KAY DeMOSS
Senior Editor-Writer, Michigan Area
For 16 years “Kinawind” has been imprinted on the hat atop Fred Elmore’s head.
Fred has enjoyed two stints as Director of Camp Kinawind. He helped the fledgling camp get off the ground from 1984-88. And for the past 11 years Fred has been back at the helm on the west side of Thumb Lake near Boyne Falls.
He has decided that the 2016 camp season will be his last. “It’s time to get on with other agenda items with my family,” he says. “And it feels to me like I have accomplished all that I have been able to accomplish.”
A look at the 2016 Kinawind schedule proves the point Fred makes, “Summer is a really busy seven-day-a-week experience for camp directors.” There are 23 events, some on-site and some off-site, stretching from the Scouting Week End on June 17-19 to the Family Mackinac Bridge Walk on Labor Day. “One group will be packing up at the same time another group is coming in,” Fred says.
He explains that there are two major areas that take up his time and energy: the program and the infrastructure. Fred praises the great leadership that makes creative events like, “A Very Potter Camp,” happen. Fred recalls. “When I came to Kinawind in the 80s nothing broke. The camp was only two years old then. I remember thinking, someone is going to be here 30 years from now when all of this needs replacing.” He laughs, “I never guessed it would be me!”
When asked what he would miss the most, Fred does not hesitate. “The people. Yes, I love the out of doors,” he states, “but there is a lot of beauty outdoors. It’s the people.” He is grateful for the deep sharing through years of eating, swimming, kayaking, and doing devotions together.
“Kinawind” is a Chippewa word meaning “all of us together.” Fred says that concept has been at the center of both work and play at the campsite. “People wear a lot of hats and fill in where needed.” According to Fred potential staff members have been told, “Your interview will be done in the toilet. I want to see how you handle a plunger.” He loves the job because it has involved so many kinds of activities, getting both property and personnel “up to speed.”
Fred reports being very excited about the new Michigan Area approach to camping and retreat ministries. “I was disappointed,” he says, “when the previous merger did not happen.” Now he confesses that he is disappointed that he won’t have long to work with the West Michigan Conference directors and new interim director, George Ayoub.
“I could keep going and was encouraged to stay but it’s time for a change,” he concludes. “It’s time to stop hogging all the fun and give someone else a shot.” Fred’s plan, when the time comes to leave: “I will think of all the forms and the paperwork, and then I will go smiling out the door.”
In the meantime, Fred celebrates collaborations already underway. “A lot of knowledge sharing is going on,” he says. And “each director has things in storage that some other camp can use.” He notes that the Area-wide promotion of camping is healthy. “If a church always sends all their kids to the same camp, their focus is on the place and not the kid.”
Because campers are diverse, camps are diverse in what they offer. “Some kids like institute-style camping. But others would rather be in a tent,” Fred points out. Parents and pastors now have a “whole brochure full of experiences to choose from.” No camp can be all things to all people. “That’s why we can do this better together,” Fred Elmore emphasizes.
Last Updated on December 15, 2023