine Cove camping days are as family campers instead of staff, we’re trying to keep our kids from catching us smooching.

Did you meet your sweetheart at Pine Cove? Tell us your story in the comments!