7-14-06
This event was scheduled for Friday evening from 6:30-8:30pm as the ‘finale’ for the Vision of Hope Church’s weeklong bible camp for local kids. The theme of the camp was “God’s Army”, thus the military vehicle connection.
The LSMVPA participants arrived shortly before the scheduled time- Danny K in his M37, Fred H in Danny’s M151, Jeff L in his new M35A2, and Rory C in his M813A1. The vehicles were quickly lined up and we were ready for the kids.
And kids there were – dozens of ’em! They climbed all over the vehicles, asked loads of questions, and generally seemed to have a ball. Quite a few figured out that the air horns on Jeff’s deuce would blow even with the electrical power off. Jeff finally had to drain his air tanks to preserve the nerves of those assembled!
In addition to the vehicles, the church had an O-course set up for the kids to run through, and other activities. Inside the church a talented young man named Tony had gone to great lengths decorating, including large-scale mockups of a tank and a jet fighter (big enough for kids to get into).
Finally, a little after 8:30, it was time to go. With help from church members, the vehicles were maneuvered out of the yard and back onto the street. As we drove off, all the kids were lining the fence, waving goodbye.
Pastor Henry and his flock had obviously put a lot of effort into providing a good program and a meaningful experience for the kids. We are grateful to him for allowing us the honour of being a small part of it. This was a particularly satisfying event for those who participated; we all left feeling the better for the experience. Hopefully we left the kids with some good memories.
