The World According To Chris Brewer

And the Countdown to Camp concludes with a great memory that will always stay with me no matter what. Memory #1 is just that — my first Camp ever.

Memory #1: Pee Wee Camp 1989

Who could ever forget their first Camp?

The first Camp I ever attended was in 1989, and I was only four years old. Pee Wee Camp was for ages 4-7 and it was held over the course of a weekend in between Senior and Junior Camp until the late 90s. It was a great time for the small fries to get out of the house for a weekend, enjoy the great outdoors and learn about God.

Surprisingly, this Pee Wee Camp is one of my earliest memories of my life and I remember it well. I can remember Dad driving me up to the campground in his old pickup truck, and us stopping at K-Mart in Chehalis for some toiletries.

I also remember that I wasn’t too bad off that weekend — I had my own Dad as my camp counselor. Karla Baker was the camp director, and I remember some of the other guys group leaders: Don Horton, Chuck Hyatt, Marty Emerson.

I remember the church services, in which we would sing really simple choruses about Jesus and then learn about Him (we’d sing songs such as “Since Jesus Came Into My Heart” and a personal favorite, “I Wanna Be Like You-ooo-ooo”, a take-off of the Jungle Book theme song).

My most vivid memory was us playing Roadrunner vs. Coyotes in the big field behind the lodge during the Saturday afternoon. Somehow I escaped all the Coyotes and won. I remember Dad chasing me and the other kids around, and it was a grand old time. Sprinting back and forth between the two ends of the field, trying to reach the trees and be called “safe.”

That first Pee Wee Camp for me was 18 years ago. I would end up attending Pee Wee, then Junior, then Senior Camp from 1989 until I left for the U.S. Air Force in 2002.

Here I am getting ready to work my first Senior Camp ever as a staff member in 2007. After a five-year hiatus that included extended stays in Portugal, Virginia, Texas and Iraq, I’ve come full circle, back home.

Back home, to work in the single greatest life-changing event of my life. It’ll be an emotional homecoming, I’m sure — the people have changed, but the place and the reason for us being there hasn’t.

And I want to do the best I can to ensure I pass along each of my treasured Camp experiences to everyone attending Senior Camp this year.