by Barbara Russell, Lions Camp Tatiyee Board Secretary

                                                                        

                                                                Barb                                  Dale with Camper on Talent Night

 

Week 1...Session for Physically Challenged, Jr. & Sr. High Campers

Most of you know I have been on the Camp Tatiyee Board as Secretary for 4 years now and have helped on the booster committee for the same length of time.  I’ve helped at fundraisers and the camp’s open house.  I’ve visited clubs to present the fairly new “Campership Program” and hopefully raise much needed money for the camp. I send out “Thank You” letters to all those that contribute to our cause.  I attend all meetings and send out the minutes, and keep board members informed of changes, etc. 

 

While all I do for the camp is a rewarding experience, nothing is more rewarding than spending time at the camp with the campers and sitting down to dinner with them.  The first night I sat at the table and I watched as the campers came into the dining room, most of them in their wheelchairs.  They sat at their assigned places and waited patiently for their counselors to bring the Taco Salad to their tables. As the counselor carried the trays to the tables the kids would chant, “Drop it, drop it, drop it”!  They were smiling, laughing and having a great time. They weren’t thinking about how different they were because everybody there was the same and they had that feeling of independence.  They’re making wonderful memories that they can hold on to until they can come back to camp again next year.  As I sat and watched them, I noticed that one camper had to be fed through a feeding tube, another had to be hand fed and still another beautiful young girl who couldn’t sit up straight was feeding herself but not always getting the food where it should go and some of it slipping down to her chin, but she had the most beautiful smile…

     

  …I wonder what the next weeks have in store for me.  

   

I encourage all our board members to do whatever it takes to make the trip to camp for the day of visitation and observe for yourselves what goes on at camp.  You will be enlightened.   And then when you go out to clubs and organizations to promote the camp you can tell them first hand what camp is really like for these “Special” kids.

  

Week 2…Session for Mentally and Physically Challenged Adults Campers

These kids were awesome, so full of fun and life.  I shouldn’t say kids; these were mentally and physically challenged adults.  (The Older kids)

Dale (my husband) and I didn’t get to too many of the programs this week, but we did go Wednesday night for the talent show.  These kids get up on that stage and have a great time.  Maybe they can’t sing all that good, or dance or play the guitar, but whatever they do they put everything into it and just have fun with it.  There are those in wheelchairs that want to dance, so their counselor gets in there an helps them to dance with their wheels.

Speaking of the counselors, I should have mentioned this last week....I’ve never seen a more awesome staff.  They have so much patience in dealing with these campers.  We had a couple of our board members that came up yesterday for the visitation, and they too remarked about the wonderful staff we have.

I am giving you a web site to check out, it’s http://www.kidslikedoug.com Doug was one of this week’s campers and his care giver was with him all week.  I talked to him several times, and he is truly amazing.

 

Week 3…Session for Deaf and Hearing Impaired Campers

I thought this was going to be a very quiet week at camp, because this was the kids “deaf and hearing impaired” week. Boy, was I wrong!!

These kids were awesome. There were more physical activities than the previous 2 weeks.

They played lots of games, spent most of a whole day at the park where they went swimming, fishing and had a picnic lunch. There was an evening of bowling and of course, a trip to the Go Karts for a couple of hours - and don’t forget an afternoon in the mud pit.  I must have taken 40 pictures of that. The Thursday evening dance was set with the music as loud as they could make it, with the speakers on the floor, so the kids could feel the vibrations on the floor.

After dinner one evening they had a screaming match to see who could scream the loudest, the boys or the girls. Yours truly was the judge of the screaming contest and after I put my ear drums back in my head, I decided the girls did a better job (must have been the higher pitched voices.)

This week was great for the staff too, they had more chances to do all the physical games and pranks right along with the campers. This week reminded me more of when I was a girl and went to Girl Scout Camp, only I didn’t have to sign to let somebody know what I wanted or how I was feeling.

 I look forward to next week with the Physically Challenged Adults.

 

Week 4…Session for Mentally Challenged Adult Campers

I don’t know where to begin with this week; this was such an awesome group of campers!! The campers were all very active. It was like watching the Energizer Bunny!  This was also a full session.

On Tuesday, the 4^th of July the campers had a parade and marched around the camp in outfits they put together themselves. They were all so excited singing patriotic songs and just having a fun time! I took quite a liking to Kirk, who was such a happy individual. He was so excited about marching in the parade that he could hardly talk – but I got a big hug out of him instead. After all the marching there was a ceremony to pick the Camp Tatiyee King and Queen and the campers chose Dick and Linda Bragg our Resident Managers. After the official crowning, they all had to march around the camp again. Pretty much wore us out (and we were just watching)!

On Wednesday they had their talent show and it was so much fun! Dale and I were only going to stay for a few of the campers, but we ended up staying for the whole thing! I couldn’t leave, these campers were so great and having so much fun! There were some that didn’t know what to do, or maybe they just stood on stage and wiggled, but when they were done everybody cheered and applauded! I must have taken about 90 pictures in just those 2 days.

I got to meet Sean Lawson this week; it was his mother that sent the most awesome letters to let us know how much Sean loved camp and what camp means to Sean. What a great kid. Those are letters that I use when I go out to represent the camp to other clubs, etc.

I also met another awesome camper, Robbie. Robbie is such a great kid, and just has fun all the time. He doesn’t have much of a vocabulary but he knows how to make himself known and understood. His favorite sayings are, “Yo baby” and “Yo mama”. He just loves everybody.

 

Week 5…Session for Multi-Challenged School Age and Physically Challenged Primary Campers

 I can’t believe there is only 2 weeks left of camp.  Dale and I have had such a wonderful time and have shared some unforgettable experiences over these past weeks.

 

These groups of campers were truly awesome (as they all are)!

These kids were pretty active, and I got lots more pictures.  We didn’t get a chance to see many of their programs this week…I hated missing Talent Night.

 

They’re making good use of the new Sport Court playing baseball games and other challenging games as well.  These kids work so hard trying to get around the bases in their wheel chairs – they are just having fun and not even thinking about what a challenge it is.  I even got a little misty eyed when I over heard one of the girls (maybe 9 yrs old) remark “this is so much fun”!! 

 

They were able to do a lot more outside activities because the weather was much nicer, just a little more heat than usual.  They sure do make full use of the camp.  One evening they had a campfire in the fire pit.  I heard stories about what a

good time they all had. 

 

Week 6…Session for Mentally Challenged Children Campers

This week was very intense for me and I’m sure it was even more so for all the staff.  These kids were quite a challenge and had to be watched constantly.  I can’t say enough about our staff again, they are so awesome.  They take on all these challenges and take such good care of the kids. 

 

We had a campfire on Wednesday night, and that was so great.  All the kids were into the silly songs and had a great time!  (This kid did too).  The counselors told some great stories too.  At one point I heard one of the kids say “I want to go home”!  Then 5 minutes later he was into the singing and just having a great time.  Thursday night was a dance and they were having a great time dancing to their favorite songs.  When I see the excitement on their faces and hear the laughter it just warms my heart. 

 

It saddens me when I realize we have just one more week left of camp.  After the first week of camp I didn’t think I could go on and now I don’t want to give it up!! 

 

 

Week 7…Session for Physically Challenged Adult Campers

This is my final update for Camp Tatiyee’s summer camping sessions.  This has been an experience of a lifetime.  I am so fortunate to have been able to be at camp every day and I can’t wait until next year to do this again.  Even when it was so difficult and emotionally upsetting at times, I wouldn’t trade a minute of my summer for anything!!  I have so much more material and energy to go out and talk about our camp for club presentations.  I would also like to try to get in touch with other organizations in the area, to see about giving presentations there, too and hopefully get more “camperships”. 

 

Dale and I visited with Ruben on Monday evening when he came into the Country Store to shop.  What a nice young man.  Rubin has Cerebral Palsy and gets around in a wheelchair.  He lives in Bisbee and he told us how much he loves camp and was so excited to be here!  He started coming to camp in 2001 and came for a few years, then he couldn’t find anybody to bring him again.  He was so sad that he couldn’t be here those couple of years; he said “it just killed me”!  He also told us it’s his dream to get his teachers aid certificate and get a job up here around the camp.  “We hope your dreams will come true Ruben”!

 

I also met a sweet lady named Janina.  Renee introduced me to her and told her I was Secretary on the camp’s board of directors.  She couldn’t thank me enough for what we do to bring them to camp.  She was so appreciative and gave me big hug.  She showed me some of her beautiful earrings and other jewelry she made and said that she sells them.  Pam and I talked to her about making some of her jewelry to sell in the store next year, so that will give her time to get things made up.  Janina is legally blind – she is blind in one eye and has tunnel vision in the other eye.  It amazes how she can work with the little beads to make all this beautiful jewelry, and yet she tells me that she is so blessed. 

 

Then there was Rudy – Rudy is in a wheelchair and needs total care.  He also has Cerebral Palsy and is such a delight!  Rudy spotted Dale and I driving around the camp one day and caught my attention, because he just wanted to wave to us, as difficult as that was for him. I had another one of those emotional moments when Rudy got up front before dinner to say grace.  He struggled to get the words out, but everybody in the place waited patiently for him to finish.  

 

On Wednesday we had visitation day for the Pinetop & Show Low Lions clubs.  We had 18 Lions members come to camp and enjoy a wonderful dinner with the campers.  The Lions had a chance to visit with campers and had their pictures taken with them by yours truly.  After dinner the Lions joined the campers in the Recreation Hall for that evening’s program, which was a murder mystery.  The staff members put on a skit and the rest of us (campers & Lions) had to try to figure out who the murderer was.  What a fun evening!  All the Lions had a wonderful time and couldn’t say enough about how much they enjoyed it.

On Thursday we had a few of our board members come up for the day. They were very impressed with the way camp was run and impressed with the staff as well.  I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with them, but from what I hear they really got involved and now we have a few more people that can spread the word about how it is to be at camp. 

 

The staff (including Pam and Renee) is so incredible!  I have been so impressed all summer long by the patience and compassion they have with the campers and the excellent care they give them.  They work so hard at putting together all the programs for the campers.  That alone takes a lot of hard work, energy and creativity.  They kept the campers busy all day doing all the fun things.

 

I must share my own feelings about our new Resident Mangers at camp, Dick and Linda Bragg. They are amazing.  They’re always there to help where needed and are so protective of the camp…There are so many things they do at camp year round, way too numerous to mention ~ We love you Dick and Linda, the camp wouldn’t  run as well…without you.

 

Lion Barbara Russell

Lions Camp Tatiyee Board Secretary