Thanks for all the Memories!

This week, our "head boss", "big man", "head honcho" of Camp Tecumseh, Dave Wright announced his retirement after 40 years of service.  I know that the decision for Dave was a hard one, yet an easy one at the same time.  He had decided that it was time to do everything he had always pushed to "someday" and spend more time with his grandchild/family.  But deciding when to leave a place where you've spent over half of your life?  I can't imagine the decision.  While Dave has always said that it's his team, his staff, that make camp go and be successful, it has been our leader who's helped propel us to one of the greatest camps in the country.  Dave inspired us to do our best, enabled us to take ownership of our program area of camp, and to never be satisfied with "good enough".  He's a visionary, always looking years ahead to see potential problems, possible improvements, and thwart any risks/threats to our camp.  Dave exemplified service.  We were encouraged to do anything "for the good of camp."  It was not uncommon to see our executive director picking up any trash he saw, making sure our presentation was solid, inside and out, and that everything, every little detail, was attended too.  Why would you send your child to camp if they didn't take care of the details, care about cleanliness or clutter?  I didn't feel as though I worked for Dave, but that I worked with him, with camp.  It took all of us, working together, to keep the machine of camp going.  Yes, he was the guy who we had to answer to and I certainly felt a pang of nervousness if I was called up to his office.  It wasn't usually because I'd done something overtly wrong, but Dave saw things that we didn't always see.  His eye was attuned differently than ours.  Sometimes we get so caught up in our own world that we don't see it from an "outside" perspective but Dave was always looking at things from the viewpoint of a camper parent, potential donor, etc.  I also remember the surprise calls when he wanted to congratulate you on something.  I won't forget the high five I got after making the chicken breed boards.  He came up to me asking, "Who made those boards at the mini farm?"  "Um, me...."  "Good job!"  Me....nervous laugh.  hahaha  I also remember Dave making his way around the lunch time tables during my first staff training introducing himself and giving everyone he met a hand shake.  Dave was never above us, always giving credit to his staff.  We knew that retirement was in the future.  And when he called a mandatory staff meeting with "special guests", speculations abounded as to a possible announcement.  Now begins the search for a new director.  We have an awesome board of directors and I know that God will bless their efforts.  With change comes uncertainty.  Camp Tecumseh wasn't in the greatest place back when Dave first started but the "C" was  put back into the YMCA and with a lot of hard work, camp has made itself one of the premiere camps in the country.  Will this new director be a good solid Christian man, a visionary, able to not only keep camp at its present level but to keep us rising?  What will his new philosophies, leadership style, vision be?  I feel comforted that we still have our present leadership still here, that the foundation that we have been built on is still here, and that God is still our center.  Yes, change can be difficult but should not be feared. It'll be a new chapter in a book that will hopefully have several more chapters to go.


So, in closing, thanks for all the years Dave.  You have made us better people, you believed in me, and you've been a fantastic leader.  The rest of us will continue the work that has been set in motion.  Thank you seems inadequate.  Thanks for the memories, thanks for the service.  Noonway.