With the beautiful Pennsylvania mountains as its backdrop, 90 campers, along with staff and parents, enjoyed another successful year at Camp Seven Mountains preteen camp. This year was blessed with a lot of fun and laughter, as campers and families alike shared in fantastic food, fellowship and fun.

Each day began with a delicious breakfast before setting the focus with Bible studies tailored to this year’s theme, “Stand Strong.”

Many activities made a reappearance. Younger campers learned volleyball basics, while older campers reinforced what they already knew. Staff worked with campers and got several games going with good volleys. Field sports included many games for all age groups, including baseball, kickball, sharks and minnows, capture the flag, dodgeball and red light, green light.

Several campers obtained the elusive bullseye at archery, earning their candy prize. But they also learned about using bows and arrows responsibly.

A Seven Mountains tradition, the tie-dye shirt station was busy and colorful. More than 200 pieces of clothing were tie-dyed, and the staff worked long hours to get the final products on campers, staff and parents for the last day of camp. Arts, crafts and woodworking provided new projects for the kids.

Kids hit the lake with a splash in kayaks, canoes and paddle boards. A few fell overboard, but mostly on purpose. We were never short on a good canoe race across the lake.

Monday held two of the camp's newer activities—an inflatable obstacle course and foam party. Both were a hit.

Campers and counselors worked on effective communication in the team building activity. Blindfolded kids were led over a bridge and through an obstacle course by the vocal commands of only two. The kids also had to work as a team, arm in arm, to navigate a human-sized spider web.

Grandma Rosie continued her tradition of teaching and playing with the younger "mini campers," through song and activities, and campfire was filled with exciting games and insightful stories. We had the return of the "yell-o meter" to prove just how much fun everyone was having.

And what would camp be without the stellar food prepared by the tireless kitchen crew and the hard work of janitorial staff keeping things clean for all?

During the closing ceremonies on the last day, special thanks were given to Rachel Massie, who served as camp director for 10 years and now looks forward to serving the same camp in other capacities.

The two youngest dorms performed musical praise with tambourines and the final video was the joyful sendoff campers needed before heading home.

On the last day, one camper from Massachusetts said that before camp all he wanted to do was play on his new tablet. He was waiting for camp to be over so he could use it on the drive home. But by the last day, his priorities had changed. "I don't want to leave," Eli Salva said. "I don't want it to end, even if that means I don't get tablet time. I just want to stay longer at camp." And that kind of says it all.