Retired NFL cornerback to speak at Waynesburg camp
Father & Son Camp East, on Stewards Run Road, Waynesburg, has been giving boys and their dads – and granddads – a chance to bond by a campfire in Greene County since 2012.
That’s when Jim Butler was inspired to convert his Strath An De Farm near Oak Forest into a weekend camping adventure for men and boys to share core Christian values of family togetherness in a hectic world that leaves fathers strapped for time and sons hungry for quality time with Dad.
The original Father & Son Camp, which inspired Butler, began in 1995 in the Midwest when a 3-year-old named Max asked his dad for a camping trip for his birthday with “no girls allowed.”
Now, more than 600 fathers and sons gather each year in Illinois for a weekend of togetherness with Proverbs 23:26 to guide them: Give me your heart my son, and let your eyes delight in my ways.”
Strath An De Farm is offering a new summer camp, which features football all day Friday, with pickup games, punt throw and kick competitions and a chance to meet retired NFL cornerback Ray McElroy, who played for six seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions.
The weekend also includes clay and archery shoots, zip lines and paintball games. A chess board with two-foot high kings and queens and benches for onlookers is part of the picnic area and cadets from the Texas-based International ALERT Academy will set up obstacle challenges and teach repelling. Campers can hike, bike and play Frisbee golf.
But football is the star Friday.
Beyond rough and tumble, the game teaches the blessings of teamwork, camaraderie and perseverance. McElroy will be there to explain it all through his own life experiences, including his ongoing work with youth as an ordained minister.
Campers begin arriving Thursday, but those who can only stay part of the weekend are welcome too, camp coordinator Andy Shaner said.
“We have plenty of camping sites, all you have to do is show up with your tent and gear. We’ll make room for you.”
Shaner and his family are part of the crew of workers and neighborhood volunteers getting ready the upcoming season of weekend camps, which now includes Little Buckaroos Aug. 11-14 for younger boys ready to ride their first zip line or shoot their first bow, along with and the regular fall camp Oct. 6-9.
Barns were converted into rustic showers and places to meet for communal dinners, listen to music and swap stories. Pastor Norm Wakefield, founder of Elijah Ministries, will also be a speaker.
Evening meals are provided and every two campsites share a fire ring and picnic table where campers make their own breakfast and lunch.
“Fathers can make whatever they want and their sons can help,” Leigh Ann Shaner said. “I prep the food for dinner but there’s a grill master at camp. For this weekend, it’s ‘no girls allowed.'”
Father & Son Camp East is funded by donations, but paintball supplies are an added cost.
For more information, go online at www.fathersoncampeast.org or call 724-710-0178.