the camp hammer blog

Well Friends and Family.  It seems it is that time of year again.  The Holidays are swiftly approaching, and Camp is quiet.  Our last retreat group of the year was last weekend, and now Camp will rest for a little over a month.  The office will still be buzzing with preparations for the new year, but the grounds will take a break from guests.  The Holidays are such an interesting time of the year.  For some, they bring fond memories of family and friends, and for others there are feelings of frustration and anxiety.  Well, this Holiday season I want to challenge you!  Thanksgiving is often viewed as a time of family, friends, food, football, and Black Friday (that was some great alliteration)!  Thanksgiving is certainly all of those things, but there is so much more.  This Thanksgiving remember all of the incredible things you have been blessed with.  Even though times might be tough, or you just aren’t a fan of the holidays, remember that there is always something worth being thankful for!  As we take a breather here at Camp, know that we are so thankful for the decades of staff and guests that have spent time with us in the Redwoods.  Camp Hammer is an incredible place because of the people that have filled it for over 40 years.  Our hope is that you know just how valued you all are.  So this holiday season, remember that there is always something to be thankful for!

Love,

Camp Hammer Staff

Tags: blessed, break, camp, camp hammer, family, friends, hammer, holidays, love, rest, thankful, thanksgiving
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Hey Camp Friends and Family.  I hope you are well on this Wednesday morning.  Blogging is a very interesting aspect of our website.  Up until this point, our blog has served as another way for people to stay in touch with, and continue hearing about what is going on at Camp.  But I want to ask you what you think!  A blog is something that can be interesting and fun to read, or dull and repetitive.  My question for you is, what do you want to read when you log onto a blog?  Your opinion matters!  We want people to love reading this blog, and eagerly anticipate the next one to be published.  So, if you have things that you would love to hear or read about on this blog, comment on this entry and let us know!  We want to serve our readers to the best of our ability!  Let us know what you want to read on the Camp Hammer blog!

Camp Hammer Staff

Tags: blog, blogging, camp, camp hammer, family, friends, hammer, love
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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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Hey Friends and Family!

I hope you are well on this beautiful September day!  A lot has happened in the last week and a half.  We had two Future Life Retreats come and go, and also Twin Lakes Church Family Camp was here two weekends ago.  It has been very busy to say the least.

Family Camp was so much fun.  Over 200 people were here camping together.  It was great to meet and re-connect with so many families who love Camp Hammer.  So many campers from previous summers were here as well.  It actually felt a lot like the summer because of all the fun things going on.  We had a great time hosting you Family Campers!  See you next year.

Monte Vista and Calvary Christian came last week for their annual Fall Future Life Retreats.  If you don’t know what  a Future Life Retreat is, I will explain it.  A Future Life Retreat is when a youth group or school comes to camp and we facilitate a 3 or 4 day program for them.  We play games, open rides, do some team building, have great seminars and worship, and really just have a good time!  Anyway, we just had two.  They were a blast.  We brought back a famous team building activity called The Egg Drop.  For this activity students are given a small bag of supplies and an egg, and are challenged to create a contraption that will keep the egg safe when dropped from about 8 ft.  It is a lot harder than it sounds.  Out of 28 teams, we had 2 that did it.  It is a fun activity nonetheless and causes students to work together and problem solve as a team!  Pictures will be on the site in the next few weeks!  Keep your eyes out.

This week is a pretty mellow one around Camp.  We are preparing for groups to come, and have started brainstorming ideas for next summer.  Be sure to check the mail in the next week or so, you might just have something delivered by Camp Hammer.  Alright, have a great Tuesday!

Camp Hammer Staff

Tags: calvary, camp, camp hammer, egg drop, family, family camp, hammer, monte vista, redwoods, retreat, school, Summer
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Hey Camp Family!

My apologies for how long it has been since our last post.  Summer came, and to be honest, it was’t on the forefront of my mind to update the blog.  Next year I’ll have to keep it written on my hand so I can remember!  Well, nonetheless, I thought I would write this morning and give everyone some info on what happened at Camp Hammer in the summer of 2009.  It seems odd to put into words what happened this summer, only because it seems like there is no possible way that it is already over.  I feel as though it must have been a dream becuase of how fast it came and went.

Well, I suppose I will begin at the….beginning.  The staff arrived, and it was evident from day one that it was going to be an incredible summer.  The summer staff of 2009 immediately clicked it seemed, and were all eager to learn what they would need to minister to young people over the following 8 weeks.  Orientation flew by: camp names were given, games were learned, schedules memorized, and on sunday we patiently awaited our first group of campers.  I would love to take time to describe each of the individual camps, but I fear some of them have blended into eachother in my head (this is the lesson I learned, and so next year we will blog weekly…ha!).  We had campers ranging in age from 8 to 18.  So many young people came to Camp Hammer this summer, and they had a blast to say the least.  We laughed, played, sang, cried, lived, and loved together.  With a tough economy, and plenty of financial hardship, it was absolutely incredible to see how faithful God was in bringing children to Camp Hammer.  Over 200 campers receieved scholarships.  That means that 200 children, who normally wouldn’t be able to afford a camp experience, were able to come here and enjoy what it means to be a child of God.

Along side our normal camps, our Apostle program was phenomenal this summer.  We held 3 two week sessions for high schoolers wanting to grow in their faith.  Over 80 campers took part in Apostle.  Our Apostle students take a deeper look at the Bible and who Jesus is.  This year they looked in depth into the book of Acts, learning about community and service.  As mentioned in a previous blog, Camp Hammer had an opportunity this year to partner with a non-profit organization called Invisible Children (IC).  IC came each week and worked to raise awareness for their cause.  Our Apostle program worked most directly with IC, and were able to write letters to officials, discuss and pray for the children in Uganda, and they learned tagible ways to get involved and to be a part of the solution.   It is a beautiful thing to see high schoolers step outside themselves and love one another regardless of circumstance or style.  From team building and service work to seminars and small groups, Apostle was an amazing success this summer.

Well, in a very small nutshell that is the summer of 2009.  Check out the pictures portion of our website in the next few weeks for some shots from this summer!  Thank you to all who love and support Camp Hammer.  This wouldn’t be the place it is if it weren’t for you.

Camp Hammer Staff.

Tags: 2009, camp, camp hammer, camper, hammer, invisible children, love, redwood, Summer
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It is officially JUNE!  Which to many of you means school is out, summer is beginning!  For your friends at Camp Hammer it means, CAMP IS STARTING!  We are in the final weeks of preparing Camp, and getting ready to hang out with all sorts of incredible young people this summer.  In the recent weeks we have built a Castle, a new rec shed, re-vamped the BMX course, FILLED the pond, opened the pool, and so much more.  Summer is upon us, and we are realizing why we love Camp Hammer so much.  It is truly incredible how things change when summer is near.  The weather obviously changes, but with that so do all sorts of other things.  For instance, when the weather changes, the sun hits the plant life differently, and creates an array of incredible new scents.  This is my favorite indicator that summer is near.  Walking through Camp and smelling the unbelievably fresh air of the Redwoods.  If you have spent time at Camp in the summer you know exactly what I am talking about.  Soon, the Snack Shack will be stocked, the Craft Shack will be open, the feild will be played on, the pond will be “funoed” in, the swings will be swung on, the dining hall will be eaten in, DK will be filled with music, and the forest surrounding Camp Hammer will be filled with laughter of children learning about their creator.  It is summer.  Can’t wait to see you!

Camp Hammer Staff

Tags: camp, camp hammer, children, food, fun, hammer, laughter, pond, redwoods, sun, swings
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Hey Camp Family!  Coming up in just a few weeks is our full service week!  May 11th – May 16th is our “Build His Kingdom,” week.  People who want to serve are coming from all over the county to help us prepare Camp, for the amazing summer ahead.  We will be working on all sorts of great projects to help make sure this is the best summer Camp Hammer has ever seen.  If you are interested contact our front office at:

(831)338-3200 x16

Don’t miss this great opportunity to hang out with people who love camp, and want to help make a difference!  You don’t have to commit to the whole week, even just a few hours of your time would be greatly appreciated.  We hope to see you soon, and remember, if you haven’t registered yourself, or your camper for summer camp, do it now!  Spots are going quick.

camphammer.com

Tags: build, camp, camp hammer, fun, hammer, kingdom, love, Summer, summer camp, week, work
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Hey Camp Family!

I hope this post finds you well.  Summer is right around the corner, and we are checking in to make sure you are up to date on all the incredible things going on at Camp this summer.  Here are a few of the highlights to look for in 2009.

Invisible Children

Camp Hammer is partnering with an incredible organization called Invisible Children this summer.  I.C. is a non-profit based out of San Diego that is helping raise awareness of all of the injustice taking place in Uganda.  They will be coming to Camp on monday of every week all summer to share about their organization and talk about how we can all be involved in helping the children of Uganda be free from fear.  It is truly an amazing organization that has some great things to share.  Don’t miss them this summer!  You can also learn more at invisiblechildren.com!

These are just a couple highlights among many.  Camp Hammer will have all of the crazy fun team-comps, night games and free time activites that you can think of, as well as incredible speakers and music, food, and relationships!  2009 is going to be an incredible summer! Don’t miss out.  Register today at:

camphammer.com

Excited to See You,

Camp Hammer Staff

Tags: 2009, camp, camp hammer, food, fun, hammer, inivisble children, night games, non profit, Summer, summer 2009, team, TOMS
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Mock Rawk 2009

2701′s Mock Rawk (Hosted by Camp Hammer) was incredible!  So much energy, so many great acts, so much FUN.  It gets us really excited for summer!  The students really pulled out the stops and their acts showed it!  The event grew substantially since last year!  Almost 2 to 3 times more people showed up to watch the madness this year.  We raffled off some really great prizes too!  Four people walked away with a new Camp Hammer sweatshirt, and one lucky person won a FREE week to Camp!  It was a night for the history books.

March 28th Work Day

Also, on March 28th, several men from all over Santa Cruz County partnered with Camp Hammer and helped with some really incredible projects.  From bridges to retaining walls, people were working hard to improve Camp for all you campers that will be there this summer.  It is an incredible thing what can happen when people get together and show their passion for Camp.

Build His Kingdom

And their are still plenty of opportunities to help if you want to get involved.  During the week of May 11th – May 16th, we are having more work days, and we will be working on several different projects including building the set for this years theme, as well as the finishing touches on some of the projects that were started this past weekend.  Thanks for all your support, and if you haven’t registered yourself, or your child for Camp this summer, don’t wait any longer!  Spots are going fast, and you don’t want to miss out on the amazing things we have planned for this summer.

For more information call our offices at (831) 338-3200 or email us at info@camphammer.com!

Love,

Camp Hammer Staff

Tags: build his kingdom, camp, camp hammer, fun, hammer, Mock Rawk, Mock Rock, redwoods, santa cruz, work
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