Ribbon Cutting for the New Dining Hall will be May 3, 2025

Spring, please hurry and get here.  

The arrival of spring heralds a time of awakening, as the earth itself seems to burst forth with new life. Flowers bloom, trees bud, and the air is filled with the songs of birds returning from their southern migrations. It is a season that calls us to reflect on themes of rebirth, growth, and hope.

For Christians around the world, spring also holds profound spiritual significance as it coincides with the celebration of Easter, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter is the cornerstone of Christian faith, commemorating the triumph of Jesus over death and his resurrection on the third day. This event is not merely a historical claim; it is a promise of new life and eternal hope for all who believe.

Just as spring breathes new life into the world, may the resurrection of Christ breathe new hope into our souls.

Spring and the resurrection of Christ together create a tapestry of renewal, hope, and life. They remind us that no matter how dark the winter or how deep the despair, there is always the promise of a new beginning, as we witness the earth's awakening, 

let us also open our hearts to the transformative power of Christ's resurrection, embracing the new life He offers and carrying that hope into every aspect of our lives.

We hope as you read through this newsletter you will find opportunities to serve us here as we prepare for summer camp 2025. 

 

September of 2024 the Board of Directors hired Randy Pim, former Executive Director at Camp Allendale who has retired after 35 plus years in camp ministry to help us evaluate our current needs and help us look forward to what the possibilities could be in the future. Randy has spent the last several months meeting with the board, staff, camp committee, event coordinators, churches and attendees of Hanging Rock.

Randy has presented the Board with a Vision Casting Report that includes 10 areas that he recommends that we focus on in the next few years. These 10 areas are not listed in order of priority. 

1.  Dining Hall & Kitchen Prep Area

2.  Waste Treatment Plant

3. Maintenance Facility

4.  Additional parking and second entrance

5.  More Bed space

6.  Chapel sound, computer and acoustic upgrades

7.  Back Property Development

8.  Additional Staff Housing

9.  New Office Complex near camp entrance

10.  Programming

This was presented on March 19 at a board meeting. It includes the 10 areas above that we will focus on in the next few years. In the next few board meetings we will determine in what order we will start working on these areas. I will say, that for the rest of this year and next we are committed to improving our dining hall needs and kitchen space with the funds that will come in from the campaign - Come to the Table. 

The board also talked about parking and creating an exit that is different from our entrance that will help with traffic on check-in days and check-out days. I am not for sure at what stage we will begin this process. We also talked about going forward with the Wheeler Foundation grant process to increase bed capacity through our handicapped accessible cabins. Hoping to have four of these in the future. 

A lot of exciting things are happening here at Hanging Rock. 

 

We are moving our ribbon cutting to May 3rd. We are so close, but we want to make sure to have everything ready before we officially open this building. 

We are almost there. As of, March 28th we have the floor, lights, fireplace, interior doors, drink station, food bars and tables and chairs left to finish before we are ready for the ribbon cutting. We hope you plan to join us on May 3rd as we pray over the use of this building, thank all those who helped make this happen and open the doors for the first time. After the ribbon cutting, we will open the doors to the new dining hall and allow people to use it for the first time. HOW EXCITING IS THIS!!! 

We still have about $75,000 to raise to finish paying for everything for the new dining hall. We will continue to work on the old dining hall and kitchen for the remainder of 2025 and 2026 to help with the transition of managing two dining halls. 

We hope you will pray about how God can use you to help us financially with these projects. 

The Nixon Contruction company has been working on the handicapped bathrooms on both dorms. The plan is for the Retreat Center to be finished by the end of April and the Bunkhouse to be finished by the end of May. God has really blessed us with this grant. We are very thankful. 

We were sad when we received Jon's resignation from his position of Maintenance Director on February 26th. Jon has served in this role for over 2 years. We have really appreciated the way the whole family has been a part of Hanging Rock.  Kim has helped with many camps and retreats as first aid, Isaac served as a Wilderness Intern, Josiah helped his dad as a Maintenance assistant and helped with facilitating recreation when needed, and Emily has helped with our horses and dishes.  So, we take time to thank Jon and his family for serving in this capacity.  We ask you pray for them as they move on to their next adventures. 

You may be asking what is next for the role of Maintenance Director. The board is meeting and evaluating the position as we have had a transition of 3 guys in the last 5 years. We are going to take a break from this position and spend more time evaluating and assessing the situation. We also want to pour into the Maintenance department and take time to improve this area of the camp. We know that this area is one of the weakest areas on property and it needs attention. Our current shop is not great and does not provide a great work environment for the Maintenance staff.  We want to spend the next 2-3 years building up this area. So, in the meantime, we do have Casey. Casey is our Building and Grounds Director and has been with us for 5 years.  We will hire part-time help for Casey and also outsource what he cannot do personally. 

So, what does this mean: We will be moving Caitlin & Brett into the Maintenance house. We feel that they need more space, and we are committed to keeping them long-term. For that to happen they need adequate housing.  This also means that Casey will be spending more time on Maintenance instead of overseeing back property camps.  We do have a college age student that will be joining us this summer and staying through the end of next summer, Chris Moody. He will be working with back property camps and also assisting Casey.

Also, Caitlin will be getting her CPO (Certified Pool Operation) certificate. She will be overseeing the pool and lifeguards. She currently holds a lifeguard instruction certification.

We are asking that you keep the camp in your prayers about all of this and be willing to step up and help when needed.  Casey is going to need a lot of support. We are committed to giving Casey the support and help he needs.   

 

In Memory of Tracey McGhee

 

      Chuck & Teresa Russell

      Larry & Carolyn Stipe

      Anthony and Donna Steinmetz