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summer camp

Wanted: Talent Scouts

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With leaves and random snowflakes falling, summer camp seems eons away! However, planning is in full swing and summer staff recruitment kicks off over Thanksgiving weekend. We are in search of caring, hard-working individuals who enjoy the outdoors, love to have fun, and can embrace their silly side. They must have a passion for working with young people, and a heart for ministry and service. Paid and volunteer positions are available for Summer 2019. If you know someone who might be a good fit, either please complete the information on this form and return it or contact DuBois Center at dcinfo@DuBoisCenter.org or 618-787-2202. Full application packets will be available on our website on Nov 19.

Camp Nurses – Servants with Sunscreen

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Despite the falling leaves, it’s never too early to think about summer. One setting for ministry at DuBois Center is our health center. Volunteer camp nurses, most of whom are RNs, are a vital piece of our summer camp program. Many find serving at DuBois Center to be a rewarding mission opportunity, one that is quite different from their regular job. Responsibilities include reviewing camper medical forms, conducting health screenings, receiving & administering medications, providing first aid & basic medical treatment, and documentation. But when you really get down to it, nurses spend most of their time removing ticks, soothing rashes, distributing medications and providing extra TLC for homesick and nervous campers.

If you are an RN, please consider serving with us for a full or partial week. The living quarters do have AC and there is often time to join us for worship, explore the woods or just sit back and read a book. For more information, contact Shirley at DuBois Center by email or 618-787-2202.

Golf Cart – YES!!

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For over two years, a golf cart with four seats has been on our “Wish List.” This past spring, gifts to our Vehicle Fund from St. Paul UCC Belleville turned this wish into a reality. Our “new to us” golf cart looks great and runs like a dream. Summer camp nurses used it to check in with the villages, deliver medications and respond to situations throughout the grounds. Now when they need to transport someone, it’s easy for a third person to ride along – in keeping with our “safe camp” procedures. We opted for an electric model. It’s is so quiet you can approach a campfire or closing circle without disrupting.

A special THANKS to St. Paul UCC for their support!

The Circle of (Camp) Life

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This summer – in addition to the chaplains, nurses, and Sunday Welcome Team – 26 volunteers contributed 21 weeks of counseling and over six weeks of program support. They could be found all over camp – including at the barn, the craft grotto, and the office. Many of these volunteers are former campers, staff from the past decade, or both! This cycle of camper-volunteer-staff-volunteer helps to keep fun traditions alive as new traditions develop.
Paired with ideas from new members of DuBois Center’s family, we create a camping experience that is uniquely organic and uniquely DuBois.
Our volunteer counselors and program folks also help to inject fresh energy and ideas even in the most mind-numbing heat. THANK YOU for all the wonderful things you do for our campers – we love seeing old friends and making new ones!

How You Can Promote Fall Festival

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DuBois Center’s Annual Fall Festival is just around the corner and your help is needed to spread the word!
Date: Sun, October 7.
Time: 11 am – 5 pm.
There will be food, music, craft booths, hayrides, horses, boat tours, crafts and activities for kids, and more – something for everyone in the whole family!
Here’s what you can do to help promote:
–   Post flyers around your church and community in black and white or color.
–   Make announcements during services and meetings.
–   Put this link to our Fall Festival web page on your web site and in bulletins.
–   Like and Share our Facebook event.
–   Promote the event on your church’s outdoor sign board.
–   Submit information to your local community newspaper or newsletter.
–   Make it a church event! Promote attendance and/or volunteering as a church or church group.
Thanks in advance for your support of DuBois Center and our annual Fall Festival!

Connections

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This summer, our staff got a blast from the past – postcards from a former international summer staffer! Beth sent an envelope full of postcards all the way from Melbourne, Australia. The note she wrote to the staff as a whole reads: “Hi, my name is ConnectionsBeth. I was a counselor during summer 2004 & 2005. DuBois Center has many amazing memories that have stayed with me ever since. I hope you all keep in touch and have had an amazing summer. The Lord will use all you have sown and sacrificed these last few months. Thank you and please know that lives will be changed and kids’ lives will have become better by spending time with you this summer. God bless and have a safe trip home. Love, Beth Shanks (Reitenbach)”

The personalized postcards were a perfect pick-me-up for the end of the summer! Thanks Beth!

Summer Staff Farewell

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As we close the books on another season of summer camp at DuBois Center, we reflect fondly on the group of young adults that made up the 2018 Summer Staff. They came from near and far in hopes of sharing wonderful, life-changing experiences with their campers. Whether they drove to camp from right here in southern Illinois or journeyed from the other side of the country and globe, first-timers or veterans, they all added their own unique threads to the DuBois Center tapestry. We wish them luck as they return to school, “big kid jobs”, or other grand adventures!

Not pictured: Twig (Laura Renken)

Chaplains – Thank You!

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Our last group of ISC summer campers departed last Wednesday with memories that will last a lifetime. There are so many individuals who make summer adventures at DuBois Center possible. Chaplain - HolstAmong these are the chaplains. They help pass the light and love of God from one generation to the next. They help make the curriculum come alive for our campers. They lead BLAST (Bible Learning and Spirit Time), prepare worship, and embody an amazing ministry of presence – walking with our campers and staff throughout a week of camp.

Our chaplains are a fun, inspiring, eclectic bunch. Some are ordained ministers; some are Christian educators. Some are teachers, and some are parents and/or former staff members who want to stay involved and give back. A special thanks to our 2018 summer camp chaplains:

  • ChaplainNicole Avise-Rouse – St. Paul UCC, Columbia
  • Craig and Rev. Katie Jo Bielke – St. John Evangelical UCC, Collinsville
  • Joan Daab – St. Paul UCC, Columbia
  • Rev. Christy Eckert – St. John UCC, Trenton
  • Audrey Hicks – St. Paul UCC, Waterloo
  • Rev. John Holst – Zion UCC, Marion
  • David Jackson – St. Paul UCC, Columbia
  • Rev. R.J. Morgan – Zoar UCC, New Hanover
  • Rev. Todd Mushaney – Christ UCC, Dupo
  • Alaina Scherle – St. Paul UCC, Waterloo

Thanks, also, to the churches that supported their time at camp and sharing their gifts with ISC church family.

ChaplainChaplains3

 

 

 

HOT DOG it’s been a Great Summer!

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You’d be hard-pressed to name a more quintessential “summer camp” activity than cooking hot dogs (or pie irons or foil stew) over a campfire. Though it might not seem like much more than fixing dinner, each cookout is an almost sacred time. Through the smoke and sizzle, conversations often turn to faith and where we’ve seen God throughout the week. Cooking around the fire in community is a distillation of the unplugged relationship-building that forms the core of DuBois Center’s ministry. As we pack up another summer full of friendships, we take scores of warm campfire memories with us into the colder months ahead.

Cookout

Welcome Team – Join Us!

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July 8, 15, 22 – On these three Sundays, scores of campers will arrive at DuBois Center eager and excited to begin their time at camp. Twelve volunteers are needed for each of these Sundays – plus summer staff – to ensure the check-in process runs smoothly! Volunteers assist with greeting, parking, the camp store, registration, health screenings, dock duty and people-moving. They arrive by 1:15 pm and are done by 4 pm.
Please consider joining our Sunday Welcome Team on one or more check-in days. You are invited to wear a church t-shirt and show your spirit. Even consider bringing a team from your church! Let us know in advance when you can help; contact the DuBois Center office at 618-787-2202 or dcinfo@duboiscenter.org.