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”.

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

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! 

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

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

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

Take a look at all the ways you can save on your child’s visit to Cascades. Helpful discounts are given for early registrations, bringing friends, multiple children from one family, multiple weeks and more.

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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

Cascades Your Way is back by popular demand at Camp Timber Rock this summer in the form of morning and afternoon activities, for our week-long overnight camps. Campers spend time doing the things they love most by choosing week-long activities to customize their experience. When registering for camp, select one of the AM and one of the PM week-long activities. Add one-day activity options to pack the most fun into a week at camp! Make activity selections when registering either online or with the registration form provided in the brochure.

*Parents, please discuss activity preference with campers before registration to ensure your child will love everything about their time at Cascades! 

Timber Rock Morning Activities:

AM – Horse-Lovers Double Roundup (2 hrs)

$99

Hop in the saddle for two back-to-back hours at the ranch! Buff up your equestrian knowledge with an hour of Sunrise Ranch sampler including trail rides, arena lessons, barn classes, and games on horses. Then jump into an hour of intensive arena lessons where you’ll learn the finer points of riding and how to better communicate with your horse!

AM – Adventure Max

$42

This is an activity for the true adrenaline junkie! Every day adventure will be taken to the max as you put your driving skills to the test at the Rubicon Off-Road Challenge, enjoy a game of paintball at our forested course, fly through the tree-tops on our High Adrenaline Zip-Lines, reach new heights as you scale the 50 ft. water tower, and build strength and trust through the obstacles of our low elements challenge course.

AM – Shooting Sports

$21

Get on target with this ultimate combination of all your favorite shooting sports. Rotate through the week between archery, Giant Killers (a slingshot adventure), B.B. guns, tomahawks, and paintball! Each day will bring instruction and a new challenge.

AM – Outdoor Survival

$37

Learn important survival knowledge from knot tying and rock climbing to water safety and wilderness cooking! Campers will become skilled at how to build a shelter in the woods of the Pacific Northwest, stay safe in areas with wild animals, and respond with correct first aid. Perfect for any outdoor enthusiast!

AM – Canoeing & Boating

$21

Go places where no camper has gone before! Explore the elbows of Elbow Lake, play soccer and tag on the water, and paddle to exciting destinations! For campers who love adventure and fun on the lake, this activity is a must!

AM – Culinary Arts

$26

Led by Cascades’ very own kitchen staff, this activity gives campers the opportunity to develop their cooking and baking skills! You’ll jump into kitchen basics, sample different types of fruits, chocolates, and cheeses, and even bake your own meal! Each day will culminate with a new culinary project.

AM Camptastic

$7

With an emphasis of pumping up camp classic to the extreme, Camptastic will give you a chance to do more of the best that Cascades has to offer! In this AM activity, campers will play favorite camp games like Ultimate Chicken and Nuke ‘em, build strength and trust through the obstacles of the low ropes challenge course, perfect shooting skills at the archery pit, and bake “dough boys,” a camp snack tradition!

Timber Rock Afternoon Activities:

PM – Hittin’ the Trail

$57

Giddy up and head out to the backwoods of Cascades on our finest horses! Experience the beauty of the trails and challenge your horsemanship skills as you navigate obstacles on the practice courses and on the trail! Led by skilled wranglers, your time on the trail will be exciting and the knowledge you’ll gain will make you are better rider all around.

PM – The Arts

$28

Be creative with a camp twist! Photograph the beautiful landscape of Cascades, master new musical techniques with the camp worship leader, and try your hand at painting and sculpting! You’ll even get to hone your acting skills in an original skit!

PM – Paintball Extreme

$99

This is your chance to go big and play as much paintball as you can! Each day will hold new challenges as you rotate teams, types of games, and even courses. Players will be provided daily with Tippman markers, a full tank of CO2 and a hopper fully loaded with paint, for their chance to face-off against their opponents.

PM – Wilderness Experience

$32

Combining all aspects of Cascades’ unique outdoor setting, “Wilderness Experience” promises to get you hands-on with the great outdoors. Scale the giant climbing wall, tour camp in a parkour adventure, perfect your technique in archery, take a GPS and go on a geo-caching scavenger hunt in the backcountry, and learn the finer points of canoeing as you explore the wilderness of Elbow Lake.

PM – Timber Rock Super Sampler

$21

Can’t decide on an activity? The T-Rock Sampler offers a bit of everything! Play extreme games like “kick the can” and “ultimate chicken,” scale the climbing wall, race down the waterslide, and dive into the arts with basic printmaking and sculpting. What more could you ask for in a week at camp?

PM – Camptastic

$7

With an emphasis of pumping up camp classic to the extreme, Camptastic will give you a chance to do more of the best that Cascades has to offer! In this PM activity, campers will play mind blowing games like “the family game,” and “fish bowl,” make a splash at the waterfront playing watermelon polo, perfect their line dancing skills, fly down the waterslide, and battle with squirt guns!

Timber Rock Optional Extras:

Timber Rock – 1 Trail Ride

$26

Explore the wilderness trails of Cascades on horseback in this one day option!

Timber Rock – 1 Game of Paintball

$26

Can’t get enough paintball? Play an extra game with this one day activity option! 

Timber Rock – 1 Rubicon Off-Road Challenge Ride

$26

Test your driving skills with the Rubicon Off-Road Challenge in this one day activity! Campers will drive Kubota ATV’s on a technical course! 

Timber Rock – 1 High-Adrenaline Zip Line Ride

$26

Campers will fly through the trees on the zip line in this one day adventure! 

Cascades Your Way is back by popular demand at Brightwood Station this summer in the form of morning and afternoon activities, for our week-long overnight camps. Campers spend time doing the things they love most by choosing week-long activities to customize their experience. When registering for camp, select one of the AM and one of the PM week-long activities. Add one-day activity options to pack the most fun into a week at camp! Make activity selections when registering either online or with the registration form provided in the brochure.

*Parents, please discuss activity preference with campers before registration to ensure your child will love everything about their time at Cascades! 

Brightwood Station Morning Activities:

AM – Horse-Lovers Double Roundup (2 hrs)

$99

Hop in the saddle for two back-to-back hours at the ranch! Buff up your equestrian knowledge with an hour of Sunrise Ranch sampler including trail rides, arena lessons, barn classes, and games on horses. Then jump into an hour of intensive arena lessons where you’ll learn the finer points of riding and how to better communicate with your horse!

AM – Brightwood Super Sampler

$21

Can’t decide on an activity? The Brightwood Sampler offers a bit of everything! Play extreme games like “kick the can” and “ultimate chicken,” scale the climbing wall and dive into the arts with basic printmaking and sculpting. What more could you ask for in a week at camp?

AM – Shooting Sports

$21

Get on target with this ultimate combination of all your favorite shooting sports! Rotate through the week between archery, giant killers (a slingshot adventure), B.B. guns, and tomahawks. Campers will even try their hand at constructing their own bow and arrows!

AM – The Arts

$28

Be creative with a camp twist! Photograph the beautiful landscape of Cascades, master new musical techniques with the camp worship leader, and try your hand at painting and sculpting! You’ll even get to hone your acting skills in an original skit!

AM – Print Making

$28

Explore art in new ways as you create relief prints out of woodcarvings, discover and practice printing techniques, and together make an enormous mural! Campers will invent and print their own t-shirt design to wear at the end of the week.

AM – Wilderness Experience

$32

Combining all aspects of Cascades’ unique outdoor setting, “Wilderness Experience” promises to get you hands-on with the great outdoors. Scale the giant climbing wall, tour camp in a parkour adventure, perfect your technique in archery, search for Bigfoot, and learn the finer points of canoeing as you explore the wilderness of Elbow Lake.

AM Camptastic

$7

With an emphasis of pumping up classic camp to the extreme, Camptastic will give you a chance to do more of the best that Cascades has to offer! In this AM activity, campers will play favorite camp games such as sprout ball and Nuke ‘em, hike through Cascades’ beautiful wilderness, shoot wrist rockets, and attend Ninja training!

Brightwood Station Afternoon Activities:

PM – Hittin’ the Trail

$57

Giddy up and head out to the backwoods of Cascades on our finest horses! Experience the beauty of the trails and challenge your horsemanship skills as you navigate obstacles on the practice courses and on the trail! Led by skilled wranglers, your time on the trail will be exciting and the knowledge you’ll gain will make you are better rider all around.

PM – Adventure Quest

$42

Campers craving adventure will race down the waterslide, reach new heights on the climbing wall, navigate rough terrain on the mountain boards and trek through the Cascades Wilderness on a scavenger hunt. This activity is sure to satisfy the adventurous spirit!

PM – Archery

$32

Campers who can’t get enough time at the archery range during a traditional week at camp won’t want to miss this activity! You’ll start with the basics and explore form and posture, shot execution, consistency, accuracy, trick shots, rapid fire shots, and more. The week will culminate with an Archery Championship Tournament!

PM – Outdoor Survival

$37

Learn important survival knowledge from knot tying and rock climbing to water safety and wilderness cooking! Campers will become skilled at how to build a shelter in the woods of the Pacific Northwest, stay safe in areas with wild animals, and respond with correct first aid. Perfect for any outdoor enthusiast!

PM – Culinary Arts

$26

Led by Cascades’ very own kitchen staff, this activity gives campers the opportunity to develop their cooking and baking skills! You’ll jump into kitchen basics, sample different types of fruits, chocolates, and cheeses, and even bake your own meal! Each day will culminate with a new culinary project.

PM – Camptastic

$7

With an emphasis of pumping up camp classic to the extreme, Camptastic will give you a chance to do more of the best that Cascades has to offer! In this PM activity, campers will play mind blowing games like “the family game,” and “fish bowl,” make a splash at the waterfront playing watermelon polo, perfect their line dancing skills, fly down the waterslide, and battle with squirt guns!

Brightwood Station Optional Extras:

Brightwood Station – 1 Trail Ride

$26

Explore the wilderness trails of Cascades on horseback in this one day adventure!

Brightwood Station – Model Rocket

$26

Build and launch your own model rocket in this one day option!