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RENDEZVOUS

Inventions and Ingenuity

Desperation breeds creativity," or so Grandma used to say. Several patches of resourcefulness emerge when walking the grounds of Camp Utmost and watching impossibly small numbers encounter incredibly tall odds.

Resourcefulness raised its head early in the lodge construction when Lindy Myers saw the need for an on-site heavy-duty band saw. Apply his mechanical abilities and iron worker background, he built the sturdy machine you see here. One of his most recent creations is a raft for the swimming hole using fuel tanks from a jet aircraft!

Wayne Hightower comments, "This has been built one pickup truck load at a time." He observes that the innovator of the group is Orion Heath. After the foundation was laid for the lodge and the men were preparing to install the uprights, Orion saw a need for a device to cut a slot in the bottom of the logs that fit over the anchor plates extending out of the concrete. The problem was complicated in that this cutting exercise also needed to be safely done. While still recovering from heart bypass surgery, Orion designed and crafted a table with a winch and stationary saw, and then made wooden gears to move the log into the saw. Operating from a safe distance, the slot could be cut perfectly.

Everyone associated with the construction agrees that it is the combined efforts of faithful men and women that shine. Lucinda Hightower states it simply, "Those who can, did."

Individuals donated trees, Moe & Mary Racine from Alabama spent month's handling a high-powered water pressure washer to peel logs, Lindy turned trees into lumber, and individuals and church groups from Washington, Colorado, Michigan, Virginia, and Pennsylvania helped nail them into place.

The saga of stewardship of time, talents and finance would be incomplete without honoring the faithfulness and determination of the retired men who worked daily on the vision God had given them: Lindy, Wayne, Orion, Skip Barndt, and the un-retired camp director Steve Fawcett. As one observer commented, "Nehemiah didn't build the wall without obstacles -- but (here) nobody walked away." The overarching challenge was to have the camp usable in time for this year's campers. Faithful hands made it so.

Wayne dogged the paperwork through all the regulation maze, calls his construction drawings his "cartoons," and continues to oversee daily operations of what he calls "the Health and Exercise Club." Steve Fawcett maintain the overview and direction and coordinates the out-of-state groups. He describes his position in volleyball terms: the rover who plays out of position taking on whatever needs to be done.

Skip Barndt waded into the work early on skidding timber, helping with the sewer line, and clearing brush. He shines in his role as recruiter, "filling in the blanks," tying up loose ends and clean up detail. He has worked the concrete pours, truss building for tabins, and walked the roofs of most everything in sight.

Carpet pool is an innovation by Kit Hardy from "old camp" that has enjoyed the continuing attention of campers. Kids cluster around the tables at every break.

The most recent innovations were crafted after camp began. Rob Spitzer and Larry and Ed Ray built a 60 foot by 30 foot human foosball court. The side walls are made from 4 x 8 walk-in cooler panels, the cables are anchored in concrete and covered with thick-walled water lines of different lengths and covered alternately in red or yellow vinyl tape. When in use, 22 people and soccer ball in the court are in the court which is played like table foosball. And you have rarely seen such fun, heard such laughter, or tasted so much dust!

Camp counselors Ryan Farnes and Jason Wills enlisted the help of "the Sams" (Fawcett and Spitzer) and several others to make a water slide down the back side of the hill. What began as a garden hose, a good dose of laughter, and a bumpy hill has grown into a camp favorite sport.

What happens when someone eyes a cast off electricians' wire spool and a couple of car seats? A jim-dandy carnival ride! Ryan also devised this piece of cleverness he calls "Wheel o' Death." So watch out, Gale Fister (employer and pastor to this ingenious young man) - don't turn your back.!

Camp has always been a special delight and vision for Gale. From the camp's inception, he too, has had his share of weaving ingenuity into the camp. From the original camp through he location and purchase of this new camp, Gale has been the driving visionary of reaching kids for Christ. He is currently occupied designing and wiring lighting and making the dream into a beautiful reality.

Walk over the camp ground, smell the camp fire, feel the wind from the pines, hear the laughter of the campers. Praise God with us for He is good!