Helping Your Family Get Ready For Camp (2019 Edition, #4 of 4)

Helping Your Family Get Ready For Camp

Hello again! This is the fourth and final email designed to share the key info needed to "Blaze the Trail" for a smooth and successful camp experience. This week's focus is checkout day.

Checkout Day

Closing Celebration

Closing celebration offers an important chance for campers to celebrate the time they've shared together at camp - and you're invited! It's a special time marked by recognitions, thank-you's, a closing video, and goodbyes.

DETAILS: When the gates open at 11:40am, campers will be in the Holland Building. They'll be singing and having a good time. At 12 noon, the official celebration will begin. Please refrain from contacting your camper until you sign him/her out in the cabin. This is for all campers' safety - we appreciate your understanding. Campers will be dismissed from celebration with their counselors to return to their cabins for checkout. Those who have come to pick up campers will remain in the Holland Building to receive checkout instructions, then will be dismissed to sign out their camper from his or her cabin or lodge room. Outpost campers will be picked up in the Holland Building.

MINI CAMP & 10-DAY TRIPS: For Mini Camp and 10-Day campers, closing celebration details can be a little different. You'll get a separate email with more details as your camp week draws closer. In the meantime, here's the gist:

Mini Camp Sun-Tue: Closing celebration is Tue 4pm for Village and Outpost.
Mini Camp Wed-Fri: Closing celebration is Fri 12 noon for Village and Outpost.
10-Day Outpost Trips: If a 10-day trip starts on Sun, closing celebration is on Tue of the following week at 4pm. If a 10-day trip starts on Wed, closing celebration is on Fri of the following week at 12 noon.

Checkout Logistics

Here are a few notes about checkout that'll help your departure go more smoothly.

MEDICATIONS: As you arrive at the Holland Building, our healthcare team will be at a table with camper medications for you to pick up. Please pick up any bottles you've left with the healthcare team at the beginning of the week - even if they're empty. This helps us maintain your camper's privacy.
LUGGAGE: Your camper's luggage will be in his or her cabin all packed and ready for you to take home -though likely not in the same condition as on Sunday! Cabins are locked until after celebration, so enjoy the time together and then pick up belongings as you sign out your camper. Outpost luggage will be at the Holland Building. Please follow your camper's lead to ensure you go home with the right luggage.

STORE ACCOUNT: If you added money to your child's store account during registration, the system asked if you would like to donate any remaining balance to the Campership Fund or receive a refund (either option is perfectly fine). Refunds will be processed automatically following the end of your camper's session. If you are unsure what you have chosen and would like to check, log in to My Account (itinerary → select child → store account). Please note that limitations of our store management software prevent the use of account balances on closing day, but that the store is open for cash or card purchases during checkout.

Lost & Found

Sometimes items become separated from their owners. If that happens, here's some info that'll be helpful to know:

LABEL EVERYTHING: Please label everything your camper brings to camp with his or her name. Labeling greatly increases the odds of a lost item being found.

LOST & FOUND AREA: On your way into closing celebration, please check our lost and found area to see if there's anything you recognize that your camper misplaced during the week.
LOST & FOUND FORM: If you realize you're missing something important, the first and best thing to do is to fill out our Lost & Found Form online. Please don't call the office about lost items. If you do call, we'll kindly ask that you fill out the lost and found form online. As we receive submissions, we print them out and deploy a search team member and then contact you with an update. Please note that lost and found items are retained until one week after the close of the camp season and then donated to charity. (Keep in mind that any item of sentimental or monetary value may not be an item you want to bring to camp.)

New For 2019: Path Of Silence Engraving

Now's your chance to set someone's name in stone in the Holy Dirt! Following Summer 2019, the Path of Silence stone walkway will be extended on both sides of the expanded Chapel. Existing stones will be cleaned and reset so that there will be one cohesive Chapel walkway that honors and memorializes loved ones and cherished memories. For inclusion in the Path of Silence extension - known as Glisson Rocks III since this is the path's third phase - fill out an Online Order Form. A tax-deductible donation of $180 will cover the cost of the stone, engraving, and setting (and the resetting of the existing stones to match). Glisson Rocks III kicked off at the Chapel Dedication on May 4th and will run until August 31, 2019. Think of the Glisson enthusiasts in your life you and/or your friends and family might find meaningful to honor or memorialize in this unique setting. For more info and to order, visit: glisson.org/rocks

Closing

Thanks for reading! We hope this year's Blazing the Trail series has been helpful for your planning. In case you missed it, the previous three emails were "Between Now & Camp", "Check-In Day", and "During Camp". If you have any questions, check our FAQs, call the office (706-864-6181), or Email Us. Our 95th summer of ministry starts in just 3 days! Our year-round team has been planning and preparing since last August; our summer team has been training intensely leading up to the start of camp; and we're all praying that the 3,300+ campers headed our way this summer will grow closer to God and to one another during their time on Glisson's Holy Dirt. See you soon!

Grace and Peace,
The Glisson Team

We know how to have fun - our passion is forming faith in the process.