Campers return to Crooked Creek

Sticky hands mold a mixture of gelatin and bird seed as questions of “what are the straws for?” and “when’s lunch?” are fielded by counselors. Once the bird feed mixture is molded into a shape and a straw is set in the center, they’re placed on a tray in a freezer.

It’s 10 a.m. at Crooked Creek Christian Camp south of Washington, where around 60 first-and-second-graders are having morning activity time.

Campers are separated into cohorts, adhering with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance for operating youth camps, meaning they travel in three separate groups, whereas under normal circumstances they would do activities as a large group.

COVID-19 has affected the camp and not just in separating campers into smaller groups.

Crooked Creek Christian Camp has been in operation for 41 years, with the exception of the summer of 2020. Program Director Saralyn Murray-Oyer emphasized the efforts of the community and how generous their support has been throughout the past year.

“The financial burden hasn’t been awesome, it’s been a little tough,” Murray-Oyer said. “People care about this place and that’s obvious. Yes, we’ve felt the effects, but also we have such a wonderful community that we’re feeling pretty hopeful, too.”

Hosting guest groups when summer camp is not in session helps bring in most of the revenue, but due to COVID-19, no guest groups were held. An online auction raised $25,000 for the camp, which will help provide tuition for campers and support the overall operation of the camp.

Although summer camp is in session, there are restrictions. Operating at half capacity also reduces revenue.

A new and improved outdoor hand-washing station encourages campers to sanitize often. Counselors noted that they are seeing campers wash their hands more often. Masks are required in indoor spaces when with individuals who are not within a camper’s cohort, meaning they are not required outdoors or in the cabins.

“These campers have been amazing,” Murray-Oyer said. “I think they’re just so used to wearing masks in school, and I’ve never heard a camper complain about wearing their mask, which is really nice.”

High schoolers attended the weekend of June 12th and spent the weekend playing games, kayaking in the lake, making friendship bracelets and bonding with counselors, program staff and camp pastor Josh Lundberg.

“You can go to church every Sunday, and you can be in the back dozing off, but when you’re at camp, you’re actually involved with everything,” said counselor Taylor Sutton.

High school campers alluded to the perks of having a small number for the week, providing them better opportunities to engage and connect on a spiritual level. Singing worship songs followed by a message preached by Lundberg gave way for discussion among the small group.

The weekend concluded with an orientation session, as several of the high school campers would suit up as counselors in the following weeks, for elementary and middle school-aged campers.

Abby Miller, a junior at Winfield-Mt. Union Community School, has been coming to Crooked Creek since she was in the first grade. Miller attended camp as a high schooler, before stepping into the role of counselor on June 14, bunking with four first-and-second-grade girls.

While Miller has been coming to camp for years, others on the program staff as well as the director are at Crooked Creek for the first time yet have experiences at other summer camps.

Briley Young is a program staffer in her first year at Crooked Creek. She likes being outdoors for the summer.

“I think that’s my favorite part, is getting to be outside all the time,” Young said. “I went to camp in elementary through high school, so I have lots of camp experience, but it’s a lot different when you’re behind-the-scenes versus when you’re a camper.”

Young is a recent graduate of Bethel College, located in Kansas. The decision to work at Crooked Creek came after deciding to join a friend who was a counselor here. Young assists with the development of activities, the collection of supplies and helping Murray-Oyer and counselors when needed.

Choruses of “Happy Birthday” are sung before lunchtime, although it’s no one's birthday. The group of campers receiving mail daily collectively decide on a song to sing and dance to.

The sound of flip-flops against the cement and the snaps of a diving board can be heard from the grass field, where a cohort of campers are having a rock-paper-scissors tournament. Afternoon activities consisted of playing field games, swimming in the pool and shooting down the waterslide, with each cohort rotating after a certain amount of time.

After spending two days and one night at the camp, the first-and-second-graders’ parents will arrive, setting the sun on their session at Crooked Creek for the summer.

The camp staff will have one night without campers before the third-and-fourth-graders arrive the next afternoon.

“I had a lot of very memorable, fun camp experiences, and I think if I can help a kid achieve that and say, ‘I for sure want to do this again,’ I think that’s the hope,” Young said.

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