Hammonasset 2008: Behind the scenes and the logistics

Safety was the top priorty for the team planning “Rock the Boat – It’s a ‘J’ Thing,” the 30th Annual Hammonasset Youth Weekend Campout for high school youth in grades nine through 12, which was held Sept. 5-6, 2008, at Hammonasset Beach State Park, Madison, Conn., on Long Island Sound.

As soon as it became apparent after Labor Day that Tropical Storm Hanna threatened Hammonasset 2008, a flurry of emails and phone calls ensued among the members of the planning team, according to Frank Cichon, co-chair. Everyone was watching the weather. Should Hammonasset 2008 be cancelled?

The team continued to watch the weather as members began arriving Thursday morning at Hammonasset Beach State Park to set up. When it became “crystal clear” that Hanna was headed straight for Hammonasset, plans were changed to condense programming for Saturday and Sunday into seven and a half hours on Saturday and move activities from the beach to Tabor, Branford, Conn., to avoid the heavy rain and possible tropical storm force winds predicted.

“Imagine the mental gymnastics to move to Tabor,” said Chicon.

“The biggest problem,” explained Cichon, was that we had close to 800 registered and Tabor could hold only about 500. On the other hand, we also knew from 30 years of Hammonasset that a certain percentage of those registered don’t show up and that the no-show percentage goes up fast when the weather forecast is bad. By Friday morning, 130 had cancelled and we knew that more would drop out.”

Pr. Bud Myers started the wheels rolling at Tabor and team members started working through the implications and logistics.

“We had to inform Lost and Found and work with them to set up and take down their equipment,” explained Cichon. “We needed to get a crew to break down all the lighting Friday night before the rain started. We needed to tell the park and request a refund for Saturday night camping fees. We needed to totally revise the schedule to fit everything into a much shorter time frame. We had to figure out how to set up Tabor for audio and video, plus Lost and Found’s stage performance. And, most challenging of all, the attendees, who would have been responsible for their own lunches at Hammonasset, now needed to be fed at Tabor.”

That’s when Thrivent Financial for Lutherans stepped up. The Greater Connecticut Conference of Thrivent already had planned a Thrivent-sponsored hot dog/hamburger Saturday lunch at Hammonasset for about 300. Kent Tedford, Faith, East Hartford, Mass., who had organized the lunch, offered to share it with the whole group. The Hammonasset team added 100 pizzas from two local Branford restaurants and the plan came together.

Using Tabor’s kitchen facilities and fellowship hall, the Thrivent volunteers and Tabor members worked together to set up, cook and serve the 400 in attendance at Tabor. And, much like the story in Mark 6, where Jesus feeds the 5,000, there was food left over.

The Saturday program went on without a hitch, said Cichon. Dan Scharnhorst from Iowa, a professional Christian speaker for youth and adults, delivered excellent talks; Lost and Found, a Christian rock duo, played great music. Pr. G. Scott Cady, Emanuel, Manchester, Conn., in the role of Martin Luther was interviewed by team members posing as reporters for major periodicals.

Bishop Margaret G. Payne preached at worship and also interviewed Dr. Luther, and the two discussed the differences between church practices in 2008 and the 16^th century. The individual youth groups each produced “Five Theses” and posted them on a door to suggest how they would “Rock the Boat” in their own lives, at school, at church, in the community and in the world. The program concluded with worship – ending at 6 p.m.

The Saturday rain held off until 4 p.m. and all appreciated that they were inside, rather than camping on the beach.

“This will be a Hammonasset to remember,” said Cichon. “In thinking about all the things that needed to happen to hold the event in the face of (by then) Tropical Storm Hanna, it still amazes me that it worked so well. We were blessed with excellent cooperation from all present. Everyone – attendees, youth leaders, performers, speakers, church members, synod staff, pastors, Thrivent volunteers, Hammonasset team members – pitched in and ‘got ‘er done,’.”