The board members of the Rock Lake United Church camp were pleased to see so many people show up for their annual general meeting Sunday afternoon in Crystal City.
Due to a lack of staff the youth summer camps have been cancelled for 2023 but board chair David Manning says discussions at the AGM made it clear church members want to do whatever is needed to get the July and August camps back in 2024.
"It's funny how a little bit of difficulty for the camp brings out the supporters. We've decided to go with weekend camps for this year, and to stick with our March 15th motion to keep the church summer camp closed for this year, and to get everything in place so the summer camps can resume next year."
The camp's board picked up two more directors and is back up to a full complement of nine. "We now have lots of people to take on committee work and we'll get right down to work and start working to hire people for next year instead of leaving it to the last minute," said Manning.
Summer camps normally take place during the months of July and August and the Rock Lake Church Camp runs most summers with a staff of 15 to 18 paid workers.
"We need a coordinator, cooks, water staff and cabin people."
The camp is run by a board that represents 11 United Churches and David Manning said all but two of the churches had representatives at Sunday's meeting.
"We'll get down to work at our next meeting in May and that involves getting groups together to form committees like a hiring group and we can start searching to get people hired for next year. I'm very confident we'll have the camp back to normal in 2024. The weekend meeting gave me great hope in what we're doing.
The Rock Lake Church Camp is open for weekend rentals and Manning says there has been a strong response to those dates. "We'll have to get the camp ready for the weekend rentals that will start in mid-June."