Last Minute Preperations

It's all come down to the final day.

Tomorrow the Kampers of Kwest will arrive. As they stream off the buses and jump out of cars they will be welcomed by what we feel is the best staff of all time!

After almost 3 weeks of painting, prepping, training, and cleaning, we are now ready for the summer of 2009.

Todd and his crew are working feverishly to finish up the newly structured tennis facility. It's going to be a "tight fight with a short stick" (as Spike used to say) and the paint may just be drying as the first kamper arrives.

Memories are what staff training week is really made of and we have a plenty of stories that we will all share years from now. From opening night pizza with the Uncles, to the staff photo in between rain storms and our roller skating night, it's all been wonderful.

It's almost time to let "it" out of the box. We are officially ready for another summer.

Saturday morning Pancakes

It's a tradition.

Every Saturday morning at Kwest, the cooks work hard to make it happen for hungry staff and kids.

With a little touch of "mom's home kitchen" our team of cooks make every Saturday morning feel like you were sitting at home eating chocolate chip pancakes with your own mom.

This morning, Naomi took a little extra love and time to make some special pancakes.
Check out the Teddy Bear. It was such a hit that IHOP might start doing this soon.

Good eats all summer long!

KWest has Talent!

It's no secret that Kwest has talent.

Last night's talent show once again proved that the Kwest team may just be the most talented group of individuals in the world.

Staff training week is always a wonderfull time to see us develop friendships, train for the summer, and certainly uncover and discover gifts that we all have to share with the kampers who will be here.

Kuk 5 stole the show last night with their rendition of Disney's Mulon as Richard Lang and Will Certain led and sang their way into the hearts of our team. They definitely "got down to business" and helped make some real Kuk Men last night night as they performed their own home grown version and were definitely "serious as the dark side of the moon."

As usual, last night uncovered some fun singing, silly human tricks, and plenty of skit characters and outfits.

Luke and Luke (Crane and Finch our special programs guys) topped off the evening with some creative changes as they showed off no less than a dozen different clothing combos to help everyone laugh.

If this is any indication of what this summer and our Klife's will be like, we are in for a real treat.

Kwest definitely has serious talent!

AT THE FLAG!

There is nothing better than gathering at the center of Kwest main street and coming to FLAG. It's what we do. It's the very fabric of every day life at the Westside.

This morning at Kwest, we held our very first flag. It was awesome.

As always, there were skits (can you say "we need more pegs!"), there was a time to honor the flag, and there were plenty of school cheers ("peck 'em Jays may be my new favorite school cheer...gotta give some props to Tabor College!).

Today the sun is shining, we are doing our first real day of kamp (called Mega day...we practice the kamp schedule, run through classes, and even have split meals so the kitchen gets used to kuk and komo schedules).

I did want to mention we had best bunkhouse too. The guys definitely need Lysol and some Frebreez. We will get on it...

Wish you were all here.

Off and Running...for Real

The summer of 2009 is off and running. Staff showed up today at Kwest and kicked off what proves to be another stellar summer for the kids and families of Kwest. The blob is taking over kamp, aqua skippers are set and ready to go, and the staff is ramping up with loads of energy and enthusiasm. Opening day was a success for sure. We can't wait to wake up and get after the leaves tomorrow morning. Ahhh....the joy of staff training week.

Off into the Sunset

I have been noticeably absent the past few days from blogging. It's only because we have been crankin' up kamp and keeping all the Uncles busy with getting things ready.

Rapper and Befort have been running the show with both work and fun this week. Work on the waterfront, dining hall, new AV systems in both gym, repainting the tennis courts, and opening up the dining hall have kept us going long days (even Jenica decided to show up several days early just to get a jump on things...she is unreal!)

We have had some fun. After back to back wins in the Lampe Kup football tourney the past two years, we lost in the finals by 3. It was still a great team and a great tourney. We also went to play a little at Silver Dollar City today after a church service led by Keith Wheeler, the man who carries the cross around the world (literally). Not too long for play though, we were back at the Westside painting courts.

Keep hangin around for more details. Be sure to cheer for Boston tonight in Game 7.

The weather is flat out gorgeous right now. Get here soon!

Lift Off

It's official...Kwest has opened it's doors for the summer of 2009.

The Uncles arrived tonight and kicked off another year of preparing kamp for the staff and kampers who will be arriving soon.

I can't wait to wake up tomorrow and start setting up the dock, the kdomes, and the waterslides.

It Starts Tomorrow

And so it has been for over 82 snows to snows...

Take off is scheduled for 6:00pm tomorrow night.

One Day

Tomorrow we go to Kwest to set everything up. Uncles come in on Tuesday. With any amount of luck, you will be able to start hearing about Kwest from Lampe, Mo direct. I can't wait to tell you about all the new stuff.

More to come....

Moms are great!

We had a great day celebrating mom's day here in Kanakuk land.

To start things off, all the moms were honored in our church service. After church we hit the Landing and made a b-line for Cantina Laredo (Beth's favorite spot down on the river front here in Branson). We also gave Beth the after noon and evening off as far as having to take care of the home chores. Cap that off with some flowers from the boys and a few cards, and it was an awesome day.

Mom's deserve to be pampered...and by the way, not just on Mothers's day.

It's too close

I can't believe it.

I pulled up this afternoon from a call and my computer to find the office empty. Everyone except for me has already moved to kamp. Yikes. Is it that time already?

I need a more than a day or two to get ready for the summer. Actually, I take that back. I am so ready for summer I am about to bust. Just get me the pack of Uncles, put up my ENO at the dock, and let the games begin.

Uncle Week is always the best way to kick off the summer. Every year we jump start the summer with about 15-20 of the best core kuk staff. This year, our task is simple: we have to defend the Lampe Kup. No doubt K2 will field a staff of football guys that start around the country at top college programs. Regardless of who they bring to the dance, we will be ready. We most likely will show up with paint on our hands and no showers. The most important thing is that we have Befort playing center field and that means we are fine. Can you say "the glove?"

I just can't believe it's here. It came way too fast.

Stay tuned for our new addition to the blog: At the Flag. It will have daily updates from Kwest.

Come join us for another summer. If you can't make it, stay tuned. We will have plenty to talk about with you...

And the Winner is...

I am not surprised.

In our most recent poll, the voters voted, the world responded, and the winner was selected. Our readers said that Kamp Coffee Cake is the best meal served at kamp. It's hard not to agree. Sunday's are always filled with the aroma of a good batch of hot melting pieces of that cinnamon crunch sitting on top of the perfect breakfast cake. You add in some extra sleep, and some fun afternoon activities that we don't normally get to do, and you have a recipe like none other.

At Kwest, it has been a long standing tradition to make Sunday special. After all, it is the day of rest according to the Lord's plan of creation. When He was finished, He sat back, reflected on His creation, and then gave us a model to follow for weekly rest.

Spike White was once admonished by his local pastor when confronting him about his lack of attendance at the Sunday services. This was during our formative years when camps were being built rather quickly, certainly short handed, and Spike had no time to stop in between hammer swings. When his pastor reminded him that "even the Lord rested on the 7th day" Spike's response was simply "That's because He was finished."

That story makes me chuckle. I do know that a tradition Spike helped pass along was with hot coffee cake. At our flag ship camp in the early years, the first 10 kids out of bed to the meet at the fountain, found a plate of hot coffee cake waiting for them. Ahhh...the spoils of victory and an early rise.

The walk down our camp memory lane is always fun. Whether you came last year, or yesteryear, coffee cake is one tradition we can agree makes Kwest the Greatest Place on planet earth!

Slap Happy Number One!

In our quest to determine what Kwest's top ten list, we would be hard pressed to not mention "Slap Happies." The name itself brings so many things to question, as well as a flood of fun and wonderful stories about the kamp family.

Slap happy rated the best burger on the planet.

Slap Happy happens at the beginning of every term and occasionally they rear their head again for special picnics and events. It's a tradition like none other. Whether they are cooked to perfection (normally they are), flame kissed (as Brad Friess used to say), or toasted like a hockey puck (which does happen occasionally), they are still a slap happy burger made with love and not attainable anywhere else on the planet.

Maybe it's the fact that they are the first meal served to a new kamper. Maybe it's that they are made with Love. Perhaps it's even made more special because you are just back at kamp and are so excited to see everyone. Whatever the case is, opening night picnic, the kitchies, and well cooked beef bring Slap Happy time close to the center of every kampers bulls eye when it comes to favorite things of kwest.

A few years ago, Pete Majors introduced a special sauce, with a special name (almost like being in the holy of hollies so we can't mention it here). It allowed the Slap Happy burger to be taken to a new level. The secret sauce has been in the family for years now and is handed down from one generation of staff to the next.

The huddle around the grill, the smoke pouring into the cooks eyes, and the thousands upon thousands of kampers fed, all add up to helping make Slap Happy time at number 5 on our list.