IPC Day Camp Director Transition
This summer (2022), we are celebrating Mr. Frankie Daniell’s 30th year at IPC Day Camp!
There are several generations of families who have enjoyed camp under Mr. Frankie’s leadership over this time. He has decided to retire from his Camp Director duties this year, but we are pleased to say that he will be at camp in 2022 serving as our Certified Challenge Course Facilitator, so your campers will still get to enjoy Mr. Frankie each day. Please join us in recognizing his faithful service as we celebrate with him this summer!
For the families that didn’t meet Kenneth Crowe last summer (2021), Kenneth will be serving as the 2022 IPC Day Camp Director. Kenneth worked at camps in high school and college and served as a certified Challenge Course and Experiential Education facilitator at Berry College for many years. Kenneth is married to Sarah and they have 3 children. He is an elder at Independent Presbyterian Church and is honored to continue the longtime, Christ-honoring tradition at IPC Day Camp. He looks forward to getting to know each of you and serving your children in the same fun, adventurous, safe, and Christ-honoring way at camp this summer!
There are several generations of families who have enjoyed camp under Mr. Frankie’s leadership over this time. He has decided to retire from his Camp Director duties this year, but we are pleased to say that he will be at camp in 2022 serving as our Certified Challenge Course Facilitator, so your campers will still get to enjoy Mr. Frankie each day. Please join us in recognizing his faithful service as we celebrate with him this summer!
For the families that didn’t meet Kenneth Crowe last summer (2021), Kenneth will be serving as the 2022 IPC Day Camp Director. Kenneth worked at camps in high school and college and served as a certified Challenge Course and Experiential Education facilitator at Berry College for many years. Kenneth is married to Sarah and they have 3 children. He is an elder at Independent Presbyterian Church and is honored to continue the longtime, Christ-honoring tradition at IPC Day Camp. He looks forward to getting to know each of you and serving your children in the same fun, adventurous, safe, and Christ-honoring way at camp this summer!
From the Desk of Terry Johnson
We’ve known for several years now that the time was close. Frankie is 67 years old. He has been director of the Independent Presbyterian Church Camp at Point Pleasant for 29 years. He accused me the last two years of listing him along with Amy Martin and Ron Parrish when lamenting the loss of long-term church staff. “I’m not dead yet,” he’d complain. Yet with his retirement an era has come to something like the end we had anticipated and dreaded.
Amy’s 20 years, Ron’s 25 years, and Frankie’s 29 years (20 years full-time) provided our congregation with unusual and rare continuity. Cohort after cohort of IPC children have grown up accustomed to the friendly faces of Amy, Ron, and Frankie. All good things, including this good thing, must come to an end.
After many months of careful discussion your session is able to announce that the responsibilities of Camp Director will be placed in Kenneth Crowe’s capable hands. Kenneth is an elder of our church, adult Sunday School teacher, seminary student, and banker. We’ll be learning more about Kenneth and the coming arrangements in the days ahead.
Meanwhile, let’s give thanks for Frankie’s leadership over the past 29 years. Point Pleasant was a very different camp when he became Director in 1993. How so? Consider the following:
Beginning January 1, Kenneth will assume camp responsibilities and Frankie will go part-time. He will continue as Director of Missions. In addition, for my sake if for no other reason, he will continue to participate in the Tuesday church staff meetings and lunch, the Wednesday noon service, and Friday pastoral staff tea. I can’t face the total loss of another team member of 20+ years. “Don’t take Frankie away from me,” I pleaded throughout the process. Don’t deprive me of another valued colleague so soon after losing Amy and Ron. Few people realize how much Frankie does, every week, without being asked, touching every part of the life of our church. Thankfully, much of that will continue.
Frankie’s reach is far beyond our membership. He was the Young Life Director in Savannah in the 1980s. He taught and coached middle school football at Savannah Christian School from 1991-2002. For years now, the children of IPC have been a small fraction of the number of campers, some 85-90% being non-members. The whole city of Savannah has been touched by Frankie’s work, the true accounting of which will only be calculated in eternity. How blessed we are to have had him as a deacon, elder, missions’ leader, and most of all, for 29 years, Director of the Independent Presbyterian Church Camp at Point Pleasant.
Amy’s 20 years, Ron’s 25 years, and Frankie’s 29 years (20 years full-time) provided our congregation with unusual and rare continuity. Cohort after cohort of IPC children have grown up accustomed to the friendly faces of Amy, Ron, and Frankie. All good things, including this good thing, must come to an end.
After many months of careful discussion your session is able to announce that the responsibilities of Camp Director will be placed in Kenneth Crowe’s capable hands. Kenneth is an elder of our church, adult Sunday School teacher, seminary student, and banker. We’ll be learning more about Kenneth and the coming arrangements in the days ahead.
Meanwhile, let’s give thanks for Frankie’s leadership over the past 29 years. Point Pleasant was a very different camp when he became Director in 1993. How so? Consider the following:
- Camp duration expanded from 6 weeks to 8 weeks in 2007
- 50 weekly campers in 1993 grew to 93 weekly campers in 2021, yearly totals grew from 304 to 744.
- Adventure Programming was developed.
- High Ropes
- Climbing Tower
- Low Elements
- Sand volleyball court and basketball court were added (the latter replacing the tennis court)
- The canoeing and kayaking program was expanded beginning in 1993. The addition of the deep-water dock in 2012 revolutionized the use of Turner’s Creek for water recreation.
- A program for middle school volunteers was developed beginning sometime prior to 2003.
- Partnership with Glasgow City Free Church began in 2007, hosting college students from Scotland every summer until 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic caused cessation of travel.
- Consider this: Since 1993, 14,956 children have attended our camp under Frankie’s direction.
Beginning January 1, Kenneth will assume camp responsibilities and Frankie will go part-time. He will continue as Director of Missions. In addition, for my sake if for no other reason, he will continue to participate in the Tuesday church staff meetings and lunch, the Wednesday noon service, and Friday pastoral staff tea. I can’t face the total loss of another team member of 20+ years. “Don’t take Frankie away from me,” I pleaded throughout the process. Don’t deprive me of another valued colleague so soon after losing Amy and Ron. Few people realize how much Frankie does, every week, without being asked, touching every part of the life of our church. Thankfully, much of that will continue.
Frankie’s reach is far beyond our membership. He was the Young Life Director in Savannah in the 1980s. He taught and coached middle school football at Savannah Christian School from 1991-2002. For years now, the children of IPC have been a small fraction of the number of campers, some 85-90% being non-members. The whole city of Savannah has been touched by Frankie’s work, the true accounting of which will only be calculated in eternity. How blessed we are to have had him as a deacon, elder, missions’ leader, and most of all, for 29 years, Director of the Independent Presbyterian Church Camp at Point Pleasant.