June 22, 2026

Thank you

For choosing Main Camp a session that is long, expensive, inconvenient, and (perhaps) hard to understand. You are either true believers (having attended camp yourself) or bold souls to make a leap of faith and choose to send your girls to Main Camp. We are humbled. We are honored. We are excited to show that your trust was well-founded.
For your enthusiasm on full display as you arrived with cars that looked like middle-schoolers were given markers and told to excessively decorate a nice, shiny car. You were honking, smiling, waving, and capturing the moment on your phone. You would look back at your daughter in the back seat with delight as she jumped up and down on the bench seat. You brought the family dog to enjoy the moment (and to be a comfort on the ride back home). You encouraged us with your love of camp, and we know that this appreciation will continue for years. You are lifers. We are lucky to have you on our team.
For your heart. You exemplify the Jimmy Valvano “laugh, think, and cry” way of living. Smiling broadly with joy as tears shine in your eyes. You appreciate the moment and know that Main Camp will provide many such moments… You “get it” and are genuinely happy for the opportunity.

This year’s theme verse (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17) starts with an apparently impossible command: Rejoice always, but on opening day, it is not as difficult to imagine doing exactly that. We look at the calendar, and our hearts fill with anticipation for the familiar old programs and the surprising moments that arise in every great summer (most of the time unplanned). We look forward to enjoying time with our friends, defined as all the people we end up LOVING DEEPLY this summer. We know we might meet that friend today or tomorrow in an unexpected moment that could be embarrassing elsewhere, but here, a bond forms. We find that our “weird” personality works at camp, and that wearing a fox tail as a fashion statement is accepted as “cool”. It is easy to rejoice at Greystone. We become good at rejoicing and take that light into the world when we leave.

Thank you for supporting our camp. Margaret and I, along with now Catherine and Peter as the fifth generation, help to run this special place. One family, one mission, for one hundred and seven years. It only survives because of God’s grace and people like you who are drawn to His light. Greystone’s mission is rooted in glorifying God; only those who celebrate this priority would choose Main Camp. We will never take you for granted.

This is going to be an exceptional year. We know this is true because it is always true. Each summer is the Best Summer Ever, which means this one is better than those previous 106 summers. Not in every way (each summer will shine in distinct ways that are not ever duplicated and therefore remain special), but overall, that is what always happens. Heaven will be a place where you always enjoy the moment, remember yesterday with a smile, and anticipate tomorrow with delight. You will never be bored, never want it to end. It is perfect. Greystone is not that… but it is close.

Here we will laugh, think, and cry every day. It is exactly what you want for your girls.

The blog is a place to peek through the curtain of camp and perhaps gain an appreciation of what makes it so special. I write it every day, posting before noon with a little thought for the day and a list of the details that can flesh out your imagination of how your camper is doing. The food, the weather, and the evening program form the skeleton of the day for everyone here. That is at the bottom of the post. My thoughts are not important, but they do give my perspective on the “feeling” of camp each day. Most days are glorious; some days are blah. All days have mountaintop moments, and some are marked by valleys. They add up to a good experience (using “good” as an adjective is high praise… it is how God describes his own person and everything he does).

Now, I have to finish things up so I can get some lunch. The details of the day are as follows:

Weather Perfect 84 degrees, low humidity
Lunch An awesome picnic buffet (homemade bread, turkey, ham, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, pasta salad, fruit salad, chips, and Plato’s Brownies)
Dinner Spaghetti and meat sauce
EP Program Skits (all counselors put on skits to introduce themselves by department).
Taps at 9:40