By KENNY KEANE, Globe staff reporter
June 19, 2003

Many young campers throughout the diocese in grades three through eight recently made their way to the Twin Lakes Christian Center in Manson where, for the 17th year, the Sioux City Diocese held its Catholic Youth Camp - CAYOCA.

The theme of this year's camp was "Increase the Peace," and according to Linda Anderson, diocesan director of catechesis, CAYOCA 2003 offered some wonderful examples of campers who really caught on to the theme of peace.

"We had one little girl who was feeling kind of homesick and a little lonely, and another little boy went and bought her a bracelet in the gift shop and gave it to her," Anderson said. "Another little boy came up to one of the camp coordinator's at one of the camp sessions and said, 'Here's my leftover spending money. I'd like to donate it to the poor. I think at your checkout table when the parents come to pick up kids that you should put a donation box there for the poor.'

"I thought that wasn't something we really felt like we could do there at camp unannounced, but we praised him and encouraged him to take his money and his idea back to his own parish and do something with it there. That's what we really try to instill in the kids, is that we want you to have a wonderful time at camp and learn here but take what you have learned, go back and share that with others and live what you have learned."

There are five sessions of camp offered each year - one for grades seven and eight, which is actually a service camp, and two sessions each for both fifth and sixth grades and for third and fourth grades. Camp began this year on May 23 with the start of the seventh- and eighth-grade session and ended on June 18 with the conclusion of the second third- and fourth-grade session.

During the sessions for grades three through six, the campers attend six workshops - two per day - participate in daily prayer opportunities and celebrate Mass each day. Other than that, a large chunk of their days are spent in free time with various ways of having fun, including several waterfront activities down on the lake.

One of the sixth-grade campers who attended the session held June 11-14, Kimberly Kallin, said she enjoys the fun activities like making candles or rock climbing, but she especially likes the opportunity to meet new friends.

"Last year I met a girl from Carroll, and we still keep in contact," said Kallin, a member of Sacred Heart Church in Ida Grove. "I'd encourage others to come to camp because once you get here you really enjoy it. You only gave a few chances to do it, so I'd suggest that they take them.

"You get to learn more about God and get closer to him. The activities are fun to do, and it gives you a chance to be by yourself, to be with your friends and to just hang out for a few days."

Shiliah Spalding, an 11-year-old parishioner at St. Mary Church in Danbury, attended the same camp as Kallin. This was Spalding's third year at camp since first attending as a third grader, and the experience of going to CAYOCA is not unique in her family.

"I have four brothers, and every one of them has gone to camp," said Spalding, whose mother Lois has also volunteered her time at camp over the years. "I think it's great that everyone's involved. I wanted to continue going to camp to meet new friends and learn more about God."

Being involved with CAYOCA has likewise been a family experience for Mike and Anita Gaspers, also Danbury St. Mary parishioners, who moved to the Sioux City Diocese back in June of 1987 and started as group leaders at camp the following year.

"One of the things that we've done that I think helps us to be successful is even though we come as a family, we all have very distinct roles," said Mike, who served as program leader for the June 11-14 camp. "Our role of serving the kids as small group leaders is primary. Whatever time we need to spend as husband and wife or interacting with our children when they're here has been, if there's time great, if not, that's part of the sacrifice of being here.

"It's not really much of a sacrifice in our eyes. Our kids were not given any choice about participating in camp as campers, but they've all been very eager and looking forward to it because there have always been nothing but positives regarding camp."

Anita, who was the coordinator at the same camp, said the important thing to note is that CAYOCA is for the kids.

"We try to make sure that they have the best of all worlds," she said. "They have a little faith, a little learning, some prayer experiences and whole lot of fun. We try to make sure that all of those aspects of things that are important to them are met here."

However, for some youth there is a desire to have their needs met beyond that of just being a camper. Andrea Jenson, who will be a high school junior next fall, first experienced CAYOCA as a camper her eighth-grade year and then served the following year as a program assistant (PA) - a role that she continued at the June 11-14 session this year.

"I think it's usually the best week of my summer, and I look forward to it the moment I find out I'm coming to camp," said Jenson, a member of Resurrection of Our Lord Parish in Pocahontas. "I used to think that I was too cool to come to camp and that I didn't want to go to church every day at camp, but it's not like normal church. You sing, dance, clap and act crazy. It's just a lot of fun.

"Even working at camp is fun. The PAs actually have the hardest job just running around and helping everyone, but it's worth it."

Adam McCarty, whose initial trip to CAYOCA was also as a camper, is a college student from St. Joseph Church in Hartley, and this year's camp was his third opportunity to serve as a group leader.

"It's just been a great experience getting to see all these kids and share God with them," he said. "Particularly for the fifth through eighth graders, they're just starting to think for themselves.

"Especially for myself, that was the age period where I found God on my own. It wasn't just because of my parents anymore. It was because I found it, and I wanted to do it myself."

This was the fifth year of volunteering at CAYOCA for Karen Schwaller, director of religious education (DRE) for St. Joseph Church in Milford. She said that although there are a lot of church camps available, it is really nice to come to a Catholic camp, which offers the opportunity to talk about how good it is to be Catholics.

"We're living in a world now where we're kind of under the gun - the Catholic Church - and we need kids to understand now more than ever that it's okay to be Catholic," Schwaller said. "We do some fun stuff, too, like everyone else does, and we need to be proud of our faith. This is a place to promote being proud of your faith."