Our Last EdVenture Camp. A Rotation by Rotation Essay

EdVenture Camp 7. The Last of the Summer Season of 2008

8:41 P.M.
The Campers arrived between 7:00 and 7:30 P.M. We have 14 girls and 52 boys on this camp.
Fourteen are on their second or third camp of the season. We wonder what we will do with the repeat campers to keep them on task and engaged.
The 'Campers' appear normal - at face value. Most children appear sweet and innocent - at first.
Only after several hours into the camp will their true nature emerge. We have a good crew of staff and volunteers. Fingers crossed all will go well.

Bracken Funk changed the introduction of the Flight Directors. I normally announce them by name and the ship they run. Bracken turned it into a sporting event by playing the TV announcer and calling each Flight Director into the gym as if they were boxers coming in for a fight. The campers thought it was great!
From my desk I hear the Phoenix crew discuss ways to cool their engines. The Voyager is quiet. I don't think they've launched. The other ships are out of range.
I've finished my safety walk around the school. Everything is locked up tight and we are good to go on our last EdVenture Camp of the season. Stand by for further developments.

Mr. Williamson

The Center's Own Superheros!

Hello Troops,
Two real superheros were overlooked this week due to the attention given to Batman, the so called “Dark Knight”. This could be the result of the latest release of a Hollywood production chronicling his life. While many parts of this ‘story’ must be regarded as fiction I will give credit to Batman for his life’s work in fighting crime and vanquishing evil.
Standing in the shadow of the “Dark Knight” are two home grown superheros. Today, in this essay, I shall tell you a tale of their bravery. This story will never make the headlines or be prostituted into film. The modesty of our superheros forbids it. Instead, I will tell the tale here and let future generations retell it until a legend emerges from the collective consciousness of the bearers of the tale.

On Monday last, our hero - Funkman - sat reading in the halls of the Space Center Institute for Exceptional Children (SCIEC). The SCIEC is a secret government agency, disguised as as a rather traditional neighborhood elementary school, given the mission is to locate children blessed with exceptional talents that could save humanity from universal alien threats. The children come to the “Space Center” (code name for the SCIEC) to attend “Camp”. The ‘Camp’ experience is to fine tune the youngling's ability to work as a team and solve fictional threats against Earth and mankind using a variety of simulations. The simulations (carried out in what appear to be innocent and rather elementary starship simulators) highlight the gifts of each participant. Then, when the younglings reach the age of 15, they are placed in the agency where their talents can be put to the best use in protecting Earth.

I’m risking much by even disclosing this information but I feel the truth should be told and let the consequences be what they may. Furthermore, considering anyone that has access to this essay and Blog already have the highest government clearance - I shouldn’t need to worry.

I’m sorry for digressing....... Let me get back to the story. Funkman was reading in one of the Institutes hallways after 1:00 A.M. Suddenly he felt something dark approaching. This Sixth Sense is a common trait shared by those who work at the Institute. His instincts told him to stand. Something caught his eye. He looked up from his book and down the long hallway to the outside door. Emerging from the dark of night came a stranger with a face not before seen near the Institute. This unknown reached for the door and pulled. The door did not open. Of course it wouldn’t. The Institute is locked early in the evening before it is dark and then all rooms and hallways are checked on a regular basis. The Funkman sprang for the door. The uninvited saw him coming down the hallway. Flames erupted behind Funkman as he charged - ready to defend the Institute. The uninvited ran into the darkness.

Funkman came to get his partner. All superheros have protégés. Funkman’s partner was woken and told to prepare for the defense of the compound. He jumped up (who is he you wonder - that will remain a secret so as not to distract attention from the real hero). He will be referred to as 2 in the essay. 2 grabbed his 'Defense Against the Alien Threat Weapon' commonly referred to as “The Enforcer”. The two of them entered the hallways and began a hall by hall search for an intrusion.

The Younglings of the ‘Camp’ where never made aware. it wouldn’t be prudent to do so.
The situation was completely under control. Once the pair were sure the interior of the Institute was secure they moved to assure the female staff that all was safe and to return to their beds. Suddenly, someone heard a sound on the roof. Although getting on the roof of the SCIEC, after having been seen by the Funkman, would be considered a foolish if not retarded move by a proper villain - the Funkman and 2 decided it was time to take out the BattleStar!! The BattleStar is a moving, metal defense platform on wheels. The Battlestar was engaged and a search of the compound was conducted. Nothing was found. The threat was neutralized not by physical force but because of one sighting of the mighty and powerful FUNKMAN!

Once the Battlestar was put away all went back to bed for a night’s sleep. Oh, I should mention that the local police were also called and invited to join the search for this trespasser but again, nothing was found.

The Institutes safety procedures were tested and found worthy of almost any threat (except a direct hit by a thermonuclear weapon) but new plans are in development for that.

We all wish to thank Funkman for his SuperHero efforts in the defense of the Institute , its staff, and the Younglings.

You may all now forget you read anything about this institute. There is no institute.......
There is only a school with a simple Space Camp located in little Pleasant Grove. Continue with your normal life.

The Space Center Wins Best Day Camp for Teens!

From: GoCityKids - SLC <saltlake@parentsconnect.com>
Date: Thu, Jul 17, 2008 at 10:23 PM
Subject: Nickelodeon's Parents' Picks winner!
To: director@spacecamputah.org

Congratulations! The Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center has won Nickelodeon's first annual 2008 Parents' Picks Award for Best Day Camp in Salt Lake City for teens. To view the list of winners, you can go to http://gocitykids.parentsconnect.com/ParentsPicks/resultshome.htm - just select your city, and then click on the appropriate age group.

We'll be mailing out Winner decals by the middle of next week.

Again, congratulations – and keep sending parents to your business's page on GoCityKids/ParentsConnectLocal.com to rate and review your services. Nominees will be selected all over again next year!

Best,

Holly Bishop
Salt Lake City Editor
http://gocitykids.parentsconnect.com
saltlake@parentsconnect.com
801.944.7762
Fax 801.907.7795

2006 Webby Award Winner "Best Family Website"
2008 Webby Award Official Honoree: Family/Parenting and Guides/Ratings/Reviews

The Space Center's Contributions to Central Elementary

Hello Troops,
Central Elementary closed its books for the fiscal year. The Space Center's contributions to Central School for the last fiscal year are in.
The Space Center contributed $6,471.00 to the general school budget for the year.
The Space Center contributed $500.00 to Central School's PTA for the last year.

The Space Center is located at Central Elementary School. Central's principal is the administrator over me with direct responsibility for the Space Center. We do our part to contribute to the school whenever possible. These contributions are our way of saying Thank You to the school and its staff for their continued patience and help with our programs.

Thank you Central Elementary!

Mr. Williamson

Last Week at the Space Education Center

Hello Troops,
We are on the downhill slope of the summer season of 2008. Last week began with a 48 hour EdVenture Camp. The campers were fun. The flights went well. It was overall a good camp.
The camp was overwhelmingly male. We had 61 boys and 5 girls! It was difficult finding sleeping areas for that many boys. I slept 30 in the Voyager (thank goodness the bunks were in place in the Captain’s Quarters). I slept 31 in the Gym. We used our cots
and 11 of the new Coleman Air Beds purchased from WalMart. The Air Beds are superior to cots in many ways.

1. They don’t squeak every time you turn around.
2. They are more comfortable.
3. They give you more sleeping area.

The downside to the air bed is the set up time. You must inflate each bed separately. It’s OK for summer because we inflate them once at the start of the season. During the school year inflating and deflating them after each weekend overnight camp could prove to be a hassle.
Several of the campers on this camp were repeating from previous weeks. They were good about repeating missions and the class session.

THE NAUSEATING FUMES
Every morning at 6:00 A.M. the overhead pounding begins. The roofers are back. The sound is something you can live with. The smell is something you're forced to live with. Sitting right outside the Voyager’s back door is the large tar boiler. It looks like a small locomotive from an old western movie. All day tar bubbles inside it. All day the fume of boiling tar fills the surrounding area. The fumes are captured by the rooftop air conditioners and brought into the building. The tar is pumped from the playground to the Voyager’s roof. This gives the Voyager the distinction of being our smelliest ship. It's so bad your eyes taste it! We could shut off the air conditioning system but then you deal with the heat of a 95 degree day. You’re trapped. The air conditioning system is left on and the smell because a permanent part of the Voyager’s summer mission.
You know the smell is bad when the Voyager staff walk into the ship from the Briefing Room with their shirts drawn up over their mouths and noses.
I suppose their own body's smells are better than tar.
I told the kids the tar boiler was there for annoying campers. Funny enough we didn’t have problems with the younger campers for the entire camp. Being boiled in tar as a punishment for misbehavior didn’t seem to have an effect on the older campers.
This summer will go down as the Summer of Tar. I keep reminding the staff that we have two weeks left. You can endure anything for two weeks - can’t you?

THE PHONE SYSTEM
The Space Center’s internet phone system has been giving up grief over the last couple of days. We had another power hick up during the last day of the EdVenture Camp. The brief outage fried the phone server in the wiring closet. Luckily we had a back up server ready to drop in. Brent talked me through installation over the phone. When it was all said and done we discovered the Magellan phones worked fine but not the Voyagers. Brent and Todd both stopped by after their meetings at Technology. After a few hours Brent discovered the problem. The newer IP phones didn’t work. The older phones did. It is a software problem. He sent an email to the phone’s manufacturer. We are waiting for the response.

THE DAY CAMP
We ran a Day Camp on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The campers came every day from 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. Everything went well. On the third day (Saturday) I took the campers to Clark Planetarium for their field trip and class session. We saw the new IMAX on the Swiss Alps. It was very good. We finished the field trip with the Ultimate Universe Star Theater Show. It was OK but the writing was over the kids heads.
I want to thank Metta Smith, Bracken Funk, and Stacy Carroll for helping me with the kids on the field trip. The three of them were operating on no sleep. They were up all night long with our second Super Overnight Camp. What troopers. The Super Overnighter ended giving them just enough time to run out to the bus for Clark Planetarium.
Brady Young is back from his mission to Florida. We stopped by to visit during the EdVenture Camp. His homecoming was today. Brady is considering coming back to the Space Center on a part time basis while he goes to school. It will be good to have Brady back with us in the Voyager. We will need him when Bracken leaves on his mission next month
This will be a strange week at the Space Center. We have a one night overnight camp on Monday evening. Our EdVenture Camp will run Thursday to Saturday. This will be out combined camp with the kids from Astrocamp in Ogden. I’ll create a new working and rotation schedule because the Astrocamp kids will arrive at 4:30 P.M. while the rest of the local campers will arrive at 7:00 P.M. Im good at schedule so I look forward to the challenge.

Well Troops, That wraps up the highlights from last week. Nothing that interesting or important. It is just another week at the Space Center.

Mr. Williamson

Help an Up and Coming Film Maker.

Hello Troops,
A part of Jared's film was shot here at the Space Center. If anyone out there in CyberWorld
has some time to enjoy his film and vote, Jared would appreciate it.
This is the email I received from Jared:
Mr. Williamson

__________________________________________________

Hey guys this is Jared Seaich a local student at Mountain View High School. Many of you may know me personally but for those of you who don't I am an independent film maker and I've finally struck a chance to be discovered. This is a HUGE world wide competition and I am a finalist!! But i desperately need your help! I need you to take a few moments to go to the following site and help me out with votes!!!

http://www.atom.com/spotlights/starwars/challenge/

http://www.atom.com/funny_videos/sw_last_stand_of_the_jedi/

My film "Last Stand of the Jedi" was made back at the beginning of this year. I was 15 at the time and I kinda blew a lot of people away with how technologically advanced it was. even in comparison to other films made by adults its quite impressive. I dont mean to gloat but I worked a little bit to much on this film... and I'd like to see something come out of it :)

This competition is absolutely HUGE so please show some support and take a few moments to vote. So email and forward the link to friends, family, pets, acquaintances, anything that breathes and eats. I could use all the help I can get so please please please help a young film maker achieve his dream! Thank you so much!

-Director Jared Seaich

Turning 50 and Other Thoughts

Is turning 50 suppose to have a meaning? If so, what is it? At the turn of the century the average life span for an American male was something between 45 and 50 so turning 50 had real meaning. If you were 50 you were lucky to be alive! Yesterday’s 50 is today’s 80 so perhaps the big celebration should be reserved for 75.
Perhaps the phrase on my birthday banner announcing I am “Over the Hill” is a warning to those standing below me. A warning telling the people its all downhill from here and the old duck may loose his footing. If he looses his footing he could fall, and if he falls how many will he take with him?
Perhaps the phrase is intended to tell me that after 50 years I have earned the right to tell people what I really think and feel. Being 50 and “Over the Hill” means that I can boot political correctness out with last night’s left overs. I’m beginning to feel slightly liberated....... Being 50 is starting to feel pretty good.
I’m a member of the 50 party. Our platform borrows the best from all. We have the knowledge, and fifty years of wisdom, to temper and use that knowledge correctly. We are at the time in our career when we can make a difference. Hey, if you haven’t done it yet then what are you waiting for my fellow Fiftyites? Once you turn 60 or 65 they’ll think you’ve lost your ability to reason and send you out the door with a gold watch and a pat on the back. “I’ll be sure to say hello to you at the WalMart door,” will be their final parting words.
Fifty is Nifty! Baby Boomers - this is our time. The first of our generation is retiring and the rest of us are nearing the shoreline. So let’s do something meaningful. Stand for your beliefs - whatever they are. Let the young ones feed from your table of knowledge and wisdom. Let them see your example. Let them see that growing older brings a freedom they must earn to enjoy.
My friends, I’ll be fine at fifty. Don’t worry about this old duck having one of those “mid life crises”. If, some day, you see me looking a bit down at my desk ask my opinion about something and see me come to life. It’s like dropping a coin into a jukebox. Stand back and listen to the wonderful music.
I want to thank all those that had a hand in putting my 50th Surprise Party together.
I was really shocked when I came around the corner of my sister’s house and saw so many family and friends standing there staring at me. I was long gone by the time everyone shouted “Suprise!”. I’ve never had a surprise party before so that one was one for the books. You Got Me!
I enjoyed the evening but came home hungry. I was so busy saying hello to everyone that I didn’t have time to eat supper or enjoy a piece of my birthday cake. I guess to some degree that party was hard work.
Fifty is now in the rear view mirror. The next milestone will be 65 so I've got fifteen years to go.
One last favor to the old man. When you all come to work and camp please don't walk up, stare, and then say, "Wow, you're fifty. You're so old!" I heard that from enough of the younger ones at the various parties this last weekend that I don't need to hear it at work.
Don't hold the door open for me. Don't offer to cut my food at mealtime. Don't hand me a napkin and motion that I should put it on under my chin. Don't ask me if I need some rest.
Don't offer to drive me home when it gets dark. Don't offer to read the small print. Don't whisper, "Bless his heart he tries so hard," behind my back. I still have excellent hearing.
What can you do for this dear old man? Do your job and do your best. Take out the garbage when its spilling over the top. Don't leave pizza boxes all over the Center. Keep the work areas clean and tidy. Tuck your shirts in and leave one ear unattached to the ipod so you can hear instructions. Smile and be happy even if your exhausted. I'm the only one that has the right to look like death's traveling companion. Don't walk over to the cafeteria's sound system and change Aleta's music. One day she will explode and then you see what a real food fight looks like. Be kind to each other at work and look for the camper that needs some special attention.
I'm ready to get back to work. I'll see you all in the trenches.

Mr. Williamson

Happy July 4th Holiday!

The Space Center is closed for the holiday. I’m please with myself. I didn’t visit the Center yesterday and I don’t plan on dropping in today. For a born again workaholic that kind of behavior would cause some to suspect I’d fallen off the wagon. Let me reassure my loyal Space Center fans that I haven’t. On Monday I’ll return to the home of all Workaholics, the Land of the Lost off the Coast of Despair. I hear the song of the Sirens calling me back to 100 hour weeks and a bottomless inbox.
Being a confessed workaholic is like living in a time machine that only goes forward. Seasons pass with the months like the weeks pass with the days. Everything I do is very repetitive so time passes almost unnoticed. One day I notice its September and the next thing I realize Christmas trees are appearing in the front windows of the houses I pass on my way home in the evening. One June day I celebrated my 40th birthday and suddenly a decade past and I found myself surrounded by a group of people in my sister’s backyard singing “Happy Birthday to You,” while a banner waved in the wind proclaiming to all that I was “Over the Hill”. Yes friends, I hit the big 50 in June. Enjoy your holiday.

Last Week's Highlights: News and Views........

Hello Troops,
Yes, we are celebrating the little things. We survived another week of camps. Here are the highlights........

1. We finished our third EdVenture Camp Monday - Wednesday. Highlights?
A. No Vomit. Oh what a blessing!
B. Only one of the 67 left the camp because of illness BUT she came back the next day.
C. One boy was extremely homesick. On Monday night he sobbed for his mother. Bracken brought him to the phone on my desk. He sobbed and pleaded in what seemed to be a never ending cycle. Each cycle of sobs and pleads renewed when his mother would insist she wasn’t coming to pick him up. This torrent of tears started around 11:30 P.M. and had turned into a full scale flood around midnight. All the children were down for the night. I sleep in my office in front of my desk. I wanted to go to bed but couldn’t because this little boy’s world was crumbling around him. I tried to encourage him to give up the cause and admit defeat by turning off the lights and laying down on my pad. It didn’t work. He sobbed even louder. I wanted the mother to just hang up. If she wasn’t going to pick him up give him one more shot of encouragement and hang up.
“Hello, Mom?” I heard him say into the receiver around 12:15 A.M. “Mom, are you there?” His words were broken by gasps for air like a swimmer in a heated race. I saw him hang up and then pick up the receiver again. He was in the process of redialing when I saw my chance. I jumped up and hung up the phone.
“She isn’t coming,” I said as I put a hand on his shoulder and started leading him out of the office and toward the boy’s sleeping quarters. Bracken met me right outside the office. I took five minutes reassuring him that he could make it through the night. I told him how proud his mother would be if he could do it. The sobs simmered down, replaced with a few whimpers and
the occasional wipe of the nose with the back of the hand. We took him to his cot. I knew he needed a bit more than a goodnight. I moved his cot closer to the Bracken and the other male staff. That seemed to reassure him. He went to sleep.
That boy made it through the entire camp without another problem. He loved the camp. There is a lesson to be learned by this. You figure it out.
D. We exceeded our 100 people limit for swimming at PG pool. The lifeguards were nice about it. I wasn’t charged extra.
E. I celebrated my 50th birthday on Tuesday. I want to thank the staff and campers for their rousing and somewhat heart felt rendition of “Happy Birthday to You”. Spending my 50th birthday at camp was kind of weird. Being at home would have been preferred but the schedule of the camps wouldn’t allow it. No one will ever say I didn’t give my best to the Center. There
is another lesson in that but I don’t want to figure it out.
F. Lorraine made a fantastic German Chocolate Cake for me. I missed four of the candles. What does that mean? Do I want to know?
G. We all went home Wednesday night exhausted. I fell asleep in front of the TV. There was a time when I could watch hours of TV. Now I’m asleep after 30 minutes. Am I turning into an old person? I fall asleep early in the night and awake well before dawn. I have the money to go places and do things but I don’t want to. Sitting home quietly seems to be more appealing.
This is frightening! I think Victor needs to get his Groove back! I’m going to get right on that - as soon as I remember what “Get a Life” means.
H. Our main projector in the Voyager went out. I bought a replacement. The replacement won’t display the image coming from our older iMacs. There is a word one would use in a situation like this but this blog is G rated.
I. The electricity in the Odyssey kept going out - right in the middle of a mission. One of the Odyssey’s electrical breakers kept popping. I thought this would the major catastrophe to bring us all down. Christine G. told me the electrical outlet near the 1st Officer’s Station was hanging out of the wall and every time the camper kicked it with his feet the power would trip off.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me!” I wanted to shout but didn’t . I think I said something sarcastic instead. I called the District Maintenance Yard. Thankfully they sent someone right out. He fixed the plug and all was well. I like repairs that go that easily. A thank you to Christine for keeping the campers assigned to the Odyssey busy during that ordeal.

Well, that was the camp. On Thursday we had our one night Overnight Camp. They are a breeze compared to the longer EdVenture Camps. The highlight of the Overnighter was Emily’s score for running the Magellan. Emily scored a perfect One in all categories. Do you have any idea how rare that is? There is a better chance that my Lincoln Town Car (the Battlestar) would get 30 miles to the $4.09 gallon of gas than for the Magellan to get a perfect One. There is a better chance Kyle would get all of his projects done on time than for the Magellan to get a perfect One. There is a better chance of the entire staff coming to work with their shirts tucked in than for the Magellan to get perfect One. Great Job Emily and her staff! We several private missions for the rest of the week. Here are other smaller bits of news:

1. The Voyager’s Captain’s Quarters finally has its bunks back. After one month they are in. That means I have sleeping quarters for 2 more in the Voyager. Kyle and Spencer R. had to damage the newly finished walls to get the beds in but at least they are in.
2 Alex A. got his Phoenix Pass from Megan. Alex is now a Phoenix Flight Director.
3. Matt P. finished the Odyssey Junior Controls. They are installed and undergoing debugging. They are looking good.
4. The carpet on the Voyager’s stairs is wearing out. Did I every tell you that I hate carpet?

Some other bits of News:

1. Bracken Funk received his mission call. He is going to the Houston East Mission! He will be in the same area as Casey Vokes (although different missions).
2. We’ve stared the staff Reward Card. All staff and volunteers should pick up their Reward Card from me the next time they come in. I’ll explain more in a later post.
3. I posted the July Working Schedule and forgot to include the EdVenture Camp we’re running on Monday. That is one of the stupidest things I’ve done all summer. I want to thank Emily for calling me Saturday night and reminding me. In her own nice way she called my memory a rusty, leaky old bucket.


I went to see WALL E. It is one of the best movies I’ve seen in years. Way to go Pixar. We all stand in your shadow. If you plan on seeing it - Great. If you aren’t planing on see it then you’re fired if you work for me.

Well troops, Its back to the trenches for Monday’s battles. Helmet’s on and bayonets fastened. It’s going to be another rough ride.

Mr. Williamson

Space Camp Weekly Update. The Summer Carries On

News from the Front.
It is Sunday the 23rd of June. All is quiet along the front. The troops lay exhausted in the bunkers. A quiet, like the calm of a windless night, reaches across No Man’s Land to the position of our adversary. The sun rests on a blanket of red and orange clouds near the horizon. It falls slowly towards the peak of the mountains. Darkness seeps along the eastern sky. The temperatures drop with the sun, giving relief from the heat of a summer’s day. The darkening air is soundless.

One day ago the valley echoed the roar of battle. The Space Center troops engaged the enemy. The battle stretched through the night and into morning. It ended with the enemy’s retreat to its lines. The day was won thanks to the leadership of our Flight Directors and our Army of Immortals.

I look over the earthen wall into the darkness marking the enemy’s position. A darkness, feeding off ignorance,  bleeding hope and imagination out of the human soul. I think about Monday and the upcoming battle. We will be ready,  but until then we rest. Our evening meal is cooking, sending the smell of beans and pork to mix with the odor of earth. I climb down the wall and stretch out on our rich homeland soil. I watch clouds drift by in formation and think of home, and the battles left to fight before we sleep.
_________________________________________________

The week started with an EdVenture Camp. The crew arrived Monday night. It was a good group of 66 ranging in age from 10 to 14. Many of the kids I recognized from previous camps. The highlights of the camp:

1. Our scores are stabilizing. Every new story takes several tellings before it settles into a routine. I feel good about the stories we are telling this summer. Bracken is concerned about the Voyager mission. It has plenty of action but no monsters. His post mission conversations with his crews are causing him to loose faith in his mission. His crews say the story is missing the ‘scary’ element. Bracken feels he is being graded down because his mission doesn’t have a monster. He asked me if I felt he should change his mission to include a haunted house aspect.
I told him to continue telling the story the way it was written. Not every story needs a monster or alien. it works as long as the ‘alien’ plays a real role in the mission. It doesn’t work if the ‘alien’ is thrown in for a cheap scare. I’ve written many missions without the scary element. They did fine. We will see how things go this week.

2. The Phoenix, Odyssey, and Galileo are doing fine. The Magellan fluctuates from good scores to OK. Its new story is still gelling.

3. The meals are fantastic. Aleta has done well. This year we replaced the chicken dinner on the second night with Chinese food. A success according to the campers.

4. The classroom experience is in flux. It can take several sessions before we can get the classroom activities to perfectly match the camp’s crazy schedule. Lorraine helped Sheila and her husband with the class this camp. Lorraine will be our substitute teacher.

5. I’m still amazed at what gets lost during a camp. On night two a boy lost his sleeping bag. We looked everywhere and could never find it. Where do these things go?

The camp ended Wednesday night. We were exhausted.

Thursday was filled with private missions and another overnight camp. The one night overnighters are easy compared to the 3 day camps.

I left the Center to spend a few hours home on Thursday. Later in the day I returned to the Center to find the staff and private mission campers standing out on the lawn. I got out of my car and heard the reason - power outage. One of the power feeds into the school was down. Half the school’s power was on - the other half was off. The only ships still running were the Galileo and the Voyager. The crews and staff waited. Mark had come down to help. Roger, our custodian, was on hand as well. I knew the cause was out of our control. I sent Brent on a quest to find a Rocky Mountain Power truck to tell them of our dilemma. He returned fifteen minutes later. He found a power truck. Apparently one of the main circuits feeding electricity into the school had blown.

A few minutes later the power came back on. The missions resumed. Over the next few hours the damaged caused by the outage became apparent. The school’s walk in freezer’s compressor was blown. That was called in. I discovered the gym was getting warm. I got up on the roof and discovered the air-condition wasn’t working. That was called in. Just before the overnight camp I noticed the school’s new addition was warming up. I went into the compressor room and found the transformer was blown. That was called in.
The overnight camp came and went. we got through it without full air conditioning. On Friday morning the distict’s repairmen came to the school. Within a few hours everything was repaired and we were good as new. .

The Super Overnighter went well.

Now we ready for another week. We will have another 3 day camp and two 1 night overnighters. I’ll be sleeping at home Wednesday and Saturday nights.
Why do I need a home?   I might as well sell the house and move into the Center!
My Friends, Our Army of Immortals, there is something stirring in the dark out across the fields.  Ignorance is waking.  Rest a bit longer for soon the summer's battles will continue.  Onwards...........

Mr. Williamson