153 students and 52 faculty met at Jackson’s Point from Aug. 27
th – Sept. 3
rd for the 43
rd annual National Music Camp. Special guests this year were Tom and Heather Hanton. Tom is the Salvation Army music director for the Eastern Michigan Division, and over the course of the week he engaged the camp with his humor and easy-going personality, proving himself to be a qualified conductor as he led the “A” band in Steven Ponsford’s “Kerygma” on Wed. evening and Leslie Condon’s classic piece “
The Present Age” for the final Sat. evening program. (Personally, it was the best live concert presentation of the latter piece that I’d ever heard). Tom also found time to premiere Steven Ponsford’s tribute to Michael Jackson entitled “King of Pop”, a medley of well-known Jackson hits such as “Beat it” and “Billie Jean”.
Tom’s wife Heather is a lovely vocalist and bandsperson herself, and on “Meet the Guest” night (Monday) she graced us with a new Marty Mikles piece entitled “Search Me”. Tom also shared a memorable video with us… he proposed to Heather on live television a number of years ago, during the annual Grand Rapids Michigan Santa Claus parade. Tom and Heather now live in Detroit with their two children, where Heather works as Community Director for The Salvation Army there.
Other guests this year included Majors Len and Heather Ballantine, their first year back at National Camp since leaving their appointment in the THQ music department in 2006. Len conducted the “A” chorus and the ‘Ballantine’ band. As expected, all of the pieces performed by his band and chorus were arranged by Len himself. The band performed “Since Jesus” on Wed. and “
Go Down Moses” on Saturday night, both lively numbers that made one want to tap the toe. The “A” chorus performed a beautiful new arrangement of the old worship piece “
Lead me to the Rock” (Lynn DeShazo), and a couple of Sandy Patti numbers, “Make His Praise Glorious” and “
More Than Wonderful”. Heather Ballantine led a spiritual discernment elective entitled “Penetrating the Darkness”.
Bible guests for the week were Majors Jamie and Ann Braund, newly appointed to CFOT as assistant principal and training officer, respectively. The Bible topic for the week was “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say… the sayings of Jesus”, and they were adept at sharing deep insight into Jesus’ teachings that helped students and faculty perceive details of supposedly well-known Biblical passages that are rarely noticed or discussed in scripture. Following the daily Bible teaching the students broke into small groups, and under the guidance of faculty members and a pamphlet guide, shared freely with each other what they’d learned and how it applies to daily living. Daily themes included the “I Am” saying of Christ, found in the book of John; the “Kingdom of Heaven” parables found in Matthew 13 and Luke 14; “Who are the lost” based on Luke 15, Matthew 9 & 25; “Sell your possessions and follow me” focusing on Matthew 19 & 1 Timothy 6; and finally, “I am the vine” and “Come unto me”, from John 15 & Matthew 11. At the Thursday evening worship program, Jamie challenged the students to donate to SA social justice causes, by buying fair trade tee-shirts that supported women coming out of the sex trade/trafficking industry, or by buying shirts that supported a schooling program in the Philippines, or by writing words of encouragement to former camp students Jill Peddle and John Voss who were currently on missions trips overseas. One of the students, Heidi Adams, was also collecting shoes to be sent to African missions programs (
soles4souls.org).
Finally, Curtis Plante had an internet connection set up so students could donate money online to The Salvation Army’s relief effort in Kenya for the Somalian drought refugees.
Our new Territorial Commanders, Commissioners Brian and Rosalie Peddle, came and shared with the students at the Sunday morning service.
Commissioner Brian challenged the students to wholly commit to Christ and “dare to imagine” what can result when we do. He was funny and engaging (one must ask him about his sky diving experience!) and they certainly made an unforgettable impression. The Commissioner also had Cameron Rawlins sing their favourite piece “I Can Only Imagine” to solidify the message.
One noticeable feature of the camp was the number of former camp students who have graduated to being faculty members. Leah Antle, now songster leader at St. John’s Temple, took on one of the mixed choruses. Matt Osmond, from St. John’s Citadel, ran the media stream. Kathryn Higgins (Ballantine) and her husband Kyle ran the
drama stream. Jonathan Rowsell (St. John’s Temple) and Cameron Rawlins (Northridge, Newmarket Ontario) co-led a lower brass elective. Serena Doars led the timbrel elective. It was Melanie Reid’s second year to lead the popular hip hop elective, and Greg Colley’s second year conducting a brass band. (His band played William Himes’ popular “The Witness” and Eric Ball’s classic “
Songs of the Morning”). Rounding out the leadership was Len Marshall and Valerie Moreton, once again heading the worship stream; Canadian Staff Bandmaster John Lam conducted the “Lam Band” in a new brass arrangement of “They shall come from the east”, (arranged by composer John Larsson’s own son Kevin), and Dean Goffin’s famous “
Symphony of Thanksgiving” at the Saturday evening final program. Former TYS Major Dave Ivany was back, leading the sports program and a Spiritual Discipline’s elective, and Dave’s wife Major Bev Ivany (currently writing “Words of Life” for IHQ) led a creative writing elective.
Cathie Koehnen and
Jane Lam shared the
women’s chorus (Jane also led a mixed chorus);
Andrea Donais also led a mixed chorus, and Steve Armstrong led the Barbershop elective. Other electives included conducting (led by John Lam),
contemporary vocal (led by
Cathie Koehnen), pop music and culture (led by Paula Marshall), PowerPoint technique (led by Len Marshall), reading band (led by Darren Hancock), and social justice (led by Rachele Lamont and Curtis Plante).
Talent night presented us with mostly serious numbers. Personally I loved the “Bugler’s Holiday” trumpet trio of Jonathan Elliotson, Katie Barrett and Andrew Dolan. After a slew of vocal, piano and brass solos, a mime presentation, a fiddle solo, and a few brass ensembles, the evening ended on a lighter note with “Joy Rings”, a ‘bells and whistles’ ensemble that truly was a joy to watch and listen to. The evening ended with a Newfie Timbrel Brigade, playing to “The Islander”, and they truly did justice to timbrel brigades everywhere. A lot of fun!
There were some memorable student testimonies over the course of the week, particularly from a visiting Dutch student who shared his life struggle with alcoholism, and how his mother’s prayers and tears turned his life around. Another student shared about her early childhood experiences in foster care before finally being adopted by Salvation Army officers. Jonathan Rowsell and wife Seritha shared their mission trip experience as special music camp guests in Bolivia. Heidi Adams related her experience as a school counselor in Triton Newfoundland, and Andrew Dolan recounted his month-long medical placement in Zimbabwe where he was able to assist the SA’s own Dr. Paul Thistle in amputation surgeries.
One thing becomes clear in participating in the music camp experience: The Salvation Army is raising up a generation of young adults who are truly seeking God’s will for their lives, and who truly want to make a real impact in the world they live in, especially in the realm of social justice and evangelism. While music may be a binding thread at National Camp, it is the spiritual hunger and the life-transforming presence of the Holy Spirit that makes this camp one that draws campers and faculty back again year after year. Hail, Jackson’s!
- submitted by Kim Garreffa