Tuna, Author at Bethany Birches Camp

Author Archive

Fall Newsletter: What’s up with the Pavilion Project?

We are fortunate to be operating completely out of the new pavilion! We gained occupancy to the entire building June 2016. We had partial occupancy June 2015. We are focused on finishing this project! That includes finishing moving in, some additional fundraising and completion of a few items.

Moving in is the easy part! Total cash needs to finish the project and pay down outstanding debt is $249,500. $116,000 of this is debt on which we are paying interest. We are working to get rid of this debt (you could make a contribution now… or buy a session of camp for your child for Christmas)! The remaining $133,500 is to finish aspects of the project. Those aspects include kitchen equipment, climbing wall/high ropes, wood boiler, finishes (paint, sealing floor etc). Find the detailed list and estimated costs at the bottom of this post.

To date we have spent a little over $1,800,000 on the building including the loans referenced above, some in-kind gifts of materials and almost 7,000 volunteer hours. We expect to complete the project and all its components as time and money allow. We expect to finish paying down debt by end of calendar year 2017. And we expect many great uses of the building from now on! The building has served campers for two summer camp seasons and this winter will be the second winter camp season hosted in the new building. There have been 5 weddings and many other group uses already in the short time the building has existed. If you would like to give to help finish this project, PLEASE let me know.

Brandon “Tuna” Bergey,

Executive Director

brandon @ bethanybirches.org

Fall Newsletter: Camp Agape Partners with BBC

Greetings! My name is Beth Ann Maier and I am Chairperson of the Board of Camp Agape Vermont. The single guiding mission of Camp Agape Vermont is for God’s totally accepting, unconditional love, to be experienced by children who have a parent in prison. These children have a 75% risk of being in prison someday themselves, and what better way is there to reduce that risk than for them to know that they are loved and valued by God? This summer, Camp Agape supported 55 campers in Bethany Birches Camp programs. I want to tell you a story that shares the wonder and hope that is fostered by the partnership of Bethany Birches and Camp Agape.

As the camp was gathering for the final Fireside of the Summit-Mid week, twelve year old Tom (all fictitious names) was all charged up, and shot a karate chop into the night that connected with thirteen year old Peter’s face. Now Peter had been dealing pretty well all week with the impulsive and irritating Tom. Usually he could laugh or turn away, but Peter was in pain, worn out, angry, and sad that camp would be ending the next day. He had reached his limit. He could screech out an obscenity, he could plant his fist in Tom’s face, or he could run. He chose to run – into the dark night. Christian, a sixteen year old BBC intern ran after him, and, because we are very serious about never having one camper alone with one staff person, I ran after them. I found them some distance away, sitting in the bushes, quietly talking. I stayed back, and heard Christian ask: “Do you mind if I pray for you?” Peter responded angrily: “I don’t need your sympathy. I don’t want your pity!” “That’s not what it’s about,” said Christian. “It’s about strength and courage, and I need it as much as you do.” And that is what they prayed for before they quietly got up and returned to Fireside.

May we continue to find strength and courage in our partnership as we accompany each other in God’s grace and love.

~ Beth Ann

Did you know that:

* 57.8% of VT inmates experienced the incarceration of a parent or loved one when they were a child.

* Over the course of a year, parental incarceration affects 6000 VT children.

Summer 2016 was the second summer in our partnership together and we hope the beginning of a long partnership together. Agape at BBC feels to us like an excellent fit. We believe deeply in the Camp Agape mission and want this shared program to succeed so many youngsters may consider alternatives to behavior that may continue the cycle of crime in their family system.

~ Brandon “Tuna” Bergey

Thankful For The BBC Family

Greetings friends. Some of you are single. Some of you have six children. Some of you are newly married or recently divorced. Whatever your status with respect to your family, know that we are glad you’re part of the Bethany Birches family. The BBC family is one that you can choose to be a part of and we’re glad you have chosen to join this family and we look forward to the next time we’re together. Until then, have some grace with your biological and other chosen families. I believe many of our societies problems could be solved through united and loving families.

Reflecting on this recent election I realized that there are a whole bunch of folks in my American family whom I don’t understand. And I would like to understand them. Not to prove them wrong or to change their minds, but to connect and deepen my own understanding. This is a key to learning to love my neighbor. Or my brother/mom/uncle/aunt.

So why not use this Thanksgiving day as an opportunity to both enjoy your family and friends and to get to know someone a little deeper. Ask a question about his life. If she supports a political or religious perspective that you don’t understand (or even hate) why not ask her about it? How will his chosen candidate solve a problem that exists? Don’t react against what you see as off-base but rather listen deeply and thank your brother/sister/grandparent for sharing vulnerably. Consider sharing vulnerably yourself. I believe that everyone’s perspective and actions make sense given their unique inputs.

Here’s to courage and patience enough to love our families: Cheers.

Brandon “Tuna” Bergey

Winter Camp gets tubing upgrades

That’s right. It’s safer, faster and you’ll get trips back up more often. Many campers choose tubing as their favorite activity at winter camp. Why shouldn’t they? 1/4 mile long, speed, 3 turns, a ride back to the top. It’s great fun! We upgraded the famous tube run in three ways this year. Safety, speed and the ride to the top. Safety and speed were addressed through some excavation of the second turn. That turn was always problematic. On the slow days it was fine and on the fast days it was not fine! By adjusting the shape of the turn and adding earth a few places we think we have made it both safer and faster. Parents and campers rejoice! The ride to the top: with the addition of the Birchmobile for hauling campers back up (rather than the tractor) the ride up will be faster. That means more runs in a weekend!

Winter camp is around the corner. During February we’ll host elementary and middle school age campers for weekends and long weekends. Winter camp at Bethany Birches is something to behold. Super great food (afforded by volunteer cooks), 160” annual average snowfall, a large indoor space for getting out of the cold, a backcountry ski program and a quarter mile tube run. I wanted to take a minute to update you on the tube run.

See you here this winter?

Brandon “Tuna” Bergey

Summer Camp 2017 Registration Open Fri

Next Summer is kind of far away. The leaves just fell off the trees here in central VT. But, many of you are no doubt planning your summer vacations and other details of family life. It’s important to us that we have our dates in your hands as you do that planning. And so summer camp dates were released a month ago and now, this coming Friday, online registration for all summer sessions will be open! If you sign up the first week that registration is open, we’ll add the weeks video and tshirt to your registration at no charge.

New to Bethany Birches? This new parents page will answer many of your questions. If you have more questions, just send us a message here on the FB page. And if BBC is old hat to you and your family, will you do us a favor and tell your friends about camp? One mom told me that BBC is VT’s best kept secret. We don’t want it to be a secret!

I just love this quote from Sarah, a new camper mom. “My daughter had a terrific first year at Bethany Birches Camp. Her counselor was engaging, fun, thoughtful, and so helpful to her as she adjusted to life away from parents. She came home talking about the playing on the water trampoline, rock climbing, eating ice cream in a pig trough, and solving the mystery with fellow campers of who stole the chocolate chips!”

Hope to see you this winter or upcoming summer.

Brandon “Tuna” Bergey

14th Annual Benefit Auction Report

Greetings friends!

Another auction has come and gone. Boy was it fun! Preparation always seems so stressful for the committee and staff. I left camp at 10pm on Friday night knowing there was plenty to finish on Saturday morning. Slept OK. Woke up thinking about all there was to do. Rushed up to camp after kissing my wife and daughter. Got out of my truck and took a deep breath. Immediately I smelled quiche baking and doughnuts frying. The air was brisk and the sun bright. Fog was rising from the valley below. I recalled a snapshot from a recent board retreat. Someone wrote “Auction Day.” That was a response to the question, “What do you love about camp?” I hadn’t thought about that much until that moment. And I realized that even though it’s stressful for me I just love auction day! Campers are back on site. Many of our most faithful supporters are here. Lots of volunteers hustle around to get food out. And there are new-to-camp folks checking it out for the first time. Sometimes just passing by sometimes from a nearby town.

What a wonderful mix of people! And all for the purpose of supporting a vision of a better world – a vision of giving local children a needed experience; young people who need a place to go and get outside and play. To experience God in nature and the people around them. To be inspired to hope and dream and love. Who doesn’t want to invest in our youth in a meaningful way.

And then there’s the food. Fresh made doughnuts. Quiche & fruit. Fresh coffee. Fresh squeezed apple cider. Popcorn just popped like at the movies. Add the people and food to the event itself – the auctioneers doing their thing with their crazy fast talk. What fun and fellowship!

Some stats:

$42,049 has been recorded so far.
80 bidder numbers were handed out to over 130 people.
95 raffle tickets sold (congrats to Rebecca Golding, winner).
180 doughnuts made and consumed in 4 hours.

See photos from the day on the main auction page. Coming to that page in a day or so will be the lot list with winning bids attached. It’s often fun to see how much items sold for.

And please please please plan to join us next year, September 23 OR 30, 2017 (committee will be deciding shortly).

Please also plan to join us as a volunteer during winter or summer programs. Or, sign up for monthly giving (email me brandon @ bethanybirches.org for the monthly giving form). No matter how you join in the fun, hope to see you here at camp sometime soon.

Brandon “Tuna” Bergey

Day Camp! Unique Themes Each Week

Day camp is back! Cheeks has been hard at work planning. I wanted to share with you her recent plans for themes at Day Camp.

From Cheeks:

Each week of day camp will include a lot of traditional BBC Favorites including eating ice cream out of a pig trough, the slip n slide, swimming in the pond, exploring nature, team building activities and more. Each day will have blocks of time dedicated to the theme for the week. Read below for more details on each week.

Classic Week: (6/20-24)

This week is all about BBC Classics! Day Camp Director Amber “Cheeks” Bergey will pull from her 10 years as BBC Program Director to have the best, age appropriate BBC activities for Day Campers. Over the years BBC has gone “around the world”, hosted “muddy Olympics” and “carnivals”, directed “cinemas” and examined a plethora of themes to help young people make connections between faith, nature, relationships and God. Each day campers will get a great taste of what it’s like to be a BBC Camper while making new friends and having a wonderful time!

Wild Week: (6/27-7/1)

This week will focus on the “wild” activity happening around us in nature. Blocks of time each day will be dedicated to examining the wildlife around us. Catching critters in the brook, scavenger hunts leading to different trees and rocks, along with other hands on events will help campers have fun while learning about the wild life around us. It’s never too early to experience how being immersed in nature can put us in touch with The Creator.

Splash Week: (8/1-8/4 or 5?)

This week of Day Camp is in honor of many residential camper’s favorite day: Wet N Wild Wednesday! At Day Camp we’ll be wet and wild all week. Chunks of each day will be dedicated to water activities. If you don’t like to get wet, not to worry! Each day will have options for hands off water activities. Campers will have fun with traditional back yard splash games and also have fun working together to accomplish slippery challenges. Moments each day will also be spent examining how some of the properties of water can help us understand faith and a relationship with God.

The Power of Camp: Friendships

Host your child’s birthday party at camp for FREE!

That’s right. Just like the title says, we will help you host your child’s birthday party here at camp for no charge! We have a limited number of slots available between now and the middle of June. So we’ll do first come first serve. Here’s what you do:

Go to Facebook and write a brief statement sharing what you love about Bethany Birches and why others should consider signing up for a summer session. (see sample below – you can even copy and paste)
Write to brandon @ bethanybirches.org to let me know you did it.
I’ll contact you with possible dates.

Here’s a sample post:

My (son/daughter name) has been going to Bethany Birches Camp (use @Bethany Birches Camp to actually tag the camp) for __ years now. I just love _____ (share whatever you love about the camp). Check out their summer camp offerings at www.bethanybirches.org/summer-camps.

Think this is cheesy? Don’t! We need your help getting the word out about camp. That’s why we ask you to share on Facebook (feel free to tell your friends face to face too!). And we want camp to be used by you and your family and benefit from all the camp has to offer which is why we’re offering free Birthday party hosting!

Hope to hear from you soon.

Brandon “Tuna” Bergey

2015 Annual Report and Meeting

Greetings BBC Supporters:

Each year in March, we have our Annual Association Meeting. The Association is the formal ownership group of the camp (being a non-profit, there are no financial benefits to ownership). FYI – anyone can join the association.

It’s a fun evening; sharing a meal, hearing from the staff and board directors and conferring together about important issues. This year the association had discussion around the camp’s core values.

You can listen to a good portion of the meeting right here.

The annual report can be found here. If you would like a copy mailed to you, let us know here at the camp office (802-672-5220).

It would be great to see you at next year’s meeting!

Brandon “Tuna” Bergey