Hannah Fries reflects. . .

Horton Center is my favorite place. It is indescribable. Trying to give someone who has never been there an idea of what it is like is as impossible as defining the word "love". Perhaps you could express, in a general sense, what it looks like, but the whole atmosphere of the place and the feelings it creates will never be described.

I made my first trip up the mountain with my church family retreat when I was five. I soon came as a camper as well, and every year Horton Center becomes dearer to my heart.

It all starts when the car pulls off the highway and onto that dirt road leading up the mountain. It's like pulling into a different world, out of a world that so often brims with anger and pain, and into one overflowing with peace, love, and acceptance. The mountains themselves have always been a source of peace, comfort, and wild wonder for me, and I'm sure they are one of the many reasons I return to Horton Center every year. Mountains are another thing I can't describe, but the wonderful thing about them is that no matter how many times I gaze out off of Chapel Rock or Pinkham Ledge, I am struck every time by the sheer glory of it all and their still and silent beauty.

There are no social classes. I always end up making friends with people I never would have expected to make friends with had we been in school together. It's always nice to see the familiar faces of campers and staff from years past as well. The staff rocks every time--loving and caring, wild and crazy (at what other camp is it not unheard of for the staff to start the foodfight?!). I couldn't ask for better!

It's truly an amazing place that can bring you closer to yourself and to God and at the same time offer tons of fun and the opportunity to go wild! Besides, where else can you go to sign up for a camp activity entitled "Mud Fight"? Maybe it's just a strategy to get people to shower...

Hannah

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