Summer Testimonials

Many individuals have passed through the gates of Camp Capers and have numerious stories and memories to share. Here is a glimpse into how their time at Camp Capers transformed their lives.

Individuals of all ages are encouraged to send their summer testimonials to Laura Shaver at laura.shaver@dwtx.org. They may be edited and should be under 100 words.

In the summer of 1947, when I first saw Camp Capers, it was much different than it is now.  I was 9-1/2 years old.   (I’ve changed, too!!)

The original farmhouse, renamed Steves Hall, was shaded in the front by an old live oak.  It had been made spiffy with a bright, white paint outside and Texas sky blue inside.  The center hall ran straight through to the back door with two rooms plus the stairs on the left and two rooms on the right.

On the left was the director’s office, Mary Louise Villeray.  To the right was her sister’s office, Kathryn Villeray, who wore many hats - the biggest one being music.  Up stairs over the office was the infirmary.  I spent two separate nights there with poison ivy and a sprained ankle due to a misstep off the Slab.  (You do remember the Slab, don’t you?)  For me the infirmary was a perk:  a fan! sheets with no wrinkles! and welcome quiet just like my room at home. To read more of Katherine's article, click here.

Camp Capers can be described as a great many things, not the least of which is a family. I was lucky enough to be raised as a member of this family from the ripe age of nine years and I can safely say that Camp has played an enormous role in the formation of my life.   

As a boy, I longed for the comfort that Camp had always provided. As a teenager, the friends I had at school paled in comparison to the depth of the relationships I had fostered at Camp.  Now, as a vehicle of the Summer Staff of 2012, I am honored and blessed to have the opportunity to be a medium for the same experiences that I received as a child.  Not an experience that was characterized by the games that I played, but by the people that I played them with.  Not a week goes by that I’m not in contact with one of the many friends that I made at Camp.  These friendships are lifelong and unwavering because of the mutual experiences that we shared as former campers and staff members. 

To read more of Matt's article, please click here.

Rachel Richter, Residential Coordinator, St. Jude's Ranch

St. Jude’s Ranch for Children is a non-profit organization that serves abused, abandoned and neglected children and families, creating new chances, new choices and new hope in a safe, homelike environment.  For more than 40 years, St. Jude’s Ranch for Children has provided a safe nurturing home, and therapeutic residential treatment services, to more than 1,000 children in Nevada and Texas.  St. Jude's Ranch is making a difference by creating new lives with new skills for abused, abandoned and neglected children of all races and faiths.  To read more on St. Jude's Ranch, please click here.

For as long as I can remember, Camp Capers has been the one thing that has kept me going.  Camp has been that place where I can simply be myself.  No worries, No fears.  I am able to let down the wall that I try so hard to keep up .  Camp has been the only true place where I have felt like I truly matter.  Camp has saved me in so many ways.  For the past few years things have been tough and at times I have felt like it was impossible to get over the challenges that I was faced with. But Camp giave me hope.  Because of camp I have learned to stay strong & have continued to push in the hardest of situations.  Because of camp, and the people there, I have continued to not give up.  I can honestly say that I would not be even close to the young woman I am today if I had not been blessed with the presence of camp.  Camp Capers is where I truly belong. Camp Capers is home.

You know that feeling when everything is right and life couldn’t get any better? Well that’s Camp Capers.  I have been going to Camp Capers for eight years as a camper and planning on counseling for the first time this summer.  People often ask me, “What’s so great about it?”  This is probably one of the hardest questions I’ve ever been asked.  With all of my effort I cannot put Camp Capers into words.  It is not a place, it is an experience.  For me, it was the chance to be with God.  I’m usually not a very religious person but Camp Capers is where I find God.  Year after year, I count down the days until I can go back, until I can return to my home.Everything from the food we eat, to the songs we sing, to the activities we do is purely amazing.  Camp food is the best.  It is home cooked and delicious.  Chapel and teaching is always awesome.  Growing up, I never really understood what they talked about in church on Sunday or why we believe the things we do.  At camp they explained it in a way that made sense to me.  I understood what we were talking about or learning about for the first time.Once you start going to Camp Capers, you quickly become what we call a “lifer” meaning it will always be a part of you.  The things I have learned at camp have taught me so much about who I am and so much about the person I want to grow up to be.  The people I have met there are, without a doubt, my best friends.  Ask anyone who has gone and they will say the same.  Camp is always going to be there whether you moved, your parents got divorced, or you lost someone special to you.  Everyone there understands and wants to help.  Not because they have to but because they genuinely want to.God is in that place.  He is in those people.  This is the reason I go back session after session, summer after summer.  It is my constant, my rock.  It is my home.

Growing up, I had two homes. One was a large two-story house in San Antonio, TX, where I lived with my family. My other home was very different than this city house; it was far away from the city. At this house, the weather was cooler, and it was much bigger than the houses in the city. This “house” is in Waring, TX, and is called Camp Capers. To read more of Thomas' article, click here.

In the summer of 1984, Greg Quisenberry and Judy Clapp were both asked to serve on Camp Capers summer staff.  Judy started going to camp when she was nine years old, but it was the first time Greg had ever been.  Greg was in cabin 7, and Judy was in cabin 4.  This was the summer my parents met. It was one of the best summers of their lives, and in 1989, Greg and Judy got married.

In 1992, they had their first daughter, me, Amanda; in 1994, their second daughter, my younger sister, Jill, was born.  I started going to camp the summer of 2001.  I was a tan, blonde-haired, scrawny little nine-year-old, and I couldn’t wait for my mom to hurry, make my top bunk, and leave, so I could begin to form my own memories and experiences in the fabulous place I’d heard so much about for my whole life.  I knew camp was the place my parents had met.  To read more of Amanda's article, click here.