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!

An organization called Sacred Playgrounds has been coordinating a research study called “The Power of Camp”. This research utilizes data from camper and parent surveys to provide insights into how a camp is impacting campers. Bethany Birches Camp has participated in the Power of Camp study a handful of times, the most recent years being 2024 and 2025. The study has been a great tool to increase our understanding of areas in which BBC is excelling and areas where the camp can improve. 

We received the preliminary findings from 2025 in October with the full report due to arrive in early January. The initial parent insight report was encouraging. Parents feel camp is having a positive impact on their camper and are likely to recommend BBC to friends.  Our average rating, on a scale of 10, was 9.15, and 98% of parents expect to send their child back.  Sixty percent of parents believe their child’s faith was strengthened at camp, and 95% of parents felt that we were effectively teaching the Christian faith.  Seventy-two percent of parents believe their child learned more about the Bible.  While we would like to see 100%, given that 70% of campers rarely attend church we feel this is pretty good! 

The results of this research, along with conversations with campers and parents, will help the camp hone in on the areas that need improvement and additional training. 

Over the past five years Bethany Birches Camp (BBC) has hosted students and educators from local schools including Woodstock Middle School, Mill River High School, Woodstock Elementary School and Stratton Mountain School. Students from each school participate in a variety of BBC activities depending on their group’s goals. Skiers from Stratton Mountain School partake in the pig trough together. This usually ends in unexpected fits of giggles. Woodstock Elementary School 4th graders collaborate to set up tents and spend hours exploring the pond.  Ninth graders from Mill River tackle the BBC Cooperation Course, and spend time relaxing and playing games outside. The Woodstock 8th grade enjoys fishing, camping out, performing at the coffee house and cheering each other down the water slide. 

The rustic outdoor nature of Bethany Birches Camp can be a stretch for some according to Erin Hanrahan, 8th grade teacher at Woodstock Middle School. The experience at BBC gives students an opportunity to share vulnerabilities and skills they don’t always uncover about each other at school. Laurie Smith, a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) specialist and chaperone for the 8th grade campout reports one of the highlights for her is watching students overcome their fear of the waterslide and cheer each other on as they go down the slide. Students from different friend groups yell encouragement to each other as they conquer fears together.  Students from each school intentionally experience fun, nature, and community, 3 of BBC’s core values. We know from doing this for 60 years, that God becomes especially accessible when we join the other three.  

The summer of 2025 marked 60 summers of Bethany Birches Camp (BBC) programming. To celebrate 60 summers of youth camping, past board members reflected on their involvement with Bethany Birches. While many aspects of camp have transformed over 60 years, the common theme of local youth, learning to love like Jesus, and discerning how to steward resources are interwoven throughout the last half century.

Lourene Bender reminisced about her role as the camp cook during the inaugural summer. She recalls cooking food at the parsonage at Bethany Mennonite Church and transporting it eight miles up to BBC because there were no buildings the first summer! She fondly recalled making Oriental Beef Steaks which “was really just a fancy name to make the beef go farther.” Campers heated up the food over the fire at their campsites. Cooking meals over the fire continues to be a trademark of Bethany Birches Camp. This activity still creates community among campers just as it did 60 years ago.

Allen Guntz joined the board in the 70s. He got involved because his kids enjoyed the camp and his arm may have been twisted a bit. During the 70s and 80s Steve Moyer and Daryl Martens represented Bethany Mennonite Church and Andover Community church on the board of directors. Each board member interviewed, referenced facility planning being a large part of their conversations. A bath house, shelters, the maintenance shed and the pond were all constructed over the course of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Board members and other volunteers helped to make it happen including at work days. Regina Beidler was a board member in the late ‘90s, and she remembered the camp operating on a shoestring budget with spirited discussions about how to honor the early vision of the camp and how the facilities and property should be managed. The board grappled with questions of how much infrastructure should be improved or changed? The ‘90s also brought a renewed energy for an Annual Benefit Auction to accompany the fundraising efforts of the annual chicken barbecue. The Annual Benefit Auction recently celebrated 20 consecutive years of successful fundraising for BBC thanks to supporters from near and far.

The BBC support community continued to expand into the 2000’s while continuing to serve campers within a 40 mile radius. Phil Lapp started his board tenure in 2006. He recalled “The big project was the new pavilion and the related capital campaign.  We worked with outside folks to determine what was feasible and then did something twice as expensive!  In the end, the BBC family showed support through tons of volunteer hours and significant financial support to help put up a structure that is so important to the camp, now year-round.”

Stacy Selbo served on the board from 2016-24. She recalled continued strategizing about facilities but also spent significant time discussing board and camp leadership development including succession planning and long range goals. She appreciated the diversity on the board of directors as it brought healthy and interactive discussions.

Board members and facilities at BBC have changed over the 60 years of the camp’s existence but the rustic, faith based, community building, and accessible intentions of BBC have not. Regina Beidler summed it up well in stating “the long-term sustainability of the camp program’s future has been accomplished by the shared partnership of local people who love and support the camp and a wider community of Mennonites and others who believe the little camp that could has something to provide in a way that is unique amongst Mennonite camping experiences.” Ongoing faith in a God much bigger than us and a supportive community wanting children to experience a week of love and fun will carry BBC into the next 60 years.

Be part of the 60th celebration by purchasing a 60th anniversary candle for $60 in the camp store online here. You can now get your very own Baked O Bundle never available before, except at the annual auction. Also for $60 at the camp store. Click the button down below to check out our BBC Camp Store!

It’s been 8 years since we’ve done any real water front maintenance. Four years ago we did major repairs to the water slide.  Now it’s time to drain and “weed” the pond, add a fresh coating of sand to the beach, and permanent shallow line anchors. Did you know the original water trampoline has been in service for 18 years?  It’s time for a new, larger one, new life jackets, and a new paddleboat.  Goal is $10,000.  Will you help? Visit www.bethanybirches.org/pond to give.

Calling all BBC Foodies! Plans are underway to publish a BBC cookbook in time for the 2026 Annual Benefit Auction at the end of September. Will you consider helping us? If you have a favorite BBC food or meal that you enjoyed while at camp, please let us know. If you have a reflection about cooking over the fire as part of your experience here, please pass that along. Email camp@bethanybirches.org with favorite meals, recipes, and reflections. Please include your name and the years you spent time at Bethany Birches. The BBC cookbook will reside in the camp store where you can currently buy a Baked O Bundle (water bottle filled with dry ingredients for baked O, a B.O. Shirt and a BBC sticker) along with other great merch. Check out the BBC store as you shop for holiday gifts!