Tag: sumatanga

Catching Up Again

Saturday, December 13, 2025

Hello everyone.  Seems it’s been over a month since we last gave you an update.  We have been here, there and everywhere and kept thinking we would get a post uploaded but it just hasn’t happened.  Sorry.  What follows is a synopsis of what’s been going on with us. 

We left our work in Ashville and spent five days in Lexington, KY with some Impact Maker friends at the Kentucky Horse Park.  We met some new friends, human and animal (beautiful horses) in a beautiful setting.

From Kentucky, we went to a Switch Crew Founders Club (SCFC) event at Talona Ridge RV Resort in Elijay, Georgia.  We love Talona Ridge and enjoyed more time with friends.  It was more than just fun as we spent a good deal of time planning the next 12-18 months for the organization.

From there we returned to Alabama for a little time at our home church and Camp Sumatanga and doctor and dental appointments.  We finally got to meet our new pastor, Mark Puckett, in person.  So thankful for him and always thankful for time with our Lester Memorial family.

After a brief week in Alabama we were back at Talona for a gathering of other friends and YouTube influencers, Cindy and Harold Strange and family.  It was another fun time of renewing friendships packed in three days.

Then it was time to return to Randy and Debra’s home in Johnston, SC.  We went to Gaffney, SC for two days for Fred’s annual checkup.  Thankfully, no problems were found and we spent the remainder of our time enjoying catching up with our family.  Debra and Anne enjoy preparing lots of good food for the family Thanksgiving and Max and Randy always have projects to complete.  It was nice to have some time to just relax. 

Randy’s new grapple sure makes cleaning up trees easier.

We are so very thankful for the time we have had with friends and family over the last several months.  We still have more of you to see and we will be working on that in 2026.  We are currently in Gulf Shores, AL and will try to keep things more up to date.  May God Bless You All and keep you safe!

Back in the South

Friday, September 26, 2025

Goodness.  It’s been a month since we blogged anything.  Let’s see if we can get you caught up.  We returned to Randy and Debra’s on Sunday, August 24th.  We spent the next week getting caught up with each other and enjoyed a visit to Hopelands Gardens in Aiken, SC.  Great gardens if you are ever in the area.  There are huge 100 year old oak and magnolia trees on the 14 acre estate.  Another place we should have visited earlier.  We had a traditional Labor Day of cooking on the grill and making home made ice cream.

After that we were concerned that BB needed some exercise, so on September 2nd we drove BB to Cades Cove in Smokey Mountains National Park.  We always enjoy our time at Cades Cove.  There are no hookups but that’s fine with us for a few days.  We rode our bikes around the loop on Wednesday when it is closed to vehicular traffic and the other days we drove the loop multiple times.  We saw eight bears during our time there – always exciting.  We knew it was going to be a good visit when there were two bears in the woods across the road from our camp site when we arrived.  We enjoyed our week of hiking and relaxing and returned to South Carolina on Sunday refreshed and BB was in good shape.

On September 11th we drove Fred back to Camp Sumatanga in Alabama.  We had doctor and dentist appointments and some business to handle and in between doctor visits we enjoyed visiting with friends.  One day we helped friends with building a deck and another day we enjoyed hiking at Big Canoe Creek Nature Center in Springville. Great hiking!  All was well with the medical stuff and we enjoyed the peaceful time at Sumatanga.  So good to attend our church and visit with friends.  It had been too long since we had been back to Alabama. We will try to do better.  Until next time, stay safe!

Third Week At Sumatanga

Sunday, May 4, 2025

Our last post left us at Camp Sumatanga for Easter weekend.  Easter morning we were up at 4:00 am, on the road by 5:00 am and celebrated the resurrection of our Lord and Savior with our Lester Memorial family at 6:00 am on the mountain above Oneonta at Palisades Park.  It was a wonderful service and beautiful sunrise.  Such a great way to start Resurrection Sunday.

For our third week working at Camp Sumatanga we were so blessed!  Friday of Holy Week our good friends and fellow NOMADS Mariel and Shannon joined us.  On Sunday afternoon two more good friends and NOMADS, Rita and Dave, joined us. We also had great help from Barry and Donna and Emily.  First, there was NO water leak Monday morning!  We were able to resume work on Cabin 5 with Barry, Donna, Mariel, Anne, Max, and Rita worked on painting the exterior since Monday would be our only dry day.  Shannon and Dave did some framing work for the showers and vents, built some benches, and repaired drywall in the old section of the cabin.  On Thursday Dave, Shannon, Max, Anne, and Barry insulated the walls and ceilings. 

We also continued to work in the girl’s staff hut. By the end of the week Donna, Barry, Rita, Mariel, Anne and Emily had all six bedrooms ceiling, walls and closets painted along with the hallway and most of the trim.  The bathroom ceilings were also painted.  The old water heaters were removed.  Max and Anne rebuilt and insulated part of the front wall of the hut and finished the repair of  the damaged subfloor in the front room. Max and Barry also worked on rough-in electrical in Cabin 7.  It was a very busy week with a lot accomplished for the camp.  Most importantly, everyone stayed safe!  Big thank you to all who helped!!

We returned to Johnston, SC after church on Sunday and have spent the past week with Randy and Debra.  Randy received a great report from his oncologist on Wednesday so it’s been a great week for us.  If things go as planned we will be doing some westward travel with Randy and Debra this next week.

Week Two – Déjà vu

Saturday, April 19, 2025

Hope you have had a wonderful Holy Week. As we share wonderful meals and Easter egg hunts with family and friends, remember the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior and tomorrow we celebrate our RISEN SAVIOR on Resurrection Sunday.  Thank You, Jesus!!

Same song, second verse.  Monday morning we were leaving the campground to go back to work on Cabins 5 and 7 at Pool Camp when we heard on the radio that there must be another big leak somewhere in the water system.  We headed back to the retreat center and yes there was water flowing like a river.  The guys started digging mud and bailing water.  Before they could get the water system shut down, we watched the ground cave in like a sink hole.  The repair from last week was still perfect but there were two other leaks further on down the line.  Monday was spent repairing those leaks.  Tuesday morning, after assuring the repairs held overnight, the big hole was covered and we were back working on Cabins 5 and 7 for the remainder of the week.  Hopefully there will not be another leak this Monday.  By the way, generally it’s not advisable to drive around the back to the retreat centers.  There are all kinds of pipes and lines back there. It’s much better to park in the parking spaces provided.

Then we brought in the mini-excavator.

Cabins 5 & 7 are identical so even though cabin 5 is top priority, we are also working on 7 based on where the plumber needs us to help out and what supplies we have.  We also did some additional cleaning and repairs in the staff hut. 

We are excited because Friday some NOMADS friends, Shannon and Mariel, arrived at the camp to work with us next week.  We have Dave and Rita also NOMADS friends that will be arriving on Sunday afternoon.  Donna and Barry also plan to return for most of the week, so we hope to make a lot more progress next week. 

We have a neighbor in the campground who gets really nervous when we walk by her site.