Oakcrest Girls Camp - Summer 1995

If you saw the last post, did you guess the picture was from camp? You were right. It was taken the summer I was a counselor at Oakcrest LDS Girls Camp in 1995. When I was younger, I went to camp at a similar camp called Brighton and thought it would be neat to go back and work there. I applied at both Brighton and Oakcrest. Brighton originally would have been my first choice, but I was offered the job at Oakcrest first and took it. Later, I was also offered the job at Brighton too, but I stuck with Oakcrest since I had already committed.

As you can see, I have posted lots of pictures of camp below. I never created a scrapbook about my summer at Oakcrest and although I’d still like one, I think this is going to be the closest I ever come to doing one. That’s ok. This will be a great reminder as well as all my journal entries from that summer.

Here are some fun memories of that summer that aren’t mentioned by the pictures below:

• When the water was low enough we took the girls to the river. Two or three counselors would stand downstream and catch the girls as they floated down on their backs. It was so much fun but since the water had to be really low we didn’t get to do this often.
  
• At the end of the week all the counselors went from cabin to cabin singing spiritual songs. We walked around with torches. It was one of the best parts of the week.Each week the girls had “solo” time where they were to go into the woods nearby and read their scriptures or write in their journal. I loved writing in my journal at this time. It was so peaceful… usually.
  
• Each counselor stayed in two cabins that summer. We were supposed to write our names on the inside of the door but I never did. I really feel bad I forgot to do that.
  
• On the overnight hike we made all sorts of different Dutch oven dinners. Yummmm!! We also made ash cakes where you put your dough directly on the hottest part of the ash from the fire. Sounds crazy, huh? Ash cake is soooooooo good and clean… I promise!
  One of my favorite memories is of all 20 or so girls in our cabin. They saw a mouse and ALL got on the same top bunk. Ha!!! It was such a funny sight.
  
• One day on the zip line we saw a bear. Is that what you call it – where you get in a harness and zip down the line? This bear hung around our camp most of the summer but kept its distance – hardly anyone saw him unless you were at the far end of camp by the dumpster. Anyway… we saw the bear… it wasn’t that close but we still panicked a bit and had to hurry and get one girl off the zip line. It felt like it took forever but I’m sure it was only a few seconds. Hummm… I didn’t make this story sound good. It’s better in my mind.
  
• The zip line was a blast. We had a couple mattresses at the bottom the girls got to smash into. Lots of fun.
  
• Archery – I love archery but I had such a headache every time we went. I was very strict with this and made a few girls pretty upset. That’s ok… the alternative isn’t an option for me. I can’t believe how dumb kids are… trying to gather arrows while others are shooting… duh!
  
• The last day of camp all of the campers went around trying to get all the counselors autographs. It was fun to be sought out like that but I also remember it being fairly annoying. It took so much time and it was hard to get anywhere.
  
• After meals we sang camp songs in the lodge. I LOVED that and so did the girls. I especially liked leading the singing with the other counselors.
  
• After camp, I had a lot of little followers. I got lots and lots of mail and a few came to visit me. Many came to my wedding. That was fun.
  

At this camp everyone used a fake name. My name was Cascade (my favorite canyon in the Tetons). At the end of the week we’d let the girls know our real names and we gave them the blue paper you see to the left (click to enlarge).

The typed paper to the left (click to enlarge) was part of my application. It’s fun reading it now… so many years later. This camp was for seventh and eighth grade girls and was run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I really enjoy my church, and I enjoy sharing my beliefs with others, so it was fun to have a job that had a major emphasis on helping the girls come closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. What a great experience. I was able to talk to girls who had their personal prayers answered at camp. It was an amazing experience to sit and cry tears of joy as we felt the spirit together. It was an exciting experience to have the girls share personal things like this with me at camp. There was one girl who I will never forget. I know she got a powerful answer to her prayers and I am positive her life will forever be changed because of camp. I KNOW God answers our prayers. I KNOW He loves us and will help us understand His plan if we ask him in prayer. Answers don’t always come fast but they do come when we work at finding an answer. Life has so much meaning when we understand God’s plan for us.

As usual, all of the designs surrounding any pictures are available at http://www.digitalscrapbookmemories.com/

Oakcrest Reunion - While looking through all these photos I googled Oakcrest to see what would come up. I found this article (scroll to the bottom) announcing a reunion in a couple weeks. I can't believe I actually had good timing. Normally, I would see the announcement a year late. ETA: 07/10/08 I won't be able to go to the reunion. Fill me in if you go/went.