Sandy Criminger and Bonnie Aynes take a golf cart tour during a recent outing at Pyoca Camp near Brownstown for residents of the nearby Hoosier Christian Village retirement community.
Photo provided
“Pyoca, Pyoca, your memories will linger / of worship and laughter, the things that we love / Whenever we think of the days that we spend here / we think of a spirit and a love that is dear.”
These words adorn the walls of the lodge at Pyoca Camp, a summer camp and year-round retreat center near Brownstown. They are lyrics to Pycoca’s camp song, written by a counselor named Irene Johns and four middle-school-aged girls in 1952 — the first year of summer camp at Pyoca.
Laughter and love permeated the camp’s atmosphere on June 14 when residents of Hoosier Christian Village arrived for a full day of fun camp activities, including games, crafts, archery, fishing, singalongs and more.
Andrea Halley, resident experience director for Hoosier Christian Village, spoke on the importance of days like this for the older adult population.
“What a great opportunity for our residents to come back outside; today, they’re not residents, they’re campers,” Halley said on Friday. “To come back outside and try some things that maybe they’ve never tried before, be outdoors, bring back memories … There’s a lot of research being done that [indicates] our older adult population is an underserved camp population, so the more that we can get them outside and enjoying nature, the better.
“It enhances their quality of life. It enhances their mind and mental state and everything else. It’s really working with our residents and not focusing on what they cannot do any longer but making it all about what they can do.”
While Pyoca Day Camp for kids ages 6-12 is ongoing, other summer camps are upcoming.
Pyoca Camp will host “kin-dom camp” June 30 to July 3. According to the camp’s website, kin-dom camp is “an opportunity for LGBTQIA+ youth ages 12-17 to feel safe and free to show up as their full selves. Campers will have the chance to experience all the fun that camp has to offer in a week filled with affirmation, community and celebration.”
Family Camp, to be held July 5-7, is open to families of all ages. Families who cannot make it to all of Family Camp are welcome to register solely for Family Day on July 6.
Grown-up Summer Camp is a unique gathering for individuals 21 and over to “explore and grow their faith, rest in creation and reclaim lives of purpose and play.” This camp is to be held July 25 to July 28.
Pyoca Camp and Retreat Center is located at 886 E. County Road 100S in Brownstown.
Hoosier Christian Village — located at 621 S. Sugar St. in Brownstown — serves area older adults with an array of no-maintenance senior living and retirement living options — including independent living apartments, GracePoint short-term rehabilitation, long-term healthcare, long-term memory support and coordinated pharmacy services.
