Staff Profile: Hayden “Mr. Polar Behr” Weaver

If you’ve been to one of our East Texas camps within the past few years, you’re sure to have heard “Mr. Polar Behr’s” well-known “WOOOOO” screams through the piney trees! An Arkansas native and Razorback diehard, Hayden Weaver sat down to tell us about himself as he steps into his new role as the Director at the Shores under the leadership of Taylor “Fish Face” Jervis, our Vice President of Youth Camping and Senior Director at the Shores! Get to know Hayden and find out why everyone at Pine Cove loves him! 

Tell us about yourself!
I grew up in Vilonia, Arkansas with three sisters. From a young age, I knew I loved baseball and I wanted to play it forever. I ended up playing baseball in college—first at the University of Arkansas Little Rock throughout my freshman year. And then once the season ended, I got cut from the team, so I decided to move on and try to play at another school. I went to Central Baptist College, where I ultimately hung up my cleats. After that I transferred to the University of Central Arkansas where I ended up graduating. Throughout my time at college I served in a middle school ministry for four years which I loved. Growing up and even now I am a loyal fan to the Arkansas Razorbacks. There’s a lot of lions and tigers and bears out there, but they ain’t but one Razorback.

How did you get to Pine Cove, and what different roles have you held?
My first summer at Pine Cove was in 2017. I had a friend who worked at camp the previous summer and he ultimately encouraged me to apply. I ended up applying and while considering it, I talked to the pastor I was serving under at the time, Richard Eberle. I brought it up to him saying, “Hey, I have a buddy who asked me about working at Pine Cove, but I’ve never heard of Pine Cove before.” And Rich told me, “You have to work at Pine Cove. I worked at the Timbers. I was the program director of the Timbers.” So I was sold! I worked in the summers of 2017 and 2018 as a counselor and on the ropes course at the Shores. Then I came back to camp in 2020 as a senior counselor. Soon after, I became a site director in the southeast for Pine Cove City Team Delta! Once that summer ended in 2022, I accepted the role of being the Shores Men’s Director and moved to Tyler. Now I’m the Director at the Shores!

When did you start following Jesus?
My sophomore year of college is when I really started following the Lord and taking my faith seriously. I sat down with Richard at a coffee shop one time to talk to him about how I was thinking about serving in the middle school ministry at our church. He asked me, “What would you say to a middle school boy if he came up to you and asked you what the Gospel was?” And I looked at him in the eyes and said, “I have no idea what I would say.” From that point on he challenged me in a really faithful way. He told me, “You say you believe these things, then go find and out. I’m not going to just spoon feed you right now.” That was a pivotal moment for me where I realized the need to take my faith seriously. I dove into scripture, listened intently to sermons, and hung out with Richard a lot. Following him taught me everything when it comes to ministry and what it looks like to follow Jesus with your whole heart daily. 

What’s your favorite memory from being on summer staff?
Being a senior counselor was such a fun summer. My favorite memory was praying individually with each of the counselors that I was shepherding throughout the weeks. It was a special way I got to encourage them and support them each day. 

If you had to eat one camp meal for the rest of your life what would it be?
The taco bowls! We have jalapeno ranch with it, and it’s unreal. For dessert I’d have the pizookie that we have on Nice Night. 

Where does your love of high school and college ministry come from?
My love for ministry comes from the pastor at my church that I previously mentioned, Richard. When I was in college, he just did life with me. He makes me think of what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 2:8, “Being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” Richard shared his very life with me and brought me in on hardships he would face. Or whenever he had a tough conversation with a parent, he would tell me what was said and how he approached it. He was such a great teacher. I was blessed by the way he discipled me and now I want to do that with the people that I get to be around—whether it be the Shores’ Men’s Director Lane, the college staffers, or the high school campers. Richard is still a close friend, we call each other all the time, and I even ran a marathon with him a few months ago!

Do you have a favorite skit character you’ve been?
In 2020 I was a character based off of the Enneagram. Kyle “Office Chair” Chase came up with it. It was during orientation week and I was physically putting people into boxes. My voice, costume, and the entire concept of the character was hilarious!

How did you get your camp name?
Someone from the crowd asked me my go-to karaoke song, which was “Ice Ice Baby.” The crowd made me “prove it,” so I ended up singing it in front of everyone. There also was a funny story I shared from when Richard, as I was first starting to serve in the ministry he led, asked me to call this number and said, “Hey, can you call this guy and ask for Hillsong worship tickets so we can take the middle school kids to a worship night? The guy’s name is Mr. Behr spelt B-E-H-R, but pronounced bear.” And he told me, “If you get his assistant, just ask for Mr. Behr. Now, I’m about to go into a meeting, so I can’t talk anymore,” and left it at that. So me, being the servant that I am, was like, “Yeah, of course I’ll do this call.” Well, turns out Richard was pranking me and the number he gave me was the number to the zoo. So I called the zoo asking for Mr. Behr. My good friend and a Shores legend, Micheal “Bird” Atkinson, named me. 

Do you have a favorite name that you’ve sold?
My favorite name that I’ve sold is probably “Mekanikku.” A summer staffer, JD Hamilton, talked about his love for Japan and that he liked to work on cars. Avery “Juice” Fink and Becca “Konnichiwa” Cummings came up with the idea, but I helped them sell it and it was hilarious. 

I also love the name “Wrigley’s, Believe It Or Not.” A counselor told a story about how she was choking on gum and so she performed the Heimlich maneuver on herself! So I combined Wrigley’s, the gum brand, with “Ripley’s, Believe It or Not.”

Take us through your ideal Saturday!
I would wake up and go for a run. Then I’d make breakfast, which would be over easy eggs and some protein pancakes. I’d also get some electrolytes back in me through BPN, Bare Performance Nutrition electrolytes. Then I’d get my buddies, rally the troops, and go golfing with all of my roommates. After golfing we’d all go get lunch at Stanley’s. Then I’d go home and take a nap. After my nap I’d invite all my friends to dinner and we’d go to True Vine for some pizza. To end the night, all my friends would come back over to my house to play video games and watch a movie. We’re going to play PGA 2K ‘23 or Mario Party. And for the movie we’re going to probably watch a Christopher Nolan movie. Then I’d hit the hay around 10:30 or 11pm!

What have been some of your favorite things recently?
I love running! I ran a half marathon two years ago and I enjoyed it, so I trained to do a full marathon which was really fun—it really helps me think. I got a bunch of friends and even some summer staffers to run the full with me which made it even better. I also have been liking watching a guy on YouTube who does financial audits of people. I’ve also been loving golfing, watching baseball, and making smoothies. I love playing the Daily Dozen, a trivia game, each day, and I’m really into listening to sleep podcasts that teach me about sleeping.

What’s the Lord been teaching you recently?
The Lord has been teaching me recently how to endure. I’ve been studying Matthew, specifically when Jesus is talking about His return and how His people will endure well during the tribulation. After reading that, I asked myself, “Do I endure well right now with the hardships in my life?” Later in Matthew, Jesus talks about when a master leaves their home, his servant is to stay by the door, alert. In the same way, I want to stay awake until He returns. So He’s teaching me how to endure well in a season of chaos, and how to stay alert in a fallen world.