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CommunitySummer camp turns ‘mega’
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by DARWIN WEIGEL
Trae Molesworth, 15, left, of Huntingtown and Josh Weaver, 17, of Broomes Island get pelted with wet sponges while they jump rope Friday at the RainbowLand summer camp at Chesapeake Church in Huntingtown.
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Chesapeake Church in Huntingtown gave children that ultimate experience last week by hosting RainbowLandMega Week summer camp.
For one week, 638 children and 382 volunteers played games, participated in arts and crafts, and talked about the word of God. The end of the week culminated in the play ‘‘Zorro,” which drew similarities between the teachings of Jesus Christ and the personality of masked Mexican hero Zorro.
‘‘The character of Zorro is showing compassion,” said Tracey Ernst of Chesapeake Beach, the RainbowLand staff leader at the church. ‘‘That is our scripture memory verse for this year.” The theme goes into being compassionate and unselfish like the character of Zorro, as Christ is unselfish and compassionate with others. Zorro defends the townspeople from the evil mayor and is compassionate towards them. Between acts, the actors led the audience in singing about Jesus and dancing.
RainbowLand has been in existence for 22 years. This is the first year it has been hailed as a MegaWeek. RainbowLand has seen many different themes over the years, starting in 1987 at Breezy Point with 97 kids. The very first theme was the Sunshine Patch. This year’s was a Mexican theme where campers learned new Spanish words and phrases.
‘‘I love the theme this year,” said Barbara Lee of Owings. ‘‘It exposes the children to something new and cultural.” Lee was the media director for the camp.
‘‘Kids have been here all week,” Ernst said. ‘‘We are expecting over 2,000 people at the end for a big blowout celebration. It takes a lot of hands to have this camp happen.” Parents and family members were invited to stay for a picnic lunch.
With so many campers on the premises, the staff used a rotating system. The play was 30 minutes long and the kids went into the auditorium twice in the day. One group would go to the main stage to watch the main production of ‘‘Zorro,” while another two sets of groups would see one of the smaller, more intimate productions on a side stage. The rest of the campers would be outside participating in arts and crafts or in games.
The kids got to learn about what it means to be compassionate and unselfish, like Zorro through scripture readings, with original scripts and music set to the theme. They also enjoyed playing outside.
‘‘I’m having a lot of fun,” said Tanner Booner, 9, of Leonardtown. ‘‘The best part was getting wet with the water balloons. I learned [from watching ‘Zorro’] not to be selfish and to be compassionate towards others.”
‘‘We did a water day, recreation and we had these really fun acts in the play,” said Dominic Sita, 11, of Huntingtown. ‘‘I thought the Zorro play was awesome, especially when he came flying down on the handlebars.”
Many of the volunteers return year after year to help with the event. A lot of them were campers who became staff members who wanted to help make the camp what many of them call the best week of summer.
‘‘The kids have a lot of fun just playing the games,” said Chris Miller of Dunkirk. ‘‘I used to act on the stage before I became one of the counselors. It’s a lot of fun.” Miller has been doing RainbowLand week for the last eight years.
‘‘As a group leader I guide the fifth-graders,” said Johnny Prince, 14, of Prince Frederick. ‘‘I like spending time with the kids and the counselors.”
Plans for next summer’s RainbowLandMega Week are already in the works. Once the week let out, the staff held a debriefing to figure out how to make next year better.
‘‘We supersized the fun and supersized everything we do,” Ernst said. ‘‘Once you go Mega, where do you go from there?”
