The Oasis House Church

This past weekend, The Oasis House Church of Tempe Arizona drove out for a retreat here at Camp Maranatha. It was a lot of fun having them.

We also hosted a group of about 50 from the Rock Church. Both were first time groups, but things went really smoothly. Meeting new brothers and sisters is one of the joys that comes from working at Camp.

LIABILITY PROBLEM!!!

BEAUTIFUL DAY HERE IN IDYLLWILD 11-9-2006

It's a beautiful day here in Idyllwild. The kind of day where you would be comfortable in a sweatshirt, but if you start moving around you might want to take it off. There is a little bit of a breeze blowing the smell of pine around, and there isn't a cloud in the sky. I like the way the green mountains are juxtaposed next to the blue sky. Everything is so crisp and clear in the mountains. Really it is a beautiful day up here. We wish you were here to enjoy it with us... cancel that... why don't you come up?

For no particular reason I am posting two old Kids Kamp pictures. I just thought you would appreciate them. The top one is from 1968 and the bottom one is from 1957.

THE NEW OAK LODGE'S DEDICATION CEREMONY

Lunch was served prior to the dedication ceremony.
Dave Crimi led everyone in prayer before the meal.
The afternoon sun shining through the fish cut outs which adorn the railings and stairways throughout the building.

Roughly 90 people attended the dedication ceremony. We were grateful for the turnout.
Conference President, Dave Crimi, addresses those in attendance.
Walt Shirley, Camp Maranatha's most faithful volunteer and honorary MMAPer, had a few brief comments. He is pictured here cutting the ribbon. Several people cut the ribbon throughout the ceremony in recognition of their contribution to the camp and specifically the building project.
The MMAPer ladies donated two framed Thomas Kinkade puzzles, which they completed during past projects. Eva Sprague (pictured above) and her husband, Jay Sprague, were instrumental in introducing Camp Maranatha to the MMAPer organization.
Veteran MMAPers, Dave and Vaal Eckenroth, were recognized for completing their 100th MMAP project- twelve of which have been at Camp Maranatha. Over the construction of the Oak Lodge the MMAPer organization has contributed 17, 825 hours of volunteer labor. The construction of the Oak Lodge would not have been possible without their hard work and generosity.
Keith Shirley and his "right hand man" Dave Shoemaker. Dave Shoemaker, from the Tustin Church, regularly drove up to camp on weekends to assist keith with the building.
A slide show was shown showing the different stages of the construction project down through past few years. It was an incredible visual reminder of what a massive undertaking the building was and it also served as a reminder of how faithful God has been.
Louis Gransee dedicated the building to God and His use through prayer.

BOBCAT SIGHTING AT CAMP-11/7/2006

Last night, as we were sitting at our dining room table eating dinner, we heard the ravens outside making an unusual amount of noise. We are used to ravens making a lot of noise around our house, but their cawing was of an unusual intensity, frequency, and volume. Sarah stepped out onto the porch to see what all the fuss was about and saw a bobcat right across the road by the fountain. I joined her on the porch just in time to see the bobcat jump down into the concrete area around the fountain.
The ravens were dive-bombing the beleaguered feline, who left the fountain and made its way calmly around the edges of the center grass. Sarah ran back inside, grabbed the camera, threw on a sweater and shoes and then went out to see if she could get a picture of it.
Being the expert tracker that she is, Sarah caught up with the bobcat at the far end of the center grass by the gazebo. She was able to take a couple of pictures, but because of the gathering dusk they are a little dark and fuzzy. Sarah got a good look at it and said that it had short dark fur and most of one of its ears was missing. The ravens didn’t leave it alone until it disappeared into the manzanitas on the hillside just north of the A-frame.
One of the MMAPer couples also saw the bobcat walking through the camp’s parking lot shortly before we saw it across from our house.

THE NEW OAK LODGE

Looking north from the Gazebo.

Looking south from the tabernacle.
Rooms connected by bridges on the back side of the building.
The back side of the building looking north along the dirt road.

The chapel.
Inside one of the building's 16 rooms. The bunkbeds can be taken apart for campers who don't want to climb to an upper bunk. In this picture the bunkbed has been taken down. Each room has a private shower and toilet. Most rooms have three beds, but some have 5.

RT 243 FROM THE BANNING SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN IS STILL CLOSED

If you are planning to attend the ribbon cutting and dedication service for the new building tomorrow the way up the mountain from Banning on rt. 243 remains closed due to damage from the recent wildfire.

There is a possibility it will be reopened before tomorrow, but you should check to make sure before you leave home.

To check if 243 has been reopened call the State Highway Conditions phone number at 1-800-427-7623 and request information about 243.

We are looking forward to seeing you here at Camp tomorrow!

RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY THIS SATURDAY

A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held this Saturday the 4th at 1:30pm to dedicate the new Oak Lodge and thank the MMAPers and other volunteers who assisted in the building's construction. Lunch will be served at 12:00 pm prior to the ceremony. There is no cost for the lunch or to attend the ceremony, and we would love for you to come!

We hope to see you there!

THE CAMPS BEGINNINGS- EARLY 1950'S

Click on the image to view an enlarged version.

Check out that huge parrot on that guy's shirt. I like his style.

The Old Big Pine Lodge.
The Old Ponderosa.
The Maple Lodge (staff house).

10-29-2006

This past weekend we hosted three groups. The group pictured here in the Oak Lodge's chapel is Charisma in Missions. They brought 150 campers from the Los Angeles area. The other two groups, not pictured here were Village Bible Church (teens) and Promise Lutheran (women). It was a good weekend despite the distraction of the wildfire on the other side of the mountain.