Director’s Blog

Friday, July 26, 2024-4:00pm & 7:00PM

7:00pm Update: We just finished our best and most fancy dinner of the week (chicken, rice, broccoli, and banana pudding). The banana pudding is so good, some of the campers literally lick their plate. Today has been a fun and full day. We were able to dodge the rain all day an enjoy a full day of camp schedule wise. We are getting ready to have our skit program followed by our Friday Vespers service which is held at the beach. What makes tonight special is we allow the campers to share what they have learned this week. It is always meaningful to hear kids at this age share publicly and HUGE in their development and confidence. The sharing time is optional. I know that each of you are looking forward to seeing your kid(s) tomorrow and to hear all of the stories from the week. We will see you bright and early tomorrow morning.

Parents-my apologies for the late post—today has been very busy but GREAT. When I have more time this evening, I will write about the day. All is well at camp and we are gearing up for Free Time now. More later……

Thursday, July 25, 2024-3:00pm

9:00pm Update: Great day today parents. We just gone done playing an amazing game called, “Angle Ball” (make sure to ask your camper about it). For our evening activity on the field tonight, our program team played Christmas Classics which added a fun twist to the night. If it could snow in July up here, it would have been so cool [Side Note-In January, CVP received 6 inches of snow and 1 inch of ice—it was quite the storm]. We are getting ready to head to bed. Our cook surprised us tonight with an epic dessert of Strawberry Shortcake-it was so good. We play long and hard up here and everyone should sleep well tonight-no rain today after lunch which was a blessing.

Merry Christmas from CVP parents. We are celebrating “Christmas in July” today since today is July 25th. We sang, “Go Tell It On The Mountain” at morning Anchor and Santa made an appearance at lunch which the kids loved. We are doing well as this week is quickly coming to an end. After a morning of drizzle and light rain, the rain has stopped and we are hoping to have dry conditions for the rest of today. Even if it does rain, we should be okay as long as it does not storm. As I hope you can see from the website, the hoe-down last night was a ton of fun. For tonight, we are playing, “Logan’s Luau” which will have a Christmas/Tropical theme to it on the field. For Anchor this morning, we talked to the campers about how our true home is in heaven with the Lord and how the Bible refers to our time on Earth as us being strangers and sojourners awaiting our true home. This fits with our theme, “Firmly Rooted” because we have to be careful to not get rooted in worldly things which can cause us to not seek the Lord as much as we should. This theme has caused a lot of campers to ask some wonderful questions which we encourage. We want campers to be able to ask any question that they want and we train our staff on how to answer tough questions. If a counselor does not know how to answer a question, our leadership team is here to help. One of my favorite things about being Camp Director is to answer camper questions. I will try to provide an additional update later this evening. For dinner tonight, we will enjoy our cook’s world famous spaghetti.

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

Wednesday, July 24, 2024-1:30pm

5:45pm Update: We just got back from Free Time and a very heavy downpour hit us around 4:45. Since there was no thunder or lightening, we allowed them to keep swimming and they had an absolute blast. There is something so fun about playing in the heavy rain in the summer while you are swimming.

Parents-we are at the mid-week portion of camp and we are having a great time so far. After a very heavy rain yesterday afternoon, the rain has let up and we are enjoying cloudy and cool conditions which is almost unheard of for late July. The campers really enjoyed our evening game called, “Gnome Hunt” last night which is a mix between counselor hunt and Disneyworld characters. Campers go around interacting with various characters in costume to try and collect as many tokens as possible. For today, we just finished a yummy baked chicken nugget lunch with French fries and salad. Did you know that we have a “running” skit everyday at lunch which involves several dressed up characters who are all trying to do “harm” to camp in some form or fashion. We also announce the results of “honor cabin” during this time which is another name for cabin inspection. I will admit to you that lunches are extremely loud and almost deafening with excitement at times, but that’s okay because this is CAMP! After free time today, we will have our traditional cookout with hamburgers, chips, and watermelon which is followed by our hoe-down after Vespers and Flag. I will try to write more later today if time allows.

Tuesday, July 23, 2024-12:00PM

Parents, we had a good night’s sleep last night and woke up to cloudy skies and cool conditions (no complaints on the cool part). After morning flag, we enjoyed breakfast which included pancakes, sausage, yogurt, and OJ. Following this, we headed to our morning Anchor worship together which leads into cabin devotional time. Following this time, campers head to Cabin Activity which are activities all around the property that cabins choose based on a ranking sheet. Campers are currently in an activity called, “CVP Games” which is a camp wide game that all cabins play together. Lunch is next at 12:30 which is followed by FOB (Flat-On-Back, aka rest period). I think that it is important for parents to know what our daily schedule looks like so they can understand the context of what your campers will share with you when you pick them up on Saturday. For this week, we have a high percentage of first time campers and as a parent myself, I know how nerve racking and hard it can be to send your child to camp for the first time. We pay special attention to this age group to make sure that each one of them has what they need on the first night (tooth brush, sleeping bag, blanket, etc). We also focus in on hydration, sunscreen, and dry feet to make sure that blisters do not set in. We do not go to bed until we check on each camper and their counselors to ensure that all is well. Thank you for entrusting your child to CVP-it is something that we take seriously.

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

Monday, July 22, 2024-3:30pm

Parents, we are excited to begin Day #1 of Week #7 today. Thank you for your patience during drop-off this morning. Yesterday evening, we experienced a terrible storm at camp which created some issues on Lee Pike. We were relieved that crews were able to clear debris and downed power lines so that morning drop-off was able to happen. As I type this, I am seeing the sun break out which is a welcome site about 3.5 inches of rain last night. We are about to head to Free Time which includes swimming, blobbing, kayaking, canoeing, and boating activities. After Free Time, we will head to Dinner (BBQ Chicken, Potato Wedges, etc) followed by our evening Vespers service, evening flag, and then our evening activity. Parents, we love this age group of kids and find it to be the perfect group of kids to end the summer with. For some of our staff, we have been going strong since mid-May and we feel like we are in a good groove and rhythm. Even though this is the case, we are still introducing some new elements to the week to keep things fresh and to make this week special. In our staff meeting last night, I challenged our staff to treat this week as if it were the first week to ensure that our energy, passion, and excitement is congruent to past weeks. Thank you for entrusting your camper to us for the week and I invite you to check out our daily photo page on our website.

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

Friday, July 19, 2024-12:00PM

Happy Friday. We are enjoying morning temps in the upper 70’s which feels so much better than the 90’s from earlier in the week. We are expecting some rain later today and possibly in the morning which might cause us to change our luggage pick-up schedule. If that happens, we will communicate a rain plan for luggage. We had a great time at “Logan’s Luau” last night by playing Angle Ball and an assortment of other fun luau inspired games. Our apologies for the issue with photos from yesterday—we accidently posted Day #4 photos under the Day #5 folder-that has now been corrected. During our Anchor worship time this week, we have been talking to the campers about what it means to be firmly rooted in Christ. We have been unpacking our theme verse (Ephesians 3:17-19) and talking to the kids about HOW to remain rooted in Christ during the school year. We encouraged them to get involved in a local church and to find a small group of people who they can talk about their faith with and pray together. Friday’s are always a special day at camp. Activities include our special Friday dinner, our Friday skit program, and our traditional Friday night Vespers and Bonfire service at the beach. Even though we are not wanting these campers to leave, we do look forward to having each of you at camp tomorrow for pick-up. I hope that each of you will take some time on Saturday to hear all of the stories and memories from the week. I would recommend taking your camper out to lunch tomorrow so you can hear all about the week.

Forrest Walker

CVP Director

Thursday, July 18, 2024-3:45pm

Parents, we have reached Thursday and continue to be doing well at camp. Our hoe-down last evening was a loud and fun party and we were able to teach the campers several new dances. For today, we have been able to dodge the raindrops (so far) but do expect some rain later today. We are trying a new evening activity titled, “Logan’s Luau” this evening. The game is named after our Program Director and will involve several games on our field with a Hawaiian/Tropical theme. Our cooks are cooking up our special spaghetti recipe as I type this and the campers are enjoying popcorn and cookies at Canteen right now. Make sure to check out the pictures later this evening from the luau. For tomorrow’s post, I will share what we have been talking about during our morning Anchor worship time.

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

WEdnesday, July 17, 2024-12:15pm

Greetings from a Wednesday at camp parents. This week is flying by and we are doing great. Several counselors have told me how “easy” and fun your campers have been this week. We are enjoying clear skies this afternoon but do expect some rain to head in later this evening and hopefully overnight. I say overnight because sleeping under a tin roof with rain is classic camp and it always makes us sleep better. Wednesday’s are always fun because of our cookout and hoe-down which are a highlight. If it does rain this evening, it won’t matter because we will be under our pavilion. We will enjoy baked chicken nuggets for lunch today which have been a big hit all summer long. For dinner last night, we served chicken alfredo with bread sticks and surprised the campers with churros for desert. For canteen this summer, we have tried serving sno-cones which have been devoured each week. I will try to send another update later today with details of the adventures that await us….don’t forget to check out the photo page which is updated several times a day.

Tuesday, July 16, 2024-3:00pm & 6:00PM

Hello from camp on a rainy and stormy afternoon. The rain this afternoon is a blessing due to how dry and dusty it has been up here. We are currently doing a “rain-plan” activity with the campers which we always have ready to pivot to when needed. About a week ago, the predicted high for today was 102 degrees which I looked at with frustration. As I type this, it is currently 74 and feeling amazing—you never know.

We are doing very well on Day #2. I am heading down to Canteen right now and will write more later this evening….apologies for having to cut this post short.

6:00pm Update: Parents, we are headed to dinner now (Chicken Alfredo, Bread Sticks). We were able to dodge the big storm that hit Chattanooga a few hours ago and enjoyed Free Time at the lake with all of our boating activities remaining intact. After dinner, we will head to Evening Vespers which is our worship time and staff testimonies. Our staff testimonies are a highlight of the summer for me personally because of how encouraging it is to hear how the Lord has transformed the lives of our staff. I often tell people that I can give the most dynamic talks to campers, but the truth is that our staff testimonies are the most powerful. Campers are going to relate to these talks more and they will remember them. I still remember testimonies from 1992 that I heard here as a camper. After Vespers, we will head to Evening Flag which is followed by our evening activity (Gnome Hunt!) which will be followed by cabin time/bedtime. By 10:00pm each evening, most of us are eager to hit the pillow because our how active we are from sunup to sundown.

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

Monday, July 15, 2024-12:15pm

I wanted to express my thanks for every parent who was present today for camper drop-off. Thanks to your feedback, the drop off procedures have worked more efficiently this summer with our gender specific time slots. I am sorry if some of you had to park at the V-Dome due to our limited parking, but I do appreciate your patience. Week #6 is upon us and this week is historical in terms of it being the largest camp that we have ever had (197 campers!). Cabins are currently in cabin activities and will soon head to lunch at 12:30. I am happy to report that 100% of our campers passed the swim test which is always great to see. Our crew of close to 20 lifeguards likes to see the campers swim before we put them in lifejackets for the rest of the week so we can focus on any weaker swimmers. We take lifeguarding and waterfront safety very serious up here at camp. It is a joy to be up here with your campers and we are looking forward to a ton of fun and a meaningful week in the woods. We are also looking forward to some cooler temps and rain later in the week. In the event that rain does create issues, our program team is ready to implement our rain plan should that become necessary. Drought conditions are never good up here as it creates dust and it may prevent us from making camp fires.

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

FRIDAY, July 12, 2024

It’s another beautiful day at camp parents. There is a window of time each morning on a clear day where the sunrise will take your breath away. We have made it to Friday and we are doing well. We just finished breakfast (French toast, sausage, yogurt + granola) and are currently in cabin devotionals after our morning worship time. There are few things more awesome than to see young people singing praise and worship songs to The Lord. Friday’s are always special at camp because we have some unique programming and surprises for the campers. After Free Time, we will have our Friday night dinner which is stellar and delicious (we save the best for last). We follow that with our evening skit program and then we head down to the beach (which is lakefront) for our evening Vesper bonfire service. I would encourage each of you to ask your camper(s) tomorrow about the bonfire ceremony because it is always meaningful. Even though we don’t want to see them go tomorrow, I know that each of you are eager to see your kids and as a parent myself, I completely understand that. We look forward to seeing each of you bright and early tomorrow morning.

Thursday, July 11, 2024

Happy Thursday parents. Things are heating up here at camp and we are having a great time. The Hoe-Down last night was loads of fun. What made last night so memorable is that 90-95% of campers were on the dance floor dancing to the music. I hope that you can see how much fun the campers had last night from the pictures our website. We had a sweet time of worship this morning during Anchor and followed that up with cabin devotional. Campers have been asking us a million questions this week about all kinds of spiritual questions during cabin devotionals. We are excited about today because we are trying a new evening activity (Capture the Flag) that we are excited about. We are headed to lunch and I will write more later today…..

5:46pm: Great day today parents. The weather has been fantastic and the heat hasn’t been too bad. The lake has cooled a bit which felt great during Free Time today. We are getting ready for dinner (spaghetti, garlic bread, dessert, etc), followed by our evening Vespers service, evening flag, and then Capture the Flag for the first time this summer! We do our best to get the campers in bed as early as possible in the evening to maximize as much sleep as possible. By the end of the day, most campers are staff have no trouble being ready for bed to our our busy schedule and constant motion up here.

WEdnesday, July 10, 2024

Parents, we have made it to the mid-week and we are doing well. A solid cloud cover is blessing us this morning by keeping temperatures in the 70’s which feels incredible. We had a great time playing a game last evening called, “Gnome Hunt” which has become a camp classic. Gnome Hunt is a mixture of Clue, Counselor Hunt, Peter Pan, and Batman. The goal of the game is to find special characters who are hidden all throughout camp who give out tokens worth a various number of points. This morning, we enjoyed a sweet time of worship in our morning Anchor time which was followed by cabin devotionals. Our theme this summer is, “Firmly Rooted” which is inspired from Ephesians 3:17-19. We are talking to the campers about what it means to be firmly rooted in Christ verses bring rooted in the world. We talked about the Trinity this morning and how the Lord forgives our past—present—and future sins. It is a joy to get to talk to our campers about the hope that we have in Christ and what it means to be firmly rooted in Him. For today, we are excited about our cookout at dinner followed by our epic hoe-down which we have been doing up here since the 1980’s. By July, the lake front is the “go-to” place to be due to how warm the water is. We recently installed a brand new dock which has allowed us to provide a top-notch waterfront facility which we are so thankful for. We are having a lot of fun this week and we remain thankful for you trusting us with your camper(s).

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Parents, I am writing you from a SOAKED Vesper Point. A very narrow band of heavy rain set up right over camp at 1:00pm and it probably dumped 1+ inches of rain on us in a very short period of time. This rain is a God-send because of how dry it has been up here. When we go through dry spells at camp, dust and dirt can really create issues—thank you Lord for the rain. We are doing well on Day #2! As I type this, our program team has shifted into “Rain Plan” mode and we are playing a game called, “Advanced Simon Says” in our meeting room. After this, we will head to Canteen (mid-day snack) and will plan to have Free Time as usual. Campers can choose the following at free time: swimming, canoeing, kayaking, paddle boarding, corcleing (circulur canoes), blobbing, jumping in the aqua tramp, riding on the rocket jr, or sitting in an innertube in the swim square. Cabins are also scheduled for “Boat Camp” during Free time which includes tubing or riding on the infamous banana boat. I am looking out my office window as I wrap this blog post up and I am seeing sunny skies..let’s just hope that the heat backs off a few degrees later this afternoon.

Monday, July 8, 2024

Parents-thank you for a successful drop off procedure this morning. Thank you for your patience in waiting for a parking spot a we processed a large number of cars. We are well underway at camp this afternoon after successfully completing the swim test, cabin activity, and lunch. Opening day at camp is always exciting and the anticipation of morning arrival is a lot of fun for our staff to see. I am happy to report that 100% of the campers passed the swim test which is always our goal. Even though all campers wear a life jacket at the waterfront, we still want to know who struggles with swimming so our lifeguards can keep an extra eye on them. We have over 20 certified lifeguards on the property which is a big blessing to our staff. We take waterfront safety very seriously by doing continuous education and rescue practices all throughout the summer. Make sure to keep an eye on the photo portion of our website as we will be posting pictures all throughout the week. After being off last week for the 4th of July, we are glad and excited to be back at camp for this week of camp which will prove to be a ton of fun! For first time parents, it can be difficult and scary to drop your camper off at camp for the first time. As parents ourselves, my wife and I understand those feelings and emotions. It is so important for campers to learn to be away from mom and dad at a safe camping environment and I want to thank each of you for trusting CVP with your child this summer.

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

Friday, JUNE 28TH, 2024 - 9:00AM

We have somehow reached Friday which is evidence that the week has flown by. We had a great day on Thursday and ended the day with an evening activity called, “Tropical Carnival” on the field. Campers participated in several carnival type games with a tropical flavor. The games gave campers the opportunity to earn points for their cabins for the coveted dock party which takes place after lunch today. Friday is also the most special day of the week programming wise. We will go through a normal day of camp up through dinner and then we transition into our special end of week closing activities. These activities include some special skits, videos, and our Friday night Vespers service which takes place at the beach. This service includes awards presentations, testimonies, worship, and a share time where campers are invited to share what they have learned throughout the week.

Here at camp, our staff and leadership team has been going 5+ weeks straight. We are very intentional with making sure that our staff are taken care of with things like staff small groups, time off, and intentional one-on-one conversations. Working at camp is not easy but it provides our staff with real-time ministry experience which is so rewarding and special. We have a phrase up here that we use to describe the experience and that phrase is, “Camp Tired.” Camp tired is certainly a level of tiredness but I would describe it as a “rewarding and satisfied tired.” Please pray for our staff as we prepare to end this week well. I share this with you to let you know that we consider working at camp a complete joy despite the hot and long days.

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

THURSDAY, JUNE 27TH, 2024 - 9:00AM

Good morning parents. This is a quick update to let you know that we are going well at camp. We had a power outage last night from 9pm-1:30am (Wednesday night until early this morning). Because of this, we were unable to post pictures last night. We will do our best to get caught up on our posting as the day wears on. We were blessed with RAIN which brought some much needed relief from the dust and heat. The power frequently goes off in the North Soddy Daisy area but we are thankful to have no issues. After we got everyone to their cabins last night, the boy campers broke into a spontaneous rain dance on top of “boy cabin hill” which was both hilarious and a memory that we won’t soon forget. I will post more later today if time allows.

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

Wednesday, JUNE 26TH, 2024 - 8:00 AM

Happy Wednesday parents. This week has been a joy so far despite the heat. We are hoping for some rain later today which would be most welcome. Your kids have been a joy and we are having a lot of fun. After Vesper last evening, we played a camp wide game called, “Gnome Hunt” which is a strange mix of counselor hunt and clue but with a Vesper Point twist that includes several dressed up characters that hide around camp. After this game, campers headed back to their cabins to hang out, shower, and prepare for bed. One of my favorite memories of camp were those times where I was in my cabin just hanging out with my friends and having conversations about life. These organic and unplanned times together are an important part of camp and can sometimes be the most memorable. We also had some campers shooting hoops last night before bed at our new basketball court which was a lot of fun. For today, we are looking forward to our evening cookout followed by our classic hoe-down. Our hoe-down callers have come up with a myriad of fun dances (some old and some new) which we think this group will really enjoy. Don’t forget to check out our photo page on this site to see pictures from all portions of the day. We try and upload as many pictures as possible so parents can get a sense as to what our days look like up here. We are pushing Gatorade today and will be swimming during the hottest part of the day. As I type this, we are headed to morning flag, breakfast, and our morning worship time called Anchor.

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

Tuesday, JUNE 25TH, 2024 - 11:00 AM

Happy Tuesday morning from Vesper Point. We are off to a great start this week with an action packed Monday. We just got back from morning Anchor which is our morning worship time followed by what we call an Anchor Talk. Our theme for the summer is, “Firmly Rooted” which was inspired from Ephesians 3:17-19. We are talking to the campers about what it means to be rooted in Christ as opposed to being rooted in other worldly things. We follow morning Anchor with a cabin devotional time where cabins can unpack the anchor talk and ask questions to their counselors. It is always moving and encouraging to hear campers sing worship songs in the morning and it hopefully shows them that worshipping the Lord is not boring or old-fashioned.

We will do our best to stay cool and hydrated today as temps are expected to climb into the mid-90’s. One of the blessings about being near the lake is that once the sun goes down, things cool off rapidly up here thanks to the breeze at the lake front. The actual lake temperature is near 80 degrees which feels great when we go down to Free Time in the late afternoon.

For the campers who wanted to watch the final innings of the College World Series last night, they were treated to a close and exciting game on our blow-up outdoor screen. It was a lot of fun to watch the final out together and I hope it will serve as a fun memory. I am attaching a link below which shows the campers reaction when the final out was recorded.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/h8jyXy3nfSI

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

Monday, JUNE 24TH, 2024 - 11:00 AM

We are excited to start Week #4 with our 7th-10th Grade campers. Parents, thank you for a seamless and easy drop-off this morning. For those that are returning families, I hope that our new system was easier. We just finished up our first Cabin Activity period and are headed to our Monday pizza lunch which is always a hit. After lunch, the schedule will look like this: Clinics, CVP Games, Canteen (mid-day snack), Free Time, Dinner, Vespers, Evening Flag, Evening Activity, Bedtime.

Can each of you keep a secret? We have a special treat for the campers this evening which will take place immediately after our evening activity and Anchor Talk (Anchor Talk is a talk we do each day which unpacks our camp theme for the summer-more on this tomorrow). We are going to broadcast the final few innings of the College World Series tonight so any interested campers can watch. We have a special blow up projection screen that we will inflate so we can watch the final innings of the game. We NEVER watch TV up here, but I thought that these campers would enjoy a special treat and can hopefully watch a Tennessee championship tonight!

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

FRIDAY, JUNE 21TH, 2024 - 11:00 AM

Friday is always a favorite day for staff and campers alike. Besides it being our weekly “wrap-up” day, we have some special programs planned. Friday evening dinner is our best dinner of the week and we follow that with a special skit program (that is hilarious) and we play the weekly video for the campers. After the video, we head down to the beach for our evening worship service which includes a bonfire, awards presentation, and a time where we allow campers to share publicly about how the Lord has spoken to them during the week. The sharing time is optional but it is a blessing for the entire camp to hear what the campers share. One of our priorities is for our entire staff to be present for morning and evening worship times (kitchen workers, work crew guys, etc) because we want everyone to slow down and be a part of these special services.

As we wrap up the week, I wanted to share a few “behind the scenes” things about camp that you may not know.

1. When a camper struggles with missing home, we have several approaches that we take to try and encourage the camper to get their minds off of any stress. We try and encourage them that these feelings are normal and that it is important to learn how to be away from mom and dad for a short period of time. We try and keep campers busy and involved in activities so that they don’t dwell on missing home. If the issue is severe, we will call home to make you aware so we can collaborate on what the next best step is. We also will use our camp dog Chief to calm a camper down which works wonders most of the time. Chief is a chocolate lab who is great around campers and tends to offer a calming presence.

2. Did you know that we have over 20 certified lifeguards on our staff this summer? We take lifeguard training very seriously at camp and even perform lifeguarding inservice training during the summer. Our lifeguards are certified in rescue techniques, CPR, basic first aid, and AED usage. It is important for us to offer professional lifeguarding services so we can ensure a high level of care and supervision to keep campers safe at the waterfront.

We will see you bright and early tomorrow morning!

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

Thursday, JUNE 20TH, 2024 - 11:00 AM

Happy Thursday parents. We are doing really well here at camp this morning. We got the campers in bed early last night to ensure a solid night’s sleep and I could tell a difference in the campers energy levels at breakfast this morning. Speaking of breakfast, several campers told me, “Wow, this is the best breakfast that we have had all week.” Thursday breakfast includes breakfast nuggets (think egg, cheese, and sausage with a twinge of sweetness) and hashbrown rings. I must say that even at my age, I find the breakfast nuggets to be surprisingly delicious. Cabins are currently enjoying Cabin Activities and will later head to CVP Games. The Hoe-Down last night was one of the best and highest energy hoe-downs we have had in recent memory. The campers really got into the dances and there was a fun spirit of togetherness and joy (ice cream may have helped with this :) ) For today, we are planning a new evening activity called, “Tropical Carnival” on the field. This activity involves limbo, carnival games, and even a dunking booth that I seem to find myself under each week. Parents, I wish you could be here to hear your campers sing during our morning and evening worship times…it is truly a beautiful thing to hear kids praising the Lord.

We will continue to push water and sunscreen today and the temps are expected to rise (Tuesday and Wednesday were not bad at all). Our entire staff is thankful for this week and I hope that the website photos expresses this.

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

WEdnesday, JUNE 19TH, 2024 - 1:00 PM

Hello parents and Happy Wednesday. We are at the mid-portion of the week and we are having fun up here. After an epic game of Gnome Hunt last night, we got the campers in bed a little earlier to maximize as mush sleep as possible. One of the things that we put a big emphasis on at camp is sleep. In addition to sleep, we are stressing hydration and sunscreen as much as possible. Even though it has been hot, the weather the last 2 days has been MUCH more tolerable with a welcome cloud cover and lower humidity levels. Wednesday’s are always fun at camp due to our cookout and our hoe-down party which will take place after dinner. We have a talented group of square dance callers (including my awesome wife!) who teach the kids a wide variety of line and partner dances.

We are currently in FOB (Flat on Back—’Rest Time”) as I type this while half of our staff is in staff small groups. Our staff members rotate small groups each day so that we can pour into them with sharing, prayer, and Bible Study. We are studying 1st and 2nd Timothy with our staff this summer. Apologies for the short post as I am quite busy at the moment. I will try to share more on Thursday.

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

Tuesday, JUNE 18TH, 2024 - 11:00AM

Parents, Tuesday is upon us and we are doing well at camp. After morning flag (we raise the flag, say the pledge and pray), we enjoyed a hearty breakfast of pancakes and sausage (yogurt bar as well) and OJ. One of my favorite times of the day is Morning Anchor where our praise band leads the campers in worship followed by our daily “Anchor Talk” where a member of our camp leadership staff gives a talk on an aspect of our camp theme. Cabins dismiss for cabin devotionals after the Anchor Talk and then head to Cabin Activity and then to “CVP Games”. Each cabin ranks their Top 10 Cabin Activity choices and our Assistant Director assigns a daily activity based off of these ranking sheets. Cabin Activities include things like: blobbing, kayaking, hiking, archery, golf, touch football, kickball, and several other choices.

For this evening, we are looking forward to playing a game called Gnome Hunt. Gnome Hunt is quickly becoming a camp classic and is a quirky mix of Counselor Hunt and Clue with a host of interesting characters who are walking around camp as either good or bad guys. Cabins travel together and try to accumulate as many points as possible for their cabin. Mixed in with this activity, we are looking forward to Canteen (mid-day snack) and Free Time. Did you know that each cabin is assigned two “Boat Camps” per day? Boat camp is a time where we take individual cabins out of the boats to tube or ride the infamous banana boat! Look for the next blog post on Wednesday before lunch.

Don’t forget to check out our picture page on the “Summer Camp” portion of our website and a helpful FAQ link on that same drop down menu.

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

Monday, JUNE 17TH, 2024 - 3:00PM

Happy Monday from Vesper Point. We began Week #3 this morning with a successful camper drop off. Thank you to all parents for making our new drop off procedure a success. What makes this week so special is that we have campers from Tennessee, Alabama (we love all of our WCA families!), and even from other countries around the world! Week #3 is truly an International camp which we are so excited about and thankful for. One of my prayers this week is that the Lord would weave together lifelong friendships between campers who did not know each other before this week. This could look like pen pals or close friends all due to being in the same cabin at camp in 2024. When I was a camper at CVP in 1992, I was in a cabin with a bunch of guys that I did not know previously. 32 years later, these guys are among my best friends and we have been meeting monthly as a small group for the past several decades.

Opening day is always exciting and action packed which is intentional so campers can quickly work out any butterflies or nervousness. We are currently leaving Canteen and on the way to Clinics which will be followed by Free Time. Free Time will be important this week so campers can cool off in the lake due to the heat. The lake water temperature is currently at 78 which is a nice change from the actual air temperature.

Lunch today included some yummy pizza and dinner will be our famous BBQ chicken, potato wedges, and a few other surprises thrown in. After dinner, we will head to our evening worship service called Vespers which will lead to evening flag (we take the flag down and pray), and then our Evening Activity which is called, “Guys and Girls Night”. We split the guys and girls up and play various relay games which is a lot of fun. After these games, we will have have our first Anchor Talk of the week where I will share with the campers about our summer theme which is, “Firmly Rooted” which is inspired from Ephesians 3:17-19. After the Anchor Talk, we will head back to the cabins for showers and lights out. With campers of this age, it is very important to us they get plenty of rest at night so that they have energy throughout the day. I will try to update this blog by 3:00pm each day with details and stories about how the week is going. Don’t forget to check out our photo page on our camp website. Thank you for entrusting your camper with our camp—it is an honor to have them here.

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

Friday, JUNE 14TH, 2024 - 3:00PM

Parents, Friday is upon us and we are well underway with our last day of camp. We stressed to the campers today about the importance of staying hydrated and using ample sunscreen when the temperatures get into the 90’s. For this evening, we will enjoy our most abundant dinner of the week (chicken and the fixings) followed by our Friday programming. One of my favorite parts of our Friday evenings is our evening worship which we hold at our beach front (on the lake). After worship and testimonies, we have a special awards ceremony followed by a time where we allow campers to share what they have learned throughout the week. This is always a sweet and special time where several campers stand up and share with the entire camp. We also teach the campers a special cheer that dates back to the 1980’s.

I mentioned yesterday that I have been taking a deep dive into several research based reports on the impact that summer camps have on children. Research has shown since the Pandemic that campers report an increased sense of hopefulness after attending a summer camp session. Campers have also reported that camp is a “safe place” for them to share their struggle and camp is a place where they feel a sense of belonging. If you are interested in seeing specific stats from this study, feel free to reach out to me (I shared the report with our staff). We will see each of you bright and early tomorrow morning for camper pickup.

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

Thursday, JUNE 13TH, 2024 - 3:00PM

Parents, things are heating up here at camp. The cool nights and mild afternoons have been replaced by summer heat…but that’s okay because its summer camp! We enjoyed a breakfast with some new items (breakfast nuggets, hashbrown rings) and we had chicken sandwiches, broccoli salad, and chips for lunch. For dinner tonight, we will be serving up our famous spaghetti with garlic bread. We continue to enjoy our morning Anchor and evening Vespers services with the campers. We are sharing what “Firmly Rooted” means in our morning worship time and our evening worship service is dedicated to singing and hearing staff testimonies. I often tell people that if I crafted a deep and profound anchor talk for the campers, it’s the staff testimonies that always have the greater impact on camper’s lives. There is something powerful about campers leaning in and hearing testimonies from their counselors and other staff members. We even had our camp nurse share her testimony last night about her upcoming work as a missionary. I am so thankful for our staff and their willingness to share their stories and to be vulnerable with the campers.

After an epic hoe-down last night, we are gearing up for a new activity called, “Tropical Carnival”. Make sure to check out the website photos for what promises to be a fun evening. I always stress to our staff to try and soak in these experiences and days because I am a firm believer that campers rarely forget their summer camp experience. Time can fly by up here and we need to slow down and enjoy those moments and connections that can me huge in a kid’s life. Every kid should be afforded the opportunity to go to camp to deepen their faith, learn new skills, and learn how to be away from mom and dad for a short period of time. I will share some powerful statistics, that I recently read, in tomorrow’s post which shows the power of the camp experience.

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

Wednesday, JUNE 12TH, 2024 - 1:00PM

Parents, we are now at the mid-week mark on this camp session. We woke up again this morning to temperatures in the lower 60’s which is quite cool for this time of year. The lakefront typically creates temperatures a few degrees cooler compared to downtown Chattanooga. Things are warming up quickly here and we are excited about what today will bring. After a lunch of chicken and french fries, we will head to rest time, clinics, and then canteen. Our activity this evening is our classic hoe-down which will include several line dances (solo and group). What is fun about the hoe-down is to see all of the fun western costumes that the campers and staff dress up in. We have been talking to the campers about what is means to be “Firmly Rooted” in Christ from the context of Ephesians 3:17-19. This morning, we talked about how the Bible refers to us as strangers and aliens in this world and how our ultimate and true home is with the Lord on the other side of God’s kingdom. As a parent, I would encourage you to ask your camper about what we talked about in morning Anchor and in cabin devotional time. In addition to this, our program team has developed a “run-on” funny skit for the week which has been hilarious. The characters are classified as “CVP Paleontologists” and they have been traveling around camp finding various rare bones and they reveal details about this in their lunchtime skits. It is a ton of fun to see these skits play out and the campers really get into them.

The lake is quickly warming up and I think the campers are eager to get in the water for free time today. When the temps heat up, free time provides a great way to cool down and enjoy the lakefront (swimming, canoeing, blobbing, jumping on the new trampoline, tubing, and riding on the banana boat).

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

Tuesday, JUNE 11TH, 2024 - 1:00PM

Greetings and Happy Tuesday from Vesper Point. We were treated to 60 degree weather this morning which prompted some campers to tell me, “I actually got a little chilly last night”. Anytime we can get those kinds of temperatures in June, it is a good thing. After a breakfast of pancakes and sausage, we have had a great morning of Anchor Worship, Cabin Activities, and CVP Games which is a camp-wide game rotation that our Summer Assistant Directors lead. Our theme for the Summer is, “Firmly Rooted” which was inspired from Ephesians 3:17-19. I talked with the campers last night about what it means to be firmly rooted in Christ as opposed to the world. The theme was also inspired by a tree on the camp property which we think is 150-200+ years old and the tree loosely inspired our summer shirt. We are planning to play a spirited game of “Gnome Hunt” this evening which is a mix between the classic counselor hunt mixed in with some wild and wacky characters. The goal of the game is to accumulate as many points as possible before the game ends. We should have some fresh pictures posted to our website by later today, so make sure to check back for those. For those that are curious, we will enjoy tacos for lunch, snow cones for canteen, and enchiladas the the fixings for dinner!

-Forrest Walker

CVP Director

MONDAY, JUNE 10TH, 2024 - 1:00PM

Parents, thank you for a smooth and successful drop this morning. Thanks to your feedback, we split the boy & girl drop off times and we hope that this created a less crowded morning experience for each family. We are very excited to have your campers here this week (7th-10th Graders). We just finished up lunch (pizza!) and are headed to the following:

1:15: CVP Games

2:15: Canteen (formally knows as Sugar Shack)

3:15: Clinics

4:00-5:30: Free Time

6:10: Dinner

7:00: Vespers

7:45: Evening Flag & Evening Activity (Girls and Guys Night)

10:00-10:30: Lights Out

We are trying several new activities, games, and menu items this summer that we think your camper(s) will enjoy. We were blessed this off-season to build 4 brand new boy cabins at the top of “boy camper hill” and we added a brand new dock to the waterfront. Looking forward to this Fall, we are planning to build 5 additional new boy cabins to ensure that our boy cabins are congruent with our girl cabins. I will plan to update this blog throughout the week to give you a window into what camp is like and the activities and spiritual conversations that we plan to have with the campers. Also, don’t forget to check the photo section of our website to see daily pictures from the week. In addition to being the Camp Director, I am also a parent as one of my kid’s is a camper this week. Because of this, I understand what a big deal it is to send your child to an overnight camp and how much you miss them. It is an honor to care for your kiddos this week at Vesper Point.                  

- Forrest Walker
Camp Director

Friday, June 7th, 2024 - 12:00PM

Happy Friday Parents-

We have made it to the last day of camp. Today has been a picture perfect day of sunshine and lower humidity. After a breakfast of cinnamon french toast and maple sausage and a lunch of grilled chicken sandwiches and tater tots, we are off and running. For our “CVP Games” today, we played “Potato Pageant” where each cabin dresses up an actual potato for a panel of judges to vote on. We are getting ready for Canteen (snow cones today) and then our last Free Time of the week. Friday night’s are always special at camp because we celebrate with our biggest and most delicious dinner, followed by a series of special skits, and then we head to the beach for our bonfire ceremony. At the bonfire, we allow campers to share what they have learned during the week which is always so encouraging to hear.

For Saturday morning, pick-up will begin at 8:30am and you will have a chance to meet your child’s counselors. I know that you are eager for tomorrow morning and we look forward to seeing you all.

- Forrest Walker
Camp Director

Thursday, June 6th, 2024 - 12:00PM

Happy Thursday Parents-

We are rocking and rolling here at CVP on this warm and dry Thursday. This has been such a fun week and the Lord has been gracious to us with relatively dry weather over the last two weeks. This morning, we tried out a brand new breakfast with the campers which was composed of breakfast nuggets and hashbrown rings. The nuggets have egg, sausage, and cheese in them and are delicious. Our team at camp is big on providing healthy meals for campers that taste good but are prepared in ways that are helpful (example-baking things whenever possible instead of frying foods). For tonight's evening activity, we are rolling out a brand new game called, “Tropical Carnival”. For this game, think old fashioned carnivals games mixed in with tropical music and a few surprises. We may even have a dunking tank present and I may be getting wet tonight. As the week winds down, we are trying to pack as many fun and meaningful activities and conversations in as we can. I will share more on Friday. In case you didn’t know, please check out our summer photo page for a host of pictures that are posted daily! In addition to being the Camp Director, I am also a parent this week to my 9 year old daughter and even I get a lot of comfort in seeing pictures of my girl. 

- Forrest Walker
Camp Director

Wednesday, June 5th, 2024 - 12:00pm

Happy Wednesday Parents -

We have made it to the half-way part of the week and we are doing great. My apologies for not updating the blog on Tuesday… there are some days up here where I simply run out of time. Tuesday was a fun day of sun, clouds, and heavy downpours. At 5:00 during free time, a very heavy downpour descended right on top of camp as we were at the lake. Without any thunder or lightning, we typically let the kids keep swimming, but it was raining so hard that our lifeguards could not see well enough to safely guard the campers. What ensued was campers getting out of the water and walking back to their cabins during a downpour which was incredibly fun. There are sweet and unexpected moments like that during the summer where I often reflect, “Even though I am soaking wet, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” A former camp director friend of mine used to tell me, “Just wait, there will be moments during the week where the magic will happen when you least expect it.” Later on Tuesday, we played an epic game of “Gnome Hunt” which is a very creative camp wide game where various characters are hidden and campers have to find them. Gnome hunt is a mixture of Counselor Hunt/Clue/Willy Wonka/Hide and Seek. Make sure to ask your camper about this game on Saturday.

For today, we are off to a great start and are dry so far. Our evening activity tonight is our famous hoe-down where we will teach the campers several fun square dance songs and dances while having a western themed dinner. For our worship time each day, we have been speaking to the campers about our summer theme which is, “Firmly Rooted.” Our theme verse comes from Ephesians 3:17-19 where Paul encourages us to be “rooted and grounded” in the love of Christ as opposed to the world and other temporary things. Thank you again for entrusting your camper to our camp.
- Forrest Walker
Camp Director

Monday, June 3rd, 2024

Greetings Parents from Vesper Point -

We are off and running on day #1 of the summer here at camp. I wanted to take a moment to thank each of you for your cooperation on our new boy/girl camper drop off times. From my perspective, the morning went smoothly compared to previous summers. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any suggestions or feedback as to how we can improve Monday morning drop-off. After completing the swim test (everyone passed!), we hit the ground running with Cabin Activities, lunch (pizza!), and the campers are now enjoying “CVP Games” which is a fun camp-wide game we play each day. The sun is finally beginning to come out after a cool and cloudy morning. Over the winter and spring, we built 4 brand new boys cabins and installed a brand new dock. It is rewarding to see campers enjoying these new additions on day #1. I will try to post a daily Director’s Blog by 5:00 each day but may be unable to post on certain days due to our busy schedule. Thank you for entrusting your child to camp and thank you in advance for praying for a great week.

- Forrest Walker
Camp Director