By Stephen Cheslik
EAGLE TIMES MANAGING EDITOR
When you picture a summer camp, it’s probably filled with scouts taking hikes, learning to canoe and making arts and crafts. Or, maybe it’s a sports camp where kids learn to play football or cheer. Or, it could be a more academic camp, stressing STEM skills.
But the U.S. Constitution?
It might seem unlikely, but that is the central theme being explored this week by campers aged five to 95 at Singing Hills Christian Camp in Plainfield, N.H.
For adults and older teenagers, the week-long Camp Constitution offers experts on history and the U.S. Constitution, said co-founder and Executive Director Hal Shurtleff.
This year’s speakers will include author Alex Newman, Professor Willie Soon and Pastor David Whitney of the Institute on the Constitution. Valery McDonnell, the youngest elected official in the United States, will conduct a class on how to get elected and Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy will give a class on “The American Dream.”
Younger teens and children “have games and sing songs and dress up in colonial outfits,” Shurtleff said. “Over the years, [we’ve] had some reenactors in colonial outfits talk about the war.”
“They don’t leave here at five years old grasping some of the finer aspects,” Shurtleff acknowledged without reservation. But children do begin to learn about U.S. History.
Children “talk about the midnight ride of Paul Revere… One year we had a young man – seven years old – memorize the Bill of Rights.”
Spending every minute of a beautiful summer day studying doesn’t sound like fun and Shurtleff assures the curious that Camp Constitution isn’t all about studying.
On Monday, the first day of camp, volleyball, basketball and chase tournaments were underway. Some campers took advantage of classes in marksmanship and map reading. The day had started with the “Polar Bear” swim in the camp’s pond.
Designed for families, activities are geared to all ages, real and perceived.
“One year, I was stretching a single into a double,” Shurtleff recalled, noting, “I’m 64, but sometimes I think I’m 34. I was shooting hoops with the youngsters yesterday. Even did a reverse layup.”
The camp couples nightly campfires and singalongs with trips to historic and cultural sites, including The Fort at No. 4, Saint-Guadens National Historical Park and President Calvin Coolidge’s homestead.
Camp Constitution was founded in 2009 in North Carolina, after a similar program closed down.
“We kind of branched off on our own. Here we are fifteen years later,” Shurtleff said.
While Shurtleff believes the camp’s programming is a reason for its success, he gives high marks to its Plainfield host, Singing Hills Christian Camp and its “comfortable lodges” and good food.
“The facility is beautiful and the price is right,” he said.
The group started by taking a program designed for Vacation Bible schools. Now the group has a publishing arm, radio program, speakers’ bureau and year-round activities.
In 2018, the group sued the city of Boston for violating its Free Speech rights. Boston refused to allow Camp Constitution to fly a flag bearing a Christian cross, while it held an event on City Hall Plaza. Boston had established a program allowing any organization to fly its flag on the Plaza, in conjunction with their events or to commemorate an occasion. Boston officials refused to allow the Christian flag to fly, saying it violated the separation of church and state.
Shurtleff’s group was backed by the Biden administration in the case and the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision against the city, upholding Camp Constitution’s Free Speech rights in the public square.
The decision “gave us lot of notoriety,” Shurtleff said.
Shurtleff doesn’t feel teaching the Constitution should be an issue in the culture wars.
“It didn’t use to be the way. I fondly remember my eighth-grade teacher. You couldn’t tell if she was liberal or conservative,” he said. “She loved the Constitution and made us memorize parts of it and understand it.”
While Camp Constitution holds its headline event at a Christian facility, it is open to all.
“We are Christian-centered,” Shurtleff said, “but we have people from other denominations feel comfortable here. It is a successful formula.”
Overall, Shurtleff said campers return for the wholesomeness and fellowship of the camp.
For more information, visit campconstitution.net.
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