by In the past few days I began reading Brother Mickey McGrath’s (of Windsock Visitation painting fame!) most recent book. It is a spiritual Journey in images and text depicting the life of Dorothy Day entitled Saved by Beauty.
As I pondered and prayed with Brother Mickey’s book, I was mindful of our neighborhood kids that we sent off to camp earlier this week to bask in the beauty of our Minnesota lakes and God’s creation. Thanks to the amazing generosity of many benefactors and friends, we were able to send 75 children and seven teens (who will train to be counselors) to Catholic Youth Camp for a whole week. Located midway between here and Duluth, our children were in the midst of storms and rainy days. The excellent camp director Natalie King was so proud of her counselors and cooks who managed to make it a great week for the children in spite of the weather! She had only praise for the children who were such ‘good sports’ and did not lose their enthusiasm for one minute.
CYC Campers at Send Off
In her June 20 blog post updating parents and readers of the campers’ activities, Ms. King writes,
“We started the day with morning Holy Ground (and prayed that the power outage would be over quickly!) and then moved into some exciting indoor activities. Groups rotated from paper airplane making to water trivia, to board games and then to relay races that had campers going from one pile of goofy clothes and hats to the next, trying to be the first in full costume to complete the race.”Later, after the power outage and flood warnings, Camp Director King relays, “We are not just a community that PLAYS together, we are a community that PRAYS together!”
Having been a counselor and water safety instructor for many years, I am committed to providing this experience for inner city children and youth. Without the generosity and care of so many, this would not have been possible. So a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone! And children, we are proud of you that you ‘hung in there’ through wind and rain and storm, and that you managed to have a great time!
Ah, yes, we are all SAVED BY BEAUTY if we have the eyes and hearts to see it! Happy Summer!
(Be sure to check out the camp website: www.cycamp.org)
2 Comments
Betty Lou Miller · June 25, 2012 at 10:13 am
Thanks for sharing some things about the camp week. Sounds like a wonderful way to make friends, have fun, and learn under good leadership, and appreciate nature.
I would like to obtain a copy of Brother Mickey’s book about Dorothy Day.
Do you have some for sale?
Update: News from the Northside* | Visitation Monastery of Minneapolis · August 13, 2012 at 9:15 pm
[…] & volunteers, we were able to send 75 children and 7 teen “Counselors in Training” to Catholic Youth Camp in McGreggor, MN; 4 teens to St. Louis to participate in Vistory, a program which brings Visitation […]