By: Aldine Musser
In July 1984 we (Jim & Aldine) moved to Vermont with our two young daughters. Crystal was not quite 3 and Sheri was 11 months old. Our third daughter, Melody, arrived 4 years later. Bethany Birches Camp was a special place for our family for 17 years. We eagerly looked forward to spending the summer at BBC with staff and campers, many who were our friends and neighbors.
For Jim’s 76th birthday we decided to return with our children, their spouses and children.
We walked around the grounds to every shelter and shared the memories of staff we knew who had been counselors in that shelter or memories of our daughters being a camper in one of the shelters. The paths from one shelter to another were much the same as 40 years ago.
We have memories of cooking over the fire and also singing at firesides with the words written on a posterboard. Reconnecting with folks from Taftsville Chapel, Bethany Mennonite and friends from the village over a picnic lunch was a great way to end our memory visit.
James and Aldine Musser were the executive and program directors. Learn more about their tenure, and other camp happenings with The First Fifty Years sold here: www.bethanybirches.org/50
Hanging in the camp office is a beautiful painting of the old pavilion. When I see that building, I sometimes feel nostalgia for the simplicity of that era: a small, semi beaten-down pavilion, minimal technology, CDs at the end of a camp week. Fifteen years after coming to camp for the first time, there seems to be more of everything: more buildings, more campers, more technology. There are times that I struggle to let go of the camp I remember from my childhood. But spending time with the community here reminds me of the impact camp has had in my life and in so many others. I used to believe that the joy and fulfillment I felt at camp was due to some kind of “magic bubble” around the property. I’ve heard so many campers and former staff refer to Bethany Birches as one of their few “safe spaces”. As a counselor, there was a camper in one of my cabin groups who said they felt like they could only be themselves while at camp. When they were picked up at the end of the week I watched their face fall at the reality of returning to the rest of the world. But at Bethany Birches we get to tell campers the good news: God’s Love is with them wherever they are! As I continue to witness this camp as a vessel for that Love, it becomes easier to embrace the changes to camp’s property and programming. More buildings allow more campers to have the experiences I’ve had. More technology allows us to worship in new ways and receive funding for the camp’s growth. These changes have supported the constancy of BBC’s core mission: to help young people develop their relationship with God by providing them with a Christ-centered camping experience in a natural and nurturing setting. This mission is alive and fed by the relationship-building that has always been at the heart of it. In my many years at camp, the greatest constant and blessing has been the Bergey family. The devotion that Tuna and Cheeks have poured into camp permeates every corner, drawing equally devoted staffers and maintaining its central values. Yet in their humility, they have illustrated that without God, we can do nothing. They consistently point to the true center of camp: Jesus Christ, who has worked through them to provide and grow this “safe space” for the community. All of us who have loved Bethany Birches have been given the gift of knowing Christ through belonging somewhere. And, because there is no “magic bubble” over camp, we can carry what we’ve received off Lynds Hill and into the next place we’re called.
Margaret first visited BBC in 2005 to participate in a Women’s Retreat. A year later she began regular volunteer work in the camp office which continued until late summer 2015 when she moved from Vermont to New Hampshire. During that time Margaret helped with mailings, camper registrations, paying bills and making bank deposits, as well as other duties. One of Margaret’s particular interests has always been the Kids to Camp Fund which provides assistance to campers when a family cannot afford to pay the entire cost of attendance. You can give any time to that fund at www.bethanybirches.org/give.
about working on the Board with others who are committed to providing quality, caring, nurturing programs for youngsters that will introduce them to a meaningful way of life.”
