This week on Facebook and Instagram, we are celebrating DuBois Center 2019 campers and leaders from Week #1. Many were registered and excited about returning this summer… before the health crisis struck. We MISS YOU and have a bunk with your name on it for next summer!
A big thumbs up to our Just You & Me, Quest, Settler, Horsin’ Around and Trekkin’ It campers! If you haven’t already done so, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram to stay connected.
Join us tonight at 7pm
Today we share another edition of 60 Seconds of Solitude from DuBois Center. It’s often difficult to take time to breathe deeply, relax ones’ shoulders and back, and remember that God is always with us. We hope these short videos of sacred scenes from around camp will help.
Today we are joining the herd for some rest and relaxation. Since there are no rides scheduled at this time, our horses are spending some of their days soaking up the sun and enjoying fresh grass in the Deer Run pasture. Watch for our weekly solitude postings on our website and Facebook page. We hope you enjoy this and future mini relaxation reminders.
Miss the crackle of the campfire? Singing silly songs with your counselors? Making s’mores with friends? Listening to inspiring words from chaplains? Praying together under the stars? SO DO WE!!
It won’t be the same, but staff and volunteers are working on creative ways to share some of these favorites with campers and their families via virtual campfires. The first release is scheduled for 7 pm on Thursday, June 11. That would have been the first closing campfire of Summer 2020. We hope you’ll join us.
During these challenging times, many have found themselves even busier than usual and definitely more stressed. It’s hard to remember to take time to breathe deeply, relax ones’ shoulders and back, and remember that God is always with us. Beginning this week, DuBois Center will be sharing 60 Seconds of Solitude – short videos of sacred scenes at DuBois Center. These will be posted on our website and Facebook pages. We hope you enjoy this video and future mini relaxation reminders.
Not nearly as poetic as Throwback Thursday, but the sentiment is the same. May is typically a very busy month for DuBois Center staff, volunteers and guest groups. Usually there are school groups wrapping up the year with quality time outdoors, artisans escaping to the woods to quilt and create, volunteers building, painting, repairing and installing during what has become a tradition – May mission week, and summer staff from local churches and around the world beginning to trickle in and begin preparing.
We celebrate Great May Memories and look forward to many more!
Four of our 2019 Summer Program Staff are graduating this month! Since graduations will be so different this year, we wanted to celebrate this milestone with them here.
Mtipe Koggani AKA Amani graduated from Eden Theological Seminary on Friday night, May 15. It was a virtual ceremony – which was different – but it did allow friends and family from around the world to join him! Hailing from Tanzania, Mtipe graduated with a Masters of Theological Studies. Due to the current health crisis, his plans are still in the works. He was accepted at Princeton University Graduate School, but is also exploring the possibility of a one-year commitment to Deaconess Anne House in St. Louis, which is part of the Episcopal Service Corps.
Mtipe is a gifted musician who sings, plays the piano and now the ukulele. He brought his years of successful experience working with children, youth and young adults in ministry settings to DuBois Center. Mtipe’s goal for his time at camp was to immerse himself in another culture and work with young people from backgrounds very different than his own. Though nervous at first, especially about the horses and the lake – he embraced the experience. He even learned to ride and swim at DuBois Center and now enjoys both immensely! In fact, one of his favorite memories from last summer was a dock to dock swim – which he completed. He also loved playing on the water mat with campers and staff!
Mtipe worked with every age group at DuBois Center from the youngest campers and their adults in Just You & Me Camp to high schoolers in X-Plore and related well to all of them. Mtipe is one of the most positive, gentle and kind people I have ever met; many, many others echoed this sentiment as well. His camp name is Amani, which in Swahili means peace. This is especially fitting for two reasons – PeaceWorks was our theme last summer and Mtipe embodies the word.
CONGRATS Mtipe!
Four of our 2019 Summer Program Staff are graduating this month! Since graduations will be so different this year, we wanted to celebrate this milestone with them here.
Bailey Reichert AKA Minnow will be graduating from Illinois Wesleyan University with a Bachelors of Science in Biology and a minor in Psychology. Illinois Wesleyan has postponed graduation until August, so she is hoping to actually walk with her class – live and in person. Bailey is moving to Carbondale and plans to finish some prerequisite courses before applying to an accelerated nursing program. After a year in that program, she will have a second Bachelors – this one in Nursing.
Bailey attended summer camp at DuBois Center in 2016 and then spent most of the summer of 2017 volunteering as a counselor. She joined our summer staff team in 2018 and returned in 2019 as our Waterfront Coordinator. When asked about a favorite memory from last summer, she couldn’t pick just one. She especially enjoyed returning to the rustic cabins for a week of counseling during High School Week and the evening of wacky relays at the waterfront. Bailey loves to sing, dance and act! Spending time with the horses and at the waterfront are two of her favorites activities, but she’s also a fan of candle times, crafts, creek walks, water games and almost anything DuBois! One of the many gifts Bailey brought to our staff was her organizational skills.
In addition to a heavy course load and work schedule, Bailey served on the Executive Council of her sorority – Kappa Delta – for three years and as the president for 2019. These experiences only served to strengthen her administrative and leadership skills. Bailey’s attention to detail, creative program planning, and the care she extended to campers and staff were an asset to our team.
CONGRATS, Minnow!
Four of our 2019 Summer Program Staff are graduating this month! Since graduations will be so different this year, we wanted to celebrate this milestone with them here.
Laura Renken AKA Twig graduated last Saturday with a Bachelor of Science in Education from Eastern Illinois University. The current health crisis has slowed her job search, but Laura hopes to have her own classroom in the fall. She is certified to teach grades 1-6. Laura is an active member of Salem UCC in Alhambra. When not at school or camp, she sang in the praise team choir and volunteered for VBS.
Laura was a camper at DuBois Center for a number of years and then a counselor in training. 2019 was her third summer on staff. She is also a regular volunteer at our Father-Son and Mother-Daughter Retreats. Laura’s favorite memory from last summer was leading a candle time in the basement of Oak Lodge during staff training. “We all sat around and talked about the reasons DBC was home to us and why we wanted to make it home for others. It was a beautiful moment and I feel like it really helped us get to know one another on a deeper level.” Laura is known for her commitment to our campers, her fun and quirky personality, infectious smile and LOVE of creek walks.
The vintage photo is from Laura’s second year as a camper in 2007. She’s the one in the blue hat. The second photo is from ten years later – her first summer on staff. In the third she’s hosting and learning from a mission group. Last, but definitely not least, the featured photo is of Laura on a creek walk – no surprise. Laura is quite the artist when it comes to shale tattoos! She specializes in mustaches, beards, and even eyeliner and lipstick. Her favorite, though, is writing her camp name.
CONGRATS Twig!
Four of our 2019 Summer Program Staff are graduating this month! Since graduations will be so different this year, we wanted to celebrate this milestone with them here.
Kristian Avise-Rouse AKA Sparrow will be graduating from Illinois Wesleyan University with a Bachelor of Music Education. This fall, he will be joining the team at Pinckneyville District #50 as a Junior High Band Director and High School Choir Director. Kristian grew up at Eden Theological Seminary and St. Paul UCC in Columbia. He has always been active in his schools and communities – playing in bands, singing in choirs, acting in plays, participating in sports and volunteering at church and elsewhere. Kristian was a camper and retreat participant at DuBois Center for years before his first summer on staff in 2016. He attributes much of who he is as a person to his weeks as a camper and his first summers as a counselor.
Kristian once commented that his favorite part of summer camp is “the love!” He is continually amazed by all the campers, staff and volunteers who bring and share their love for each other and DuBois Center. His favorite memory from last summer was when Crazy Jam was on the beach and everyone made crazy sandcastles. Walk with us through memory lane from 2013 and Kristian’s first summer as a high school camper, to his first summer on staff in 2016, to time with the horses – always a favorite activity and finally connecting with campers.
Throughout the years, Kristian’s big heart, engaging smile and gentle coaching as a peer and supervisor have had a significant impact on campers and leaders alike. CONGRATS Sparrow!
