I was at camp every summer from the time I was 8-19. Every summer going to camp meant my brothers, sister, cousins, etc. would all pack up all of our stuff & hop into the back of my dad’s truck. We had no seats, no seatbelts… just a cab on a truck, and we’d start the hour + drive to the Ranch. About a mile before we get to the ranch we come up to the top of a huge hill where you can look over & see it and that’s when the butterflies would start!! You see the bunkhouses, the dodge ball court and you KNOW you are there!! We’d always stop for a minute, honk the horn and if there was someone behind us we’d point like maniacs because we were just so excited!! There was no better feeling than almost 10 years after my last summer there, getting to the top of the same hill and getting the same butterflies as I was dropping my daughter off for her first summer @ Mapleridge Ranch!!
I should mention that I spent all of those summers there, and I don’t even like horses! Not even a LITTLE!! But there’s so much more to draw you there… Everything that Mapleridge desires for each & every camper… The new adventures, lifelong friendships & coming to know Christ. I know kids that don’t even get to spend a couple hours outside, let alone stay overnight in the woods & cook their supper over a fire. To this day I still wish I could recreate tinfoil dinners that taste like the ranch! I currently remain in contact with a number of friends that I met while attending & working on staff @ the ranch. We are friends, moms, and now raising the next generation of campers! Last summer my daughter was a camper for the very first time along with 10 other cousins & friends. When we ask them what their favorite part of camp was the overwhelming answer is chapel! They love learning & singing the awesome songs! Those same awesome songs are what we’ve been using in our AWANA program and VBS for the past few years. The kids LOVE how peppy & energetic they are!
Summer 2014 can’t come soon enough for our group of 11 that went to Buckaroo last year. They continually say how “camp sick” they are & can’t wait to go back for a session! I can’t wait for the new memories & friends they will make, all while having awesome adventures & growing in the Lord!!
by Angela Mowry Upright