So we had youth conference last week - left Thursday morning at 7 am and got home Saturday evening at 7:30 am. Other than the incredibly hot weather - including assigned rooms with less than efficient air conditioners - it was marvelous. Probably one of the best I've been involved with on the adult end (I say modestly as one of the planners). We had fewer problems with youth, generally helpful chaperons, and a schedule that worked pretty well. The workshops were good and, other than one morningside that strayed way off into descriptions of a courtship and a fist fight on a mission, were both entertaining to the youth and provided the spiritual message we were hoping for. (The morningside was entertaining to them, just not very spiritual.)
The kids loved doing the National Guard's Leadership Reaction Course. It was fun to watch them plan out how to get their group of 8 through the various obstacles with the limited resources available, and the guy in charge said he had never seen a more cohesive, supportive, and enthusiastic group of teen-agers. (Maybe he says that to everyone, but they really were wonderful - not complaining about the heat, not berating team members that fell in the water while crossing and thus costing them a penalty, cheering each other on, etc.) The soldiers who checked us out afterwards also said the camp looked better than it had in years, so the youth did us proud. The stake leaders only had to stay an additional hour after most youth departed, and most of that was finishing up the kitchen while they checked off all the barracks.
I ended up being semi- in charge of the food - our YW presidency actually took on the task and roughed out a menu, but the other counselor was tied up the weekend of with her daughter's college commencement and the president was tied up with a billion other YC-related tasks. And I was willing. So I did the planning for how much to get, made arrangements for pizza and giant subs for two meals, and spent much time helping in the kitchen. We also had 2 people called to do kitchen full-time, and they were wonderful. The food was youth friendly and a big hit, so I'm very happy with how it turned out. Even if I did order too much of pretty much everything. I blame that on my genes from Grandma Gloria.
My feet are still killing me, and it's a relief to have it over for another year - but it was well worth the time and effort overall! And now that I'm done with that, it's time to panic about how much prep work I still have to do for the coming start of the school year....
If you would like to see pictures that I did not take of people you do not know, go here. :)
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