Camp Highroad - Virginia Christian Adventure Camp

Day Spring Farm Springs Into Action! 

Sometimes it is easy to take for granted those whose consistent contributions make possible the carrying forward of camp's activities and mission. That is certainly the case with Sean and Jessie Baker and DaySpring Farms!

Sean has been Highroad's Operation Manager for over ten years. During his time here, he has taught himself how to do everything from repairing compressors to replacing tractor tires. His daily contributions to camp keep the water running (and clean!), the lights on, and the roofs from leaking. In addition to all of that, which one might expect him to do, Sean and his wife Jessie also run Day Spring Farm, a family owned and operated grass-based farm. It's in this secondary capacity that Sean and Jessie go above and beyond for Highroad. Sean has regularly used his personal farm equipment to aid and assist guests of Highroad and has made possible many of our most ambitious undertakings. It was Sean in his track-loader that pulled the Awakening Fest Jumbo-Tron in and out of Presgrave fields, Sean who pulled out hundreds of cars in his personal tractor during Awakening Fest, Sean who pulled the challenge course pole truck out of the mud today… again using his personal equipment. Jessie has also been a massive asset to camp, having run the Wrangler program for a number of years. She allows camp free access to the use of Day Spring's animals to further Highroad's nature and outdoor education program, in addition to running her own "Farm Camp" program for Highroad campers during the summer.

We cannot thank Sean and Jessie, or Day Spring Farm, enough for their constant contributions to Camp Highroad! Thanks Day Spring!

Challenge Course Construction Begins!!! 

One of the beauties of working for a small organization, like Highroad, is that we become invested in our work, we get to do everything (because we cannot afford to specialize!) and our ideas (with a little gumption) can become reality. Today, after over a year of discussing, researching, fundraising, and planning, the poles for the new High-Ropes Challenge Course have finally arrived! Over the next two months, work will commence on setting the poles, building the platforms, installing the belay systems, and building the elements!  

Inner Quest, a challenge course builder based in Purcellville, will be building the challenge complex, with help from the Highroad staff who cannot pass up an opportunity to learn how to do something new! 

Again, many thanks to those whose contributions and patronage have helped to make this challenge course a reality. Thanks to everyone reading this whose support has helped to take Highroad to new levels and given us the momentum to keep on climbing!

Walking In a Winter Wonder…Plan

One of the questions that we are asked most often as the Highroad staff is, "What do you do during the winter?" Usually, as Naturalist, I'll give a smart-alec answer like, "hibernate" but the truth is that I'm really evading a question that takes a good deal of time to answer!

Truth-be-told, the seven of us on year-round staff often don't know exactly what kind of craziness we'll find ourselves in during this time of year. I (Josh) have been here full-time since June 2008, and my job has changed every year! My first year, our Programs Director left shortly before the fall… so Sean Baker and I traded duty weekends every other weekend through the winter (yes, we still have groups on the weekends!) and I took the responsibility for scheduling staff, planning Winter Camp and doing other Program Directorish things. During Snowmageddon in 2010, we plowed snow and did indoor work, like designing this website. Last year, I helped plan advertising through WPER, reblazed the trails, made new maps, managed the website, and helped the other guys decide on crazy new camp pursuits, like Awakening Fest. In the midst of all of our normal maintenance and program development, we also plan new camps and improvements for the new year. This year has a LOT of them!

This year, in addition to taking advantage of the beautiful weather to cut firewood and fix tractors, we're planning for a whole list of new 2012 programs and improvements. First, we're installing a new high ropes course that will be one of the best in Northern Virginia. Second, we're launching more weekend camps after the success of our last two winter camps. This year we will have one "Spring Camp," and we hope to offer many more opportunities like that in the future (including a father-son "Man Camp"). Third, we're restructuring our summer staff so that chaplains will now be more involved with the specific age-groups whom they teach. This will allow both campers and counselors to build relationships with the individuals who we know to be solid Christ-following leaders and solid role models. Fourth, we're bringing back a "High-Adventure Trip Camp" this summer. This program, which was done somewhat loosely in the past and then shut down, has been revitalized under new leadership and will provide an opportunity for a group of high school campers to share amazing experiences off-camp with their counselors and Highroad staff. Fifth, in response to the needs and comfort-levels of this generation of campers, we're moving Wranglers into Willow Lodge and scrapping our platform tents. Sixth, we're offering a new "Graduated Seniors Mission Camp" to give our former campers an opportunity to return to camp one final time in order to put what they've learned into practice.

We continue to thank God for the many successes at camp over the past years and we look forward to continued improvement in the future. In the meantime, we'll keep on planning and adapting to whatever comes our way!

Seven Days Since The Best Winter Camp Ever!

While it may have sounded a bit presumptuous to say it beforehand… last week's winter camp was, in fact, our best ever. God blessed us with beautiful,  cold weather. Using two lodges allowed us to better manage the chaos of  such a diverse ago group. Using the skill of our counselors allowed us to  present a number of awesome worship experiences to the kiddos. All thirty- two campers, even the littlest ones, did an amazing job in the Amazing Race  activity. We had a lot of really special, informal times of exploring the bamboo  and Presgrave barn. Many of the campers got a special introduction to the  newest members of the Highroad family, two golden retriever puppies (the  Davis' and the Johns' pre-child experiments). The staff did a beautiful job  meshing with the campers, and the campers did an excellent job meshing with the staff.  Everyone was flexible, nobody was hurt. Most importantly, everyone learned something about the God of the universe, about his love for them, and about the "Amazing Race of the Christian life. (Campers learned that being a Christian is like a life-long race with a starting line, challenges throughout the race that must be overcome by following the example of the Champion, and an ultimate finish line that is our goal and our hope). 

It is our hope that after this weekend, each of the campers will have a better understanding of what it looks like to run intentionally, in a world where so many people are drifting aimlessly. Thanks to all of the parents who entrusted their children to us last weekend, we had an awesome time!

To see the pictures from the weekend, check out the Winter Camp 2012 album!

Two Days Until The Best Winter Camp Ever! 

It sounds a bit presumptuous, and we're certainly qualifying it with "God willing," but this weekend's Winter Camp is shaping up to be our best one ever! There are a lot of reasons that we feel that way… First, we have five amazing counselors who will be working with the campers this weekend. Four of them are veterans of summer '11, and one of them is an enormously talented future member of our summer '12 team. Second, we have an awesome theme, "Amazing Race," that will help the campers to better understand God's love for them and their lives in him. Third, we have a bundle of exciting new programs and games that we're looking forward to. One new program, "Amazing Race," will send the campers on a camp-wide challenge course. Campers will land their "airplanes," navigating a compass course, perform wilderness first aid, run the craziest relay race ever, use creativity and critical thinking, and finish exhausted!  

There is another reason that we're excited, for the first time we will have enough campers to divide into two units during Winter Camp. 3rd-4th grades will sleep in Pine Lodge and 5th-8th grades will sleep in Oak Lodge. This is a first for us, and we hope to see this growth continue in the future!

Challenge Course Groundbreaking!!!

After much anticipation, we have begun clearing the site for the new High-Ropes Challenge Course! This course, which is slated to become operational this spring, will be one of the largest and most exciting additions in Highroad's history. It will open the door for us to serve more high school and college-age groups, as well as adding to the program progression available to our summer campers.

The bulk of the clearing over the last couple of days has been done by Jon Baigis of JR Landworks LLC. Jon, a forestry student at Virginia Tech, has been volunteering his time and equipment to prepare the future challenge course site for the poles and other equipment that will be delivered by Inner Quest inc., the challenge course builder, later this week. Both Jon and his brother, Ross, also did their Eagle Scout Projects at Camp Highroad and we cannot thank them enough for their support!