Apparently Ernest Hemingway coined the phrase “grace under fire” when he was asked to define ‘guts’ or ‘courage’ by the infamous Dorothy Parker in an interview back in 1929. The phrase accurately describes the weekend at our January session of Hearts of Hope camp and teen retreat.
I am always amazed yet never surprised at the level of commitment and support our volunteers give throughout the year but never more than at an actual camp session. January 2010 will go down in our history as a shining example of “grace under fire.”
The weather forecast on the Thursday prior predicted temperatures above freezing and possible rain throughout the weekend; late Sunday night would bring a drop in temperature and turn to snow. With our October camp being canceled due to an outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus, our volunteers from FDLIC in Abilene, Texas flying in and our highly anticipated Polar Plunge fundraiser scheduled for Sunday afternoon – and yes a little bit of ‘we’re Minnesotans we’re used to this stuff’ I made the decision to go ahead with camp.
It was a gloomy but balmy Friday afternoon drive up to Little Falls for our volunteers. Early in the evening it began to rain, causing volunteers to scurry across the wet parking lot to the conference center for our volunteer training. After a fun, informational evening, anxious for our campers to arrive we went out to our cabins to find …ice – everywhere - covering everything. The temperature had dropped in a few short hours and all the rain turned solid on the road, the walk way, even on the snowdrifts. Volunteers precariously made their way across the parking lot to sleep through a wind-howling night.
By Saturday morning as Mike and Judy Dahl tried to make their way across the parking lot to ready the gym for our opening circle they were turned back – they could not walk upright across the parking lot!
Here’s where the “grace under fire” comes in – as the Lake Beauty facility staff announced the plow trucks were being pulled off the county roads and this was the beginning of three days of winter storm warnings and possible blizzard conditions the volunteer staff were gathered together to determine the cancellation of this camp session for the safety and well-being of our camper families and our staff. A very disappointing but responsible decision now required communication; there were no doubt several families making their way to camp despite the road conditions– most returning from the canceled October session. Volunteers divided up the camper applications and immediately became a ‘call center’ relaying information to and from families. Most families were relieved to hear they could get off the roads, some were within miles of camp; they were invited to continue to the camp facility, join us for lunch and meet the staff. Six families accepted the invitation; ten children got a ‘taste’ of what the April camp session would be like and are anxious to return. Through it all, our volunteers jumped in, packing things up to get our equipment ready to head out before roads got even worse while simultaneously putting things together to make the experience for just those ten campers one they would remember – all the while still deeply disappointed that the weekend was over before it started. A second camp canceled, bad road conditions (or runways) to consider and still they persevered, remaining supportive and upbeat.
And it doesn’t end there…
I am always amazed yet never surprised at the level of commitment and support our volunteers give throughout the year but never more than at an actual camp session. January 2010 will go down in our history as a shining example of “grace under fire.”
The weather forecast on the Thursday prior predicted temperatures above freezing and possible rain throughout the weekend; late Sunday night would bring a drop in temperature and turn to snow. With our October camp being canceled due to an outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus, our volunteers from FDLIC in Abilene, Texas flying in and our highly anticipated Polar Plunge fundraiser scheduled for Sunday afternoon – and yes a little bit of ‘we’re Minnesotans we’re used to this stuff’ I made the decision to go ahead with camp.
It was a gloomy but balmy Friday afternoon drive up to Little Falls for our volunteers. Early in the evening it began to rain, causing volunteers to scurry across the wet parking lot to the conference center for our volunteer training. After a fun, informational evening, anxious for our campers to arrive we went out to our cabins to find …ice – everywhere - covering everything. The temperature had dropped in a few short hours and all the rain turned solid on the road, the walk way, even on the snowdrifts. Volunteers precariously made their way across the parking lot to sleep through a wind-howling night.
By Saturday morning as Mike and Judy Dahl tried to make their way across the parking lot to ready the gym for our opening circle they were turned back – they could not walk upright across the parking lot!
Here’s where the “grace under fire” comes in – as the Lake Beauty facility staff announced the plow trucks were being pulled off the county roads and this was the beginning of three days of winter storm warnings and possible blizzard conditions the volunteer staff were gathered together to determine the cancellation of this camp session for the safety and well-being of our camper families and our staff. A very disappointing but responsible decision now required communication; there were no doubt several families making their way to camp despite the road conditions– most returning from the canceled October session. Volunteers divided up the camper applications and immediately became a ‘call center’ relaying information to and from families. Most families were relieved to hear they could get off the roads, some were within miles of camp; they were invited to continue to the camp facility, join us for lunch and meet the staff. Six families accepted the invitation; ten children got a ‘taste’ of what the April camp session would be like and are anxious to return. Through it all, our volunteers jumped in, packing things up to get our equipment ready to head out before roads got even worse while simultaneously putting things together to make the experience for just those ten campers one they would remember – all the while still deeply disappointed that the weekend was over before it started. A second camp canceled, bad road conditions (or runways) to consider and still they persevered, remaining supportive and upbeat.
And it doesn’t end there…
• Despite the snow blowing everywhere, the long treacherous road home ALL our volunteers stayed after families left and camp was packed up to watch and cheer on the handful of Polar Plungers = “Grace under fire.”
• You’ve lived your entire life in the warmth of the southern Texas sun, you’ve never been anywhere under 45 degrees and you are in northern Minnesota in January in swim trunks plunging into ice cold water = “Grace under fire.”
• You’ve never been to a camp but you’ve made the t-shirts, seen the website and your good friend has just died leaving a young son behind, you can’t get to the Polar Plunge but the $1500 in pledges you’ve gathered the past weeks makes you go to the nearest open water and plunge in anyway = “Grace under fire.”
• Nineteen men and women, 20 year olds and 58 year olds stepped up to the dark hole in the frozen lake and jumped in, on a dare, fueled by pledged donations totaling near $10,000, with the cheers and shouts of their fellow volunteers while a blizzard develops around them = you may say “crazy” - I say: “Grace Under Fire.”
Written by Coral Popowitz, Camp Director.
