A&M Youth
It's Almost Here!
We're so glad you can come to come to the middle school retreat!
It's going to be a great weekend. Get excited!
This page has travel info details about the weekend and a packing list. If you have any questions after reading all of this info please let us know.
First of all...the camp we are going to requires a waiver/release for everyone coming to the camp. Please print this out and bring it on Saturday morning, or you can grab a blank one on Wednesday night at Midweek or on Saturday morning when you drop off your son/daughter. The most important parts of the form are the name of your child and the signatures. We suggest not including your SSN and feel free to skip the insurance part if you would like to. Here is a link to the form: ***Lake Tomahawk Release***
Info about our travel plans:
Meet to depart: We will be meeting on Saturday, September 5 at 10:30am. (This is our meeting time, not our departure time.) When you arrive at the church building, you can put your stuff in the trailer and then come inside the building to check in. When you check in we will have a phone box for all cell phones...more about that below.
What about breakfast? Eat before you come.
What about lunch? We'll stop on the way and eat lunch. The cost for your lunch is covered.
Where are we going once we get in the bus? Lunch. We just talked about it above.
Where are we going after lunch? The retreat is at Lake Tomahawk near Livingston, Texas. It's actually about 20 minutes past Livingston. And Livingston is not too far from Onalaska. Onalaska is not too far from Oakhurst, which is not too far from Huntsville, which is not too far from College Station. So, technically, camp isn't that far away.
Transportation: We'll be taking our youth bus.
Return: We plan to return on Monday, September 7th, around 2:30pm.
Keeping up with us: We will send all parents a link to our location when we're on the road on Saturday and Monday. We will also send an email to all parents, if we are running early or late returning on Monday. Technically, we will not be running. We'll actually be riding. Running early or late is just a figure of speech. Kind of like "you're in a pickle." No one is actually in a pickle. And it would be funny if they were. But they would probably stink for a while because pickle juice is really stinky. Okay, enough about figures of speech. Now back to the point of this paragraph which is to talk about keeping up with our group. Location link...we'll send a location link to all parents so they can keep up with us.
Food Allergies: If your student has any food allergies, please text or email Monty as soon as possible and let us know. The camp is usually able to accommodate food needs, but we have to let them know.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Packing List:
-Bible...a real one...we will not be using our phones at this retreat. If you do not have a Bible, let us know and we will bring one for you.
-Pen
-Clothes for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday - we'll be outside much of the day. So, shorts and a tshirt and tennis shoes, or anything similar.
-Swimsuit for canoes and swimming. Girls, please wear a one-piece swimsuit or a shirt as a cover-up.
-Clothes to sleep in / pajamas
-Tennis shoes
-Bedding for a twin bed or sleeping bag
-Towel and maybe a washcloth
-Toiletries (hair stuff, teeth stuff, etc.)
-Flashlight
-Shower shoes or flip flops for shower (optional)
-Sunscreen (optional but highly recommended)
-Camera (optional)
-Snacks (optional)
The trip to Lake Tomahawk will be about 2 hours. If you want to bring cards, games, books, homework, or other things to do on the way, you are welcome to do so.
Things Not to Bring:
A bad attitude.
Any kind of divisive attitudes or any words you would use to talk bad about anyone else.
Electronics such as: video gaming devices, iPads, laptops, cellphones, smart watches with cellular connection, etc.
Earbuds or anything that goes in or around your ear and plays music
Spam
Anything intended to be used to play a joke on someone
Anything you know you shouldn’t have
Anything illegal
Weapons or knives of any kind
Anything with the word ketchup in or on it
Chewed gum
Cereal made between 1904 and 1923
Spare bicycle parts
A Note about phones:
This is a non-cell phone trip. As always, we are not trying to keep anyone from being able to communicate with their parents. Instead, we are trying to take a break from the distractions that phones so often bring. This is the same thing we do for all youth trips. Every retreat, every youth conference, every camp, every mission trip. We know there are some parents who are used to being able to reach their son/daughter at any time or check their location and see where they are. If that is you, we want you to know you can call or text us anytime. We're glad to let you know how things are going at any time.
If a student would like to bring a phone and keep it in the phone box for the weekend, that is totally fine. We'll put it in the phone box when we leave and return it back to the student when we get back to the church building. And if a student needs to get their phone out of the box to call parents, we are glad to get it out and let them call parents. Just ask. Students can also ask to use our phones anytime to call parents. If parents need to contact students during the weekend, it would be best for them to call or text Monty or Heather.
Questions?
If you have any questions about anything, let us know. We are much more likely to be able to answer questions about the retreat than questions about some random topic, but we'll try to help you out with whatever you need.
Again, so glad you can join us at the Middle School Retreat this year.
Get ready for a great weekend!
.jpg)