Fayetteville Students Experience a Historic Arkansas

Cleaning up rural roads

As Camp War Eagle vans turned onto the foliage-lined dirt road, Fayetteville lifeline girls were transported  into the rural country life of 1800s America. After serving the family by cleaning up trash on their county road, students met the Tillery family, long-time residents of Tillery Farm. Gwen Tillery, sporting 1800s attire, began by leading a tour of the area, beginning with the cabin. The structure has now been in the family for over 150 years. Though it is now somewhat altered to allow the conveniences of modern amenities, the inside maintains its original framework. On the front porch, the girls witnessed the Tilleries and their neighbors shucking corn and spinning cotton into thread. The family welcomed the girls’ questions and gladly demonstrated how to perform said tasks. 

Checking out the old machine

After following trails and bridges through the trees and admiring the chickens and ducks the Tillery family raises, the group loaded onto the back of a wagon for a hay ride, which the elder Mr. Tillery narrated. The tractor traveled to the top of a hill, allowing the group to breathe in the fresh fall air and view the rolling autumn hills near Elkins, Arkansas. Following the hayride, the girls learned how to use old equipment to remove kernels from the corncobs. While Gwen Tillery cranked the machine, girls inserted their cob of corn in the top and watched the kernels fall from the bottom. They then had the opportunity to use another old machine to make homemade apple cider. After watching Mr. Tillery grind up the apples and press out the juice, the girls were delighted at their treat. The fun was far from over, though. Using the husks from the corn, the girls made their very own cornhusk dolls. Each doll was unique to each individual girl and demonstrated her creativity. Throughout the day, Gwen Tillery emphasized the importance of giving one’s all in every task. In her home, the word “can’t” is not allowed. The girls learned Gwen’s favorite verse, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength,” found in Philippians 4:13. The group, as well as their new cornhusk dolls, then traveled to the next location: a bonfire. Each student roasted her own hot dog, complete with all the fixings. They followed that by heating up marshmallows to sandwich between graham crackers and chocolate. Through sticky fingers and full bellies, the girls remembered the many different lessons they had learned that day and thanked the Tillery family for their service. As Gwen said, “We are blessed to be able to serve.”

For more photos, check out our CWE365 Facebook page, HERE.

Great Pretenders 2013!

The following was written by Bentonville Ozone Director Cass Trumbo.

Camp War Eagle pursues several goals for our students every day – an appreciation for nature, for physical activity, for God and country. Each of us who work here have our own interest, the aspects of life we see emphasized most. I gravitate towards the arts, and like to bring games and get-togethers back to creativity and imagination.

That’s why Great Pretenders is so important to me.

Great Pretenders is one of a few big, all-city, all-previous-campers-please-come events that involve multiple buses, mountains of pizza and special post-camp reunions between campers and staff. It’s a performance driven night, involving eight lip-syncing acts that have been pre-selected by their peers to perform on the main stage. At Great Pretenders, these acts, populated with middle and high school students, attempt to out-choreograph, out-costume, and generally out-imagine the others with the use of jazz hands, fake singing and (this year) American flag waving.

Armed with a Hollywood-themed pre-party, we welcomed students on a red carpet, complete with screaming fans, intrusive interviewers and adoring paparazzi. After packing a triple-digit number of students into our offices, passing out pizza and fruit and encouraging students to engage in our peripherals (Get your nails painted! Get a tattoo! Wear a paisley tie like a ninja headband!), we led our students to a 300-seat chapel/performance hall. Between students, parents, and volunteers, the space was filled nicely.

The eight acts, as well as a director act and a guest performer, captivated for an hour and a half as performers exhibited the creativity that they’d been practicing so hard to nail. Highlights included Olivia Jordan’s “Check Yes Juliet,” an impressive flurry of precisely executed footsteps and hand motions, which won the prize for “Best Choreography,” and Hailey Grigg’s “Roar,” in which she dressed as a lion and used a jungle of streamers she had mounted to milk crates. Hailey took home the “Best Costume” prize. The cute level was through the roof.

Asked about the whole night, party to performances, Olivia Jordan thought it was awesome. “It felt great to hear people cheering my name,” she said. “Plus my grandmother and I made that costume from scratch.”

The winning act combined thoroughly planned choreography with matching outfits and a high level of energy from students who are not often the center of attention. This is the beauty of Great Pretenders – as with other aspects of Camp, Great Pretenders draws out latent or hidden talents from students who may not get the opportunity to shine elsewhere. The arts can be harnessed by anyone, given enough lack of inhibitions, and the winning group – the Sparklers, of Bentonville Summit, a team of three students and two leaders – leapt and laughed and flag-waved their way to a win, exhibiting absolutely zero self-doubt in their own creativity and imaginations.

Bentonville and Rogers Ozones step up to the plate with Miracle League

Have you ever felt intense joy cheering on the first base line of your favorite team? What about when a beloved athlete scores big? On September 27^th, our students had the chance to serve in a joyful environment with Miracle League, a baseball league for children and young adults with disabilities, and experienced all those stirring moments and more.

Among the host of opportunities we afford our students, serving the community is one of our favorites. It gives students and staff the chance to think outside themselves for a while, focusing more on the needs and fulfillment of others instead. Last year, Rogers Summit students assisted Miracle League and had a fantastic time. Creating a new tradition, we loaded up two vans and traveled south to Springdale for an evening of three consecutive Miracle League games.

While nerves and uncertainty started the evening, with students thinking “what exactly do I do?” and “what if I make a mistake?” the night quickly turned into a fun and nerve free way to serve. Students were matched with members of Miracle League teams, assisting them in running bases, hitting the ball and fielding. Others took turns as cheerleaders. At one point, four Bentonville High School students ran out to the stands to start “the wave” and a series of elaborate cheers. As they ran back to the first base line, a “victory tunnel” was formed for each batter to run to as they approached the base. They genuinely enjoyed strategically adding to the environment of the game. It was fantastic to see our 8^th-12^th graders step out of a comfort zone to aid in building laughter filled hours at the ballpark.

Courtney, an 8^th grader from Pea Ridge who was matched with a young boy in a wheelchair during the first game, absolutely adored the chance to serve in this way. “The kid I got to help in a wheelchair, seeing him do it, it touched me. I want to do it again… Helping the kids who may not be able to do [baseball] without us is the best. Try it. Just Try it.”