Week 1 of Day Camps is often a challenging time for the Teams (and for myself!). Teams are just settling in with each other, learning how to work together and personality conflicts can flare up.
New Team Leaders are nervous, clutching their Manuals for dear life so any deviations from the Program suggested by those at the local level can seem like insurmountable difficulties. This year has been no exception! Not being mathematically inclined I haven’t counted up the number of phone calls, texts and emails but I did note 68 texts on one mid-week day, AGH!!!!
The week began with earnest intentions on my part to catch up on a mountain of paperwork left over from the Retreat and I can report that, as the week ends, most of that pile has been sorted and dealt with.
Tuesday evening was the Retreat Staff Evaluation Meeting. Four of us met over dinner, reviewed the feedback forms and analysed various Retreat components from the basic schedule to Worship, Workshops & Small Groups. It was a productive meeting, one that needs to take place right after the Retreat while all the details are still fresh in our minds.
Late that evening I received a call from the Team Leader in Alberta that his Team Member had injured his knee and was being taken to a clinic. The young man had had a previous knee problem so this was serious news. Next day I spoke with the chaperone who had driven him to the clinic and was told that the doctor had indicated he must be flown home immediately for surgery.
This dramatic turn of events called for a flurry of long distance phone calls and emails. An airline ticket was procured with the assistance of a church treasurer in Edmonton, Henry’s father was notified and as I type this post Henry is in transit between Edmonton and his home in Ottawa. This extra ticket comes as an unexpected expense in our very tight Day Camps budget but we cannot expect the host churches or his family to shoulder the burden. Fortunately the summer edition of the CTM Newsletter was being published this week so it was possible to insert a small plea for donations,
which we hope and pray will help to offset the cost.
which we hope and pray will help to offset the cost.
We were also truly blessed that Desirae, a two-time former Team Member was helping at the Day Camp (held at an evacuation centre in Cold Lake Alberta) and she has stepped up and offered to. replace Henry for at least the next 2 weeks. Without her it would have been virtually impossible for Joshua to continue alone. We are all praying that no further dramas of this magnitude will hit the Teams in the three weeks still to come.
Last week during evening worship at the Retreat we we sang a song which was new to me but which, one of our worship Directors explained, had been a source of comfort to her, seven years ago on her first summer on Team. It has proven to be the same for me this week as chaos seemed to surround me on every side. I have found myself humming it as I took refuge for an hour or so in the garden, escaping the constant “ping” of the texts or the cell phone’s ring.
My visit to the Day Camp happening at St. Stephen’s House was, thus postponed to Thursday, but that sunny morning I biked down to church and was able to watch the Main Presentation and visit with the Team over snack. There seemed to be a happy atmosphere of organised chaos, at least one Team was having a good week!!
Actually, although a couple of the Teams did experience the usual Week 1 jitters and minor personality conflicts, everyone did have a pretty good week with the Team in Saskatchewan registering over 100 children at Gordon’s First Nation (fortunately they never had more than a mere 80 or so on any given day!!)
No time for sewing or crafting this week, although, yesterday, I did squeeze in making a batch of Lavender Hand Cream as a birthday gift for a friend and packed it in a nice tea tin, which I decorated with Washi Tape, from my small stash!
Yesterday all the Leaders called in to report on their Closing Services and (so far!) there has been less phone activity today. This is just as well since tomorrow is my turn on lunch duty at church plus, in the afternoon there will a Senior Camp Staff Meeting at the house immediately following a Crossroads Planning Meeting. After the Staff meeting the Huyer family will be staying for High Tea so today includes a lot of food preparation!
Speaking of food, the dessert at our Tuesday meeting was pretty popular so I decided to share it here. The recipe comes from my Mum’s handwritten cookbook, which I cherish. I hope you will enjoy: –
Summer Berry Crown Crunch
- ½ cup cold water 2 pints berries
- (I used strawberries and blueberries)
- 1Tbsp.unflavoured gelatine
- 1 tsp.lemon juice
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup flour
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ chopped almonds
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 cup whipping cream
Heat oven to 400º. Mix butter, flour, brown sugar and nuts together with your hands to make a crumbly mixture. Spread on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, stir to break up and then leave to cool. Soften gelatine in the cold water. In a medium saucepan mash ten berries. Add the lemon juice and sugar. Boil, stirring occasionally, remove from the heat and stir in the dissolved gelatine. Dip a few whole berries in this mixture and place in the bottom of the mould to form a design. Chill rest of the mixture until partially set. Whip the cream and fold in along with all the berries. Fill the mould alternating layers of berry mixture and crunch, ending with the crunch. Chill several hours or overnight. When ready to serve, dip the mould in hot water to loosen then invert on a flat serving plate. Garnish with a few more berries. Serves 6-8.