But There's Nothing There!

That's what the people in charge of the MARC Center in Rockdale reported in 1995 after a scouting expedition to Down Home Ranch as we prepared for the first ever Ranch Camp.

The Marc Center is an activity center/workshop for adults with intellectual disabilities.  We became acquainted with them through board members and volunteers in Rockdale, who encouraged them to think about sending their people to camp.

I have to admit: the physical plant at that time was unimpressive at best:  one very small trailer, one ancient falling-down barn. 

To complicate things, it was raining cats and dogs the day they came, so everyone had to crowd into our postage-stamp living room as Jerry spun his dream of acres of greenhouses, riding facilities, swimming pools, homes, retreat facilities, chapels, ponds, gardens, and cabins.

But, at the time, like I said: one very small trailer, one ancient falling-down barn.

But...we had a plan.

The Taylor National Guard post had offered cots and tents.  Port-o-potties could be rented. We would extend the porch roof out over the front lawn and eat on picnic tables.

Miss Gay (consummate home-schooler and scrounger) and I began scrounging and planning activities.  We lined up volunteers.  We arranged for fishing at a neighbor's pond.  We planned to take the campers swimming every afternoon in Taylor at the municipal pool in Murphy Park.

And after that summer Miss Gay and I could have gone on to careers as recruiting officers for the military.  Every hunk of young flesh that walked by became fair game to be pressed into service as a counselor.

Undoubtedly against their better judgment, the MARC people signed up to come, along with a group from Houston.

Finally the big day arrived, and with it campers and their hopeful, frightened parents and other caregivers.

We had no idea what we were doing, and I'm sure it showed. 

But our faith in ourselves was vindicated.  We created camp together.  Many of the MARC Center campers have returned year after year, making new memories and friends as they renew old ones.

One of our favorites, Jerry Throckmorton, died several years ago.  The town of Rockdale turned inside out to honor him, from the high school teams he supported, to the neighbors whose trash he hauled out on trash day, to the people he worked with in various jobs around town.  As for us, we'll never forget him standing in front of the mobile home, looking philosophical, and saying, "Yep, you've got a pretty nice little camp here."

We established a permanent scholarship in Jerry's name to help others share an experience he loved.

The facilities are a lot more impressive these days, but that experience is pretty much the same.  If it weren't, Ranch Camp would not keep growing from year to year, from a total of 23  the first year to  about 450 this year. Pretty much everyone who comes once, comes back, and new ones come every year.

We all agreed after that first session that we'd never had so much fun or worked so hard in our entire lives.


  

The Campers Are Here!

The campers are here! The cars came rolling in starting around 3:30 Sunday afternoon. Our staff and friends saddled up to greet the families and entertain them while waiting for the gates to open wide and the wild rumpus begin!

Week 1 is for teenagers and very young adults. It was great fun to see friends who haven’t seen each other in a year fall into each other’s arms.

Despite some rainy days, the fun continues unabated. Every camp director worth his or her salt knows a zillion ways to keep campers entertained indoors, and Denise and her formidable crew of counselors are no exception. Skits, karaoke, line dancing, crafts, games, sharing tables—not to mention mealtimes—are all popular pastimes.

Today, though cloudy, is basically dry, and campers had fun working with the mini horses and donkeys--the ones with four legs, not the stick ones in the dining room used for Western skits!

Tomorrow, incredibly, is their last full day. I say incredibly because camp did not flow so quickly when Miss Gay and I were the ones running it day after day. In fact, we always told the staff to expect Monday to last approximately 72 hours, after which things would move briskly by. Nurse Linda confirmed that yes, Monday was a long one.

Tomorrow evening Ranchers will join campers for the Dance. Oh, how everyone loves the Dance! If you’re ever in the neighborhood drop by. We guarantee you’ll have a great time.

One reason is, you’re required to!

We tolerate NO wallflowers among the staff. Everyone must dance, and everyone discovers that even if they didn’t feel like dancing, glory be—they’re having a great time and now you do.

And when’s the last time you danced to our all-time favorite: Y-M-C-A?

Only nine weeks to go, and lots more tales to tell.

Rancher Camp

Tuesday and today the Ranchers have been training the incoming counseling staff for Ranch Camp.  They do this by being "Campers" for two days, and they take their job very seriously. 

We do, too, even paying them their regular wage to do it.

Everything happens that will happen at regular camp in order to give the camp staff the experience.  Of course, our guys are such old hands at this (almost all began their relationship with Down Home Ranch as campers) it's really easier than getting a brand new--and much larger--group of unknowns each Sunday afternoon, but a rehearsal's a rehearsal, and every bit of experience helps.

First there's check-in--lice check (eeew!), medications turned in, ID bracelet put on.

Then there's all that gear to stow away somewhere, bunks to be picked out and made up, too.

Best of all is the chance to make some new friends.

After everyone's settled in and getting to know one another, it's time to go swimming, do crafts, have dinner and and watch the skits the counselors have been working on all week.

It's fun, but that's not to say some folks don't miss their regular bed and in-room TVs!

Up in the morning, it's time to go fishing.  The stories are good, as usual, and they weren't all about the ones that got away, either!

Later in the morning, there was the nature walk.  Most campers agreed it was a lot like working in Gardens--hot, sticky, and buggy.

In fact, when ask what kinds of wonders were seen on the nature walk, most everybody answered, "Ants."

Sure enough, Michael (below) brought back ants and their project for the day, a deceased caterpillar.

We talk a lot about hydration in the Texas summer heat, and many Ranchers now have "camel packs" strapped to their back. 

Here Sterling gives Kelly a sip of water from his.

Chris takes the stage during the pre-lunch break, giving his famous rendition from the Lion King.

While the Ranchers have been masquerading as campers, direct-care staff has been attending two-days of intensive training.

Tonight after supper, everyone will go home, have a shower in their own bathroom, and settle into their comfy rooms for the night.

Tomorrow, they're off to Morgan's Wonderland for the day, accompanied by students from the Texas State University Department of Recreational Therapy.

Friday, it's back to normal, picking the last of the berries, cleaning up after the horses, and cleaning the buildings to get ready for the real Ranch Camp.