A Smooth Handoff: Resident Camp Management 2026

Anna Martin first came to Bethany Birches Camp (BBC) as  young child when her dad was the camp shepherd for a week in 2006. She returned again in 2017 as a college student to volunteer at a winter camp. She arrived as Anna and departed with the camp name, Meatball. Meatball joined the summer counseling team in 2017 and 2018. In 2019 Meatball jumped into a program leadership role. She returned for 2020 winter camps and then agreed to officially take the reins of the BBC summer program in 2020. Meatball was an important member of the team that navigated the BBC COVID response. She has become a staple for many campers and staff over the past five years of winter and summer camps. 

Annie “Frida” Hauze worked with Meatball for the past few summers. Frida plans to return to BBC to be the 2026 summer resident camp manager. She’s a friendly and familiar face for folks who have known Meatball as their guide through winter and summer programs for the past five years. Frida says, “Working with Meatball has been a huge highlight of my young adult life so far. She has taught me so much about how to lead in faith, and I have grown immensely under her guidance. Her support in developing habits of self care in conjunction with community care has allowed me to find a rhythm at Bethany Birches, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to follow in her footsteps this summer. I look forward to how much I will learn in Summer ‘26 about myself, about my team, and about the kids for whom we do it all. I never went to summer camp as a kid, but working under Meatball always felt a bit like I had room to be a camper—to play, to laugh, and to experience Christ in a new frame. I hope that I will be able to carry just a bit of that light into my position as resident camp manager this year.” We wish Anna the best as she starts a new chapter of her journey and we look forward to whenever she is able to visit!