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Randy Crowe sums up summer camp highlights

Randy Crowe, volunteer site manager at N-Sid-Sen, praised the volunteer leaders who made the 2026 summer camps for the PNC-UCC a positive experience.

Intermediate campers do motions to campfire songs.

“We need to get the numbers up,” he said, noting that junior and senior high camps were up some in numbers, but there is still a need to build back from COVID.

Family Camp and Camp Together went well. He and his wife, co-volunteer site manager, led Camp Together with 25.

Youth staff from PNC churches served at N-Sid-Sen from June through late August.

In addition to UCC camps, other groups came this summer.

“We are thankful that our camps were done without smoke from fires,” Randy said, noting most camps did a giving back project to help clean up storm damage.

More work will be done at the Give Back Camp Oct.4 to 9

One way he said anyone can back is to give a coffee mug. N-Sid-Sen’s supply is getting short Campers can choose a mug at the start of the day and use it all day, to reduce dish washing.

“We are always open for folks to volunteer outside of Giving Back Camp,” he added.

Camp directors were Leah Bilinksi, junior high; John Hubbe and Mary Lu Vait, intermediate; Bob Feeny and Aislyn Crane, senior high; Kim Kotlan, kids camp, and Debbie Peterson and Becca Hughes, You and Me camp; Ryan Lambert and Emily Hanson, family camp.

Warriors PATHH, which rents the whole camp for 10 campers, 10 staff, five facilitators and five volunteers, came three times. For folks suffering PTSD from service in the military, police and in firefighting, the full name is Progressive Alternative Training for Healing Heroes.

“These retreats are intense. People come hardly talking with each other,” Randy said. “By the end, they are visiting and laughing.”

These camps are organized with a national foundation with one branch in the Northwest. The PNC-UCC has hosted Warrior Path retreats for several years at Pilgrim Firs.

“We are busy into early November at N-Sid-Sen, mostly weekends. Four of us are cooking, doing management, maintenance and cleaning,” he said

This fall is the 45th year the Lady of the Lake Dance Camp has come to N-Sid-Sen and the 40th year for their June camp. There will be 150 this fall.

Randy and Linda co-led Camp Together, an intergenerational camp for families and singles. It’s a unique program because campers read a book, Narnia Chronicles, at morning watch and campfire all week

A new participant, Brandon Pickering of Westminster UCC, played guitar and led music for campers who ranged from high schoolers, young singles and others in their mid 80s.

At many camps, Randy led tours of the site and shared stories of the camp history. One was that the late Bob Grunewald, a geologist at Washington State University and member of Pullman Community Congregational UCC, told Randy that some of the solid rocks on the shore were 1 billion years old.

On Labor Day, N-Sid-Sen welcomed a multicultural, multiracial, multilingual family camp drawing African, European, Hispanic, Hmong, Tongan and Vietnamese American friends and family of Karen Haworth from Westminster UCC and her friend Choua Vang who celebrated their 50th birthdays.

For information, call 209-689-3489 or visit n-sid-sen.org.

 

Pacific Northwest United Church of Christ Conference News © October 2026

 

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