Summer Camp

I know that as a fan of camping, it's always a good time for me to spent a wek or more in a tent. I also know that I'm not all that normal, and most people would find a week without pumbing, walls, the ability to dress standing up, etc. to be a difficulty rather than a vacation.
This summer I went camping again for my vacation. No big surprise - I've camped all over the world. This camping experience was fabulous - it's the 100th anniversary of the Scouting movement, and so Jamborees (really big camps) were being held all over the world. The Canadian Jamboree was held at Tamaracouta Scout Reserve in the Laurentians, about an hour north of Montreal. There were some 8600 people there, in 9 subcamps, and it was great! I was a sub-camp chaplain, which meant I was doing everything from unloading the food truck at 5:30am to translating (really, in that locale, the secutirty guys should have had at least basic french), to helping some kids with homesickness, to being (as one Scout called it) "The Bad News Person," to offering worship services, and getting voluntold to sing at the Sunday morning Scouts Own. Wish I had known that I was the only one - the words "Laura Marie, there's your microphone" when there's 4000+ people watching were just a TAD intimidating!
The most important part of the Jamboree for me was the fun - the laughter - my laugh was known throughout the subcamp (me? A loud laugher? No....) but the smiles and laughs on the kids faces was worth it all, knowing that they would go home and remain full of the Scouting spirit having had a fabulous time there. Most people think that paying to volunteer to work isn;'t really a great vacation, but for me, when you can see immediately the positive impact that something like this can have - it was money and time well spent.