Columbia Union Pathfinders Clean Up Following Tuesday's Storm
Story by Visitor Staff
Morning activities at the ‘Believe the Promise’ International Pathfinder Camporee in Gillette, Wy., were canceled Wednesday to allow clubs to clean up following last night’s thunderstorm that canceled the evening meeting.
Early reports say that the “International Village” was hit hardest, with at least 40 percent of the international club campsites flooded. Columbia Union Conference clubs reported less damage, but spent part of the morning cleaning their sites and surrounding areas for better access.
New Jersey Conference reported damage throughout their campsites, including two conference dining tents that flew away and mangled into another club’s kitchen tent—damaging all three.
Nina Reynolds, a Teen Leadership Training (TLT) from New Jersey Conference’s Williamstown Warriors Pathfinder Club, said that her tent partially collapsed and her clothes got wet. She was thankful that her fellow Pathfinders helped her clean up. “We're [also] thankful because we didn't get it too, too bad,” she says.
Daniel Gonzalez, a pastor with New Jersey Conference’s Passaic II Club, wasn’t as lucky. His sleeping tent was completely destroyed, forcing him to spend the night at a local hotel.
Ramone Griffith, youth director for Allegheny East Conference,, reports about 15 tents were destroyed and six canopies/kitchen tents ruined.
Michael Dulan II, a Pathfinder from Allegheny West Conference’s Dayton Eagles club, shares, “Multiple tents [in our campsite] were soaked, so we ended up having to go to Walmart at 10 p.m. to buy towels, sleeping bags, blankets and pillows so people could sleep overnight.
Lacqueta Oduogo, a member of Pennsylvania Conference’s Steele City Pathfinders, says that in addition to flooding in her site that made their sleep a little damp, the big tent covering her club’s eating area flew all the way into someone’s car window, breaking it. She says she was still able to get enough sleep to have energy to earn the rock climbing honor in the afternoon.
Despite the chaos, leaders are praising God for protection and safety. Beth Ackman, Pathfinder director for the Mountain View Conference, shares, “We are all safe. We had a few tents that things got wet inside, but God is good, and everything can be dried!”
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