Flood
Camp Deerpark Newsletter Fall 2004 “An Act of God, the Acts of God’s People”
The following are excerpts from the Times Herald Record from Tuesday, August 31 through September 5, 2004:
“Local flash flood worst in 49 years”
“Homes evacuated, roads closed, people rescued in heavy flooding”
“Driving rain turned tame streams into torrents”
“By late morning in Westbrookville and Deerpark, county, state and town trucks were lining up to dump loads of rock and soil to fill areas where massive chunks of road and roadbed had washed away.”
Thoughts on the September 4th Work Day at Camp Deerpark
When I was first asked about helping clean up at camp, I’m going to admit that I was kind of hesitant. Usually when I go to camp it’s to relax and just to be one with its environment. I had no clue what to expect this time after the flood because we were told it was severely damaged. I’m the type of person that would rather hear about happy experiences and not the sad ones so I wasn’t too sure about this visit. But I decided to go in the end because everyone that went with me from my church reminded about how Camp Deerpark belongs to us. “It’s our second home and if we don’t keep it clean, who will?” The excitement in the young teens’ faces was just like the anticipation that’s there whenever a camping trip is near. When our van first turned on Brandt Road, we saw and felt how bad things were because of the many bumps. The pretty houses we usually see on our way here were pretty much gone. Our whole van was in shock because we’ve only seen this kind of damage on TV. We finally got to camp only to walk around in disbelief because our pretty camp was covered in rocks and mud.
Church, youth from Evangelical Garifuna Bronx, Forest Hills Mennonite, board members, friends, and staff. As the day drew to a close Dan Glick of Forest Hills Mennonite was heard saying, “I’m not happy we had a flood, but this has been a really good day.”
The United Revival Church in Brooklyn had arrived before us and they looked tired of the work but happy to see me, I mean us, of course. Ken showed us pictures of the camp the day after the storm. Thank God that the staff at camp were protected. After the pictures, Ken lovingly assigned some of us to the kitchen where water kept coming in through the foundation in the back corner. Some others were scattered around the camp area. I know that those of us that were in the kitchen never wanted to see a mop or water ever again. It was so much work but we pulled it off by that evening. It was a good experience and we got to meet new people, which is always nice .We were dismissed by a circle of prayer and were informed that more people would be volunteering over the next few days, which made us happy. Since I had a good time, as usual, at Camp Deerpark, I encourage my fellow teens to help camp out whenever it needs us. Lord knows how much Camp Deerpark has done for us.
Jackie Fernandez, camper, summer staff, attended Evangelical Garifuna in the Bronx.