On Memorial Day every year, campers young and old and in-between grab up their chainsaws, work gloves, paintbrushes, and shovels.

They follow their fearless leaders into the fray, cleaning what must be cleaned, clearing what must be cleared, and doing every job needed for Camas Meadows to be prepared for a summer of ministry to children.

There may be some debate about which job to do first, where all the shovels have gone off to, and exactly where Scruffy wanted that pile of rocks moved. But eventually everyone gets a job, instruction, and bolts into the forest ready to conquer downed trees, potholes, and piles of pine needles!

With stern (and necessary) fire-hazard rules in place that prohibit chainsaw use in August, much of our firewood gathering must now occur in the Spring.

Experienced chainsaw operators work to bring down and cut up any trees killed by those pesky pine beetles.

Younger firewood enthusiasts roll rounds to the camp truck, help stack wood, or pick up all the scattered branches that such a task produces.

Our gravel roads come out of the Winter months looking shabby and full of potholes.

But with the hard work of many hands put to the task, both the parking lot and camp road are fresh and smooth.

Work was also completed on the paintball course by this father-son team.

And this Nana-grandson team charmed one and all while bringing delicious snacks to the other workers.

Yum!

Not all jobs are out of doors. Painting, scrubbing the camp chairs, washing windows and bunks, organizing the kitchen shelves and many other tasks were completed as well.

Yes, when they are not attending to their mother’s “bunny ears” needs, these helpful campers scrub all of the chairs until they are fresh and lovely!

Cleaning out the camp stove, not a problem for this hard worker.

Grubby doors … no problem!

No, she is not sticking a screwdriver in that plug in! Why do you ask? Instead, we paint the walls and ceiling in Robin’s Roost, which requires taking off the bits and pieces that we do not want to end up pale blue. Even then, we both have a few blue strands of hair and more than our fair share of blue skin by the end of the weekend.

Good food and a moment here and there to rest and play finish off an amazing and productive weekend. Thank you one and all!

Boo Boo