Dear Campers, Parents, Staff, Alumni, and Friends,
Welcome to the ‘new’ Campservations! Like an old friend whom we have not seen in a while, we are so happy to have Campservations back! And… we think it looks better than ever.
Campservations, our Camp Trinity newsletter, has gone through many variations during its 50-plus year history. As it has always said on the cover, Campservations is published ‘often and occasionally by the Campers and Staff of Camp Trinity on the Bar 717 Ranch’ with the intent of keeping you, our big extended Camp family, up to date on all the news from the Ranch.
Early Campservations were printed using a hand cranked mimeograph machine which Grover Gates, our founder, had set up the Press Shack at Camp. The ‘ka-chung,’ ‘ka-chung’, ‘ka-chung’ of that now archaic wonder was a familiar sound of my childhood. A photocopier replaced that mimeograph, and now email has replaced the photocopier, sparing a tree somewhere, yet still fulfilling the original intent of keeping the Camp Trinity community connected.
Staying connected is what’s important. The mechanics of how Campservations reaches you, paper or pixels, likely matters less than what’s contained within. For us, what it’s about is building and maintaining the Camp Trinity community. From September to June, Camp Trinity could be said to be wherever you, our campers, parents, staff and alumni, can be found. Spread across the globe, we can be connected electronically, but ultimately it is the shared experience of Camp Trinity that unites the community.
October on the Ranch this year has been one beautiful autumn day after another. It’s quiet without the hum, buzz and bubble of Camp life, but fall is always a busy time. There’s lots to do as we prepare for the rain and snow we know are coming. Platforms and program areas get packed up and put away, the gardens must be disked under and planted to cover crops, and now is the time to cut and split enough firewood to keep our woodstoves going until March.
Former campers who come back to visit always remark that the Ranch looks just like they remember. Hmmm, I always think to myself, the place is actually always changing, but I also understand what they mean. Camp ‘feels’ the same, and that’s what people remember. What they see matters less, I believe, then how they feel about it.
Kent
|