By: Chris “Topher” Aderhold

Huge thanks to these amazing 59 people – thanks for giving Camp Gray your very best!

After the initial count, I remember thinking, “This is too good to be true,” and it turns out, it was. There were 56 days that campers were at Camp Gray during Summer Camp 2015, and coincidently, there were 56 staffers on this year’s Summer Staff.

The 56 for 56 was born, and highlighting a staffer per day on facebook and instagram became an exciting and fun Summer Camp endeavor.

Except that there weren’t 56 Summer Camp Staffers. A second count of the staff list found that there were instead 59. Regardless, 56 for 56 stuck even though it was actually 59 for 56. To remedy this embarrassing counting gaffe, we simply highlighted multiple staffers on a couple of days. We would have rather added 3 days of Summer Camp to make it an even (although they’re odd numbers) 59 for 59, but expanding Summer Camp is difficult to do 4 days before its start.

A few weeks back, as the last of Summer Camp’s 56 days wound down, I began reflecting on the GRAYtness of Summer Camp 2015 and the GRAYtness of our 56 staffers that actually numbered 59.

Praise the Lord for our selfless, creative, and fun staffers. Praise the Lord for blessing Camp Gray in 2015 with not merely 56 staffers, and instead with 59.

In the words of one parent evaluation, “The staff is seriously the most amazing group of people this side of heaven. Thank you for your sacrifice — I know you don’t get paid a ton — may you be richly blessed for all you do in Jesus’ Name!”

Camp is for the kids! We’re already counting down the days until Summer Camp 2016!

We couldn’t agree more, which is why it was such a blessing to recognize each and every person that played a role in making Summer Camp 2015 so terrific.

I could go on all day about our staff, but it’s the campers who are the real heroes at Camp Gray. Camp is for the kids, and their joy and excitement inspires us to do our best work.

Thank you for trusting us with your campers. Thank you for believing in the mission of Camp Gray. We hope that you’re seeing the fruits of the seeds that were planted here at Camp Gray.

We’ve been perusing at great length the parent evaluations that we’ve received from our camp families. We’re already making plans to ensure that Summer Camp 2016 is our best summer, yet – your feedback will ensure that it is indeed the best, yet. (Registration for 2016, by the way, opens November 13th – only 66 days from today!)

Over the course of the next many months, we’re excited to share dozens of stories about Summer Camp 2015. Additionally, we’re thrilled to share stories of tomorrow’s Camp Gray. Keep an eye on the CG Blog and our YouTube Channel for those stories!

Thanks again to all that made Summer Camp 2015 so fantastic!

Peace!