We hope you enjoy the Together Series, where we are sharing stories and videos from this past summer about how Camp brings people together within generations through play, service, and faith.
For the Thies family, Camp Arcadia is a place of joy. Here, they revel in the joy of being together, playing together, resting together, and worshipping together.
Invited by friends, Adam and Anne Thies brought their four young kids to Camp Arcadia for the first time in 2015. They quickly fell in love with this place and were amazed that they could experience a restful vacation during this hectic season of life with a growing family. Each year, they look forward to returning to Camp and have even extended the invitation bringing along other family friends with them from their hometown of Bloomington, Indiana.
Camp Arcadia serves as a collective exhale for the Thies family. Disconnecting from their phones allows them to fully immerse themselves in the fun, filling their days with ultimate frisbee, archery, kayaking, and Bunko. Anne reflects, “Life is busy, but at Arcadia we get back to what really matters: enjoying time together. Here, we remember who we truly are.”
Her 18-year-old daughter, Kate, agrees, cherishing the break from the digital world. “I love that at Camp we are away from the outside world,” she adds. “We put our phones away and don’t have to deal with the constant flow of information. Instead, we get to have fun and go play Capture the Flag.”
Another reason that the Thies family loves coming to Camp is the warmth of the staff. Kate remembers from her first summer how much it meant to her that the program staff learned her name right away and would go out of their way to connect with her throughout the week.
Program Director Stephanie Jass and her husband, Doug Baker, created a fun memory for the Thies family in 2024. Kate’s younger brothers, Peter and Andrew, were so fascinated by Camp’s history that they read Stephanie’s book, Days Filled with Sunshine: 100 Years of Camp Arcadia, cover to cover. When Stephanie, the book’s author, heard about their interest, she challenged them to a friendly trivia competition.
Doug then created a “Jeopardy!”-style game based on the book, and they met out on the patio one evening for the trivia battle. With their family cheering them on, Peter and Andrew impressed everyone with their ability to recall obscure facts about Camp Arcadia. In a thrilling tie-breaker, the brothers won, defeating the real-life Jeopardy! Champion and Camp Arcadia Historian. Anne shared, “The trivia battle was indicative of how I feel about the Camp staff. They notice things and are willing to do that extra thing to make it fun and special for us.”
A lasting memory for Kate is one picturesque summer night when the whole family watched the sunset, enjoyed ice cream, and gathered on the beach for fireworks. For her, Camp Arcadia is simply idyllic. “It’s those moments early in the morning reading a book on the front porch or watching the lake… or those moments like the fireworks on the beach,” she recalls. “There’s always a moment at Camp each day that I feel like I’m living the ideal life. It’s incredible!”
Anne agrees that while not every moment is perfect, Camp Arcadia provides an overriding sense of joy for everyone. She shares, “This is a place of joy for our family and for many other families. The overall picture is joy because here we feel God’s love deeply, we get to enjoy His creation, and we get to meet all the people in the Camp community.”
