Donations

All,

We have a great opportunity to also help Camp Will-A-Way financially. If any of you are interested in donating, please use our church tithing slip and write "Service Retreat" on the line entitled "other".

Blessings upon you all!

The service committee

Gloves

Everyone,

Your cost of admission to the service retreat is ONE PAIR OF GLOVES. Bring some to work in. Thanks!
Angella

Rocking Chairs

If you go to Camp Twin Lakes in their Rutledge location, there are rocking chairs everywhere. Camp Will-A-Way has hardly any.

They are asking if anyone has a rocking chair to donate, please bring it to camp. If it is a little beat up, that's okay. We will give it a makeover.

If you need help getting it to camp, just let us know.

Packing List

What to bring!

• 3-5 pair shorts/long pants (you will want a mixture of both)
• 3-5 shirts
• 3-5 pairs of socks
• 3-5 pair of underpants
• A pair of shoes (closed toed shoes are to be worn at ALL times)
• Pajamas
• Bath towels and washcloths
• Flip flops for shower
• Toiletry articles in plastic containers (shampoo, toothbrush, soap, etc.)
• Medications
• Sleeping bag or sheets and a blanket to fit a twin bed (Fitted sheet and a loose sheet)
• Sunscreen
• Insect repellent
• Flashlight
• Raincoat or poncho with a hood

Optional Items to Bring!

• journal
• scriptures
• IPOD, Discman, MP3 players, stereos, boomboxes (if team music leader)
• camera/film
• Note about valued items: this is a church camp, but be honest. Don't bring anything you'd miss too much if it got lost. cabins won't be locked during the day

What NOT to Bring!

• computer
• money or valuables
• knives, firearms, or other weapons
• Shaving cream (except for personal use)
• Playstations, Gameboys, or any other handheld electronic games
• Food or snacks (food is not allowed in cabins as it attracts bugs/rodents!!!)

Sacrament Sunday Update

Don't worry about coming Sunday dress for sacrament meeting. The new theme for the dress is

Come as you are

Sweet. I don't have to bring any heels.

Spread the Word

We want to spread the word about our Service Retreat as MUCH as possible. I am so excited to introduce our fliers! Isn't it beeaauutiful***


This will be printed on 4x6 cards so you can give pass them along to anyone that may want to know more about what you'll be doing that weekend. Look for them at church this Sunday.

Volunteer Sign Up Update

We of the service committee would like to thank you.

As of right now we have 100 volunteers for our Service Retreat at Camp Will-A-Way. Again, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Still, we need more people especially for Friday. Please sign up if you have not yet done so either at church or on our google doc online. Also, continue to ask friends, co-workers, and others to join us in our event that we promise to be a memorable time for everyone.

We appreciate you and all you do. The excitement is overwhelming, and we are just getting started.

Thank you.

What are we going to eat?

I would like to introduce you to this man.

I'm sorry the picture is a little small. His name is Josh. He's AWESOME. In that mind of his are BIG plans to turn this camp into something the kids will enjoy year after year. Ahhh I digress.

He tells me he is providing staff to COOK ALL OF THE MEALS FOR US.

THAT'S RIGHT. We aren't going to have to cook! Come ready to work and ready to eat.

Benches

All around camp they have these benches for people to take a break. They need a LOT more. We are going to have a team cranking these out like mad. They to take a break, we can all sit on them afterwards.

Pavilion Area Extreme Makeover

This is one of the larger team projects we will be doing at camp. They have a cool beach area we will be giving a makeover.

There is a Croquet field

This ugly box that needs a pretty fence to cover it

Some sod, some more fences, beautification

Volleyball court makeover

It will take a large group of dedicated workers to make it happen in 2 days. WE CAN DO IT!

Cars Course

The camp has a brand new parking lot, and accumulated this big ol' pile of dirt in the process. The people at Camp Will-A-Way saw this as a great opportunity to build a Remote Control Car Course. How cool is that?!

We will building a ramp and platform so the kids in wheelchairs can look at the course. I'm sure we will have to test it out in the process. hee hee

Fishing Docks

This is a beautiful fishing dock located at camp. Now imagine standing out here in the humid, hot Georgia Summer. Not cool, Right? We will be making some permanent shade structure for the kids to sit under while they go fishing.

This is what happened to the temporary one the camp put up. These kids NEED us.

Can someone give me a sign!?

We are going to be adding a lot of fun stuff to Camp Will-A-Way, so these signs are going to need an updating. There also aren't enough around camp.

We are going to make an update to all of these signs and adding more around camp.

Anyone good with a saw?

Bouldering Wall

This is the current Rock Climbing Wall they have. It's pretty new and looks like a lot of fun. However, as you probably already know there can be a lot of waiting around for your turn to climb.

The YSA Solution: turn the inside to a bouldering wall!

We are going to be installing a bouldering wall in here and placing some protective mulch on the bottom in case someone falls. I'm guessing the team in charge of building it out will have to test it out with a couple of climbs *wink wink*

adding this picture because I LOVE IT!

(source)

Pool Area

At Camp Will-A-Way they have a brand new pool with wheel-chair accessible ramps and a fun water slide. However, looking at the pool area now...it's kind of boring looking. This small sign represents the most color around the entire area.

We want this place to look like a camp for KIDS! That means color! We are going to be painting murals around the pool as well as little footprints on the ground leading to various areas to help remind the kids to WALK. Any ideas of what we should paint?

I would paint a clock showing 30 minutes, because I never manage to keep the "30 minutes after eating" rule. haha

Tepee Facelift II

Here is a stripped down tepee. All of the coverings have been removed and just the frame remains.


We are going to take this and turn it into a Greenhouse! Cool, huh? In order to do that, there will be a team making plant boxes, putting up plexi-glass, etc. It will be completely transformed. Kids will get a chance to help garden here while they are at camp this summer.

Tepee Facelift

Camp Will-a-Way was originally built by the government with a Native American theme. There are groups of HUGE tepees all around camp. The staff have some great ideas to turn these into functional, fun structures the kids can enjoy.



1. Traditional- this tepee won't stray far from the original. However, it still needs some makeover magic. We are going to be demolishing the existing firepit, rebuilding a new one, and painting the floors.

Existing Fire Pit

After our Firepit makeover!

Service Projects

Sorry I haven't been posting for a second. Life is crazy...

Anyway, I'll be showing some pictures of the projects we will be doing so you can get a better idea. Enjoy!

PS
Love the new redesign! don't you?!

Twin Lakes Promo

Sacrament Sunday

Okay Ladies and Gents,

Here is where we will be having sacrament meeting on Sunday, March 20. It is a beautiful amphitheater on the lake. Can I say again IT IS BEAUTIFUL.

All of the cabins are pretty close this place, so don't worry about having to walk far in your heels.

Please be sure to pack Sunday Best clothes for the meeting!

Accommodations

Sooooo one of my first priorities was to let you know about the sleeping arrangements. Let me just say, these cabins are legit. No, it is not the Hotel Astoria. BUT they are prurrrty nice. All of them have been remodeled and are pretty spacious with central heating and air.



Each lodge is in the shape of a circle. There are 2 large bathrooms in the middle with hot/cold water.

There are 14 beds along the sides. There are NO BUNK BEDS! NO CREAKING as you have to climb down from the top bunk in the middle of the night while still half asleep to use the bathroom and then *PLOP*...end up a fallen mess on the floor. Of course the "PLOP" was a loud one and everyone around wakes up to see what wild animal ended up inside the cabin.

(no. this is not based on a true story....stupid bunk beds.)

Be sure to bring your own sleeping bag or sheets.

About Camp Twin Lakes Will-A-Way

From the camp Webiste:

Camp Twin Lakes opened its second fully-accessible overnight campsite at Will-A-Way in Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, GA in May of 2009. In partnership with the State of Georgia, Camp Twin Lakes is managing this campsite inside the state park. Camp Twin Lakes funded extensive upgrades at CTL-Will-A-Way, including the renovation of all camper cabins, the medical lodge and other camp buildings, as well as the addition of a new swimming pool, high and low ropes adventure courses, archery and more.

Click here for a Camp Map.

Welcome and get ready!

Hello everyone (waves).

We've decided to make this blog so all of you can see what we are planning for our big service retreat at Camp Twin Lakes Will-a-Way. Our goal quite simply, is to make it the best activity for the North Point ward EVER.

This isn't the usual, "Yeah everyone. We're going to clean so-and-so's back yard by picking up trash. It will be great..."

We want it to be a memorable time for everybody.

We'll serve.

We'll get dirty.

We'll have fun.

And probably before it is all over, I will ask some of you to help me throw Walt into the lake. As you all know, I am short and he is what we like to call "large in stature"..

Please check back here regularly. We are updating like crazy.