Stockade "Camp"-out

Cadets and Stockade both have a winter "campout." For Cadets it was, last year, a lockin at the church, and was a delightful time. Stockade met with groups from other churches in the area at a summer-campy kind of place called Hickory Hill down in the Finger Lakes region (though not actually on a lake). It was a delightful place with a big main hall used for meals and devotions and worship. We (about ten boys and the same number of dads) stayed in a separate building, in a big room with bunk beds (made from 2x4s) and a bunch of old couches and foosball and ping-pong tables, and a long table for something called "rug ball". Rug ball turned out to be the big hit for Sam. Two players compete, rolling a cue ball down the table trying to knock the opponents' balls off the table. 

We learned another new game a home-spun dexterity-based Canadian table-top game called crokinole. This is a table-top game in which you slide little pucks around with your finger trying to knock opponents' pucks off. 

There was plenty of snow on the ground for sledding, and they also had capture the flag and a contest where you use a three-man slingshot to shoot snow balls at a target 100' feet away. (Actually, I made up that distance, but it seems about right.) Sam went down the sledding slope twice before deciding the indoor activities were more interesting. I think it was 10 deg when we got up Sat morning, with a little breeze and some pretty snow falling during the morning worship and devotions.

The devotions were on fear. The speaker (older than I, and from nearby Hamburg, NY) recounted how when he was in his teens, before he came to the Lord, he used to lie in bed terrified at the prospect of going to hell. Around 16 years old his family moved to a new neighborhood. As he was walking near his home one day a kid he didn't know came up on his bike and asked him in a somewhat confrontational tone if he was new around here. He thought to himself, "here we go--guess this is when I have to fight this guy cause I am new." So he replied with a little attitude that yes, he was new. The boy replied, "Do you know about Jesus, and how to get to heaven?" 

And thus began a life-long friendship. The speaker became a Christian a year later.

Anyway, he had some good things to say, and he provoked some good thought in Sam.

Got there around 7:30 Friday evening, left 3 PM Sat afternoon, so it was blessedly not a long trip. The boys went to sleep before midnight, and didn't stir til 7:30 AM, so the dads really had nothing to complain about. All in all a good trip.

The boys playing crokinole.

Sam playing rug ball. He and I played quite a number of rounds of this.

Worship

The sledding slopes. No idea who this is, but it gives you the idea.

No idea why I was frowning for this selfie.