Final Week At Lake Swan Camp

It's hard to believe we will be finishing up here at Lake Swan.  It’s been a good project and we’ve had lots of laughs along the way until one of our guys fell 10’ from a ladder after tossing his chainsaw to the ground. He went by ambulance to the hospital about 30 minutes from camp where he has spent almost a week in the ICU with 8 broken ribs and a punctured lung. We continue to pray for James and his wife, Linda.

Mark and Ben worked all week on constructing a stairway and landing for the old chapel. It had its challenges, but turned out great!

The women split up, some painting, and two of us deep cleaning in the kitchen. I wish I had gotten some before and after pictures because as our host stated.... He has never seen the ovens so clean! It took us four  days to complete.

Friday morning we departed Melrose, Florida and headed North, back to the Boys Ranch for the annual open house. Things looked very different with all the sheriffs and participants arriving with  their rigs!!!

The riding ranchers lead the grand entry Saturday morning carrying the flags.

They did such a great job on their routine. The month we were at Lake Swan, they really perfected it.

                           Aiden and Scott - Grand Entrance

Zoe - Grand Entrance

                                   Tyler - Grand Entrance

                                    AJ - Grand Entrance

Andrew learned how to drive the team and did a wonderful job during the Grand Entry

Every year, one of the ranchers is chosen to receive the Carleton F. Tweed Memoroal Horsemanship Award which is a large trophy and a distinguished belt buckle. The award is given to the rancher that has exhibited the most improvement in horsemanship skills as well as growth in character and leadership. Ashton was the well deserved recipient! I wish you could hear this boy's accent... Thick!!! He is so respectful with his "yes ma'ams" and "thank you, ma'ams" and does this boy like to eat!!!!!  He has quite the story of being in trouble, living in the woods for months on end etc. At one point, he was just one chance away from being sent packing, but the light bulb turned on, and he "got it". He has been a model rancher since then.

                                Ashton receiving his award.

This horse show was such a highlight for Mark and I. In my younger days, I participated in horse shows riding English, which was so prim and proper. This type of horse show is by far, so much more fun with participants just having fun with events for all ages! The youngest were 1 yr olds being led around the arena by their parents on a lead rope all the way up to the Jack Bennys, which doesn't require further explanation. 😂 Besides barrel racing and pole racing, the most exciting and most heavily attended event is the 'buddy pick-up". A horse and rider race across the arena, picking up another person as they circle around a barrel, picking up the person, and racing to the finish line! Great entertainment! Here's a short video:

                      Here are some stills of the buddy pick up.

AJ's horse wasn't  too keen on the buddy pickup.

The riding ranchers were given the opportunity to try some barrels. They did pretty good too with such little experience. 

The youngest cowgirls were so fun to watching riding around on their little ponies.

   This cowgirl has the whole matching outfit! 

Church service on Sunday morning was under  the tent. Ranchers attended on their horses as well as other campers attending the event.

Zoe trying  her hat on her horse

Tyler

Even though I am just not a fan of  Florida, the Florida Sheriffs Boys Ranch has grabbed my heart. ❤  so, maybe....just maybe I will return to Florida. 😘

Relaxing a bit at the campground. Mark is installing another new 30 amp end on our electric cable.

Week Two at Lake Swan

It was pretty much an uneventful week at camp. The women are still painting, since there is much that needs a fresh coat of paint. We put a primer coat on two newly built lifeguard stands.... Oh my! We had more paint all over ourselves than any other day, trying to get on the insides.

The Mark and Ben have been resizing used doors to fit in smaller door openings to replace doors that were weathered.

Friday, our day off, we visited the College of Missionary Aviation right here in Melrose, Florida. They have an economical and accelerated course to teach students to fly and also learn the mechanics so if overseas and a problem arises, they will be trained to fix the aircraft themselves. We spoke with three of the students of varying ages.

The classrooms and dorm rooms are located at a local church and they have a large hanger at the local airport which includes donated aircraft. It's a wonderful program for those students who don't want to spend years in college with huge debts to payoff afterward. We learned there is a huge shortage of pilots out there in every arena.  You also come out of the college with  a minor in Bible. Great alternative to the conventional plan.  We ended our day with a Valentine's Day lunch at a local restaurant.

Saturday the Wheeles' wanted to take us to see some real, live allegators so we all loaded up and drove to Gainesville where we did see two large ones and three babies.  We observed them at a place called Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park.  It was a very beautiful place!

                   The gang heading into park

              And here is what we came to see!

             Look closely... He's lurking in there!

          It was a successful alligator hunt indeed!

Below are some random shots from around the camp. Allie has enjoyed swimming on some of the hot days.

Lake Swan Camp

This is our home for the month of February.

It was an interesting start. We had been notified that we would not be allowed to arrive at camp on the normal day (Friday or Saturday) because of some unusual conditions, so Sunday arrival was proposed. After arriving, we discovered that an error had been made, the email confirming that six couples would be serving in February, was never received or was missed. The RV sites were filled by a different group of volunteers, leaving only two sites. Also, the sites we actually are staying on, in the picture, only had electric and water... No sewer.  Which meant, we would have had to pick up and move to dump our tanks, which means disconnecting everything, putting things  away to be in "travel mode". So, the first job on Monday morning was to put the sewer lines in! Digging a trench and piecing the pvc pipe together and adhering it.  We are very thankful to now have full hookups.


The guys also built outdoor benches and put new shelving up in the kitchen. Chainsaw work and power washing tennis courts was also accomplished.

The ladies did a lot of painting and cleaning, with a little kitchen work mixed in.

Mark and I had some relaxation Saturday at Flagler Beach. Allie was happy that dogs were allowed.

 The lake is so pretty at camp, especially at sunset.

I thought you may enjoy some antedotal information about this neck of the woods. We thought it quite interesting. We've been seeing signs that talk about Florida cracker cooking. We were a bit surprised by this and curious. Mark googled it and here are the results:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=25&ved=2ahUKEwj3zL3PnMLnAhVQ1lkKHchnD2kQFjAYegQIBxAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.myrecipes.com%2Fextracrispy%2Fhow-to-eat-breakfast-like-a-florida-cracker&usg=AOvVaw21LhriMgDhsfvKOtU3Hdl1

  To many people, the term “Cracker” is a racial slur, but down here in Florida, where things are often a bit, um, different, “Cracker” can be a badge of honor. Self-described “Florida Crackers” are people who were born and raised in the Sunshine State. The nickname is a nod to the state’s early settlers, called Crackersbecause they kept cattle in line with a crack of their whip. Back in their day, Florida was the frontier. Though most people associate cowboys with Texas, according to James M. Denham, a history professor and the director of the Lawton M. Chiles Jr. Center for Florida History at Florida Southern College, in the 1800s, Florida was just as bountiful with bovines.

There were fast herds of wild cattle roaming everywhere,” Denham says. “All you had to do was round them up.”

Sounds straightforward, but it was hard work. The Florida Crackers rose before dawn and spent the day hunting for livestock in alligator- and mosquito-infested swamps and scrub forests. It was a dangerous gig. Even the scrawniest of cows weighed hundreds of pounds. Some also had horns. You had to be careful as it was often a few days’ trek to the nearest village with a doctor. In addition to herding cattle, most Crackers had farms to maintain, families to raise, and crops to harvest.

So now my friends, you know about the true meaning of "cracker".