Two Wonderful Worlds

This week is Disney Week.  When I think of Disney, I think of a world of fun, magic, and adventure.  I grew up watching the Wonderful World of Disney.  My favorite movies were Disney movies.  When I was a kid, there was only one theme park, Disneyland in California.  My family visited Disneyland when I was eight years old.  I still remember that trip!

Disney has earned a world-wide reputation.  Doublecreek doesn’t have a world-wide reputation, but we have an impressive local one.  Now, I’m not being presumptuous enough to say Doublecreek is equal to Disney, but there are comparisons to be made!  Disney has Maximus and Sven;  Doublecreek has Magnolia and Noreen!  Disney has Magic Mountain; Doublecreek has a playscape (we’ll name it someday).  Disney has Cinderella’s Castle; Doublecreek has a gazebo!  Disney World has a roller coaster; but Doublecreek has a nine-person slide.  The Magic Kingdom has a jungle cruise; 

Doublecreek has a jungle gym!  Disney has thousands of greeters and performers in elaborate costumes that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars; Doublecreek has several performers who perform in costumes which cost dozens of dollars.  When Disney produces a movie or video, the production values are second to none; but, if you love production values, check out a Doublecreek Pop-Mashup!

Make-believe is a component of Disney, but make-believe is alive and well at Doublecreek!  Doublecreek has male counselors pretending to be Disney princesses during Sing Song, with female counselors pretending to be warriors!  Over the years I’ve seen campers pretending to be on a pink dinosaur hunt.  I’ve also seen campers digging the sand pit convinced that King Tut’s treasures are only a scoop of sand away!

Friday’s Sing Song was the climax of Disney Week!  All the groups performed a song or a scene from a Disney movie!  I couldn’t tell who enjoyed it more, the audience or the performers!  It doesn’t matter.  What matters is everyone enjoyed it.  Never mind if the costumes are mismatched, or if the dancers were not totally in sync.  Campers and counselors were working together and having a good time, which means it has been a fun, magical, and adventurous experience!  Doublecreek is not Disney, but we still generate our own special magic!

n  Joe Ray

Here's the link to Disney Week's Video:  https://vimeo.com/171091253

Western Week (Then and Now)

This week was Western Week at Camp Doublecreek. In 1971, Western Week felt more authentic.  For one thing, in 1971 we were called Doublecreek Farm, not Camp Doublecreek.  To get to Doublecreek “Farm,” you went down Gattis School Road.  Louis Henna Blvd.  didn’t exist.  You passed maybe five houses, then turned on a dirt road which led to the farm.  Honestly, Doublecreek Farm was more suited to covered wagons than buses.

Actually, there wasn’t much difference between Western Week and any other week.  Many counselors wore hats and boots as part of their attire.  Today, the only cowboy hats you’ll find on our campus are in the skit closet, and half our cowboy hats are over-sized foam cowboy novelty hats.

Activities such as fishing and long trail rides were in our weekly schedule.  Yes, we had fishing.  If you caught a fish, you could take it home.  You were lucky to get four bites out of it, but you could still take it home.

Trail rides were a true adventure.  In 1971, Doublecreek Farm had approximately 125 acres and most of it was horseback-friendly.

About once a month, we had a horned-toad race.  Horned-toads were all over the place.  Campers would catch their horned-toad and put a number on its stomach.  Then we would put the horned-toads under a bucket. (That could be the most entertaining part of the race process.)  Uncle Carter would make a circle about 25 feet in diameter, lift up the bucket and off they’d go.  The first toad to cross the line was the winner.

Sometimes when we talk about the good old days, they sound better than they actually were.  We had fun in 1971, but we had maybe two trees, almost no grass and a pool without a sidewalk or diving board.  We traded in the old fishing hole for a playscape, rockwall, water slide (which will be repaired soon), shuffleboard, lasertag, mini-golf, low ropes course, and grass – lots of grass and trees!

No, Western Week isn’t the same as it used to be.  But, we will still have some kind of horse show.  And contrary to history, it’s Sam Bass, not A.W. Grimes, who gets shot.

 -- Joe Ray