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Sawtooth Celebration June 2, 2018

More information will follow, but save the date for this combined celebration of the formal dedication of the new Welcome Center and honoring retiring director and his wife, Dave and Candace Hargreaves! 

 Click Here to Make a Year-end Contribution to Sawtooth Camp in honor of Dave and Candace!


Welcome Holly Dolan, Camp Registrar!

by Kristen Caldwell, communications associate for OR-ID Annual Conference

Effective this week, Holly Dolan is serving as the registrar for Camp and Retreat Ministries. She reports to Executive Director of Camping and Retreat Ministries Todd Bartlett.

Minus a six-year stint in Alberta, Canada, Dolan has called Portland home for 24 years. While living in Alberta, Dolan was involved in volunteer management for festivals such as WordFest before her recent move back. Dolan and her husband were married in the Montavilla United Methodist Church 19 years ago and have two children, 18 and 16, attending many family camps at Magruder over the years. Born and raised in Indiana, Dolan worked in theater lighting and technology on the east coast for a few years only to have a friend call her and beg her to move to Portland with the promise she’d get her “an apartment, a job and a man.”

“She did none of those things,” Dolan said with a laugh “But by being out here long enough I was able to do all of those things and more.”

It was announced in September that Geneva Cook, who has served as registrar for camping for 22 years is moving to a new role within camping as accountant for the six site network.

Contact Holly Dolan for registration questions at holly@gocamping.org or (503)802-9214


Reflections on Our Mission

by Rev. Todd Bartlett, Executive Director

"...loving interdependence with each other and all of creation."

A few weeks ago I began a series of reflections on the mission statement of the Oregon-Idaho Camp and Retreat ministries, which reads:
We are people dedicated to creating quality environments of Christian hospitality and learning. We nurture persons so that they may . . .

  • Grow in wisdom and healthy self-esteem.
  • Develop lifestyles of loving interdependence with each other and all of creation,
  • Affirm and expand their faith in God and their service as Christian disciples within God's world.  

We serve individuals, families, educational institutions, religiously affiliated groups, social service agencies, community service organizations, and other non-profit organizations that enrich life in the world.

Last week I wrote about “wisdom and healthy self-esteem”. This week I follow that up with thoughts on “loving interdependence with each other and all of creation”.

When I was in high school I participated in a camping event with my church youth group. One of the elements to that long weekend was spelunking – cave exploration. For this group experience, we were all handed a wooden match and all we were told was that we needed to keep it safe and dry. Several of us stuck the match in our pockets and headed into the cave with little concern about the match.  Eventually, we had gotten into the cave far enough where we had to turn off our head lamps.  Not only would they not be lit again, but we were told that we would have to make it out of the cave with only a single candle. After sitting in this inner chamber in complete darkness for about 10 minutes, it came time to light our matches. Thankfully, one member of our group, who struggled with the physical demands of rock climbing, rappelling, and backpacking, was much more capable at protecting the match, and provided the group with the only match that would work! The candle was lit, and we had light for the journey out of the cave. Through this camp experience, we learned that each of us has gifts that, when put together with the gifts of others, brings a completeness to our lives. We learned interdependence with each other.

While at the Collins Retreat Center, we participated in a program to remove invasive plant species along both sides of Deep Creek. This effort was led by the Clackamas River Basin Council. Because of their “Shade our Streams” program, areas of the Clackamas River Basin are providing better habitat to the fish in the streams. One of the purposes of this program is to decrease the water temperature, which is vital to the survival of the salmon and trout species in these tributaries. Every year from late October to early November the Coho Salmon run in Deep Creek to spawning beds that are on the retreat center property. It is this intentional work to become a part of the environment at our sites that brings us wonder and joy in our experience of Creation. I am excited to say that we are looking at ways that we can assist with the reintroduction of Sockeye Salmon at our Wallowa Lake and Suttle Lake sites. We are practicing interdependence with God’s creation.

I believe that as we work to promote healthy communities and ecosystems, we will experience more moments of wonder and joy. I look forward to hearing your stories of connectedness to your community and creation!

See you around the campfire soon,


 

 

Go Camping E-News is a publication of Camp and Retreat Ministries, a collaboration of the OR-ID Conference of the United Methodist Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon.

1505 SW 18th Ave
Portland, OR 97201
503-802-9210
GoCamping.org