Seven Years Ago....I was celebrating my 50th Birthday

[Darrell KSR]

(not 7 years ago today, more like 7 years and 3 weeks ago to be exact)...

Part I.

For weeks prior to my birthday, my son and others (and my wife and I, on occasion), had ventured out to Camp Tekakwitha, a closed primitive camp owned by the Diocese of Birmingham. It had fallen into a state where there was no upkeep at all, and no reason to keep it open.

Enter the vision of the Youth Director of the Diocese. My son, Andrew, was one of the kids who attended various youth outings, and "Don" had been talking to him. Don prodded Andrew to approach the Diocese with the idea of reopening Camp Tekakwitha with an Eagle Scout Project of building a rustic outdoor chapel.

And he did. With Don's support, the Diocese approved the plan, and Troop 71 Scoutmaster approved Andrew's project, and it began.

First, major clearing had to be done. They had a perfect spot chosen by the lake for the outdoor chapel. And for weeks, every weekend was spent at the Camp clearing. And more clearing. And more clearing.

Meanwhile, the benches and pylons or whatever were being constructed. Lists were being made of items needed. Fundraising was taking place, as the Diocese provided no funds for the project.

I rented a truck. Went to Home Depot and bought bags and bags of cement. More on that later.

Finally, the weekend arrived for the final construction. Andrew had solicited funding for the major part of it, there were some donations "in kind," including rental of a gas powered heavy duty major auger drill thing, and the like.

We met at our church and school with those who were contributing to the project--boy scouts, from the youngest to those who were Andrew's age, to Scoutmasters and assistant Scoutmasters, and a few Dads that were there to help where they could. All total, maybe about 30 people made the trek to Springville, Alabama, about 30 miles northeast of Birmingham (40 miles from where we are).

We embarked.

[Darrell KSR]

Part II.

Upon arriving at the Camp, the location for the outdoor chapel was up a large hill to the gently sloping landscape headed down to the lake--or there was a shortcut around the lake on the back of the gently sloping area just about large enough to drive a pickup truck.

Just about.

I had the duty of driving the pickup truck. And so I began, as carefully as one would do when driving next to a lake with many bags of cement in the back.

Very carefully.

But not carefully enough.

Although the ground "looked" dry, it was covered by some lilypads and such, and lo and behold, I drove into the lake.

As we sat sinking into the lake, I could read the headlines, "Dad drowns in wet cement in Eagle Scout Project gone awry."

Fortunately, it just sort of sunk down a bit. The Diocese happened to approve a Hispanic youth group to camp at the same location the weekend they reopened it with the Eagle Scout Project. They saw what happened, and immediately rushed over. Throwing themselves into the lake, risking their own lives, they pushed the truck out of the lake.

Thank you, Lord.

So we got the first batch of supplies and cements loaded there from the back side. We began laying everything out according to the plan. We got the auger out, and began the drilling process.

And ran into....rock.

And more rock. And more rock. Two hours of having four men (scouts often that were stronger than we weak men) have the auger and guide it, and just couldn't make a dent.

We stopped to rest.

As we were resting, in the brutally hot June sun, we noticed the trees gently sloping toward each other on each side of where the chapel was to be built--but about 30 feet closer to the water.

And providing shade.

And a natural "amphitheatre" type look.

And it hit us--we were digging in the wrong place. We were trying to make it all flat, when we should be using nature to help us, letting the benches/pews slope naturally toward what would be the altar.

We changed plans, moved the layout 30 feet closer to the water--in the shade, with each bench then sloping gradually, allowing all a good view of the lake and altar--and begin digging.

It went through beautifully. No more rock. The good Lord was telling us we were digging in the wrong place.

The scouts were terrific, even down to the smallest boy scout. I don't remember now who it was, or how old he was, but I remember the kid doing everything asked of him, and then some. Some of the older guys, like me, struggled to keep up. He didn't. I remember him bringing water to us time and time again and taking his turn driving pylons and such.

The only other mishap?

Yes, I needed to make another trip carrying more bags of cement. Yes, I needed to take the shortcut (the hill was too steep for the truck to safely climb, so it was taking the shortcut, or hand-carrying each bag of cement). So I tried again.

And again, ended up in the lake.

And again, was bailed out by the Hispanic youth group who were watching eagerly as they saw me start the truck again. They had a good laugh at my expense. I was thankful for them, and happy to provide the entertainment.

[Darrell KSR]

Part III.

The benches were placed in the ground as carefully as we could, the cement placed in each hole, and the pews were secured. After a long, hot, exhausting day, we hit our tents.

The next morning, a priest arrived. The priest was bilingual, and with the Hispanic youth group there and our group, he celebrated a bilingual Mass at the outdoor chapel--the first official event at Camp Tekakwitha in many years, reopening the Camp.

In these seven years, Camp Tekakwitha has experienced a regrowth. Sixteen (16) Eagle Scout projects have now been completed in the Camp, and three more are underway. The Diocese has, with private funds, reopened an old swimming pool, built a new lodge, built a new conference hall, and built a new indoor chapel.

Many scouts, such as my son, have remained active and will go to Camp Tekakwitha to help several times a year. Andrew returned just a couple of weeks ago from spending a weekend at the Camp, and just glowing over how much growth it has experienced. It will always be a primitive camp; never meant to be more than that. But it is a special, special place.

There are folks on this board who contributed to Andrew's Eagle Scout project, both financially, and with your thoughts and prayers, for which he (and I) am eternally grateful. Andrew is still working his way through what he wants to do in life, and has struggled at times in that venture. But when he is experiencing a "down" time, he thinks back to his Eagle Scout Project, and all of the good it has done in these last seven years. Hundreds after hundreds of youths have benefited from his efforts.

I have not visited it in a few years now, and I am anxious to go back for a visit. I'm not sure that I want to experience spending two nights in a hot tent, driving cement trucks into lakes, hauling bags of cement, or trying to operate an auger and sledgehammers into a mountain of rock, but I would enjoy just seeing all that God has to offer--both with the natural beauty of the lake and the camp, and with the hands of many who have sought to enhance that beauty with their own talents.

Thanks for letting me share this today.

[Darrell KSR]

I don't have the good pictures on this, but I do have pics from a bad camera phone from 7-years ago to show.

Father Carlos celebrating Mass.

6655

This is part of what it looked like after we began putting the benches in closer to the water:

6656

[Darrell KSR]

From the Camp's website:

The outdoor chapel:
http://www.camptekakwitha.net/uploads/7/2/6/2/7262379/_6570897_orig.jpg

Part of the work being done:

http://www.camptekakwitha.net/uploads/7/2/6/2/7262379/_4119567_orig.jpg

This is the group. I was thinking there were more. I count 14 here. I think some came up for a day to help and went back.

http://www.camptekakwitha.net/uploads/7/2/6/2/7262379/_8028027_orig.jpg

[Darrell KSR]

The scouts involved (a couple missing that went back):

http://www.camptekakwitha.net/uploads/7/2/6/2/7262379/_5397458_orig.jpg

[BigBluePappy]

A story like this, in today's old world of bad news and such, just makes my day.
Thanks for sharing it again.

[Darrell KSR]

A story like this, in today's old world of bad news and such, just makes my day.
Thanks for sharing it again.


I do it every year or two. I enjoy reliving the moment myself. Thanks for tolerating this old guy's memory.

[MickintheHam]

What a great project! I was having a beer a couple of weeks ago with one of my buddies. He has been involved in local scouting for about 35 years, first with his son who was an Eagle Scout and now with his Middle School grandson who is closing in on the honor. He has been involved in a couple of dozen or so of Eagle projects. We were discussing several of them and it is amazing what these scouts achieve. He has seen Andrew's project and says it is first rate!

[Darrell KSR]

Thanks, Mick. Andrew sure appreciated your support then as well. I will pass on the note about your buddy, too.