Specific Activities

When the CITs first got to the camp we played names games and role-playing games to help them feel comfortable around each other.  Our hope was that the CITs had an out of the ordinary common experience with one another so they start to build shared common experiences.

Most of the next few weeks are meetings and we practice with the “learning groups” or lesson plans.  This gives the CITs an opportunity to learn the material more and more and they have an opportunity to develop their own teaching style.

Throughout the summer we talk about and do service projects for the camp and how important it is to give back to those who have given so much to you.

End of Summer Reflections

One of the Calumet alumni told me once about his CIT summer, “Coming to Calumet that summer was the best thing in my life.  I know that if it was not for that summer I would of eventually ended up in jail.”  One of the trainees of the summer of 2000 said to me “thanks for the best summer of my life.  I don’t know where I would be without that summer. I learned so much about my faith in God and myself.  I will always use what you taught me that summer.”

The CIT program is a great program and it will continue to serve thousands of youth.  One of the best aspects of the program and one of the most important parts of the program is  building relationships with the kids.

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For more insight check out:

The Courtship Dance

Calumet City: A Novel

The following are portions of a paper I wrote for my undergrad about the CIT program at Camp Calumet.

During, the summer of 2000 I was the co-leader of the Counselor in Training program at Camp Calumet.  We designed and implemented an eight-week leadership program for fifteen and sixteen year olds.  This specific program has been established at Calumet since the mid-seventies.  We were basically handed a staff manual and were told that we had to teach the CITs everything in the staff manual in eight weeks, plus we assisted in training them to be lifeguards, and teach them the basic principals of working with children 8 years old to 15 years old.

Purpose

Calumet Lutheran Camp and Conference Center is a year round Lutheran camp for boys, girls, families and adults.  Part of their mission is to support the Lutheran Congregations in New England.  That includes a summer camp program for kids and a summer campground (with program) for families and adults.  The Counselor in Training Program works with both programs and  is designed to help transition the participants from being a camper to becoming a staff member.  It is equips the participants with skills to become better leaders.  There is also a Leadership and Service program that is a four week program.  This is a similar program but has different aspects to the program but I did not have major involvement in this program.

When the program started we wanted to strengthen their inter and intra personal skills.  At the start of the summer there were twenty-four sixteen year-olds who do not know each other, and they are put into a situation where they have to live together in a confined space.  For most of the youth this is their first experience away from home.  They are going to have to learn to get a long with each other and eventually start becoming their own person.

The first two weeks of their summer  are spent in meetings.  We tell them about the rules and regulations.  We also teach a Bible curriculum and how to take that information  to make lesson plans for when they teach the kids.  Development of activities and flow of lessons is also an essential part of the program and something that the youth do not have much experience with.

After they are done with the program, one goal is to have each youth excited about their faith and able to be confident about their skills and gifts that God has given them and to share  these with others.

Participant Recruitment and Retention

The majority of the youth who participate in the Counselor in Training Program are youth who in some way or another have participated in a Calumet run program in the past.  Most of the youth say that Calumet is an addiction  because once you attend a program you will tend to participate in Calumet programs the rest of your life.  The freedom of expression of who you are and your faith is amazing to those who participate in the program.

The average career of a camp counselor at Calumet is around six summers.  It is not the pay that makes the counselors come back year after year but it is the history of relationships, the fellowship between staff, the ability to grow in your faith and the beauty of the camp that attracts them to come back.

Leadership

Throughout the summer the leadership and decision-making time become more and more frequent for the participants in the program.  When they first come there are rules that they need to follow and structure that is set for them so they can get in a routine and become comfortable with the situation  in which they  find themselves.  As the summer progresses they become more independent and make decisions for themselves and for the entire group.  What they do reflects positively or negativity on the whole group.  This builds a sense of togetherness and makes each of them accountable with one another.  As the group begins to gel the participants become more comfortable with their surrounds which in turn helps them become more comfortable and confident with themselves.

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For more insight check out:

Calumet Beginnings: Ancient Shorelines and Settlements at the South End of Lake Michigan

Art in Theory 1900 - 2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas

David has tagged me for a meme. I will try and finish this before I go to the YMCA for some swimming.

The rules for this meme are fairly standard. Simply post the rules at the beginning of your post, answer the questions,, and tag five others to play along. Leave a comment on their blog to let them know that they need to visit yours for the rules, and of course, link back to the one who tagged you, in this case….me!

Here we go

Ten years ago:
Wow I have not thought about 10 years ago in a long time. 10 years ago I was finishing my second year at Luther College. I was preparing go to to Camp Calumet for the summer. hmmm… Good times

Five things on today’s “to do” list:

Work on my Bible Studies for this weekend

Work on my sermon for Sunday and Wednesday

Pack some

Teach swimming lessongs

Cook dinner for the family

Things I’d do if I was a billionaire:

Pay off all my debt

Help my family and friends out

Contribute money to Calumet, LTSP, and Luther College

Contribute to the Leadership Fund of the ELCA

Buy an iPhone

Buy a nice house in New England with a large yard and spend my days playing my guitar and writing songs

Three bad habits:

Drive too fast

I tend to have a hard time saying no

disorganized

Five places I’ve lived:

Philadelphia, PA

Reading, PA

Freedom, NH

Decorah, IA

Rutland, VT

Five jobs I’ve had:
Paperboy (1^st job ever)

Line Cook (Red Lobster in high school, Country Kitchen in college)

Camp Counselor and Retreat Specalist (Camp Calumet)

Youth Director

Dunkin’ Donuts driver

Five people I’m tagging:
Dr. John

Johnna

Ian

Virginia

Christoph

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The Selfish Meme: A Critical Reassessment

Concerning Christian Liberty

You can count me as one of those people who has tried many diets over the years. I have to admit that I have not had much success. I have lost a few pounds here and there but they never seem to stay off and I have not lost as much as I would like or need.

After much prayer and discernment I have decided to try a new “strategy.” I have decided that I am not only going to lose weight for me, but I am going to lose weight for other people! That’s right– I am going to lose weight for thousands of people, young and old who have Autism or Autism related disorders.  I hope that you will consider to sponsor me  (that is you who is reading this) during my weight loss journey.  I would like all the money to go to Autism Speaks.

There are many ways that you can do this.  The first way is that you can sponsor me for every pound that I will lose.  Another way is just to give a flat rate and sponsor me that way.  Either way the money is going to a good cause and I feel supported and challenged.

I have spent most of my life sacrificing myself for others.  I always put the needs of others before myself. This is most likely one of the reasons that I have ended up where I am with my weight.  I realized that’s who I am and that is not going to change, no matter how hard I try.  So why not build upon my strengths and challenge myself to do this –  not only for me but for the thousands of kids that will benefit from your donation.

Why Autism Speaks?

Well I realized that I have never connected myself with a charity.  All the money we have given has gone to the church or to Calumet.  So I researched different charity’s.  I found four or five charities that I really liked including this one.  I chose this one because it is connected to us in more ways than one.  See, the last year or so we have been working with our son “the boy” with different disabilities.  We are not sure if he has any or how deep they go.  There is a chance that he will be diagnosed with something on the Autism Spectrum.  Weather he is or not this money will go and help people like us with research to help uncover the to uncover the cause(s), prevention, treatments and cure for autism.  It is a long road and anything that can help will benefit  thousands of people.

Another reason that I chose this organization is that there is a walk in September that I would like to participate in.  I think September a good point to regather and see how this is working for me.

The walk is in Rochester, NY on Saturday September 27, 2008.  If you would like more information about it you can visit the Walk Page.

My hope is to lose at least 50 pounds by then which figures to be about 2 pounds a week from now until then.  I think that is a reachable goal.

If you would like to sponsor me please click on this link and sponsor me.  If you would like to sponsor me in another way either leave a comment here or send me an email.

I started a new blog called Pounds for People where I will update on my progress, how I am doing this and all the other ins and outs of my thoughts, feelings and progress about this.

Thank you for your support and I look forward to hear from you.

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For more insight check out:

Fire Up Your Metabolism: 9 Proven Principles for Burning Fat and Losing Weight Forever

Thinking in Pictures (Expanded, Tie-in Edition): My Life with Autism (Vintage)

Calumet is a Lutheran camp in Freedom, NH. It is a big part of my life and my call to ministry. I will write more about it as I proceed.

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I was tagged by Eric over at The Heart of the Pastor to share 10 random things about myself. Without further adieu here it goes:

1) I have the ability to play seven different instruments: Tuba, guitar, piano, harmonica, trombone, trumpet, and euphonium. I currently maintain proficiency on my guitar.

2) I once drove from my college In Iowa (Luther College) to my parents house in Vermont only stopping for gas, food and three 30 min “naps.” I think it took me between 24-26 hours

3) I am currently typing this from a Mac powerbook G4 and I love it. I will never buy another PC again. Once you go Mac you never go back.

4) I am Caffeine Sensitive – I usually tell people that I am “allergic” to caffeine because it makes more sense. Basically if I have any sort of caffeine my digestive system goes out of whack, my stomach makes noises and I feel sick. (yes even chocolate)

5) I have never been a good student but in seminary I currently maintain a B to B+ average and that’s the best in my entire academic career.

6) I started working when I was 10 years old as a paperboy for the Rutland Herald. I have maintained at least part time employment since then even through college and seminary.

7) One good friend convinced me that every man needs a drink they can have in a martini glass. My favorite is a Sidecar.

8 ) I am an Eagle Scout and I went to the National Scouting Jamboree at Fort AP Hill VA in 1993.

9) I love football – instead of playing football in college I chose music. My senior year of high school my football coach told me I had the skill to be the best defensive lineman in the state of Vermont. My problem was that I was not “dedicated” (Instead I spent my summers at a Church Camp and I was in the band and other activities)

10) I love everything that has to do with The Simpsons and I have to admit my son loves them too. Daily we catch an episode before dinner.

Now I have to tag some people. I would like to tag Nathan at PhilosYphia and revhrod.

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It has been a great few days. Only if Katie and Logan were with then it would be perfect. But alas, I am having a great time with my daughter. It still feels weird to say daughter, I am getting use to that. But on the other hand it is great to say it too.

I have met some wonderful people on my trip and I am getting to know old friends again. I wanted to talk about some of the people I have come across along the way.

First there is Wiley — Wiley actually goes to the Y that I go too. On Thursday last week I met Wiley – he never told me his name but he did have his name in big capitol letters WILEY. Anyway, I got done swimming and Wiley was there. He asked if I had good time and I said yes. Our lockers were next to one another so it is not uncommon to have uncomfortable small talk in the locker room following a locker encounter. But Wiley did not want to stop, he was asking what I was doing in the pool and then we continued to talk. He did the most talking at first. He was telling me about him coming to America from the Czech Republic as a little boy and how he always yerned to go back, but he is not sure he can since he is so old now (he looked in his 80’s). Then he changed the subject and he asked what I do for a living. Now I don’t always delvuge that information at first because of people’s reactions. I honestly try and not mention it until I get a good read on a person. Well I could not get a read on Wiley and I was not going to lie so I told him I am in seminary studying to be a minister. Wiley then started to say “praise God, oh thank you jesus” — he did this for about 2-3 min and he said may you be blessed in your ministry. That is the best thing you can ever do with your life. I said thank you and I turned it on him, and I asked what he did and he said “I don’t work anymore but I did work for the Government and I can’t say anymore.” What?!? What did he do? Why coudlent he tell me? by this time Wiley was done getting dressed and he ended the conversation quickley and left. Maybe Iwill see Wiley again and get to learn more about his secret Govenment job.

The Ruso Family–
Needing dinner on our way up to Vermont, Addy and I stoped at a Chili’s. We grabbed our seats and I fed Addyson her dinner of mushed carrots, rice stuff and Children’s Vita-Lea. About half way through dinner the people next to us started talking with me. It was a family with three girls ages ranging from 6 years to 12 years. They seemed nice and they thought Addy and I were on a “date” but I told them we were on a trip from Vermont. They told me about themselves and that they were coming back from a vacation from North Carolina. Very nice family and the girls loved Addyson.

The people at Camp —

I have loved being back here at Camp and I have realized more and more how I have missed it and how much I want to spend more time here. There are people who I have not seen in 4 or 5 years and I love remaking those connections. I have seen kids where the last time I saw them they were 3-6 years old and now they are 8-11 years old and it is crazy how much they have changed. The funny thing is that they still remember me and they still want to see how I am doing. I love that feeling and it makes me feel like my 10 summers here and three years on the year round staff was good ministry even though I was not “seminary trained” and I realize that I was making a difference in the world. I never thought that I was going to never do outdoor ministry again but I realize now that I am going to try and make a more concious effort to get back here more often. Some friends and I were talking about picking a week as “Vacation” together. I love that idea and I would love to perhaps be a chaplain once I come back to New England.

I think one of the great things about my future occupation is that I am going to be paid to talk with people about life and about faith. I am going to be able to be there for them in their high times and low times. I thhink that is one of my favorite things about being in the position that I am going to be in and I thank God for that.

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It is so good to be at camp again. I don’t realize how much I miss it when I am gone. It is also weird seeing people again that I have not seen in 5 years. When I was working at Calumet before I must of met over 20,000 people. Granted some people don’t remember me, but alot do and I barely recognize half the people that have come up to me the past few days. I do remember people, here and there but overall??? Forget it. I have to be more active at Camp in the future. I should come up at least once a semester this year just to keep myself spiritually focused.

I can’t wait to post pictures next week and give lots of updates that happened over the last few days. I have already posted titles for future blogs to remind myself of what to talk about.

Tomorrow I am still working (volunteering) but I want to take pictures of Addyson and me on the beach and on Jackman’s Ridge. I also need to make a stop a Rosies — for those who know…..I have to go….

Night I am going to get some needed sleep.

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Looking back at the last two years and to sum up everything that has happened to me is hard to do. Mainly there has been so much I can’t express it all right here and right now. There is no way I cna ever think that I would be here at Camp Calumet working full time and living in the Conference Center. Never would i think that I would be in love with the girl of my dreams and she would be in love (though I am not sure) with me. However we don’t have a relationship becuase we are 1,200 miles away from one another. Funny how life turns out!!!
I guess in order to summerize the last two years or so I would say it has been about CHANGE!!
What do you think of when you hear the word Change?
The money in your pocket?
The color of someone’s hair?
The clothes on your back?
Or would you think about the attitudes of some people or the wya they live their loves or how they make their decisions?
It is funny how someone can experience all of these things. You take a boy who is far away from home — lost, confused and who does not feel loved and take him and put him in a place where he learns to have direction in his life.
He is close to the friends that he loves, He has some sort of an idea what he wants to do with his life.
In order to make his life perfect is if he has the girl that he loves standing beside him.
Is it right to have this boy’s life perfect?
Some might say yes and some might say no.
“He doesn’t deserve to have a good life.”
“He doesn’t do things the way I do them, so he is wrong”
If they say that they are fools!!!!
Everyone deserves the perfect life. I see my life now and say I almost have the “perfect” life but what about two years form now? What would I consider the perfect life and will I have it?

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Sitting here early this morning on Jackman’s ridge I feel at peace.  All of my worries and cares are not with me right now.  They are forgotten because of the wonderous beauty that lies in front of me.  I hope to come up here early many mornings.  B said that she was going to come up too.  If I had someone to share this with — to share your love with me that will make me happy.

I f things work out today I will be able to go and clean Arts and crats and then leave for a baseball game tonight.  I do hope everything is good!

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