This event was scheduled for Friday evening from
6:30-8:30pm as the ‘finale’ for the Vision of Hope Church’s weeklong bible
camp for local kids. The theme of the camp was “God’s Army”, thus the
military vehicle connection.
The LSMVPA participants arrived shortly before the
scheduled time- Danny K in his M37, Fred H in Danny’s M151, Jeff L in his
new M35A2, and Rory C in his M813A1. The vehicles were quickly lined up and
we were ready for the kids.
And kids there were – dozens of ‘em! They climbed all
over the vehicles, asked loads of questions, and generally seemed to have a
ball. Quite a few figured out that the air horns on Jeff’s deuce would blow
even with the electrical power off. Jeff finally had to drain his air tanks
to preserve the nerves of those assembled!
In addition to the vehicles, the church had an O-course
set up for the kids to run through, and other activities. Inside the church
a talented young man named Tony had gone to great lengths decorating,
including large-scale mockups of a tank and a jet fighter (big enough for
kids to get into).
Finally, a little after 8:30, it was time to go. With
help from church members, the vehicles were maneuvered out of the yard and
back onto the street. As we drove off, all the kids were lining the fence,
waving goodbye.
Pastor Henry and his flock had obviously put a lot of
effort into providing a good program and a meaningful experience for the
kids. We are grateful to him for allowing us the honour of being a small
part of it. This was a particularly satisfying event for those who
participated; we all left feeling the better for the experience. Hopefully
we left the kids with some good memories.