So, you want to learn more about Winnataska?

Guest blogger Catherine McIntosh Bentley is our camp registrar and the mom of two young boys.  She worked at camp as a Comanche and married former Blackfoot, Paul Bentley. She has been an active member of the Camp Winnataska Operating Committee (COWC) for years, and is the friendly voice who answers all kinds of questions via email! 

As much as camp people love Camp Winnataska, in some strange way, it can be hard to express why we love it so.  If you are a camp person, you just get it.  Once you attend, you are forever hooked.  You understand that feeling of coming home every time you enter the gates of camp.  You marvel at God’s creation each time you sit at Wayside on Sunday evenings.  You will never forget the first time you watched the pageant of The Holy Grail.  You really don’t care that much that camp is hot because you are too busy having fun swimming and playing in the gorge.  You never forget the excitement on the campers’ faces as they arrive on Sunday.  (Campers are the most important part of camp, after all!)

The camp family loves spreading the good news about Winnataska, so this year we are hosting Camp Winnataska recruitment parties.  I had the privilege of coordinating and attending the first Camp Winnataska recruitment party of the year at the lovely home of a family in Homewood, Alabama just a couple of weeks ago.  Sisters Isabel and Lydia greeted me with excited smiles (oldest sister Virginia returned from cheering at a school basketball game later on in the evening).   Mom Rachel and dad Lane were also there and ready to spread the word that Winnataska is the place to be!  

Pretty soon the girls and their moms started arriving.   With greetings and introductions, we were ready to gather together to watch our new promotional video.   I catch myself smiling every time that I watch it and nodding in agreement with everything that is said during the video.  My absolute favorite part comes when Blackfoot Richard Pettey says, “We definitely pour into the kids in all the ways that we possibly can.”  Okay, moms…doesn’t that sum up how at Winnataska, we care about your children and it’s all about the campers?

Coming to camp with a buddy for the first time is a great idea.  However, that doesn’t mean your child won’t come home from camp naming all of their new friends they made during the week.  So, these recruitment parties give campers a chance to tell their friends about camp and invite them to give Camp Winnataska a try.  Once you become a camp person, you are forever a camp person, and you don’t need an excuse to tell others about your love for it…whether you are a kid or an adult. 

Attending a Camp Winnataska recruitment party is a wonderful way to learn more about camp.  We will be hosting several parties both before and after the holidays.  Check out the “Winnataska parties” link on the homepage of our website to see if we are scheduled to come to a city near you.    If you are interested in attending a camp party, please email me for more information at info@winnataska.org.  I’d love to share Winnataska with you and explain why we are truly “Christian Camping at its Best” and always will be.