December 2004 12/10/2004
The Mechuwana Site Committee is pleased to announce that at its last meeting, the construction of a new year-round chapel was approved. The new chapel will be located across from the Gus Building, right in the heart of the camp property. Nestled in the trees, it has been designed to blend well with its surroundings and offer a beautiful space inside and out for worship. This year-round worship center will be 32' by 52', with a small narthex and two handicapped accessible bathrooms at the entrance. To date, the land has been cleared, and the building permit process has begun. It is hoped that the earthwork will be completed and frost wall poured before the end of the year. Construction will begin as soon as possible in the spring. Praise God! Funding for the project will come from many sources. None of it, however, will be borrowed funds. The fund has been established solidly with gifts in memory of Margaret Strickland and in honor of the 50th wedding anniversary of Bob and Carol Withee. Other funds will come from a personal fundraising challenge between Norman Thombs and Laura Church. Churches and individuals are invited to make contributions to this important project. In addition, all the 2005 Alumni Association membership fees will go to the chapel project. Please contact the camp office at 377-2924 if you have questions about the project, would like to contribute to the construction, or participate in its building. We are very excited about this next step in the continued development of Mechuwana as a year-round camp and retreat center. Happy Holidays to you and your family! God Bless, Norman R. Thombs Director Add Comment August 2004 08/10/2004
As our summer program comes to a close, I want to thank all the people who have made it possible for this ministry to flourish. More than 200 adult volunteers and a 100 youth leaders gave of their time this past summer providing leadership for our programs. Mechuwana began as a ministry of volunteers more than 50 years ago; that tradition is still just as vital today. The summer of 2004 will go down in history as one of the biggest on record! We had over 1300 campers take part in at least one of our programs. We are so thankful for our enrollment being so strong, especially during a time when most camps across the state and country are experiencing record low enrollments. I feel it is a great testament to the volunteers that parents and campers continue to seek out Mechuwana and its programs. The Peter Swett Alumni party was very moving and gave everyone a chance to meet and be in fellowship. More than 100 people attended the day. We hope this special day for alumni will continue to grow in the years to come. If you would like to be on the committee that helps plan that day please let us know. Thank you all again for a wonderful summer. God Bless, Norman R. Thombs Director March 2004 03/10/2004
This summer will be Mechuwana's 55th year of operation at our Winthrop site. Of course the history of camping in the United Methodist Church goes back more than 100 years. As always we are very excited about the approaching summer season. In just a few months, more than a thousand campers and over two hundred adult volunteers will take part in our program. If you have not signed up for camp already, I would encourage you to do so very soon. We have over 400 campers registered already with many camps full or close to being full. Don't wait!! Please do not let finances stop you from coming to camp, Mechuwana has scholarships and we have contacts with groups that are willing to help families in need. We will make sure everyone who wishes to come to camp has the opportunity regardless of their ability to pay. On the last weekend of February we had a great Youth Leader Training event, we will be holding one more training of APRIL 3rd. If you are in grades 8-12 and would like to take part in this exciting program please contact the camp as soon as possible to secure a spot. Mechuwana could not run its programs without the help of over 200 adult volunteers, if you would like to apply to be part of this very exciting ministry please contact the office. See you this summer!! God Bless Norman R. Thombs Director September 2003 09/10/2003
MORE THAN A THOUSAND CAMPERS COME TO CAMP. This spring I received several memos from the American Camping Association stating that camp enrollment had significantly dropped off for nonprofit camps, including church-affiliated camps; especially hard hit was the Northeast. Thankfully I am happy to report that Mechuwana's enrollment was still very strong. In fact, more campers came to camp since 1994, which was a record year. Several new camps like camp “I am”, three new basketball camps, and two new field hockey camps helped bring new campers to Mechuwana. Another very positive sign was that the number of younger elementary campers was at an all time high.
Summer 2003 06/10/2003
SUMMER 2003 IS HERE!!! Although the weather does not correspond to the calendar, the start of our summer camping season begins very soon. Campers and parents will see some changes when they drive down Mechuwana Lane - new camps signs, a full-size basketball court, and a new entrance into the Commons. All these things were made possible by the generous gifts of time and money by people who believe in the ministry here at Mechuwana. If you look through the trees near the soccer field you will also see a new village, this new village has five cabins, a shower and bath house, and deans cabin. This area is being built by a number of different groups. Many thanks to the work crews from North Brewer/Eddington UMC, Green Street UMC in Augusta, Skowhegan UMC, Brunswick UMC, for working on these cabins. A special thanks to our friends from N.J who came for two weeks to work on this project. We would also like to recognize the wood working class at Winthrop High School, led by Mr. Frank Smith, for building one of the cabins as an end of the year project. CAMP ENROLLMENT STRONG AGAIN. This spring I received several memos from the American Camping Association stating that camp enrollment had significantly dropped off for nonprofit camps, including church-affiliated camps; especially hard hit was the Northeast. Thankfully I am happy to report that Mechuwana's enrollment is still very strong. In fact, as of June 12th, we have more campers coming than the last two summers, and the way the phone has been ringing we may get close to the enrollment of 1994, which was a record year. Especially encouraging is the number elementary campers that have signed up - this is a great sign for the future. MECHUWANA ALUMNI - WE NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU! For years we have asked families and individuals to contribute $25.00 or $50.00 a year and become a member of our Alumni Association. I cannot emphasize enough how much of a difference those gifts have made to Mechuwana over the years. It allows us to purchase things that are above and beyond our operating budget, it has also allowed us to tackle projects that we could only dream about. Please consider becoming a member, your contribution helps ensure that Mechuwana will be around for the next generation. Norman R. Thombs Director Message from the Director Jan 2003 01/10/2003
I hope all of you are having a wonderful winter. Mechuwana has a lot of snow, and as you know, it has been very cold. Despite the snow and cold, we have been extremely busy. In January and February we have groups in every weekend and many groups during the middle of the week as well. By now you should have received your summer brochure, we are very excited about some new programs this year. The new programs include: "I Am" camp for girls, field hockey camps, elementary creative arts camp, and basketball camps. Along with these new programs - we also have some new additions coming to our facilities this summer, including: a new basketball court, a new cabin area, and a new shower building in KK village . We were also able to renovate Asbury this fall, building a new entry way and completely renovating the back stage area. This should really make things easier for the music theater camps. Thanks to the efforts of so many people the new addition to the Commons has been completed the new space is a wonderful addition that has been used by many different groups. Our youth program especially loves all the new space so that they can spread our during their eight youth events this year. THE FUTURE Mechuwana continues to make plans to increase the number of people that can use the camp during the winter, Plans have been made for a series of new retreat cabins to be built in the area behind the Commons. YEAR-ROUND CHAPEL Plans have also been made to build a year-round chapel. This building will address the need for the camp to have a space that is used only for worship. This need is especially great with our seasonal program, many of which have significant chapel time scheduled throughout the weekend. DO NOT HESITATE SENDING IN YOUR CAMP REGISTRATION Every year people become very upset and frustrated to find out that the camp they wanted to go to is already full. Many of our camps, especially the small ones, fill-up very fast.We can't wait to see everyone this summer. Norman R. Thombs -Director |  Norman Thombs
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