Reach Workcamps

November 13, 2008 - "Off To Visit A Friend..."

It was only 20 months ago that I told my co-workers that I was off to California to visit a friend from college. Her and I had stayed in touch over the 8 years since we both left school and we were excited about some of the recent phone calls we had shared. Now I sit here 20 months later, having been married to her for the last 1.5 of those months. A familiar sight is happening right in front of my very eyes...A co-worker of mine is off to Minnesota to visit a friend. I'm not trying to assume anything, I'm just saying it looks familiar. I remember those feelings of coming to the office early in the morning and watching the clock slowly tick as I was waiting for my scheduled time to leave for the airport. I wish you well, my friend, I wish you well!!!

November 12, 2008 - "A Day Off..."

First and foremost, I would like to take this time to truly thank all the veterans and current military personnel that have served our great nation! Thanks to you, we get to live life as we know it. I have new in-laws that are both Captains in the Air Force and I couldn't be prouder of them. Secondly, thanks for the day off we get because of you!

November 6, 2008 - "He Speaks..."

It's been 6 years and 7 months since his last post to the Reach Workcamps Message Board. Today, after some prompting and instructions, Mike Jones, Reach's Executive Director, took the plundge. He's had his very own forum entitled, "Mike's Thought for the Year (or as often as he has one)." Who would have thought it would be over 6.5 years since his last thought? You better read it as it may not be until 2014 that we hear from him again!!!

November 5, 2008 - "I Have A Secret..."

SpiderPaul I think Neil had a little too much free time at the office today! He just sent me an email with this wonderful picture attached. It was so funny that I thought I would share it with all of you. Would someone please email Neil and give him something to do!!! Well, today's blog is going to be a little short...I have to go catch some crooks.

November 4, 2008 - "Pre-Mature Blogging..."

I know, I know. It's not even the 4th yet (unless you're not reading this everyday), but something really funny just happened in the office that will make you laugh...at least it made all of us laugh. Neil, just announced to the entire office that he is officially retiring the pair of jeans he is currently wearing. The reason??? He just sat down at his desk and heard an unfamiliar sound. It sort of sounded like paper ripping, he said. But then he felt a cool breeze. Yes, he ripped his pants. Needless to say, I won't be heading over to his desk anytime soon, no matter how important the question may seem. Thank goodness for our intercom system!

November 3, 2008 - "Cheating..."

The entire time I was there, I felt guilty. I knew Corleone's would never find out, but I still felt like I shouldn't be there. This new place, which I don't even know the name, had cheap food (not as cheap as Corleone's) and of course we made it fun, but we have so many memories at Corleone's. Heather took us to a new restaurant for lunch today. How was I supposed to eat there and not feel bad. I know, I'll go to Corleone's tomorrow for lunch to make up for it. Yummy, Taco Tuesday!

October 29, 2008 - "Proceed With Caution..."

Ever heard of a "Finger Rocket?" Come out to the Reach Office and you'll immediately know what one is. It's basically a nerf dart that you shoot off the tip of your finger. It's about 6 inches of foam and some of the Reach full-timers have become deadly accurate with these projectiles. I'm not kidding you...I just got a finger rocket in the ear, thanks to my co-worker, Neil. "I've been physically abused in the ear." Can you name that movie reference? Okay, back to the finger rockets. The office is truly a war zone and it's only going to become more dangerous in about a month. We're all attending the National Youth Worker's Convention in Pittsburgh and Nashville, and that is where we re-stock the office with fresh finger rockets. If you come visit us at the office...proceed with caution!

October 27, 2008 - "Two For The Road..."

What do you think is worse: driving across the country for 20 some hours or waiting on hold for tech support? Both are happening today as Mike and Joel have begun the cross-country trek to Pittsburgh for the National Youth Worker's Convention and I've been on hold most of my life, I mean day. Well, now I feel bad as the tech support guy just answered my call, but yet Mike and Joel are still driving. I guess my life isn't too bad after all.

October 20, 2008 - "Multi-Cultural Full-Time Employees..."

So it's Monday morning and my brain isn't quite functioning to its full capacity yet. I'm trying to think about a topic to blog about and nothing is coming to my mind. So I just yelled throughout the office, "Does anyone have anything fun that I can blog about?" Heather replied with, "Blog about how Joel is learning to speak Italian using the Rosetta Stone curriculum." And it's true. He really is learning how to speak Italian. "Il bambino sta correndo." That means, "The boy is running." At least that is what he tells me that it means. If anyone reading this speaks Italian, you should email Joel (jminter@reachwc.org) in only Italian and make him figure out what it means. That could be a good homework assignment for him. He doesn't know I'm writing this, which will make it even funnier.

October 16, 2008 - "Burn Calories By Laughing..."

The five of us (Mike was out of town) went out to lunch earlier this week to a small Mexican restaurant. It is a great deal as you get 3 tacos for only $3. And this isn't the Taco Bell quality (no offense to Taco Bell), but this is good stuff. Then we share baskets of sopapillas for like $2.75. Needless to say, we have a great lunch for like $5 a person. But the best thing about these lunches, is the quality of people sitting around the table. I feel blessed to work with the people I do, and I would hope they would say the same. At one point during the meal, we were all laughing so hard that a few tears were being shed. It was a priceless moment. Good office bonding with great friends. If you haven't had a good laugh with some friends lately, pick up that cell phone and make a lunch date. You'll be surprised how much fun you can have.

October 8, 2008 - "All Six In The Office..."

Today during our weekly Bible/book study, it was the first time in a while that all 6 of us were in the office. There have been numerous things that have kept at least one of us absent including a car accident, a worksite videotaping trip, a honeymoon, a marketing trip, and even playing hookie (I'm not telling you who). But today, all 6 of us were there. What a good time we had. As we were sitting around discussing our current book, "The Life You've Always Wanted" by John Ortberg, some of us were chomping on a bag of salted peanuts, you know, like the ones at a baseball game. As I reached into the bag, it was the coolest thing...

a four peanut shell. I've never seen such a cool thing and Heather wanted me to blog about it. So here you go. A blog about a 4 peanut shell.

September 24, 2008 - "Excuses Are Flying..."

So it's been a couple days (or weeks) since the last blog. Most of us in the office have been sick, and plus I'm planning for a wedding. How's that for two good excuses? Thanks to all who have been praying for me. I can't believe it is this Saturday. I'm so excited and so thankful. I actually fly out tonight to Illinois for all the festivities to begin. I won't be back until October 7th, so you'll have to find other means of entertainment other than my captivating blog. Registration numbers are beginning to climb for the 2009 summer. You should be getting an email newsletter in about a week with lots more happenings around Reach. Here's a fun office tidbit for you...Annie Dodge has a plant in the office that is growing about an inch a day. Neil thinks it is going to start talking to her next like in "The Little Shop of Horrors." My next blog will be as a married man! That's fun to think about. Have a great day!

September 9, 2008 - "Calling All College Students..."

We've started the process for hiring our college-aged Summer Staff for next summer. The Summer Staff are the ones in the blue shirts that you see up on stage. Check out the Staff Page for more information and to print out an application. We know that college classes have started for most of you and that only means one thing...procrastination! So we're giving you plenty of time to get them back to us. All applications are due to the Reach Office by December 31st.

September 5, 2008 - "Welcome back, Heather..."

I made a pit stop on the way out to the office this morning. It was during this pit stop that I picked up a hitch-hiker. Her name was Heather and it was good to see her. It's been a week since she was at the office last due to her scary car accident last Saturday (see Sept. 3rd blog). We're so thankful to have her back, even though we can't say any jokes around her because it hurts her to laugh due to her broken ribs. Imagine all of us trying to be serious at the office...it's not easy, especially because us guys are so funny, at least we think so. Well, it's Friday. It's past 3:00. Doesn't that mean it's time to go home! Have a great weekend everyone.

September 4, 2008 - "Stay in touch with us..."

By now you should have received the email newsletter that was sent out on September 1st. It's a fun monthly newsletter to keep you up to date with stuff in the Reach world. If you haven't received it, be sure to sign up at: http://www.reachwc.org/pages/news.shtml. This quote was passed on to me from a person who's reading this blog...
"LIFE IS INSPIRATION. DON'T THINK THAT YOUR LIFE DOESN'T AFFECT EVERYONE, BECAUSE IN SOME WAY, IT DOES."
That's it for today. Check back soon for more blogging fun.

September 3, 2008 - "You're lucky we're alive!"

So it's been almost a week since the last blog, and no one has even called to see if we're alive after our hike. Either no one cares about us, or no one is reading this. I'll assume it's the latter of the two. The hike up to Long's Peak (see August 28 blog) seriously kicked my behind. It was a 15 mile round-trip hike going up 5,000 feet in elevation. There was a scary moment on the descend as I slipped and slid about 12 feet along the face of the mountain. Annie and Craig sat helplessly as I finally regained my footing. What an office-bonding experience! Our newest employee, Joel Minter, made it out here (to Colorado) on Saturday after driving from New Jersey. Welcome aboard, Joel. We did have a slight tragedy on Saturday as Heather Moulton and her family were in a major car accident. Heather has a few cracked ribs, her sister has a broken femur, and her mom cracked her scapula. We are thankful that all are recovering. Please drop Heather an email to wish her well at hmoulton@reachwc.org. That's the news for this week. I really need to do this more often.

August 28, 2008 - "I'm a slacker"

This whole blog thing is more work that I imagined. I keep forgetting to write, mostly because no one is responding to me and I feel like I'm writing solely for my personal reading pleasure. There is good news to be excited about, though. Our newest employee, Joel Minter, has started the cross-country drive to join us in Colorado. That brings our total to 6 full-time employees. How many can you name? There are 3 of us that are taking a day off tomorrow (Friday) and hiking one of Colorado's 14,000 ft tall mountain peaks, Long's Peak. I really hope we all make it back safely. If I don't blog for a while, send out the rescue troops! HA

August 18, 2008 - "The Monday Blues..."

Why is it that Monday's are such a hard day? Out of the five of us currently in the office, four of us seriously though about taking naps over the lunch hour. When we're at workcamp, Monday morning is what we like to call "organized chaos." That's when 400+ people are picking up their supplies from the tool room, getting their bag of ice and break pop, filling their coolers with lunch stuff, figuring out where their workcrew is and what vehicle they're taking, posing for goofy pictures with the staff, going through the Reach Toll-Booth, and screaming "It's A Great Day For A Workcamp!" Whew, that makes this morning a little less stressful. I still want a nap though.

August 12, 2008 - "2009 workcamps are officially underway"

As of today, we officially have workcampers signed up for the 2009 summer. I know that seems like it's so far away, but it is cool to think that people are already clearing their summer schedules to spend a week at workcamp! Click here to check the registration status of each workcamp. Did you know that if you went to a workcamp this summer and then you get a new church to sign up for a 2009 workcamp, that we'll give you a $100 credit card to spend however you want??? How cool is that? You want to hear something even cooler than that...as I type this blog entry, I can hear our Executive Director downstairs beginning the construction of the 2009 program set. What's it going to be? Only a few of us know. Check back for some clues...maybe!!!

August 11, 2008 - "WOW, People Are Actually Reading This..."

I'm starting to like this whole blogging thing. I just got my first email from George Kaiser of Folcroft, PA. He was a workcamper at our last camp of the summer in Monroe, NC. It's so humbling to know that Reach Workcamps is impacting lives and that the impact lasts longer than a week of camp. So, here's a shout-out to work team 2239 from Monroe, NC #2. Keep up the good work all. Here's a thought for anyone who is reading this, shoot me an email at pcrichar@reachwc.org if you've got a cool story or testimony from a camp this summer. I'll post it here for others to read and be encouraged. Have a great day!

August 8, 2008 - "Summer Staff Go Home"

It's a sad day around the Reach Headquarters as our precious Summer Staff return home today. They have truly given their all for us, for Christ, and for the workcampers this summer. They will be missed. Please pray for safe travel and a smooth transition back to their "normal" lives. We couldn't have done it without the 14 of you. Well done good and faithful servants!

August 6, 2008 - "Summer Staff Returns To Headquarters"

Here we go, my first attempt at blogging. Any suggestions or comments, please hit me up at pcrichar@reachwc.org. The Summer Staff returned to Reach Headquarters today after only one flat tire on the way back from Monroe, NC. I say "only one" because there are usually 2-4, especially since we've got four vehicles totaling 28 tires. Try and count that fast in Roman Numerals! Oh there's I, II, III, IV, V, VI, ok, you get it. We'll keep you posted on the staff, the summer, and the upcoming stuff. Check back soon.

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