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.

Share on Facebook

For more insight check out:

Calumet Bobbi Lane Portrait DVD Set: Portrait Lighting Techniques & Portraits Unplugged (Tutorial DVD Set)

Wild Ride: The Rise and Tragic Fall of Calumet Farm Inc., America's Premier Racing Dynasty

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.

Share on Facebook

For more insight check out:

Strengths-Based Leadership

Programs for Preventing the Causes of Mental Retardation

In the summer of 1992, barely 18 years old, I stepped onto a plane, leaving my family, school, friends and everything I knew behind. I was going to a place called Calumet, of which I knew little. The sense of adventure and the sense of freedom were fantastic, and completely liberating; I couldn’t wait!!

I finally arrived at Calumet, late on an absolutely pitch black night and after briefly meeting D-Guy I was shown to my bed at I-house. As I fell asleep that night I said a little prayer in which I told God, ‘this is going to be the best summer of my life’.

The following morning I woke, stepped out of the door I thought I came in the night before, (there are two doors) to find myself standing on a beach and my first ever sight of Lake Ossipee. As my eyes adjusted to the morning sunshine, I stood on the beach speechless; time stood still under that deep blue sky and as the waves lapped onto the sand a few feet away, I sensed that my prayer for the best summer of my life was already fulfilled; I felt at home.

Being the only Englishman on staff that year and being unknown to anyone, I realized later, that possibly for the first time in my life, the real me finally showed up. With a sense of freedom and limitless enthusiasm I worked in the kitchen for most of the summer. I made friendships that last to this day and had, quite simply, the best time of my life.

One day, after Family camping week, I was asked to clean all 17 of the big kitchen bins, the ones used at the back of the kitchen. For the first time all summer I was not excited by the task. As I stood there with gloves, a stiff brush, chemicals and 17 smelly bins, Wade Hlushuk stopped by.

Wade and I had become close friends over the summer (a friendship which continues to this day) and I shared my lack of enthusiasm with him. Wade then offered me my first major piece of mindset coaching, which still guides me today. With a warm and friendly smile he said, ‘Rory, you can decide to be excited about anything’. In that moment my whole day and ultimately, my whole life changed. Those bins had never been so clean and I, quite possibly, had never been so happy.

Throughout my career as a speaker, author and philosopher I am often reminded of that day for two profound and very moving reasons. Firstly I realized that in every moment I am responsible for my thoughts and that my thoughts literally create my experience of life. Secondly I realized that being of service to others, even cleaning the bins when everyone else has gone home, is a profound privilege.

My time at Calumet, the people I met and the acceptance I received, reassures me every day of my life. In a sometimes uncertain world, Calumet is like a lighthouse, ensuring I never loose sight of who I am and what is truly important to me.

Share on Facebook

For more insight check out:

Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System

Garbage Trucks (Pebble Plus: Mighty Machines)

After a long time away this blog will be up and running again.  When we first had the idea of creating a devotional book based on stories from Calumet it took off like wildfire.  There were facebooks created, emails sent, documents drawn up and a blog started.  However, with the events that happen in life that passion was soon fizzled out.  Like many things the devotional book became lower and lower on the list of things to do.  

But I would like to bring that back.  The passion still burns within us and we hope to have something together (at least a 40 day devotional) done by Lent.  However we can’t do this alone. We need your stories – we need you to share your calumet memories.  Don’t worry if they might not seem “devotional worthy” we are not worried about that.  We can take your thoughts and ideas, pray about them, talk about them and then let God do the work.  This is not about us- this is about God and the amazing things God has done in our lives and in the lives of all who have gone to Calumet.  

It does not matter if you have only been there once- or even heard about the amazing ministry that Calumet has provided so many people.  Leave a comment or send us an email.  Check us out on Facebook and become our fan.  We thank you and all who will benefit from this project thank you as well.

Share on Facebook

For more insight check out:

The Intellectual Devotional Health: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Digest a Daily Dose of Wellness Wisdom

The Case for God

Share on Facebook

For more insight check out:

Purpose-Driven® Youth Ministry

Simple Student Ministry: A Clear Process for Strategic Youth Discipleship

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

Share on Facebook

For more insight check out:

Reptilian Aliens A Book of Memes

The Calumet Region: An American Place

With thoughts of Youth and Stewardship, Pre-marital counseling and the Catechisms, and the book American Jesus swirling around in my head.  Added with the fact that I think I am getting sick and it looks like my first call interview might be in the next week or so…..I decided to answer questions to the Friday Five that I found on Lutheran Zephyr’s blog.

1. How many times have you moved? When was the last time?

During College I moved back and forth between college, Calumet and Home.  So not counting every time I did that I have about 10 moves under my belt.  I hope that the next move will be my last for a long time.

2. What do you love and hate about moving?

I love the feeling of complete organization when things are packed up. I actually know where everything is and I am amazed by what I find when I do pack things up.

I hate the actual moving part. I do not like carrying the boxes, straining my back and how fast hours turn into days, which turn into weeks.

3. Do you do it yourself or hire movers?

I have never hired movers but I heard they rock and I hope that might be an option this next move.  But there are lots of the bigger stuff we are going to throw away.  Including the couch, desk and dining room table that we paid a total of $100.00 about four years ago. I think we got our money’s worth

4. Advice for surviving and thriving during a move?

Start early because you always run out of time and you will find yourself throwing stuff in boxes when you could of thrown it away.

5. Are you in the middle of any inner moves, if not outer ones?

I am moving all over the place.  We will be moving to my first call site in a few months (I hope) and I feel like I am always learning and growing as a person and individual internally.  So yea we are pretty busy moving wise.

Bonus: Share a piece of music/poetry/film/book that expresses something about what moving means to you.

Ever since I read what Lutheran Zephyr wrote “on the road again” I can’t get that out of my head.  I think that is appropriate but if I think of something more meaningful I will put it here.

Share on Facebook

For more insight check out:

Willie: An Autobiography

Prints by Jean Dubuffet from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph F. Colin: Auction, Tuesday, 9 May 1995 at 2.00 p.m. ... : viewing, Friday, 5 May ... Monday, 8 May