Pictures on this page and linked pages are selected from many taken with our own cameras during our trip out to Reading, Pennsylvania and back, and in and around Reading during activities that we participated in together as a youth group (as opposed to with our work crews).

	We left from St. James' in the midst of heavy downpours on Saturday afternoon, June 20th, and drove to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where we stayed overnight in St. Thomas Episcopal Church (301 St. Thomas Road, Lancaster, PA 17601; web: http://www.stthomaslancaster.org/).
	We went to Lititz, Pennsylvania (near Lancaster) to visit the Wilbur Chocolate Factory. Had some free time and a meeting back at the church. Then we went to a Hoss's Restaurant for supper, and then back to St. Thomas.
	On Sunday morning, we attended the 8:00 am Rite I service at St. Thomas and then drove about an hour to Reading. Much of our drive was through Amish country. We stopped at a McDonald's for breakfast, made a run to WalMart in Reading, and arrived at the camp at Alvernia University around 12:30 pm.
	We were one of the first groups to check in at the camp, which was based at Alvernia University. Alvernia is a private four-year liberal arts institution, founded by a Roman Catholic religious order in 1958 and espousing Franciscan core values of service, humility, collegiality, contemplation and peacemaking. So it is not surprising that they provide the use of their wonderful dorm facilities for a Group Workcamp. Here are scenes around the camp during the week. (Includes videos of "Dare or No Dare".)
	For our Wednesday afternoon off, we went up Mt. Penn on the south side of Reading to the Japanese-style pagoda which overlooks the city. The pagoda has had an interestng history, first as an aesthetic cover for an ugly stone quarry, then as a resort hotel, then as a signal tower. It is now a symbol of the city of Reading. Here are pics of the views from the observation deck, and pics of our group there. After this, we went to the IMAX theater in downtown Reading to see the new Transformers 2 movie on its opening day.
	On Saturday after the camp was over, we went whitewater rafting on the Lehigh River. We used Whitewater Challengers in northeast Pennsylvania. That night we stayed overnight at The Church of the Good Samaritan in Paoli, Pennsylvania (212 West Lancaster Ave., Paoli, Pa 19301; web: http://good-samaritan.org/). We went to their 9 AM family service on Sunday before heading home to be back at St. James' in the afternoon. Pics from our stay at Good Samaritan are here.

Things we remember from our trip:

meeting our resident - meeting my crew (from all different states) - youth group devotions - the food (good) - God Sightings at the worksites - seeing God all the time now - meeting new people and making friends - getting closer with the resident - getting to know my crewmates and working with them - helping the needy - singing fun songs - working as a community - getting closer to God - chilling with new Christian friends - amazing music at the programs - reading care cards - the look on our resident's face when we arrived - Thursday evening program and reflection / throwing the mat away - feeling closer to God - seeing God's love spread through the community - working together - seeing our resident's face light up - getting to know others in the youth group better - fun activities during the programs - seeing how happy our resident was when we finished - seeing my own actions in a different way through the programs and devotions - growing a lot closer to some of my friends - talking to my resident - hearing resident's life stories, his advice, and how it reflected what we were learning in the progams - learning how to reveal God through myself - satisfaction of seeing the work finished - growing to love my crew - 'Get Down' and singing in the programs - feeling love from my crew - working hard; getting the job done - being responsible; not goofing off - promoting synergy - singing praise songs - growing in my faith - laughing with my crew - I learned how to paint - camaraderie in our crew -- Owen getting clotheslined (priceless) - singing 'Big House' in evening program - Bandana Boys - going to bed way before bedtime - singing songs - Dare or No Dare (St. James' domination) - playing frisbee - seeing Transformers 2 - white-water rafting on the Lehigh River - having cool rooms in college dorms - real showers and beds - hanging out time - making resident happy - playing Red Rover - cake fight - paint fight - splash fight - water fights - rubber glove balloon fight on the last day - playing volleyball - random goat in Transformers 2 - 'Get Down' - hanging out with a great crew - visiting the Wilbur Chocolate factory in Lititz - tall tees - ultimate frisbee - Man Cave - car ride - "Haha . . . Where are we?" - Fritz's transformers collection - "It was the chair!" - Flog the dolphin - Thug Jeezy - "Were you born in a barn?" - no cooking gas at Applebee's - 'the best' bagels (cinnamon crunch!) at Panera

Page updated: July 12, 2009