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Team puts loving care into cleaning and maintaining N-Sid-Sen

A volunteer team of 10 came to N-Sid-Sen March 27 to 29 to begin tasks needed to do some deep cleaning and accomplish some immediately needed repairs. There will be more opportunities for volunteers to work there, including a week-long Work Camp June 6 to 12, which Randy Crowe will direct.

That team in March included Randy and Linda Crowe, Mary Lu and John Hubbe, Carol Bellinger and Bob Feeny of Westminster UCC in Spokane; Loc Reader and his son, Joel, who were at Kirkland UCC when Crowes led junior high aqua camps; Leah Atkinson Bilinski, pastor at Fauntleroy and Outdoor Ministries member.

Loc and his son, Joel, former campers, did repairs to the camp pickup truck so it would start. They had it checked at a shop in Coeur d’Alene so it will be usable and save need to purchase a pickup.

Rory McDonald of Spokane Valley came and repaired the metal roof of Forrester Lodge to fix leaks and repair the tile and insulation inside. Randy said that work will extend the longevity of the roof and save what would be as $80,000 for a new roof.

“We did many necessary maintenance and deep cleaning tasks,” said Linda.

One of those was to replace rotten wood in a ramp at the Ford cabin and other areas.

Linda knelt on the burners of the stove and cleaned years of grease off the inside of the vent above it.

Leah scrubbed bathroom floors and folded piles of linens in Spirit Lodge.

“Working together with a group of volunteers who love N-Sid-Sen and showed up to take care of the camp left us with a good feeling of community,” said Linda, hoping others from churches around the conference will share their love of the camp and skills to help with other deferred maintenance and cleaning.

Bob, who is pastor at Westminster, announced that he had witnessed “the resurrection” of the camp.

“I feel so good about all the willing hands giving gifts of time and energy,” added Linda, who also serves on Outdoor Ministries Committee. “There was a synergy in working together. It was a blessing to see the camp cared for by people who love it, just showing up and lending a hand.

Randy, Linda and Carol returned Monday noon to Tuesday evening to do other tasks.

Randy added that “it’s always amazing the energy that comes from a bunch of folks working together. What we can accomplish together is exponential from what one can do. The more who come, the more we can accomplish.”

The three-day work camp was not all work. The volunteers gathered before meals, stood in a circle and shared prayers of gratitude and joy about what they accomplished together.

He reported that there is a full schedule of camps from May through the UCC camps in July to mid-August. Those camps are announced on page 10. Volunteers will be in charge of hospitality in the spring. The caterers used last year will cater in 2025.

Other groups who have reserved N-Sid-Sen for the spring are a camp for the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, the Lady of the Lake dance camp, a Juvenile Diabetes Camp, a Unitarian Universalist Camp and a Valley Assembly of God camp.

“Some are new groups and some are returning groups,” said Randy, hoping to recruit some of the past regular groups.

He and Linda will be on site for both weeks of youth camps July 13 to 26 for support. There are volunteer directors for Intermediate Camp—Mary Lu and John—and for the other camps.

Randy, who attended N-Sid-Sen as a child, first directed the Junior High Aqua Camp with Linda in 1983. They did that for many years. From 1990 to 2012, Randy was managing director of N-Sid-Sen. Linda served as pastor of Veradale UCC from 1994 to 2012, when they both retired to begin retirement travels—except for two years Linda served as interim at a UCC church in Brainard, Minn.

For information, call 208-689-3489 and leave a message, or visit n-sid-sen.org.

 

Pacific Northwest Conference United Church News Copyright © April 2025

 

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