It was a week filled with geocaching, gymnastics, singing, swimming, worship and wakeboarding. This year Montana's youth camp, led by Archie Harris, conference youth director, saw 68 campers and 25 staff attending Camp Paxson for the last week in June. It was the highest number of campers the youth department has hosted in more than 10 years, breaking last year's record of 62.
In preparation for the larger numbers, three new activity classes—puppetry, rocketry and geo-caching—were added to the camp schedule.
Other classes included basketball, kayaking and crafts.
Evening activities included games such as greased watermelon football and the 2008 all-time favorite, capture the flag. The festivities were followed with worship and time around the campfire. Jim Jenkins, Bozeman pastor, was the camp pastor for the week. Rousing skits from the counselors, nature nuggets, singing and puppet plays preceded the evening talks. Jenkins emphasized his nightly themes using personal stories and those from the Old Testament. Morning worship, or camp council, and Sabbath School allowed counselors to share some of their own experiences with campers. The highlight of the week was the Sabbath evening baptism of a Paxson camper.
Camp Paxson 2008 is best described by one camper who says: "Camp was awesome!!! My cheeks hurt really bad from smiling!"
Puppetry was added as a new class this year at Camp Paxson. (Deanna Harris, Camp Photographer)
Campers and staff at Camp Paxson 2008 (Deanna Harris, Camp Photographer)
Camp Paxson campers found leftover parts from the greased watermelon football game turned into useful head gear for swimming. (Deanna Harris, Camp Photographer)
The climax of this year's Camp Paxson summer camp was the Sabbath evening baptism of Michael Fell. (Deanna Harris, Camp Photographer)
