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For two of the summers while I was in college, I was a camp
counselor at two different summer camps. The first year, I went to Camp
Cherokee on Lake Burton. This was a small, rustic camp with about
50 campers per session. Most of my campers had a lot more experience
camping than I did. I distinctly remember them introducing me to the
Indian Turnip. This turnip is the root of a small plant and the campers
encouraged me to try it, telling me it was “a little hot”. I now find
this description online: The Indian turnip (Arisaema triphyllum), also
known Jack-in-the-pulpit, contains toxic substances called raphides that cause
the tongue and mouth to swell and can be fatal. The campers laughed for
hours as I rinsed my mouth in the water from Lake Burton. My second
summer, I went to Camp Sea Gull
on the North Carolina coast. I describe this camp as a country club for
teenagers, and there were over 1000 campers per session. It included
golf, tennis and sailing as its activities, as opposed to eating Indian
Turnips. Both camps offered great experiences and both were also focused on
the spiritual development of the campers.
After, college I worked for several technology
companies. One year, I had 4 W-2’s after two companies that I worked for
were bought up by larger companies. It wasn’t terrible, but I felt like I
was always starting over. In 2002, I took a week off to slow down and
figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. One of the ideas
that I had was to start a Christian camp on Lake Hartwell. I set up
several meetings with existing camp directors in the area to get advice and
spent some time exploring properties that might be available. I was
disappointed that the advice from the directors was to move very slowly.
They told me about all of the struggles associated with setting up a new camp
and encouraged me to become involved in an existing camp instead of starting a
new one. So while that dream remained unrealized, another one
emerged. In looking for a piece of land for a camp, I discovered that the
property search was what set me on fire. And that realization is one of
the major factors that encouraged me to change careers to real estate in 2003.
Over the past two years, I have had the pleasure of getting
to know some of the people at Pine Cove
Camps in Texas. Their camps draw campers from all over the country,
and their purpose of transforming the lives of people for God’s mission and
glory ensures that they are doing much more than just providing a fun week away
from home. Since I have met them, I continue to run into campers and
counselors who have been transformed by their experiences at Pine Cove.
I know many of you have your own camp experiences at these
camps or others, and I would love to hear about them.
