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N-Sid-Sen has full season of UCC and other camps

The enthusiasm of campers and volunteers coming to N-Sid-Sen have not only been inspiring but have also been working branch by branch through the extensive cleanup needed since a Dec. 17 storm tore out 35 trees in a swath from the chapel on the beach through cabin 12. A logger cleared out the logs, leaving branches to pick up and take to a burn pile.

Randy and Linda Crowe look ahead to providing hospitality.

N-Sid-Sen has been full this spring with a Temple Beth Shalom camp, retreats and camps for quilters, a yoga group, three Montessori schools and Catholic youth.

One third grader in the Montessori camp likened the cleanup progress to the adage about how to eat an elephant. It’s done one bite at a time.

Each of the groups holding retreats and camps during the spring have taken some time in their days to help carry branches to burn piles as a way to give back.

“We used to call our spring and fall volunteer camp weeks Work Camp. Now we call it ‘Giving Back Camp’,” said Linda Crowe who has spent the last year as a volunteer camp manager with her husband, Randy, who was camp managing director from 1990 to 2012.

Giving back will be part of the activities of each camp as there are so many branches to pick up to clean up and for fire safety.

The lower hiking loop has been cleared of trees, but the higher hiking trail still needs work, which will happen at the Giving Back Camp in June 14 to 20.

While there was little or no damage to cabins, other than one dislodged from its foundation by root balls, there was damage in Stillwater Lodge. When the power was out, the sprinkler system activated, damaging the flooring.

Participants in the June and October Lady of the Lake Dance camps, which have come respectively 40 and 45 years, have donated more than $7,000 toward repairs beyond what was covered by insurance.

Along with grounds cleanup, Randy, Linda and volunteers have repainted and replaced the carpets in Spirit Lodge.

Some participants in the March Textile Camp made 10 quilt tops, which will be finished by participants in that camp and a later Quilters Camp.

As one of the regular quilters, Ginny Denton of Colville First Congregational designed and created an artistic quilt that will hang in Spirit Lodge.

Randy said N-Sid-Sen has a full season with United Church of Christ summer camps—for elementary, middle and high schooler kids, for families and an intergenerational camp—from July 12 to Aug. 8 on the theme “In the Wilderness,” and many weeks and weekends from June into the fall reserved.

Intermediate and Junior High camps will share the week of July 12 to 18. Mary Lu Vait and her husband John Hubbe of Westminster UCC in Spokane will lead Intermediate Camp for fifth and sixth graders. Amara Oden, pastor of Suquamish UCC, will co-direct Junior High Camp with Leah Bilinski, pastor of Fauntleroy.

Senior High Camp will share the week of July 19 to 25 with You and Me camp July 19 to 22 and Kids Camp July 22 to 25. Aislyn Crane of Admiral UCC in Seattle will co-direct Senior High Camp with Bob Feeny, pastor of Westminster UCC. Becca Hughes and Debbie Peterson of Fauntleroy UCC in Seattle will lead You and Me Camp, just before Kids Camp, led by Kim Kotlan of Westminster UCC.

Leading Family Camp July 25 to Aug. 1 are Ryan Lambert, pastor of Kirkland UCC, and Emily Hanson of Fauntleroy UCC.

Camp Together Aug. 2 to 8 co-leaders are Linda and Randy of Westminster UCC, along with Dee Eisenhauer who just retired as pastor of Eagle Harbor UCC in Bainbridge Island.

Four of the five summer staff who will help with kitchen tasks, cleaning buildings and grounds maintenance are from PNC-UCC churches. Two will also be lifeguards, Marin Lambert of Kirkland UCC and Freddy Tanner, whose family has a cabin nearby and who was a lifeguard a previous summer.

The other staff are Terrance Bell-Towne from Chewelah UCC, Sonia Cassell of Bellevue First and Eva Bernard of Plymouth UCC in Seattle.

“Our programs happen because of incredible gifts of time, talent and money in the last 10 months,” said Randy, telling of one man who visited to prepare for the dance camp in June. He found Randy at Spirit Lodge painting. When Randy told him the lodge needed a washer and dryer, he pledged to cover the cost.

Linda spoke of the importance of drawing people for the first time, along with the many long-term camp supporters who keep N-Sid-Sen cared for.

One woman from Colbert, who came to the Women’s Retreat, commented: “I wonder why it has taken me so long to get here.”

Another woman, who came from Seattle and went to N-Sid-Sen as a camper years ago, decided to send her children to Kids Camp and to come with them as a volunteer.

“We leave out brochures for our summer camps, knowing that those who come to other retreats will pick them up,” said Linda. “We hope they will want to come back to the camps we offer.”

The Pacific Northwest Conference continues its search for a new managing director to provide a ministry of hospitality for all who come to N-Sid-Sen on the east shore of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

For information, call 208-689-3489, email randy@n-sid-sen.org or visit n-sid-sen.org.

 

Pacific Northwest United Church of Christ Conference News © June 2026

 

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