As someone who was only ever a camper at Chanco, I have a much different perspective on the Chanco experience than do those who were counselors, especially those who were counselors for years and years, longer than they were ever campers. A lot of the in-jokes that might make sense to any counselor who ever encountered this website seem fuzzy at best to me. Instead, I have the perspective of one who was always a camper, and never quite knew what was going on when we campers were in bed or otherwise not around. Sometimes, though, the counselors would make veiled references to these things, and we campers would pick up on half of a story even as the rest of the story was forever hidden from us. This is a story like that, and therefore, it's not complete. I can only offer my incomplete perspective as a camper who was around for it, but never quite knew what was going on.

One thing about the camper/counselor relationship that I definitely remember from my days as a camper, especially in my younger years,  continue reading »

This incident occurred during my last year at Chanco, Senior High Conference in 1992. We were a pretty boisterous group that year, and maybe nothing proves that more than what happened one day about halfway through the session, when we were served a barbecue lunch. Being the helpful people that they were, the dining hall staff placed bottles of Texas Pete on every lunch table. Most people probably know exactly what that stuff is, but in case anyone reading this doesn't know, it's a hot and spicy barbecue sauce, like ordinary barbecue sauce combined with tabasco sauce. Anyway, having bottles of Texas Pete at the table seems like the sort of thing that no one would think twice about. I'm sure the dining hall staff didn't think twice about it. But what they didn't bargain for was just how nutty a bunch of teenage kids will get when away at camp for a week.

I don't know who did it first--  continue reading »

There is no one that personifies the Spirit of Chanco to me more than Boomer. I met him there countless summers ago and he has been prominently at my side, in one form or another, since. I have known him longer than I have not. We have been through more adventures than I can recount, as Captain Butterbottom will certainly attest, some now important history in annuals of Chanco lore, and some that hopefully will never be fully recounted in the light of day.  continue reading »

Dear Friends and Chanco Family

Forgive me that geography removes me from Camp and the Southern Diocese by about 400 miles. Time has me removed from Chanco by 14 years since I last stepped foot on its surface. Perhaps I can offer a voice from a distance to those who are so closely tied to Chanco now and have been always.  continue reading »

I just wanted to post a request for assistance if anyone is interested. You may remember a boat was donated to Camp during the Fall Fest. The downside is the boat is in FL and Chanco is in VA. We talked about a road trip and things to drive it up, but as things like that go, we decided that the best thing to do is to have a professional ship the boat. That way, it is protected by their insurance, and all bases are covered. The total cost for shipping the boat is $1835. I just wanted to see if anyone was willing to help get the boat to Chanco with a donation. If so, please let Boomer know at director@chanco.org, so he can earmark your donation specifically for these shipping costs. Any help at all is appreciated. Ken Weissner is great. He already pledged $500 to help with this.