Camp Olympics, Beating the Heat, & a Baseline Service!

Today, we’ll be talking about our Sunday activities at Camp Balcones Springs, including Camp Olympics, ways we’re staying cool, and our evening Baseline service!

Sunday began with the infamous Camp Olympics event, starting with an opening ceremony in the GridIron, after which all of the campers returned to their cabins to create a cabin flag and cheer to use during the games. After that, girls and boys reported to their starting event and raced around camp participating in different mini games before returning back to the GridIron. The games offered something for everyone, from a Football Toss to a Scooter Obstacle Course to a No-Hands Oreo-eating race! The first place cabin after all of the events was F Compound’s Gonzalez, followed by E Compound’s Fannin and F Compound’s Goliad. Ladybird cabin (D Compound) took first place in the spirit competition followed by O’Connor and Driscoll.

Later that afternoon to beat the heat, everyone at camp gathered together for an ice cream social. The camp fire truck made a surprise visit, spraying campers with a refreshing mist and cooling them down in the afternoon. We also extended our Sunday free swim hours to ensure campers were able to get a good amount of time in the water and keep away from the heat!

That evening after dinner, campers gathered in our lakeside amphitheater for our camp Baseline service. Baseline is what we call our Sunday church service here at camp. Although we are a Christian camp and that informs many of our teachings of acceptance and love toward one another, we also aim to be a space that is affirming and inclusive of campers from all faiths and backgrounds. Thus, our church services are accessible for all campers and do not require them to share a knowledge of or belief in the Bible. Each term, we invite a different guest speaker to camp to give an inspiring speech during our Baseline service. Sometimes these people are former campers or staff, and sometimes they are friends of Camp Balcones Springs who happen to have an inspiring story or particular bit of wisdom we think is worthy of sharing with campers. This year, we invited former camper, counselor, and Leadership staff member Jimmy Miller to speak,

Jimmy referenced the book of Jude in his speech, emphasizing the importance of inclusion and acceptance when we are interacting with others, both at camp and in the world. Jimmy wove together many stories from his time at camp, including mistakes he had made and learned from and was able to apply to his life. We love when old campers come back to visit and share tales of their time both during and after Camp Balcones Springs – it is always such an impactful, heartwarming treat!

We’re so excited to begin the second week of Term 3 tomorrow (Monday)!