Fall Festival Volunteers and Crafters Needed

We know it’s only May, but our Fall Festival Committee is already hard at work planning for the 2024 Fall Festival.

This year our annual Fall Festival is scheduled for Sunday, October 6, from 11 am-5 pm. Fall Festival is only possible because of the efforts of countless volunteers.  They bake, promote, stitch, recruit, decorate, set up/take down, drive boats, lead tours, greet, direct traffic, clean, serve, and dedicate hours and hours to make it all happen.  If you’re interested in joining our Fall Festival Committee, please email FallFestival@duboiscenter.org.

Crafters & Makers

We are always looking for new makers and crafters to feature at this event! If you are interested in applying and have questions, email our Fall Festival Vendor Coordinator at FallFestival@duboiscenter.org.

Registration is OPEN for the 2024 Fall Festival and applications can be submitted at https://duboiscenter.org/crafters. 

Register Now for the Father-Son Retreat

Father-Son Retreat – March 15-17, 2024

This popular favorite is the best excuse to get the guys in your house, well, out of the house! Use DuBois Center as your playground to enjoy time with your dad, son, nephew, uncle, grandson, grandpa, or even someone who you think of as one! Geared for ages 5 to 100, you can bond through fun activities like horseback riding, archery, campfire cookouts, nature hikes, games, hayrides, or fishing. Click here to register.

  • Lodging: Main Camp cottages and Hickory Lodge
  • Pricing: $140 for adults, $125 for youth (ages 12-17), and $110 for children (ages 5-11).
  • Check-in: 6:30 pm on Friday
  • Check-out: Noon on Sunday

Register for our Fall Events!

Make your fall, a fall to remember!

Register for one, or all, of your favorite fall events at DuBois Center! Fall Events include:

  • Former Summer Camp Staff Reunion – September 9-10, 2023
  • Camp Day / Ride Day – September 16, 2023
  • Mother-Daughter Retreat – October 6-8, 2023
  • Women’s Retreat – October 13-15, 2023
  • Horse Retreat – October 21-22, 2023
  • Camp Day / Ride Day – November 4, 2023

For more information visit https://duboiscenter.org/retreats/dbc-retreats/

DBC Retreats

 

Spring Open House

Join us for our Spring Open House Sunday, April 30th!

Campers and families can meet Noah, our new Executive Director, and talk to our Program Director Rylee about summer camps.  While you are there make sure to stop by the barn to say hi to the horses, the bonfire to make smores, and the photo booth to take home a memory of your time at camp.

We are Hiring!

We are looking for someone to fill the role of Office Administrator (part-time)

The Office Administrator is the welcoming face and voice of DuBois Center for all who visit the camp and retreat center. Duties include answering general inquiries via phone and email, providing administrative support for programming and events, working with the summer camp registrar to manage camp and guest group registration, as well as general office maintenance.

Given the nature of the position, the office administrator will need to be on-site during work hours; though there is flexibility on days and hours. If interested, please send a statement of interest and resume to director@duboiscenter.org.

Looking for a Golf Cart or two

We are looking for Golf Carts for DuBois Center. We use them to move people and supplies around during Summer Camp and retreats.  When we need to transport a nurse to the rustic side of camp to check on a sick child, a golf cart is our best bet.  Time to shuttle snacks to the waterfront, a golf cart would be perfect.

We would prefer electric golf carts, but gas powered is fine too. They need to have at least 4 seats – 6 would be even better. If you know of any available for donation, or to purchase at a reasonable price, please let us know – dcinfo@duboiscenter.org.  If any would like to donate toward purchasing a golf cart, please contact the office

We’re Looking for a Few Good Horses

As we prepare for Summer Camp, we want to add a couple horses to our herd. We’re hoping someone out there knows of a horse or two that might be a good fit for camp that could be donated or purchased at a reasonable cost.

Here’s what we are looking for:

  • Reliable kid-safe trail horses – walk, trot and canter with good brakes.
  • Not too young and not too old – our preference is for horses between 5 and 15 years old.
  • Large and sturdy – at least 15 hands tall and well built. They will often be carrying children, but they also need to be able to carry large adults.
  • Healthy, easy keepers – our herd spends much of their time living naturally in our pastures and woods. No horses with special dietary or health needs.
  • Good temperament – they will be working with kids much of the time and need to be patient and easy-going.
  • No bad habits – no bucking, rearing or cribbing

If you know a horse that is available and might be a good camp horse, please contact Scott Kuether at sekuether21@gmail.com.

Exciting News for DuBois Center and The Illinois South Conference of the United Church of Christ

The Search Committee for the Executive Director is pleased to announce that Noah McCarn has accepted the position of Executive Director for DuBois Center.

After an extensive search process which included: Zoom interviews; submissions of a case study of how they would envision staffing, programming, finances, and partnerships for DuBois Center; checking candidates’ professional references; and an onsite tour of DuBois, the Search Committee unanimously voted to hire Noah as the next Executive Director of DuBois Center.

As the committee continued to be engaged in interviews and conversations with Noah, as well as conversations with those who knew him through our intensive reference checks, we discovered that Noah possessed the qualities we were most looking for in a leader who could help us live into a vision he has of DuBois Center, to be “A gathering place to experience community, unlike other places. A place where people can experience the kin-dom of God, in large and small ways, that they can take back into their lives.”

Noah is a calm, non-anxious presence who brings a team approach to his leadership, as he highly values collaboration and the personal well-being and development of the staff he leads. Noah is a deep thinker and person of faith who is deeply invested in eco-justice and the work of dismantling oppressive systems which do not allow all of God’s beloveds to be seen, heard, valued, and believed. Noah is a get-it-done kind of person, taking the incentive to do the research on how to get things done so that personal and shared deadlines and goals can be met.

Here is what Noah has to say about beginning his ministry at DuBois Center:

“It is an exciting and humbling experience to serve as the next Executive Director of the DuBois Center. As I begin to learn about the camp and talk with people about their camp experiences, I am continually amazed by the passion and love folks have for the DuBois Center.

My love and passion for camp began at a young age in my home state of North Carolina. I attended summer camp at Johns River Valley Camp, the camp associated with the Southern Conference of the UCC, located in the mountains of North Carolina. There, I first felt God’s presence in the company of fellow campers and the wild beings, and it has served as an experience foundational to my being.

After graduating college with degrees in Math and Computer Science and working as a software developer, I decided that working in a cubicle was not for me, so I moved to St. Louis to attend Eden Theological Seminary. While in seminary, I remembered my own camp experiences and became curious about the intersections of faith, Earth, and justice.

In the spring of 2020, I graduated from Eden Seminary in the early days of the pandemic and found jobs as a handyman and then at Human Support Services in Waterloo, IL, at one of their residential mental health facilities serving clients with mental illness.

While I greatly appreciate those experiences, I am grateful to be able to return to the work I am most passionate about. I am committed to creating an inclusive community where we all may grow together in our faith and know God knows us and is connected to one another and all that is.”

The Illinois South Conference sincerely thanks the Executive Director Search Committee for their time and energy in prayerful and Spirit-led discussions, deliberations, and decisions.

Its members were:

  • Priscilla Self, an at-large member of the committee, served as a co-chair of the Search Committee
  • Nicole Avise-Rouse, the current chair of the Conference Outdoor Ministry Team, served as a co-chair of the Search Committee.
  • Rev. Joan Mier, a current member of the Conference Personnel Committee, served as the chaplain of the Search Committee.
  • Rev. Philip Barbier, a current member of the Conference Outdoor Ministry Team, served as the secretary of the Search Committee.
  • Dr. Jill Baker, the current Moderator of the Conference, served as an ex-officio member of the Search Committee.
  • Rev. Shana Johnson, the Conference Minister, also served as an ex-officio member of the Search Committee.

Noah will be moving on-site soon and will officially begin his ministry on Monday, January 23, 2023.

We hope you will join us in welcoming Noah McCarn, the new Executive Director of DuBois Center, to the Illinois South Conference.