Camp Beckwith counselor: “Best job in the world.”

By * Kellie Gentry, Camp Beckwith(2010) Counselor

I remember the first day of summer camp 2010 at Beckwith, its excitement and its chaos. It was another summer and I was excited to be back. The familiar smells of the chapel and Wilson Hall, and the feel of being in my cabin made the experience all the more real.

I anticipated the routine. Eating three square meals a day with new friends at a family-style table. Embracing whatever crazy morning, afternoon and night activities we planned. And, my absolute favorite, listening to our talented music team at praise and worship after lunch and at dean’s program every night. There is something about 130 people linking arms and swaying to a powerful song that can literally move me to tears.

“Best job in the world,” as Curtis Kennington, the summer camp director at Beckwith, told us.

It wasn’t my first summer as a counselor; in fact, it was my third. But every summer at Beckwith is different–the staff, the campers and the experience. No one is better or worse, each one just different.

At the arrival of my first camper for the third and fourth grade session, Catie Burch, I knew I was ready for whatever adventures this summer had in store.

My first adventure? My work area. Environmental adventures was added back to the list of activities offered this summer, after being absent for the past two summers. And if the introduction wasn’t enough to get our first session of 107 third and fourth graders excited for environmental adventures, our explanation of a “bobcat hunt” surely did.

One afternoon in June, senior counselors Sara Thetford and Connor Gwin, about 12 campers and I set off into the Beckwith woods to look for bobcats–but really, just to admire nature. We thought we only succeeded in finding butterflies, a bird’s nest and a frog on our nature hike, but when we gathered after to talk of our adventure we were impressed with what our campers’ imaginations allowed them to see. Almost half of the campers reminisced on supposedly seeing momma bobcat licking her baby.

Good company, a serene surrounding and a new, imaginative game is all we need to enjoy ourselves at Beckwith. BJ Cummings, a rising senior, and other senior high campers introduced the staff to the thrilling game of “ninja,” where players gather in a circle with their best ninja pose and aim for their neighbor’s hand in order to get everyone else out and be the last one standing.

The other counselors and I continued to play ninja throughout the rest of the summer sessions too. Burke Moore, a camper during the eighth and ninth grade session, was undefeated for about six rounds on the Beckwith pier until Kirk Palmer, an assistant counselor for the week, brought him the sting of defeat.

The Beckwith pier is one of my favorite places to be. Just to lie in the warm sun, feel the cool breeze and listen to the water beneath is enough, but sometimes I was even lucky enough to witness the wonderful sight of at least 10 Sunfish sails during a Beckwith regatta.

For our fifth and sixth grade session, senior counselors J.D. Drinkwater and Ally Patterson added a new twist to the tradition by declaring it a “Boston Tea Party,” as a part of our American Revolution themed day. Participants in the regatta had to obtain a cup of “tea” from one buoy, sail across and dump it at another. Of course, the American teams won, and the victory was celebrated at our end-of-the-session dance party.

Celebrations are common at Beckwith, and those of us who have summer birthdays always make it an event to remember. Maggie Millette, a senior counselor, celebrated her birthday at our second annual carnival, complete with a dunking booth, pony rides, and plenty of cotton candy, during the Special Ministries session.

To me, Special Ministries is the most rewarding session every summer. From the second the buses from All Saints in Mobile and St. Christopher’s in Pensacola pulled into Beckwith Lane, all worries disappear and the focus moved to welcoming our new friends. Once I saw the joy on each of their faces, just from seeing their cabin, I knew it’s going to be a great week. I can’t thank the churches and individuals who donate most of the items we use for that week enough.

Beckwith’s mission to give both campers and staff a beautiful setting where we can meet new friends and thrive in this Christian community is what kept me coming back every summer. I am thankful for the many memories and friendships Beckwith has given me.

The Revs. Steve Pankey and Ben Rockwell commented in their dean’s program during the fourth and fifth grade session that Beckwith is a special place because it is a community where, in one week, strangers can play, eat and further our spiritual relationship with God together.

Pankey elaborated on this idea during the staff’s closing Eucharist on Aug. 7 by encouraging those of us who have come to the end of our Beckwith days to take the mission we’ve lived by for so long and share it with others and “the real world.”

After fourteen years and with Beckwith forever implanted in my heart, I am ready to do just that.

* Kellie is a junior at the University of Alabama and a journalism major. She will be looking for an internship next summer before her senior year. Kellie is the granddaughter of Paula Ross, the longtime (30 years!) secretary for the diocese.

Visit Beckwith’s website: www.beckwithccc.org