Larry’s Story
“The life and times of a Boys Camp director is often centred in the dining hall!
In the morning each tent/chalet group of campers and counselor would line up in front of the dining hall. It was a good way for me to start the day, walking along the porch enjoying the troops! And it was opportunity three times a day to make sure all campers were well and accounted for.
It was great to grab a seat at the “head table” as a meal began. This was one table set in the centre of the dining hall against the wall, a place where the section directors and some activity directors would get caught up with each other, review any program business of the day, and generally get a read on how the boys were doing. A place for hilarity and good eating as well.
After breakfast many mornings I loved sharing a story and Bible verse or two with the 200+ men packed around those tables. Sometimes part of that morning start to the day featured a story that Cobber (the director when I was a boy sitting at one of those tables myself) used to tell.
The dining hall was where I got the pulse of how the camp was doing. After a while I just got a sense from the tone and volume of noise, and the looks on camper and staff faces, whether or not guys were having a good time at camp.
Those were great days back in the 80s. The Boys Camp dining hall was the centrepiece of the action. Whether as a Frontiersman camper in the late 60s, or staff member in the 70s and 80s, or guy who looks back at a lifetime of work and play at Pioneer, that grand building is a timeless reminder of good times and fantastic memories!”
Larry Offner ‘Ephraim’
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