It is now my turn for newsletters. :) First, though, I'm going to recap my
NYC trip in July.
On Monday, July 15, the Beech Grove Church of the Brethren youth (Todd
Gasper, who was the leader, Mark Bevins, and I) set out for Castine Church of the
Brethren. We all met there in the morning. Also, what met us there was a Lakefront Lines
charter bus (the same thing I went to Chicago in). With the three of us from Beech Grove
and the other forty some people from Castine, we loaded the bus, and a twenty-seven hour
bus ride began.
We drove, drove, and drove. We stopped for lunch, then drove some more.
While we drove we watched movies, played GameBoy, or whatever to keep ourselves occupied.
We eventually stopped to eat supper, and then we drove some more. We also drove through
the night.
Finally, early Tuesday afternoon we got there! Colorado State
University, Fort Collins, Colorado, was home of this year's NYC. We got our ID, info
packets and other gear before attempting to find our dorm rooms we were staying in. After
only a minimal amount of confusion and running around, we got our room keys and headed to
our dorm, which was way on an end of the campus. From Ingersol Hall (our dorm) to anywhere
was a good ten minute walk, at least. Oh, well. :)
That afternoon Mark and I just explored the campus and got familiar
with it (or tried, anyway :) They had a rec. center where you could play basketball, go
swimming, or whatever. We swam for a while, then we had to get out to go eat supper in the
neighboring dorm. Following that we went to the Moby Arena where the worship services were
held every morning and evening. It got pretty full, with over 4,000 teens and adults from
across the country there.
Following the service, which ended at about 10, I think, we could goof
off. There were sports being held outside, or you could listen to bands play or something;
there was something different going on every night. Midnight was lights out.
The following day there were small groups that everybody was assigned
to in the mornings. You were with about a dozen other people from all over the US, and
what you did was basically talk about how you felt about the speakers, or any concerns or
whatever you felt needed talked about. Following that was lunch, and then a workshop was
held. There were many to chose from. They had workshops about how your faith can pertain
to different careers, issues today, or many other topics. Afterwards was free time for
about three hours. Then comes supper, worship, and late evening activities.
The following days were pretty much the same, except for a few
afternoons. Thursday we went on a hiking trip. We drove out in the Rocky Mountains to
hike. The scenery was awfully nice there. We could also see the smoke from some nearby
forest fires.
Friday, I spent the afternoon with my Grandma and Grandpa Howell, who
drove up from Colorado Springs to visit. We drove out in the mountains and explored
around. We also stopped at a few stores, and then ate a restaurant called Ruby Tuesdays. I
had a big honkin' smokehouse burger. It was good! For dessert was a chocolate tall cake, a
piece of chocolate cake covered in whip cream, ice cream, and caramel. It was good, too!
After that, they had to drop me back off at NYC. We had a blast!
Saturday we spent the afternoon doing a service project. We talked with
the elderly people in a nursing home and kept them company. It was kind of fun talking to
them. They'd talk about their kids, stuff they did when they was young, and other
interesting things.
Sunday was the last day of NYC. After the morning service, we packed up
and had to leave. It was a bummer having to leave. Everybody had made a lot of friends. I
know I made a few. (If you're reading this, you know who you are :)
We packed up and boarded the bus. We did pretty much the same thing on
the way back; eat, watch movies, and sleep. Everybody just couldn't believe how fast the
trip was. I know I'd have liked to have more time to be with the friends I made.
Okay, I guess it's time for August.
School was about two weeks from starting. They are in the process of
renovating and adding a whole new section of building to the current one. What they had to
do is move all the teachers' materials out of the building at the start of summer, and now
they needed them back in. I was hired to help a fellow student set the computers back up.
It was fun.
During that time, the Great Darke County Fair was going on. I did band
shows, parked cars, and just walked around all week up there. We were up there about every
other night.
Yeah, August 14, my birthday! Woo hoo! I'm fifteen! I
had a nice birthday. My relatives all came over and we celebreted Grandpa's, my aunt
Dixie's, and my birthday. I got a water gun, some books, clothes, candy, and some
money.
Also, during the fair, our Uncle Roger came to visit. We had a lot of
fun. We went an old house from around the middle to late 1800's. The owner was fairly
rich, so the house was big for those times. We also went up to the fair since Uncle Roger
hadn't been there for years. It was fun having him here.
On the last week of August, school started. The school won't be done
for a few years yet, but they work on it during non-school hours. It's almost constantly
being worked on.
Boy, long newsletter this month! Oh well, we kept busy. :) See ya!
Mark