Camp Nawakwa - Yearbook (Biglerville, PA)

Page 19 text:

N. S lit'x!'d:'slxlA' v. 'K I 1 -tg 5 . N if 's 5--. I9 5' T :vt na' . 1.-.5 QV' if 'VC M. 'ff' -4-1 Q . b , A--W' 1 J' r' 54 K ,Hi 5,1 A.. W4 'U ,E Gp I' 1, , ir ,af f p ! 5. 'I' . ,s-,Y 1'il't'HI llitltltfa' 'lin lx'1'l4'l14'H. f We continued our woodmen's chores even alter the caunping season opened. Often we czune in from the woods or the field just in time to get into our whites and set the tables lor the next meal. The rustic fence around the water wheel was erected by two of the seminarians during that first season. Believe it or not, it is still standing. Frequently we had to move into cabins over in the camp when the director was short counselors for the boys camps. Dedication day Dr. Fischer presented us to the audience as the first K.P. force of the Lutlieran Leadership Training Camp. XYhat an eyeful we must have been with our freshly pressed white ducks and Sunday shirts! The first Great Chief of Nawakwa was very particular about the appearance of his crew. He provided us with the most efiicient lzand-powered washer on the market. For one thing, the hot suds brought welcomed relief to cal- loused hands. The only friction was a diversity of opinion about the proper tem- perature of the second rinse water. I don't remember who won, the advocates of hot water, or those of cold. K.P. night was a high spot among the campers in those early years at Nawakwa. During the Senior groups the fellows took over a night and entertained the entire camp. Their favorite stunt was a pirate raid. At the close of one of the evening meals. while Dr. Fischer was making his announcements. the boys masqueraded as pirates. Then brandishing butcher knives borrowed from the kitchen, they clam- bered over the mess hall partition and took the camp captive. Orders were given for everybody to re- port to the assembly hall at a given time prepared fo hike. The whole camp was escorted through a wooded path to an abandoned log house in an open field about a mile from camp. VVhen the campers were seated on the slope in front of the house, the K.P.s started the show. No camper ever forgot that experience. It was a real treat after a long day of work and study. One evening a certain K.P. con- cluded his act by dashing around the rear of the seated campers. With his ethereal- like masquerade fioating through the breezes in the bright moonlight, he made quite a spectacle. Registration days were interesting. As a rule we served as a sort of semi-official welcoming committee, carrying luggage and directing campers to their cabins. I missed that experience when later I in- herited the truck driving job. Also tl1e up Vw 19 lun of waiting on tables in the mess hall! Qi' course, every job has its advantages. I enjoyed the trips into town. Campers often looked with envy upon the .li.P.'s, and wished they could get a Job at Nawakwa all summer. The boys were always asking us to let them help. Witliciut belittling our high privilege as K.P.'s, we confess there were times we wanted to get away from it all. Dr. Fischer gave us permission to use the camp truck one night a week to go to Gettysburg. Mess hall duty was always a pleasant chore. I think I had the most fun of my life waiting on tables at Nawakwa, espe- cially during the boys camps. They always ate so heartily and were so enthusiastic about it.--Gallons of apple butter at a meal. It kept one K.P. busy turning the bread slicer. And when Big Bertha, loaded with dessert, was pushed into the dining room, the roof was raised. Water- melon was always kept a secret until the last moment. Big Bertha is still in serv- ice. W'e named her quite affectionately, though a bit surreptitiously, after one of the ladies in the kitchen. Just last week I toured the kitchen and serving room for old time's sake g-and there she was, now plainly marked, Big Bertha. Closing time at the end of the season was an event too. Perhaps we seemed eager for it. After three months of living like birds in the wilderness, we were ready to return to school. Yetlthere was something about closing camp. Every- thing was quiet. The campers were gone. Nawakwa was not the same. So we could not get the place closed up fast enough. Although only one of us returned for the second season, I am sure we closed the camp at the end of the first summer with a tinge of reluctance. Down there where men sense their deepest thoughts, we knew we were parting from some- thing that could not be duplicated else- where in our experience. I First K.P. bridge

Page 18 text:

18 funds, about ilS5,000, were speedily raised with contributions coming from many members of many denominations and from all walks of life. It was turned over to and most gratefully received by the di- rector on behalf of the Board of the Lu- theran Leadership Training Camp for Re- ligious Education. In return for the generosity of Gettysburg and Adams County citizens the Camp Board voted to receive camper-students of any church affiliation in the county into any of the age-group camps to which they might belong. It should be added that some farm- ers owning several or more acres of the camp tract contributed their holdings gra- tis which was equally appreciated. The camp has always enjoyed the friendship and hearty cooperation of its neighbors. Funds also were needed for the cabins, the larger buildings, the pool, the play- grounds, housing the water supply, the cement underground reservoir and water and sewage systems, electric power brought by lines run from Arendtsville, roads, a camp truck, etc., etc. Needed also were equipment for the cabins, fiush toilets, refrigeration, and complete cook- ing and baking and serving equipment for the kitchen and mess hall and a hundred and one other things. Where was the money for all these things to come from? Again the faith and the earnest promo- tional activity of the Camp Board were rewarded. The First National Bank of Gettysburg graciously granted them the loan of 317,500 The West Pennsylvania Synod, always a firm believer in and sup- porter of this educational project contrib- uted 32,000 each year. The Susquehanna, East Pennsylvania, Allegheny, and Mary- land Synods contributed lesser amounts, every dollar of which was used to liquidate the debt. Churches and individuals and groups contributed the cost of various specials-a camper-, Red Cross-, or a faculty-cabin, a fireplace, books for the li- brary or other equipment. Many men gave generously of their time and energy-the always loyal and helpful Camp Board, the Advisory Committee consulting each year on how to improve the camp's four-fold program, Dr. Fischer's confrercs of the seminary, Mervin Black, the head car- penter, Harry C. Raffensperger, the artist mason, Rev. Willis Ford, Miss fl.aVcne Grove, Robert Young. One could mention scores whose equally valuable material, moral and spiritual help made Nawakwa possible, made The l7I'l'll1l'L come true. The thousands ol campers from juniors to adults who have at Nawalcwa received Cafnp N azealewa inspiration and help for abundant living and enlarged service, whether in their own small churches or the remote corners of the earth, and who continue daily to follow in the steps of the Master are the continuing realization of The Drcfam. Faculty row-frst year Life Of A K.P. In The Early Days REV. JOHN BISHOP Several inches of snow had fallen dur- ing the night and wiped out all traces of roads and trails. We set out for the South Mountains, nevertheless, and had our first glimpse of Camp Nawakwa with the beauty of winter. Another visit in the spring revealed more clearly the layout of the camp. The swimming pool was still very much in the rough, merely a non- descript hole in the mud. Dr. M. Hadwin Fischer staked out the corners and leveled the lines so that the workmen could begin construction immediately. It was hard to imagine, though, that by June that moun- tain of mud would become a magnificent. modern swimming pool. Two weeks before the opening date we moved in, four of us, three seminarians and an instructor from the former Get- tysburg Academy. Otihcially we were K.P.s, but that was a slight misnomer. After making up our bunks in the K.P. cabin, we got into our dungarees and went to work, digging ditches. raking stones, felling trees, opening shutters. placing screens, and in general eating ravenously of the home-cooked meals at the farm house near the camp. For the first time in our lives we tasted fried peaches, stuffed with brown sugar and fried in butter. That really is a delicacy. One ol the boys confided that at first he was stymied by country cooking, but after the first' day of ditch digging on the ath- letic field he kept pace with the rest of us at the table. f . all if A .-,:. av' 4 J . SHS 1-i ',,.f -ar' a of ' I M04 3,10 'Lot W' 1 fl ,ul 0 it ,fluff 3 U fa ,ncbi tl .QB X 'WW1' tiki 'mcg '-Q .Ira it fir---hi. ,Dsl ie W 'N gui. ' Q 'Nun ..f s W is ., ll -.- 'Q ri. -, l fi i su.. :lQ Q it ...V t s ., is 'Ns ,N N l in 2 wi tg 'l M.,'s . ,K . N. 'U Q' 'Sv x' -.. l N

Page 20 text:

20 Cilllllfi .'X'r1:vr1,l'ttw1 SUGGESTED PROGRAM FOR NAWAKWA DAY FEBRUARY 6, 1949 CALL TO WolRs1-1111: Psalm 150 I-IYMN: Be Thou My Vision -- American Youth Hymnal No. 236 POEM: f'Backward We Loolcf' ............. - American Youth Hymnal No. 233 QThii5 is cz hymn, but is to be read. rather than sungj . SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 6:1-8, I Samuel 3 :1-10, Acts 9:1-6 I-IYMN: Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart ' American Youth I-Iymnal N o. 62 MEDITATION: Vision in Action Anniversary year was 1948, Nawakwans looked back at twenty years of growth, and saw that it was indeed good. But every anniversary celebration must have two parts: to paraphrase Charles Lamb, each anniversary is a resting place for thought and meditation, and a starting point for fresh exertion. The year 1949 is the nrst of a new score of years. Wlieii the beloved founder of Nawakwa gazed on the hills, and on boys and girls, he beheld a vision of camp and campers. The hills were to blossom forth with cabins and fountains, pool and class- rooms, places to rest and places to worship. Long-limbed boys were to grow to become Navy chaplains, mission pastors, doctors, Christian laymen in all walks of life. Eager- eyed girls were to find themselves in far-off mission fields, in deaconess garbs. as teachers, nurses, secretaries, mothers, all telling with their lips and lives of their Christ. And the transformation was to be wrought through experiences in camp. And it all came to pass. D This might have been only a dream. Perhaps the difference between a dream and a vision is that nothing happens after a dream, but much happens after a vision. NVeb- ster says the terms are synonymous-but suggests that a dream is the state of mind of an abstracted person, while a vision is that which requires a person of more than ordinary sight and imagination. The diderence between a dream and a vision is akin to the difference between abstraction and action. Isaiah and Samuel and Paul all had visions too, that came to pass. Those visions might have been only dreams. But notice that when the vision came to Isaiah. he answered, Here am I, send mc. Samuel said, Speak, l.ord, for Thy servant hearethf' Auf' Paul cried out, Lord, what wilt Thou have ine to do! flilvery true vision is followed hy action. '.l.'hat is how Naxvalaxva grew. .-Xnd that is how Nawalcwa must grow iu the luture. Nawaluva is more than a place. although the