When Church and Camp Combine

This past Friday SpringHill had the opportunity to help out Grace Community Church near Indianapolis by running our Euro Bungee at Fan Jam. This event had over 200 fourth and fifth grade students attend.  The children got to hear a presentation of the gospel, worship with Keith Conner, eat some pizza and participate in some crazy indoor fun.  We got to be a part of the “crazy indoor fun” part by providing our Euro Bungee.  It is not too often we bring this activity indoors and it’s not too easy either.  With the help of some creative minds and strong volunteers we made it happen.

This was such a fun event!  Once the kids were “released” to do the activities we instantly became the most popular with a very long line.  It was such a blessing to interact with all of these kids.  I even got to speak with some campers who expressed how pumped they are to be coming back this summer.  To be a part of an event focused on reaching out to the local community was a real encouragement.  Thank you Grace for all your hard work to pull this off.  Thank you Volunteers and SpringHill staff for helping make an outdoor activity, inside, a possibility.

Fan Jam is a real life example of a local church body investing in spiritual lives of children within their community.  Fan Jam is also another example of what is possible when ministries with a common purpose work together and share resources to achieve their common mission.  I pray that more and more Christ centered ministries would begin to realize the strength we have when we work together to spread the gospel of Christ.

Edison [or Tesla] Would be Proud

As I have stated before, change is in the air here at SpringHill.  Due to the unseasonably warm weather we have had the opportunity to really make some great strides on our “to do” list.  One of the exciting updates for this summer is electricity! Now I understand that it was over 120 years ago that Tesla and Edison duked it out over “power rights” and thus electricity may seem like old news.  However, when it comes to lights, fans and power to our Walled Tents, Hill toppers and Teepees, this is literally groundbreaking news.  Our site team along with some outside help and volunteers has spent hours tearing through our earth to lay down the cable needed to provide power to these (no longer) rustic areas.  Parents, staff and campers alike can rejoice knowing that this summer, no matter where you stay, you will have the ability to see and cool off.

I understand that some may ask: “At what point do you loose the rustic feel of camping?”  I have had to wrestle with this question myself so let me share with you why these updates are important for SpringHill and are aligned with our mission.  Our goal is to provide a safe, welcoming camp environment for all of our guests.  Our mission involves sharing the life-impacting message of Christ with every camper.  It becomes difficult to accomplish our mission if campers are too focused on such things as the heat or a fear of the dark.  We also understand that some parents are not comfortable sending their children to sleep away in an unlit cabin with no movement of air.  By adding power we now have the ability to add lighting and fans to each cabin, thus addressing the aforementioned concerns.

We are so excited about these updates and I cannot wait to see how God is going to use them to further His kingdom.  If you are interested in helping complete this project please contact me at cedgren@springhillcamps.com. If you have any questions about this project, please leave a comment.

Here Comes the Party [Barge]

As I promised last week, today I will be giving you a glimpse of the work being done on the Party Barge.  Thanks to donors and volunteers we have been able to overhaul one of our greatest assets. Some of the new highlights include: lighting (for night-time fun), a sound system, all new zip-line tower, new composite decking, easy to use staircase, new paint and other eye pleasing additions.

This has been no small undertaking for the site team.  They have been working on grinding, welding, sanding, painting and building since the fall.  I am so grateful for all the hard work that has been going into this project and am so excited to see the finished product in use this summer.

The pictures only show our current progress, you’ll have to come this summer to see it in its full glory.  Campers are going to have a blast on this year, parents, sign up for a family camp so you can experience it first hand as well!

As we say goodbye to the Party Barge as it once was, I would love for anyone to share fond memories they have at the Party Barge. For me its all the time I’ve spent out there training our lifeguards.

As we look forward to using the new Party Barge, I must ask; what are you most looking forward to this year at SpringHill?

Change is in the Air

While I know it is too early to declare the arrival of spring, it sure is hard not to get excited about warmer weather and sunshine.  At SpringHill spring means many things but most importantly it means getting ready.  Every year we try to step it up another notch over the previous year as well as take another step in the direction of our mission.  This year there are three main projects we are working on to improve the physical property and experience of our guests.

1. Dining Hall Upgrade
2. Electricity to all housing areas
3. Party Barge Update

Today I am going to share a little bit about the Dining Hall plan and why this project is important to SpringHill.  By the time we have our summer campers on camp in June we will have totally revamped our dining hall space and improved its ability to be used as a session space.  As you can imagine, a large area with a concrete floor and many hard surfaces did not make for an ideal space for large group sessions and loud bands.  So, we brought in an acoustical engineer and designed a plan to improve this space and control sound.  We are also looking at revamping the stage area to include two screens, a permanent stage and real professional stage curtains.  Another really cool addition is the GOBO.  Usually drummers are stuck in Plexiglas fish tanks in order to control sound levels.  With the GOBO we will be able to eliminate the tank and free up more stage space.

All of this work will add up to a well-purposed space not just a re-purposed space.  We have always used this space for duel roles, eating and entertaining, however the entertaining was always a secondary function.  With these upgrades guests will be able to have a truly professional audio-visual experience.  Better yet concerts will not turn into mere, cover your ears, noise.

I truly appreciate the vision, planning, time and hard work that our site team has put into this project.  When this project is complete we will have to ability to serve more campers and guests on our property, which means our capacity to reach others with the message of Christ increases!  If you would like to help with this project please contact myself or call the office at 812.497.0008.