Hike, dance, and silence are part of youth camp

Intermountain Catholic

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Campers follow the foot and hip movements of members of the Tehamata dance group during Junior Camp at Camp Tuttle July 29. More than 50 youth from around the diocese gathered for six days of fun and spirituality. IC photo by Priscilla Cabral

BRIGHTON — Junior high youth from around the Diocese of Salt Lake City gathered at Camp Tuttle with an agenda that included fun and spirituality July 26-31.

"The purpose of the camp was to build Catholic community," said Matthew Boerke, director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries.

A total of 54 youth, including counselors, attended the camp.

There are two levels of counselors: Regular counselors and senior counselors.

"Counselors are usually in high school. They stay with the kids in their cabins, help them get ready, and lead the games," said Boerke.

"Senior counselors have been part of the camp for a long time. They are young adults who come back to help and serve as role models. They help set up the games and activities," he said.

Rosario Perez was a counselor at the camp for the first time. She said being a counselor has been a fun activity.

"The kids are so nice. I thought they’d be bratty but they’re not."

The only challenging aspect about being a counselor was "dealing with kids not liking each other," but that during the camp they "started to meet the campers and get comfortable with them. They saw the others sing, for example, and then they started to do it too," said Perez.

Meredith Anderson has been part of the junior camp for 12 years, six years as a camper and six years as a counselor. She said the camp has an important role in making campers feel "comfortable with being Catholic because in this state we are outnumbered."

The camp’s number one rule is to have "safe Catholic fun", said Anderson.

"We include a lot of team-building exercises and other activities that are more of a personal challenge," she said.

One of the activities included a hike around Silver Lake.

"The campers enjoyed the wildlife. They got to see several moose when they were hiking," said Boerke.

The theme for this year’s camp was "Catholic diversity, Catholic identity."

"We reinforced diversity with prayers and encouraged campers to think of others around them and to include them. The camp itself seeks to bring Catholic youth from different cultures and from different parishes together to express Catholic diversity," said Boerke.

In conjunction with the diversity theme, the camp had a tropical theme. The Camp Tuttle lodge was decorated with paper palm trees and flowers. The campers also wore leis, or flower necklaces, and enjoyed the presentation of a Polynesian dance group July 29.

"Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, aloha!" said Juaul Aukusitino, leader of the Tehamata dance group. She explained to the campers that "aloha" means "hello" and "goodbye" in Hawaiian. She also taught them the Hawaiian word for thank you, "mahalo."

The main goal of the group is to share the Polynesian culture with others. For Benjamin Soliven, who is from Hawaii, the group is a way to share the aloha spirit, culture, and dance.

"Aloha spirit means love, charity, and respect. It also means sharing it with each another," said Soliven.

The campers learned the different greetings from the Polynesian islands and enjoyed the fast-paced dances. They tried to imitate the feet, hip, and hand movements. Some were successful, others… not so much, but all of them seemed to have fun trying.

"It was hard. The dancers made it look easy," said Madeline Lehman, who attempted to manipulate a couple of poi balls. Poi balls are balls suspended from a long and flexible material. Poi is a performance art from New Zealand.

Besides dancing, hiking, and playing, the campers also spent about an hour reading scripture passages and singing Christian songs under the direction of Timothy Johnston, director of the Diocesan Office of Liturgy.

"And they spent about ten minutes of silent adoration," said Boerke.

"This is the first time we had adoration time and it was very interesting. The campers seemed to enjoy it. Some of them told me it was very nice and beautiful. They were all very quiet, concentrating and paying attention rather than being distracted."

The camp ended with a noon Mass to which parents were invited.