Also coming up we will begin our Future Life Season!  “What is a Future Life?” you might ask.  Well, let me tell you!  Future Life Retreats are basically a mini-summer camp for schools or youth groups.  This fall we will be hosting schools from all over the Bay Area, and Santa Cruz County.

Camp Hammer also hosts weekend retreats for all kinds of groups (Church, Mens, Womens, Youth, etc) during the year.  We would love to host you as well!  We are an exclusive use retreat center, which means you get all 99 acres of these Redwoods to yourself for a few days!  We also offer some of the best pricing options around!

If you are interested in hearing more about these kinds of retreats, call our front office! (831.338.3200)

Lastly, we are still raising money for our Apostle Lodge Deck.  The project has been completed, and was used this past summer, and will continue to be used for years to come!  We are Close to having the funds to pay for it completely, and would love any support you can offer!  Thanks so much.  Check back for another blog next week!

Sincerely,

Camp Hammer Staff

Over 700 campers came and spent time with us this summer.  Campers heard from amazing speakers, played crazy team competitions and night games, ate the best cookies on the planet, were loved by an amazing staff, and many met a savior for the first time!  Our Apostle (High School Program) campers learned what it is to serve others, and who they can be when living a life consumed by their creator.  Camp Hammer is this incredible haven in the Redwoods that staff and campers get to come to and experience a little bit of what heaven might be like; a body of believers loving each other because of the love they receive from God.  For a few weeks a year these Redwoods are filled with laughter, and the sounds of people living and loving amongst God’s creation.

I truly wish I could convey just how amazing this place is, and specifically how incredible the Summer of 2010 was, but like I mentioned before, there just aren’t enough words.  If you spent time with us this summer, we miss you already, and look forward to seeing this year, or next summer!  If we didn’t see you this summer, and you just happen to be reading this blog, we hope to see you in the future, but only if your ready for the time of your life!  Praise God for Camp Hammer.

Truly,

Liger.

Skit Set.

As many of you know we are very serious around here about our night games!  With that in mind, we have been working tirelessly to get our set built for this summers skit.  I cannot tell you exactly what it is, but let me tell you that it looks great!  We have had all kinds of help from old and new staff members, as well as high schoolers from Twin Lakes High School group!  From painting to building and everything in between, we are almost done!  Get ready for one of the best summer skits in history!

Bridge Project

We are in the process of putting in a brand new bridge down by the fire circle and it looks amazing!  We had the Mens Ministry from TLC here last week, and they did some incredible work.  It is going to be a great blessing when it is finished!

Other Stuff.

We are ordering all of our summer merchandise, prepping the rest of the grounds, and gearing up.  The pond is full, the sun is shining, the set is nearly finished and we are beyond excited for staff and campers to arrive.  Thank you for all of your support and prayers.  We love and value everyone who supports our ministry!

Love,  Camp Staff.

PS.  If you are interested in supporting Camp financially we are still raising money for scholarships!  We want every child interested in Camp to be able to attend, and you can help that happen by donating financially!  Check out the “Give” Section on our website, our call our front office for more information (831.338.3200 x10)!

The Cedar Deck is finished and looks amazing!  It is so incredible to see what God is capable of doing through some dedicated men and hard work!  Thank you to TLC Men’s Ministry!  We are now in the process of putting in the new bridge from the Fire Circle to the Horserails area!  It will be another incredible addition to our facilities here at Camp Hammer.

Summer is quickly approaching and Camps are filling up!  Don’t miss out on an incredible week (or two) of Camp this summer!  It is going to be the best summer Camp Hammer has ever seen!  We’ve got all kinds of great new stuff, and we are confident you will love it as much as we do!

Just this week we have had two new employees come on board!  Will Witt (Noobie), and Chelsea Fenwick (Nitro) are officially here, and working on this years Apostle program.  It is going to be an amazing year with these two additions!

Camp Hammer will be at Twin Lakes Church in Aptos’, 3rd Annual Mock Rock this evening (Friday April 16th).  We will be giving some information on our High School programs, judging the competition, and raffling off some incredible stuff (Sweatshirt, Sweatpants, Stainless Steal Water Bottle, new Sunglassess, Ipod Shuffle!)!  Don’t miss out.  Come out to the church, bring a dollar for the raffle, and enjoy the show!

Ok, so that is the fly by of what is going on at Camp today!  Stay tuned for more info on all of the incredible things happening at Camp Hammer between now and summer!

Love,

Camp Staff.

Now for some really exciting news!  In the coming weeks we are starting all of the Program Projects for this upcoming summer!  We will start with the construction of Camp Hammer’s very first 9-hole Miniature Golf Course.  As of right now we haven’t named the course yet, so if you have suggestions, be sure to comment and let us know what you think the name should be!  It is going to be awesome.  I can’t wait to play put-put with the Campers!  The next project will be the filling of our pond.  We have been so blessed this year with the amount of rain that has come in, and as far as we can see, there should be no problems filling the pond again this year for all to enjoy!  Third, we will be putting together a brand new basketball hoop kindly donated to Camp Hammer!  So for at least a little while we will have a basketball hoop that doesn’t have a terribly flimsy rim!  It will allow for some great basketball games, and knockout competitions this summer!  Lastly, we are going to begin construction of our set for this years skit.  If you haven’t already done the word search puzzle in this years brochure, you better do it now to find out what this years theme is!  So many exciting things going on in these next few months that it is hard to contain my excitement!

Next topic is our scholarships.  Every year Camp offers scholarships to families or students who normally wouldn’t be able to attend camp for financial reasons.  Each summer we are incredibly blessed by men and women who want to support our ministry in this way!  If donating to our scholarship fund is something that you feel led to doing, please check out our “Give” section or call our front office (831.338.3200 x10) for more information!  Our hope is that any camper who wants to attend Camp Hammer, is able to, and that money would never be a hindrance to making that happen.  If you don’t feel led to give financially, or even if you do, please take time to pray for this portion of our ministry here!

Finally, if you haven’t registered yet, take some time in the next few days and register!  All that is required upon registration is a $50.00 deposit!  Camp is such an amazing experience where kids can be kids and grow to know a loving savior!  You can register by clicking on the “Register Now” tab on our home page!  This is going to be an incredible summer of laughing, loving, learning, and playing!  Don’t miss it!

Love. Peace.

Camp Hammer Staff.

Camps are filling up fast, so don’t hesitate to register!  We are making some big changes to Camp for this upcoming summer, and they are things you won’t want to miss!

If you haven’t had a chance to check out any of the “Love Stories” on the home page, take some time and read them over!  It is amazing to hear the different experiences people have had while at Camp Hammer.  And if you are interested, write your own!  We would love to know why you love Camp Hammer!

Lastly, if you have any suggestions about what you would like to see on our Website, let us know!  We would love to use your input to continually be improving our site.  We look forward to hearing from you!  Peace.

Camp Hammer Staff

The Apostle (Cedar) Deck is in the works.  We are still raising money for it, but we have started the initial work to make the project happen!  It is going to be amazing, seriously amazing!  MC (Dennis) and Auger (Josh), as well as the Twin Lakes Church Men’s Ministry are working so hard to make this an incredible blessing to Camp.  It is a much needed improvement, and will benefit all of our weekend groups as well as our Apostle Campers from this summer on.  It is a really exciting project!

Registration has been open for several months, and Camps are filling up like crazy.  It is always exciting around this time of year to see new and familiar names on our registration list!  As the numbers get higher, it reminds us that summer is just around the corner, and we are more excited than ever!  Our Ride and Ropes Course inspection is happening this week which is just one more indicator that Summer 2010 is quickly approaching.

We are also in the process of re-stocking the Camp Store with fan favorite merchandise as well as some great new products.  This summer we will be introducing a new stainless steel water bottle in 6 different colors, authentic Camp Hammer sunglasses, some new t-shirts, and a new style of sweatshirt!  We are also looking into bringing back Camp Hammer trucker hats!  They won’t be camo this time around, but they will be even more awesome!  And of course we will have the famous Camp Hammer sweatpants!

Ok, so Camp is preparing tirelessly for Summer 2010.  What does that mean for you?  REGISTER TODAY.  Don’t miss out on an incredible opportunity to hang with old and new friends, ride the rides, laugh at the cab, go nuts during night games, and find out what the crazy new camp names are.  From Junior Camp to Apostle, you don’t want to miss camp this summer!

Lastly, if you feel like you would be interested in donating financially to the ministry of Camp Hammer, be sure to check out our “Give” tab on the homepage!

Love.  Camp Hammer Staff

1. It helps replenish out water supply!

2. It will help fill the pond a few months from now!

3. It keeps everything nice and green!

So, although the sunshine gives us hopes of summer, the rain is a friend of the redwoods!

Three By Spring

Camp is busy, busy, busy these days!  Our maintenance team is working hard building and creating drainage for all the rain that has come through.  Let me be the first to say that our maintenance crew here at Camp Hammer are all-stars.  They are two of the most servant minded people around!  God has truly blessed Camp Hammer with our maintenance team!  I would also like to give a shout out at this time to the Twin Lakes Men’s Ministry who have devoted countless hours, and continue to in hopes of making Camp Hammer a better place!  Thanks guys, you too, are incredible examples of what it is to serve!

Ok, so what are these guys doing at Camp you might ask?  Well, they are helping Camp Hammer move forward with a campaign we like to call “Three By Spring.”  This 3BS campaign consists of three very specific needs that Camp Hammer has: Re-roofing buildings, Replacing/expanding the Apostle Lodge Deck, and scholarshipping students to attend Camp this summer.  The TLC Men’s Ministry is helping by donating the time and skills needed to complete these tasks, but there is still much more to be done!  We have begun to move forward on some of these projects, but we are still in need of funding and prayer!  In the month of March we are focusing primarily on the Apostle Lodge Deck!  This is a very exciting project because it will allow Apostle students to have more space of their own for meeting, hanging out, and storing personal things.  If you would like to partner with Camp Hammer and lift this project up in prayer, pray that God would continue to provide the funding and resources to complete this project before the end of March!  If you feel led to give financially, check out the “give” section of our website for specific instruction, or call our front office at (831.338.3200 x10).  We are incredibly excited for all of the amazing things God is doing here at Camp in this season!

Recruiting Recap.

Mossi, Noobie, and I (Liger), just returned from our Southern California recruiting tour.  We met a lot of incredible young men and women looking to serve at Camp this summer!  After all of the people we have met, it is clear that we are going to have another incredible staff devoted to serving the students who attend Camp Hammer in the Summer of 2010!

Well, I think we have given you enough to chew on for this week, so as you go through the next few days, please remember to lift Camp up in prayer!  Keep checking back to the blog for news and updates on the 3BS Campaign, and also other cool things to come!  Peace.

Camp Hammer Staff.

Liger.

Camp Staff.

Hey Friends and Family!  Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.  Like many of you, we have had constant, or near constant rain for the past 10 days.  Power has been out twice since last Monday but thankfully it is back on now.  Mini Waterfalls, leaves, and branches litter the mountain roads as you drive to Camp.  It is gray each day, but beautiful.  We are so thankful for the rain!  Our redwood retreat thrives on it, not to mention our pond will appreciate it when we begin to fill it in the Spring.  As you walk through Camp, it is amazing to see just how green it will get!  It’s also incredible how well you can hear our “roaring” creek that runs through the forest!  Needless to say, we are thankful for the rain!

Recruit

Mossi and Liger (Eric and Andrew) just returned from a Northwest recruiting trip.  They visited George Fox University in Newburg, Oregon, and Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Washington.  They reconnected with old staff, and met many young men and women who could end up at Camp this summer!  In a few weeks, Camp Hammer will head to Southern California to complete the second half of recruiting.  They will be visiting Azusa Pacific (Feb. 8th & 9th), Point Loma (Feb. 10th), and Biola (Feb. 11th & 12th).  If you are in the area be sure to stop by and say hello.  If you are thinking about working at Camp and live in Southern California, be sure to take some time in the next few weeks and get your applications in!  We look forward to seeing you!

Write

Finally, we are just mere days away from launching our “Camp Hammer Love Stories” campaign.  Starting next week we will be posting a new story each week on the website for your viewing pleasure.  To view the posts, all you have to do is check out the camphammer.com main page.  The stories will be there for you to enjoy.  Remember, these stories aren’t reserved for specific people!  In order to submit one, you just need to have your very own story to share.  We want to share the stories of all who love Camp Hammer.  Check out other blog posts to see more specifics!

Farewell for now.  Hope to hear from you all soon!  Summer 2010 is closer than EVER.  And remember, “Today is the day the Lord has made!”

Camp Staff