Western Plains District

Dear Western Plains,

I’m simply blown away by the turnout at this weekend’s camp opening and board/trustee meeting. It was a fantabulous time! Much was accomplished. Bear in mind, however, that there is still much to do in terms of getting ready for campers!

Here are some highlights of the weekend:

• By our count, a total of twenty six (26) attended all or part of the meeting. Once again, we are amazed at the turnout. It simply proves that communication, and especially advance communication, is key to the success of any venture! A special thanks to all who participated in whatever way!

• Three others were part of the weekend.
  • Eldred Kingery spent 7 or 8 hours mowing and trimming on Friday. This is the second time he’s driven down from Topeka with his mower, gasoline and time to mow the camp grounds this spring. In his words, “I love doing it!” Thanks so much, Eldred, for your generous gift to Camp Mount Hermon.
  • Rudy and Kathy Anderson arrived Friday afternoon to spend time readying the new basketball court and volleyball court for this summer’s campers. The basketball court is in memory of their son, Jeff! Thanks so much to Rudy and Kathy and the Anderson family for their generous gift to Camp Mt. Hermon.

• The group enjoyed a carry-in dinner at noon on Saturday. It was, as is typical for us Brethren, very well endowed with food items from chips, baked beans, salads and pulled pork to cookies, blue velvet cake and homemade ice cream. As Grandpa Jones audience used to say, “Yum! Yum!”

• Marj Burkholder donated and brought two blue spruce trees in memory of her late husband, Jon. These were planted on either side of the drive up near the RV center under her direction on Saturday afternoon. Marj will drive out frequently to make sure they receive adequate watering. Thanks so much, Marj, for your generous gift of trees, time and miles. I’m not sure who all was on the planting crew, but think Dale Yoder, Ryan Wolf and another one or two others were part of it.

• Mira Coulter and Jan Hurst worked furiously at digging dandelions out of the play area. Thanks so much to both of you ladies for this gift! NOTE: There are still plenty to dig up in that area alone. Come, bring your dandelion diggers and have at it!

• Kyle Reinoehl will donate and install a security system in the manager’s cabin and the dining hall. It will feature an audible warning to intruders that they are trespassing and will be prosecuted. He will also oversee its maintenance. Thanks so much, Kyle, for this generous gift.

• Hazel Lauver arrived Friday morning with groceries and other essentials. As per usual, she had the kitchen well in hand. Thanks, Hazel, for your continued gift in this capacity, as well for your work as camp treasurer, camp contact person (especially in the off season) and continued commutes to camp to meet all other needs that may arise.

• Dave Mishler arrived on Friday morning. He fought diligently to overcome plumbing issues, especially in the pit at the shower house, most of the day Friday and again on Saturday before and after the meeting.  Dave also chairs our board of directors for which we are very grateful. Dave works hard, mostly behind the scenes, at making sure your camping experience is a blessed one. We owe Dave a big debt of gratitude for his continued care for our camp! Thanks, Dave!

• Eric Goering arrived mid-day Friday. He also worked with Dave at the plumbing task. I believe he and Dale Yoder, also worked at cleaning culvert entrances and exits. Thanks, guys for your continued work at readying the camp.

• John Hulce, arrived early Friday afternoon. He worked at cleaning up and burning brush piles, grading the driveway, fixing damage to screens at the manager’s cabin and mowing the driveway berms from the entrance to prairie. John has also served on your camp board for longer than this writer is aware of. His term of service on the board, at least temporarily, is ended this fall. Thanks, John, for your diligence and tireless work for many, many years to Camp Mt. Hermon.

• Linda Hulce arrived Saturday. Linda is our board secretary. Thanks Linda for keeping track of all the wild discussions, motions, etc. that abound at our board meetings. Thanks, also for the many other tasks you do for Camp Mt. Hermon.

• Ken and Dorothy Davidson arrived about noon on Friday. Ken worked with plumbing repairs, yard clean-up, brush burning and screen repair at the manager’s cabin. Thanks, Ken for your longstanding and continued caring for Camp Mt. Hermon. Dorothy got about readying the manager’s cabin for this season, as well as working with Hazel in getting the kitchen going. Thanks, Dorothy, for your continued work as camp manager. Is this your third season? Or am I missing one . . . or more.

• Barb Flory and Retta Reinoehl helped clean in the kitchen, etc. Thanks ladies.

• Lisa Lauver and Retta Reinoehl swept the porch at the dining hall. Thanks ladies for continued work and support of Camp Mt. Hermon.

• Dave Sampson arrived Saturday. Dave swept the cabins and sidewalks. Thanks, Dave, for your generous gifts to Camp Mt. Hermon.

• Lastly, I hate to toot my own horn, but so that those of you who camp, counsel, direct, nurse, cook or do any other camp task that occurs after it appears the camp is in ship shape know how much work goes into readying the camp for the season: I arrived on Thursday evening. I began Friday morning by fixing a water leak at the RV bath house, replacing showerheads, pipe plugs and toilet supply lines, closing drain valves, turning on the RV water system and checking for leaks. I then helped Dave with turning on the water to shower house, manager’s cabin and dining hall/kitchen/retreat center. Finding leaks in the kitchen, I then worked at repairing those. It seemed when one was fixed, the next one would occur. At one point Dave asked if I knew anything about water heaters. The retreat center water heater was not working. After a lengthy learning process, I discovered that one leg of the electrical power to the panel in the retreat center was only running at about one third of normal voltage. A burned contact on the breaker pole out in the yard was the culprit. A new breaker was in order. After the meeting on Saturday, I sprayed Serpent Guard in and around cabins 1 through 8, the shower house, the kitchen/dining hall/retreat center, and the manager’s cabin. I also sprayed it around the fire ring, in and around the wood shed and in the indoor chapel. (More about Serpent Guard later.)

• All of this involved numerous parts runs. I made six trips into Tonganoxie. I know Dave made at least one, Ken made at least one and Rudy one.  I also made one after (Tongie) hours run into KC to Lowes.

• When one endeavors to list and thank people, I’m sure someone gets left out. My deepest apologies for missing anyone!

New additions to our Camp Mt. Hermon Board of Directors, beginning this fall, are: Grant Tuttle and David Sampson. Returning to the board is Dale Yoder. Congratulations fellows . . . and do you really know what you’ve gotten yourselves into? 😉

Retiring this fall as board members will be John Hulce and Cheryl Mishler. Many, many thanks for your years of service to the board of Camp Mt. Hermon John and Cheryl. I’m sure it is not ended just because you’re leaving your official capacity as board members.

As chair of the nominating committee, I’m grateful for all who’ve agreed to have their names placed in nomination for a term or terms on the board. I’m especially grateful to see young people with recent experience as campers allow their names to be placed in nomination. With that said, we already have at least one young lady, who’s very enthusiastically said yes to having her name placed in nomination next year.

Serpent Guard! We know some are very concerned about the frequency of the occurrence of snakes, specifically Copperheads, in cabins, shower houses, etc. We share that concern! We want our camper’s experience to be blessed, fun and safe! To that end we are trying Serpent Guard. If you’re interested to know more, you can read about it here: www.serpentguard.com . I’ll not say more except that it is environmentally friendly and is non-toxic to children and pets.

Camp cook stove: A representative from Heetco came to assess this appliance. For $95.00 he cleaned pilot tubes and jets and showed Dave Mishler how to do this task. This appliance ought to be in great shape for this season.

Walk-in cooler: Still up in the air is the question as to whether the walk-in will be functional this season. We know it has a refrigerant leak that is more than minor. Hazel has a call into the folks that have been servicing our refrigeration needs for several years. They have not returned her call. I will be looking into this early this week.

Added Camp: The Leavenworth County 4-H will be using our facilities on July 1^st and 2^nd.

Camp Pickup: The camp pickup is for sale! Its condition and location have been stated in a previous email. The board did not set any deadline for showing interest. However, unless others on the board object, I want to impose a June 1, 2015 deadline for bidding on the truck. A salvage value bid of two hundred dollars ($200.00) is already in hand.

Camp work days, May 22 to 25, 2015. Many tasks remain! The first camp arrives on May 26. We must be prepared. There is cleaning to be done, repairs yet to be made, supplies and kitchen equipment to move into place, dandelions to dig, etc. The Andersons will once again be there working on the basketball court. Help may be appreciated here. Also, Hazel needs to know not later than May 15^th how many will be there for dinner (some of you call it lunch) on Saturday, May 23^rd. Please RSVP to this email or call Hazel if you have her phone number. I’m going to send this specific item in a separate email as well, so that it gets your full attention! Thanks in advance for your response and participation in Camp workdays!

Blessings in Christ,

Larry L. Ditmars, Vice Chairperson
For the Camp Mt. Hermon Board of Directors

Dave Mishler, Chairperson

Linda Hulce, Secretary

Hazel Lauver, Treasurer

Gerald Edwards

John Hulce

Cheryl Mishler