Youth Camp establishes cross country bonds

Local attorney Bart Cannon said he had no idea how much one week spent at Southeastern Youth Camp in Cook Springs would change his life. 

As a 13-year-old from Albany, Georgia, he first went to the camp in 1993. Though he didn’t know it then, he was making camp memories alongside his future wife, Jessica, who he’s been married to for six years.   

“It was awesome,” Cannon said. “It changed the trajectory of my life. I got saved that summer. Basically everything I have now can be traced back to the camp.” 

The two became friends after Jessica graduated high school, and they started to volunteer as camp counselors. They began dating in 2008, married in 2010 and now have two daughters, ages 2 and 4.

But their story is not the only love story that was sparked at SEYC. 

“We have had about 15 marriages between campers who met at camp, including our own two kids,” said Boyce Smith, a Trussville resident and founder of SEYC. “We aren’t a dating service. Those things just happen.”

Boyce and his wife, Debra, said they could fill hours of conversation with their 27 years of running the camp. Some are happy, uplifting ones about kids who reached heights they never thought possible, such as a camper with cerebral palsy who was lifted to the top of Bald Rock Mountain in St. Clair County — a real check off his bucket list. 

Some are sad stories with happy endings — loner kids who arrive reluctantly, probably nudged by their parents, and struggle through every day, only to part with tears because they don’t want to leave. 

 The idea for SEYC came about in 1990 because at the time, the Smiths’ church didn’t have many activities for kids, and there weren’t many affordable youth camps in the area. After a career in sales for Boyce and one as a homemaker for Debra, who also has a degree in early childhood education, they started SEYC as an outreach of Cross Country Ministries. It was supposed to be a one-time summer event for three small youth groups from Birmingham; Jackson, Mississippi; and Albany, Georgia. 

“In the beginning it was basically our Sunday school class that came together for this camp,” Boyce said. “We had no clue what we were doing. And at the end of the week of that first camp, I thought I wouldn’t ever want to do it again.” 

But the kids told him differently. 

Almost three decades later, kids are still traveling from all over the country each summer. At their peak, SEYC had close to 250 campers, some sleeping on mats on the floor and a waiting list to boot. They’ve had campers from 24 different states and nine foreign countries, including one who traveled from Perth, Australia, for six years. Their camp also has traveled to many states, to the Philippines twice and to Liberia. 

“I do think there’s a uniqueness to what we’ve done,” he said. “It’s had a life of its own. It became a ‘camp family’ — a ‘brotherhood.’ People would tell me that they met their best friend there or their spouse. That’s been the most rewarding part of it.”

They don’t have the jet skis and fancier attractions that other camps do. Instead, the campers find themselves immersed in nature, unplugging from technology, interacting with people face-to-face and forming friendships with others from various backgrounds. 

“We get sweaty and dirty and climb the mountain,” Boyce said. “At our camp you get loved like you’ve never been loved. I think that’s what brings them back year after year.”

 In a typical day, they begin and end with patriotic acts — something the Smiths said they hold dearly to their hearts.

They start at the flagpole — a morning devotion and raising of the flag,  then breakfast and a Bible class. After that, they play games. 

Then, it’s lunch and free time, usually at the pool or lake or hiking on Bald Rock Mountain on the property. The day ends with lowering the flag, music or possibly a movie, and then the kids go to their cabins. 

It is not always comfortable for parents to send their child into the arms of strangers, but having a resourceful and diverse staff is key to their camp, Boyce said. 

Cannon didn’t miss a year of camp from 1993 to 2006, and then he served as a youth counselor from 2008 to 2011. 

“The No. 1 reason the kids and counselors come back is that so many kids get saved,” he said. “Pretty much everyone who is there is a believer or becomes one. The No. 2 reason is that it helps people grow in their faith. It truly is a ‘bubble.’ You’re around like-minded people and you get away from the problems of the world. People literally cry when they leave there.”

Most kids go to summer camp with the promise that a familiar face will be there, too. 

“We usually break up the peers, which kids really don’t like that first day,” Boyce said. “But by the end of the week, those new teams are like well-oiled machines.” 

And in their era, they’ve had some impressive claims to fame, too. 

The tiny stage of their chapel has been graced with well-known contemporary Christian music artists including NewSong, Chris August, Jill Phillips, Andy Gullahorn, Sanctus Real, Yungtown and Shattered Pain. 

Their camp “pastor” and close friend for 27 years is Bobby Joiner, who is the tour pastor for Winter Jam tour. 

“He’s almost 70, but the kids, no matter how young they are, they love him,” Boyce said. 

One alumni camper and later staff member was Logan Henderson, the “sky angel cowboy,” who became an online sensation in 2009 with his radio phone call about a lesson that God taught him. 

But there are plenty of average campers, too.

“We’ve always been a camp for all the kids who had nowhere else to go,” Boyce said. “We have staffers that spend their whole week looking for kids who are hurting. Some of these kids — they’ve been ignored. They don’t think anyone loves them. We just show the love of Christ to them.” 

One of Boyce’s fondest memories was the child with cerebral palsy. 

“I received what I thought at first was a prank call,” he said. “It was from a child with cerebral palsy, one who had been in a wheelchair his whole life, but who wanted to attend our camp. I told him, ‘We don’t turn anyone away.’” 

The kid desperately wanted to see the top of Bald Rock Mountain, so campers put him on a stretcher with ropes attached and took him up. 

“It was so unique to see,” Boyce said. “I’ll never forget it.”

“We love kids and having the opportunity to offer them a life-changing summer experience,” he said. “It has become what we do as a couple. Our best friends on this Earth are people we’ve met during this experience.” 

SEYC is a nonprofit, and they are not compensated. The Smiths also operate a second camp in the Appalachian Mountains region of Virginia. For more information go to seyc.com or to their Facebook page at facebook.com/SEYCandCCM/.