Camp Twin Lakes VI

Hey everyone! This next week we have a camp that's low on volunteers and we'll be staying in the cabins with the kids, so my internet opportunities are going to be even more rare. I'll post a couple new pictures that should hold you over until my next blog opportunity!

Strugglin' during morning stretches

Fighting Albert the Alligator in the pool

The Weetles

Dead Battery

Camp Twin Lakes V - SPIRIT CHECK!

During meal times, we have a few different cheers. If someone yells "SPIRIT CHEEEECK!!!" then there's a pattern that everyone bangs on the table and has fun. It's fun, but can get old real quick if it's done so much you can't eat. There's also a call that makes an individual get up and shake their booty, and if the kids get creative you could end up doing the worm, dancing with a trashcan, or serenading somebody!

Roger is a camper who is no stranger to Camp Twin Lakes. He's been to several other camps which he qualifies for, and absolutely loves it. Roger had a brain injury that left him with limited mobility; he is in a wheelchair most of the time but can go short distances on crutches. Roger is a big fan of spirit checks and calls them at almost every opportunity. He often calls on people to do ridiculous things such as trashcan dancing or I'malittleteapoting. As much fun as he was having, I had a hard time imagining what would happen if he was called on to do something, and that maybe he was even safe from it.

Eventually, it happened. "Hey Roger! Shake your booty!" "no!" "shaake yoour boooty!" "NO!" (that's the script, btw) "SHAKE YOUR BOOTY!" "OKAY!" and with a big grin on his face, Roger pulled himself up in between two tables and wiggled along as everyone in the dining hall sang the song "Jump! shake your booty, Jump Jump shake your booty!"

During the Luau Party at the pool (one of our regular evening events here at Camp Twin Lakes), Roger decided that he wanted to try going down the water slide. Bear in mind, Roger pretty much has to stay against the wall of the shallow end propping himself up against the wall any time he's in the pool. He'd never been down a slide before in his life, and it was time. After putting him in a life-jacket, two staff members helped him up the stairs while one waited at the bottom of the slide. The whole pool turned to cheer him on, and I (who was filling in for the band that canceled last minute) made up a song about him going down the slide on the spot.

I could tell from the ground he was nervous, and getting in the slide seemed to be a challenge all in itself. When Kaz, my roommate, pushed him down the slide there was a silence across the pool as we waited for him to come out the bottom. Sure enough - Splash! - Roger came flying out the bottom into the arms of Ben, another roommate of mine. "THAT WAS AWESOME!!!" I heard him say.

Roger is a reminder that things like brain injuries and wheel chairs don't limit, they just pose new challenges. Roger's constant calling for people to check their spirits can be taken outside of the dining hall and the pool to everywhere in life. The next day, Roger went down the slide eleven times.

And then made me sing "I'm a Little Tea Pot" at dinner.

Loganville

While driving to the camp where I currently work, I realized that I was very close to Loganville, the town where I had lived when I was about 4 to 7. A few days ago, I finally got the opportunity to go exploring with two other friends from camp. When we got to Loganville, and I called my mom to find the house where we lived. Aaaand we did!

Mom said the last time she was there, they were building a mansion behind it and using our old house as storage. Fortunately, the old house was still standing but it doesn't seem to be used anymore. The mansion itself is waay back and kind of hidden by a hill, but even still there's this big gaudy fence with lions all up on the front and signs that say things like "Caution - guard dog" and "Security Camera in use to aide the prosecution of theft." Sho nuff, there's a surveillance camera mounted on the corner of our old patio. Behind the house is a tree that I planted when I was five, it's really cool to see how it's grown!

The house I lived in when I was little

The tree I planted when I was five

We used to keep bunnies in this barn!

The big fanciness that is on the driveway now

Camp Twin Lakes IV

Hey folks! I thought I'd post some pictures from camp twin lakes. A big thanks to Ted Denning for the pictures!

Getting helped up the wall

Going down the zipline

CTL Outdoor Adventure Staff - that's me at the top of the arc!

Playing with the Ceetles

(Camp Twin Lakes, CTL, Ceetles... get it??)

Singing 'Bo Diddly Man' at the talent show.

Camp Twin Lakes III

Early on, I posted a link to a Bobby McFerrin thingy that I really liked. He tells the audience what pitches to sing by jumping different places on stage and then sings over top of that. I did that today with the staff of Twin Lakes and it went pretty well! I'm looking forward to trying it with campers.

Also, I've talked to various members of staff about Tourette's, it's always nice to spread awareness! It turns out that one of the staff here freakin KNOWS Brad Cohen! Like, she works with him! I'm so pumped for Twitch and Shout!

Peace ;)

Camp Twin Lakes II

So I'm not sure if I'm going to come up with creative titles or just number posts. Whatevs!

So some history of Camp Twin Lakes, it was started as somewhat of union between a few special needs camps, such as Camp Sunshine (for children with cancer), Camp Kudzu (for children with diabetes), and others that needed a place to host their camps. The original facility was (is) in Rutledge, Georgia. Over the years demand grew and they expanded and took over Camp Will-A-Way, located in the Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, Georgia. Will-A-Way is smaller and not yet as established as Rutledge; in fact, this is only the second year of it's functioning as part of CTL. I was hired as the Music Guy (official title) at Will-A-Way, and part of that is integrating what they do musically at Rutledge into the Will-A-Way scene.

Training is being done jointly between the Rutledge and the Will-A-Way staffs this year. For the past couple of days I've been in Rutledge doing training over there, and tonight/tomorrow they're going to come to Will-A-Way for the rest of training. A few of the counselors at Rutledge have a band called the Ceetles (get it? CTL, Camp Twin Lakes...) and I got a chance to jump in with them. I played djembe (although I was prepared with electric guitar and clarinet), two others played guitar, one played piano, and one sang. Actually the keyboard player and one of the guitars all sang, they had a nice little harmony going on. We played "Love Is," "Party in the USA," and "Burnin' Up" for the other counselors and they loved it. I can't wait to play for the campers at Will-A-Way!

We also got a chance to hear from some of the camper's parents. It was a great chance to hear the struggles of serious illness from the parent's point of view, which is often forgotten. It also reminded us that what we do at camp is not just for the campers, but it also gives the parents a chance to rest. While listening to one parent who's child had a form of Muscular Dystrophy, I was reminded about my own journey with Tourette Syndrome and how much my parents did for me. I remember my mom told me once that she lost weight during the time I was getting diagnosed. Because she didn't eat. Because she was just that worried. I remembered what I felt when she told me that and my eyes started welling up in the middle of our training session! Afterwards, I went up and told the woman that she reminded me of my own mother and I asked to give her a hug since I couldn't hug mom. She consented and it was wonderful.

This summer is going to be incredible, I'll keep you posted the whole way through!