Cascades Blog

“100 Years of Friendship”

posted in Blog | Saturday, February 18th, 2012

 This is a very touching story that outlines the history behind a picture of “Two Boys in a Boat” that we have come to love here at Cascades and use in many of our publications.  This story was shared with us courtesy of Marilyn Peterson and family.  We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

This is the story of  ”Two Young Boys on a Little Yellow Boat”

The “Two Young Boys” have a story to tell.

Isaac Dotson, 10, and Isaac Gettis, 10, found themselves in this “boat” at Cascades Camp and Conference Center in the year 2005, as friendly cabin mates.
Little did they know that their story began as early as the 1920′s. How can this be? Well, we will tell you.

Alfreda”Dolly”Lofquist was born in 1903 in LeRoy, Michigan and travelled to Detroit, Michigan to find a job, a church and friends. The Mission Covenant Church of Detroit, became her church and her special friend in that church was Gladys Lindberg. Later, each married men from Swedish Covenant backgrounds; Dolly married Paul LeRoy Olson, who became a Covenant pastor, and Gladys married her Sunday School friend, Benny Johnson who became a mechanical engineer.

In 1937, Gladys had a daughter, Donna Jean, in Detroit and in 1938 Dolly became the mother of Marilyn. It was a pleasant surprise when, many years later in the 1950′s, Donna Jean, from Traverse City, Michigan, attended North Park College (now University) and for the first time, met and became friends with Marilyn, from Portland, Oregon.

By way of North Park, Donna met and married Rev. Burdette (Bud) Palmberg in 1957, and in the same way, Marilyn met Rev. Gary Peterson and married him in 1961.

By the mid 1970s both families had moved from other parts of the country to the Seattle area. Gary was now pastor of Midway Covenant Church in Des Moines and Bud was pastor of Mercer Island Covenant Church.

It was at Covenant Beach Family Camp where their girls first met as children. Every year they were at Bible camp together, either at Covenant Beach or at Circle C Ranch in Leavenworth.

Chrisi married Michael Dotson in 1988 and Shari married Rick Gettis in 1990. After having other children, both girls gave birth to sons named Isaac. Isaac Dotson was born June 30, 1995 and Isaac Gettis was born September 13, 1994.

The two Isaacs began their friendship while attending Cascades Camp and Conference Center, continuing the legacy of friendship to four generations.

This could also be called, “The story of 100 years of friendships”.

MUD and ICE

posted in Blog | Sunday, February 5th, 2012

We recently hosted the annual M.U.D. Retreat for high school youth groups in the North Pacific Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church. Though the snow was falling, the retreat was “ABLAZE” (which was also our theme this year) with fun activities, good food, close friends, and the impacting presence of Jesus.During the daily sessions a talented group of musicians from North Park University led the students in worship through music and Kris Causton of Excelsior Covenant in Minnesota shared about God’s fire within their hearts. Throughout the day youth groups participated in fun camp activities – they even got a chance to play ultimate cow tongue (ultimate Frisbee with a cow tongue). A highlight of the weekend for many was ‘Sacred Spaces’ – an experiential worship time held on Sunday night. Stations were set up all around the Rainier Center, encouraging students to think, pray, and reflect on God and His relationship with them. Many students expressed how much they enjoyed this time to grow in their relationship with our Lord and Savior.

Despite the snow, all of the youth groups were able to safely return to their homes just in time, as the snow continued to fall. We ended up with a total of 10 inches on Wednesday. That night we had freezing rain and woke up Thursday morning to no power and many down trees. It is amazing how heavy ice can be and its ability to tear trees in half!! We spent part of the day Thursday and most of the day Friday cleaning up the major roads around camp. Our forests have definitely been thinned out a bit and there is still a lot of cleanup to do. Never the less God was good and none of our buildings were damaged. The power outage brought about a cool opportunity to share in community as a staff. We gathered around the generators spending meals together, playing games, and keeping warm. It was an awesome time bonding around fires and candle light, but we were all glad to have the power returned after four days on Sunday afternoon.

All in all, it is safe to say that things have been pretty exciting around Cascades!

- Darek “Delta” Hollis
Program Intern

S.A.L.T. Retreat

posted in Blog | Friday, December 9th, 2011

Calling all S.A.L.T.s from summer 2011! It’s the most wonderful time of the year…and you know what that means: it’s time for the annual S.A.L.T. Reunion Christmas Retreat!

This annual retreat is packed full of fun from Christmas-y games to summer activities with a winter twist. This year, you’ll get to play a night game activity that you won’t forget! Even more importantly, the S.A.L.T. Reunion Christmas Retreat is a great opportunity to connect with fellow S.A.L.T. friends and your leaders from the summer and to grow in your relationship with God. Former camp pastors, Eowyn and Homestar, will be teaching us through scripture and encouraging worship sessions will give you a chance to refocus your life on Jesus, the one this Christmas season and all of life is really about.

For more details, check out the S.A.L.T. retreat page on our website at http://www.cascadescamp.org/salt-christmas-retreat/, join the facebook event, or call us at (360) 894-3838. We hope to see you soon! 

New Video For Guests!

posted in Blog | Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

Ever wanted to know just how many awesome things there are to do at Cascades? Well, this video will tell you! You will find this fun new video in the guest pages of the website.

If you would like to request a hard copy of this video on DVD please contact Donna Moline in guest services.

Love

posted in Blog | Thursday, November 17th, 2011

Cascades has a weekly summer tradition called D.O.S. (or Discipline of Silence) where all of the campers spend 15 to 20 minutes alone with God, reflecting on their experience and what they have learned at camp that week. Campers are then given the option of going back to their cabins to talk with their counselors or heading back to chapel where they can share stories of God’s work in their lives.

One week at Brightwood’s D.O.S. this summer, a 10 yr. old boy walked to the front of the chapel after his time alone and sat down in front of his counselors and peers. He couldn’t speak for a couple of seconds, but when he did, his words reminded me of what the life of faith is really about.

He said: “I don’t get to see my Dad much.” He paused, trying not to cry. Then steadied himself and spoke again. “But I know God loves me. And I love Him.”

In those simple words, that young boy amazed me with his wisdom.

Life is hard. We feel incompetent with all of the things that we have to get done and all of the issues that call for our attention. We feel guilty about the ways we are failing and we stress about our relationships with other people. We sometimes wonder if God really loves us in the middle of the pain, doubt, and confusion that overwhelm us. This boy had experienced pain too. He missed his dad and wished he could see him more. I don’t know if his parents were divorced, if his dad was deployed overseas, spending time in prison, or if he traveled a lot for business. But whatever the reason, in the midst of this deep hurt, he stated with faith that he knew that God loved him. Despite all that was happening in his life and heart, he chose to love God back.

This 10 year old understands what I struggle to grasp on a daily basis. His wise statement calls us to a simple and life-giving truth. Love changes things. People who know that they are loved live life differently. When they have accepted God’s love for them, a love that likes them and forgives them despite anything they have done or will do, they are free! In the midst of pain, confusion and doubt, they can have hope and peace. They can love others around them out of the store of love they have accepted from God. Life will still be hard…seemingly impossible at times, but the One in control loves us and has our best in mind. This simple truth is what life is all about: loving God, people and receiving love in return.

Though life will no doubt brings us painful circumstances, though we don’t understand much and though we fail, His love is far bigger than all of this. And so in response, let us let go of ourselves and live as the beloved that we are. Let us cling onto the knowledge that God loves us and let us love him back.

–Ellie “Dandy” VerGowe
Program Intern

The Sacrament of the Outdoors

posted in Blog | Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

Today, the interns had a lot of the camp to clean. A couple of our wonderful intern volunteers just left yesterday, and the numbers of the cleaning crew are dwindling dangerously. HOWEVER, today when I woke up and drove to work, the outline of the mountain was clear and sun reflected on the wet, yellow leaves on the road. As I scoured the toilets, shined the faucets with Windex (my favorite cleaning product), and shook the bed comforters free of dust, I couldn’t help but soak in some vitamin D and some joy at seeing such beauty outside. The lake was covered in a drifting fog that was being burned away by the sunlight. The trees across the lake from Timber Ridge lodge looked like they were in flames with the fall colors as I polished the tables in each room.

I recently finished reading Ann Lamott’s book, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith. I love reading her writing because she writes so truthfully about life in words that most people resonate with.  In one chapter, she describes her work at her church teaching Sunday school. Though she doesn’t always know what she is doing or even enjoy teaching a bunch of wild kids about Jesus during the hour she has them on Sunday morning, she has a lot of wisdom to share. She says in describing her method of working with the kids, “I loved them, I gave them good snacks, drawing paper.  I let them go outside for the Sacrament of the Lawn, to blow bubbles and to play catch” (Lamott, 199).  I love that line: “The Sacrament of the Lawn.” Lamott knows how people work. To me, the out-of-doors does feel like a sacrament. Even if I am inside a building learning about Jesus, there is only so much “inside” that I can take. I am like those kids in Sunday school who just want to go outside for “The Sacrament of the Lawn.”

As I cleaned toilets in Timber Rock log cabins today, I came to the conclusion that the concept of the outdoors being a sacrament is partially why camping ministry works. It works because we all want to go outside for some sacramental time in God’s creation. We all need time out in the beauty.  God created in us a desire to see beauty and created us to enjoy the world around us. The Bible uses imagery of the magnificence of God’s creation to describe His love and faithfulness for us and towards us. The creation is a sacrament that speaks to us of who God is! No wonder we long to be out in the sunshine and tromping through the colorful leaves. Being outside shows us the love and beauty of the One who created it.

Thanks to all of you, staff, board members, volunteers and guests alike, who work to keep Cascades a place where people can retreat in God’s glorious creation. And to the rest of you who haven’t made it out to Cascades yet, please feel free to visit and soak in the “The Sacrament of the Outdoors” with us!

–Ellie “Dandy” VerGowe
Program Intern

Thankfulness in the Ordinary

posted in Blog | Friday, October 7th, 2011

Recently, due to a lack of new reading material, I have been using the Covenant Hymnal as a devotional book. After the first few days of waking up and reading a hymn before work, I wondered why I hadn’t thought of doing this before! There is something wholesome and refreshing about reading hymn texts and praying those words. The texts are chalked full of depth and beauty.

A couple of mornings ago I ran into this verse from the Hymn, For the Beauty of the Earth:
“For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.” (Folliott S. Pierpoint)

These words stilled me. How often do I walk through my ordinary work day and forget all that I have to thank God for? It seems cheesy and trite when I write this down, but I can’t think of many things more true: I am abundantly blessed by God. I get to live here at camp where I have the most gorgeous view of Mount Rainier in my front yard. Like Pierpoint says in this hymn verse, I am surrounded by love from family and friends. I don’t know Pierpoint’s story or why he wrote this hymn text, but I would imagine that he lived an ordinary life and sometimes had to work to be thankful in the midst of frustrations, busyness, and skewed perspectives.

I sometimes forget to thank God for simple and good, earthly things. Sometimes I forget to praise him when life is ordinary. Maybe I should think of the meals that I get to share with the people I love as a sacrament. Maybe I should think of the toilets I clean for our guest groups as an act of the spiritual discipline of service. All of my ordinary actions can be worship. There are always things to thank our good God for. As I am finding, most of what I have to thank God for is in the ordinariness of my life! The God who created the entire world is present with me here in the ordinary. If that isn’t something to be thankful for, I am not sure what is!

–Ellie “Dandy” VerGowe
Program Intern

Men of Faith Pictures

posted in Blog | Monday, September 26th, 2011

What a great weekend at the Men of Faith Retreat.  Here are some pictures from the weekend – Enjoy!

Check them out!

Meet the Interns!

posted in Blog | Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

And now, (drum roll please)…meet our new 2011-2012 Cascades Interns!

Kyle “Uff” Ponder is working alongside Mike in the kitchen this year as our Food Service intern. He is originally from Salem, Oregon and graduated this past June from Oregon State University with a degree in exercise science. One fun fact about Kyle is that he claims to have found the Lockness monster! (I don’t know, Kyle…I want to hear this story!)

Kaitlyn “Kershaw” Adrian will be working with Cascades’ herd of horses as our Sunrise Ranch intern. She is originally from Eastern Washington and hopes to make a career out of her work with horses. She is already blessing Cascades with her equestrian skills and hard work. When asked for a fun fact about herself, Kaitlyn shared that she is a big fan of hide and seek.

Jordan “Tapioca” Walz came all the way from Minnesota to work on Cascades’ summer staff and is now interning as our Operations intern. He spends many of his work hours making sure Cascades is beautiful and in good working order. Jordan hopes to eventually move to Alaska or back to the Midwest and he claims to be a pirate – my guess is that there is a story behind this one too!

Ellie “Dandy” VerGowe is this year’s Program intern. She recently graduated from Whitworth University as a music major and hopes to attend seminary in the next few years. Her favorite parts about interning at Cascades are the people she gets to work with and the beautiful view of Mt. Rainier. One fun fact about Ellie is that she loves flash mobbing!

Well folks, that’s all for now! Please feel free to send them care packages and join us in praying for our interns and their year serving God here at Cascades.

God Makes Beautiful Things

posted in Blog | Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

As we sit down to write this reflection on summer 2011, we are astounded at the beautiful things that God did in the lives of campers, guests, and staff. The newly named Gungor band gets it right when they sing, “You make beautiful things out of the dust [and] you make beautiful things out of us!” Even in the midst of a lot of rain and strange weather, campers had a blast, learned how to live a Christian life, and made commitments to follow God.

At Timber Rock, junior high campers played wild games and enjoyed exhilarating activities with a Nautical twist! Each Thursday night, campers created a tapestry together out of prayers written on colorful strips of paper. Each week the tapestry truly displayed the ways that God takes our brokenness and makes beautiful creations out of us!

Brightwood Station was filled with elementary aged kids who daily learned about God’s magnificent love for them through Bible studies led by their counselors, chapels, jubilations and cabin time. Brightwood was Wild West themed and campers traveled out to Frontier village, slept in teepees and even played a night game to rescue a western character!

Rainier Kids day camp reached an all time high this summer running eight full weeks and hosting 128 kids, with some coming back for second, and even third weeks! Cascades also offered a new bonus to Yelm families by providing transportation for Rainier kids to and from town. At camp, the kids swam at the waterfront, shot wrist rockets, participated in culinary arts, and learned about Christ in daily morning chapels and story time.

Sunrise Ranch campers blazed trails on horseback, rode in area class and enjoyed general camp fun all summer long while living at Brightwood and Timber Rock! Cascades also ran three weeks of Horse Intensives where campers were able to further develop their equestrian skills and dive deep into scripture.

The S.A.L.T. (Servant and Leadership Training) program ran with 129 high school students who learned how to work at camp by following Jesus’ example of servant leadership. They rocked the summer by jumping into service projects, assisting counselors with kids, and hanging out in fellowship with one another. As usual, camp could not run without the humble service and energy of our S.A.L.T.’s!

Our summer family camps were filled with joy as families took time out of their busy schedules to rest, enjoy a myriad of exciting activities, and spend time with God and each other! This summer, 216 families came out to Cascades to participate in family camps.

All in all, beautiful things happened this summer, and it is all because of the love of our good God working in and through the lives of staff, campers, guests, and all of you! Thank you for your prayers and generous support. God is indeed faithful and has blessed us abundantly!

-Darek “Delta” Hollis and Ellie “Dandy” VerGowe