the camp hammer blog

Hey Friends.  I hope this rainy day finds you nice and dry.  The weather has been so crazy lately!  Last weekend we had snow again!  It was 60 degrees yesterday, and today it is pouring rain!  What an interesting couple days it has been.

In other news, it is MARCH!  Which is insane!  As cheesy as it sounds, I just don’t know where the time goes!  March means that summer is only a few months away.  If you follow our Facebook or Twitter page you can track our countdown to summer.  At the beginning of every post we post how many days are remaining until our first week of Summer Camp.  We are almost down to double digits!

With all of that in mind, we are wrapping up interviews for Summer Staff 2011 in the next 2 weeks.  We have received over 100 applications this year, which, if I am correct, is the most EVER!  What an amazing thing to see so many young men and women interested in serving at Camp Hammer.  We could certainly use your prayers and thoughts as we attempt to hire the staff that God is going to use in 2011 here at Camp.  We know that wherever these men and women spend the summer of 2011, God has some incredible things in store!

Speaking of Camp staff, yesterday morning the current year round staff attended the annual board breakfast at Twin Lakes Church.  If you are unfamiliar with Camp Hammer, Twin Lakes Church in Aptos owns Camp Hammer, and has helped it run since 1965.  Anyway, we all went and had breakfast with the other members of the Twin Lakes Staff as well as the Board.  It was a great morning filled with encouragement, great food, and great company.  It is always a blessing spending time with so many men and women who love Camp and Jesus!  Not to mention a large portion of the Twin Lakes Staff have worked at camp over the last 45 years and have some incredible stories!  It was a great morning!

Thanks for reading, and we all hope you have and amazing week!  Check back next Wednesday for a new post!

Peace.

Andrew aka Liger

Tags: board, camp, camp hammer, facebook, hammer, Jesus, March, rain, snow, staff, Twin Lakes Church, twitter
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Hey Friends and Family,

I hope this wonderful fall day is treating you well!  It is cold here at camp, approximately 53 degrees, with a strong little wind chill, brrrrrr.  Well, I must apologize for the lateness of this entry.  It has been crazy around here lately.  Many of you who live in the greater Santa Cruz area probably remember the storm we experienced two weeks ago, well, it knocked out all of our power for over 80 hours!  It is incredible how different life is when there isn’t any electricity!  It was amazing to realize just how much time is spent on things like facebook, blogs, twitter, email, oh you get the point.  Anyway, let’s get to the good stuff.  What is going on around here?  Quite a bit actually, thanks for asking !  We recently said farewell to one of our staff members.  Sundance’s time at camp ended this week and he headed home to start the next chapter of his life.  We miss him already!  Widget has joined us here at camp to work on our website.  We are in the process of putting out the Summer 2010 Summer Brochure!  It is going to be awesome!  Look for it in the mail.  Mossi and Liger are looking at recruiting dates to find the staff for next summer!  So exciting!  Auger, MC, Mum, and Pickadilly are working hard to make sure Camp runs smoothly through the Fall!  Skipper, Optimus, and Bambi are working hard in the Kitchen for all of our weekend groups, and let me tell you, the food is incredible!

Lastly we are still working on this incredible new campaign.  It is called “Camp Hammer Love Stories,” and no it isn’t about people falling in love.  It is about why people love Camp Hammer.  Everyone, including YOU, will have a chance to send in their Camp Hammer Love Story.  You can write a paragraph or 5, it makes no difference to us.  We will  be censoring all entries, and every couple of days, or each week, depending on the number of entries, we will be featuring a new story on the front page of our Website!  So exciting.  so much great stuff going on.  Keep your eyes peeled for specific dates and more info on how you can send in your entries.  If you want to start writing one, feel free!  Here is a quick prompt: “What do you LOVE about Camp Hammer?”  Let the world know what Camp Hammer has done for you!  Have a great Wednesday!

Camp Hammer Staff

Tags: Auger, bambi, camp, camp hammer, campaign, email, facebook, hammer, liger, love, MC, mossi, mum, optimus, pickadilly, power outage, skipper, storm, story, sundance, twitter, widget
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Hey Friends and Family!

I hope this wonderful Friday morning finds you well!  The air is crisp here at Camp, so great!  Well, it has been a busy couple of weeks, and I know the blogs have been sparse, but do not fear, you should see weekly postings from here on out (for the most part!).  I wanted to tell you guys some of the great things that are going on at Camp.  Now that our busy season is officially over, we will shift gears a little bit and start working on things for the summer of 2010.  In the next few weeks we will be putting together a new brochure to give you guys all the great information for next summer.  Look for that in the mail in a few months!  Also, we recently added a new staff member (WIDGET!!!) who will be working on helping us keep our website updated with all sorts of great new features.  Keep your eyes out, and check our website regularly for those changes!  Lastly, we are in the beginning talks of launching a new campaign.  It will be called something like “Sharing the Love.”  We will be asking all of YOU to tell us your very own “Camp Hammer Love Story.”  We want to know what you love about Camp Hammer.  Whether you are a parent, a camper, an x-staff member, or a retreat camper, we want to know how Camp has affected you!  There will be plenty more info to come on this, so keep those eyes peeled!  Such an exciting time at Camp! Enjoy your weekend, and we hope to see you soon!

Camp Hammer Staff

Tags: camp, camp hammer, enjoy, facebook, hammer, love, over, share, twitter, website
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Hello All.  Well I hope this blog finds you well on this beautiful September morning!  I walked down to the office this morning and it was already like 75 degrees outside.  Love it.  Makes it feel like summer will never end.  As I sit in my office (the Cave) some may call it, I have no choice but to daydream of next summer.  I know summer 2009 just ended, but I can’t help it!  I mean c’mon, my job is to create fun games and activities for kids to do at a Camp.  My mind is constantly going over different things we can do…even when I am not working.  It’s like a sickness, a good sickness if there is such a thing.  I am already thinking of new skits, possibilities for team comps (something with a mud-pit?), banquet themes, and even a new gag to use before night games.  Call me crazy, but I just love this place, and planning for summer.

Ok, so, I am going to abruptly change my train of thought, but just go with it!  This year, 09/10, we need to get the word out there about Camp Hammer!  If you have worked here, or come as a camper, or you just plain love this place and you follow us online (Twitter, Facebook, Blog, Website), you gotta spread the word.  Camp Hammer is like this hidden treasure…but better (that rhymed).  We are a small camp with HUGE heart.  If you have experienced Camp you know what I am talking about.  So my mission to you: tell your friends about camp.  Show them videos on our website or you-tube.  Follow our blog, and tell your friends as well!  Join the Twitter community and follow our “tweets…” Our twitter is called “CampHammerTime.”  Become a fan of Camp Hammer on Facebook!  All of these are great ways to stay connected to camp.

Also, if you are interested in submitting a reason, or story, that explains why you love Camp Hammer, send it in!  We would love to post it on our site!  You can send in entries to info@camphammer.com and just make the subject out to “Why I love Camp Hammer.”  You can send them with your name, or we can post them anonymously!  All entries will be censored for appropriateness of course!  Alright friends, we have work to do.  Enjoy this 2nd day of September!  Much Love.

Camp Hammer Staff

Tags: 2009, 2010, blog, camp hammer, facebook, family, friends, love, mission, morning, night games, september, Summer, summer camp, team competitions, twitter, youtube
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Hey Friends and Family.

Well, another week has passed since summer has ended.  Camp is so quiet!  It is always an interesting transition going back into the “year-round” here at Camp Hammer.  It is crazy just how fast summer goes by!

I wanted to write a quick blog to let all of you know that you are not forgotten.  As you transition back into school or whatever the fall holds for you, we are thinking and praying for you often.  We loved having so many wonderful young people up here this summer.  And if you are a parent reading this, we loved having you pick up and drop off your kids too, ha!  Now that summer is over, we hope that you will remember your time shared with us (in whatever capacity that may have been) this year!  Study hard, have a great school year, and watch for more Camp Hammer mailings and blogs to come!

Camp Hammer Staff.

Also: check us out on Twitter (camphammertime) and Facebook (camp hammer)!!!

Tags: 2009, 2010, blog, camp hammer, facebook, reading, school, Summer, twitter
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