Staff Favorites: Camp Traditions

There’s just something about camp traditions that stick with you. We’ve got traditions so fun, so weird, and so beloved that staff count down the days just to relive them. The goofy cheers, the late-night snacks, the moments that make you laugh until you cry. They’re the heartbeat of camp, passed down from camp director to counselor to camper and back again. We asked some of our team to share their all-time favorite camp traditions—the ones they look forward to every summer and still talk about long after the campers head home. So get ready for a peek behind the curtain of what keeps us coming back year after year. (Hint: it’s not just the cookie sandwiches!)

“Every Opening Day of camp, Michael “Bird” Atkinson and I celebrate our own personal camp tradition: drinking a cold Dr Pepper and sharing a handshake. As of this blog post, we will have just celebrated 185 Opening Days—most of them together!” – Taylor “Fish Face” Jervis, Vice President of Youth Camping

“I’ve got a few favorite traditions to share! First off, I’ve got to say that I love seeing skit villains go down at the end of the week. No one really cares about the skit hero winning. It’s only really about wanting to see the skit villain get utterly destroyed. Secondly, I love hearing activity class spiritual applications. Everything can be seen as an opportunity to reflect upon and consider what life is really like in the Kingdom of God. Lastly, I love the tradition of Camper Share at the end of the camp week! It’s always an incredibly encouraging time to get a glimpse of what God has done in just five short days. And never gets old going crazy in celebration during worship to end the week!” – Conor “Flow” Barry, Ridge Camp Director

“One of my favorite camp traditions is Girls Morning! It is so sweet to watch each of the girls rally around each other and enjoy being a girl! During Girls Morning, we do a multitude of things including: cookie decorating with cabins, counselor talent show, Just Dance parties, and swimming in the pool or shopping at the camp store. It’s the very best and each of our campers feels a sweet sense of care after spending time with just the girls on this morning of camp!” – Erin “Sweets” Roach, Registrar

“A personal tradition from my time as a camper was that every summer, after my parents picked me up from camp, I would always ask to go to McAlister’s here in Tyler for lunch so I could see all the Pine Cove staffers again!” – Bri “Moon Boots” Reed, Registration Coordinator

“I love Rite Night. This is an intentional night we have set up for Impact (high school)campers  and their parents. Each year, it alternates between being Mother/Son and Father/Daughter to being Father/Son and Mother/Daughter, or the whole family all together. We have a lot of fun, and there is a very intentional aspect to the night. Every year there are really awesome stories that come from that event.” – Chris “Broflex” Boddy, Vice President of Family Ministries

“One of my favorite Timbers traditions was always watching every P-staff guy help load trunks on closing day. We’d haul a trailer around the lake to the girls’ side, stack trunks as high as we could (while also being seriously safe), then drive them back to a spot near the parking lot for parent pickup. But those trunks weren’t going to unload themselves! Each week, an army of P-staff would sprint behind the trailer while the “Rocky” theme blared from the truck. It felt like going to war with my brothers, and in a way, we were!” – Ethan “Runny” Hebert, IT Operations Support Technician

“I love watching the talent show at the Bluffs each summer! It’s so fun to watch little kids get up on stage to tell jokes, bigger kids do gymnastics or play the piano, and even parents step up to roping tricks for the crowd (yeah—that happened)! It usually culminates in a very well-rehearsed and super planned-out duet from a Disney movie performed by a couple of staffers. It’s such a seriously sweet (and hilarious!) mid-week night.” – Valerie “Ouch Potato” Morby, Social Media and Copy Manager

“When I was on summer staff, I always loved the prayer time right before the gates opened on Sundays. It was such a reminder to give our efforts to the Lord and to remember where our strength and identity lies.” – Amy “Encore” Drake, HQ Executive Assistant