However, I still have many great memories of years before Pinebrook when I would often spend several weeks in the summer at our Mizpah Grove Camp Meeting in Allentown. Now those folks who think the facilities at Pinebrook are not up to "Marriott standards" would never have made it at Mizpah Grove.
When I was in elementary, junior and senior high, and college I spent many summers there as a camper with my family and later with my wife and two sons. I also spent several summers there working in the store and helping to set up and then tear down the tents.
Mizpah became a tent city for several weeks each summer. Hundreds of folks would come for a week to live in a tent. Folks like me were hired to build floors and often to also install a wooden board as a shelf between the tent poles. Some families rented two tents, one behind the other. Many folks brought portable beds and dressers while others, like my family, built bunks and filled them with straw. They weren't too bad to sleep in if you weren't allergic to the straw. And of course there were always bugs to torment you. Little worms were common after rain.
There were a couple of permanent buildings including a few with toilets, sinks and showers. It was an adventure when you had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night or when it was raining.
Many folks brought their own gas stoves to cook their meals. Many used ice chests to keep food cold. Every morning the ice truck would drive through the grove and folks could purchase blocks of ice for 5, 10 and 25 cents. A number of years I helped on the truck and that really was fun. We'd first travel to a nearby ice plant where we would load up with blocks of ice. Then we would deliver right to the tents.
Others purchased their meals in the dining hall which served good food at a reasonable price. When I was camping with my family we generally made our meals since in those days we couldn't afford to eat out. There was also a snack bar/store, where I worked for several summers, which served ice cream, drinks and some food supplies. I worked there for about three summers and thoroughly enjoyed that. After the evening service we would sell barbecues or hot dogs and there was always a big crowd lined up to purchase these. Some nights we ran out of these.
Most of the time was spent going to services. There was an early prayer service in a large tent. In the morning there were always two other services with pastors from our denomination speaking. That was a good way to find out which pastors were good in the pulpit and which were just average. The afternoon featured a program for children. Sometimes after supper there would be a meeting for teens. But the big event was the evening service which would feature great congregational singing, choirs and special music, and a special visiting evangelist. These were memorable services in which many folks came to know the Lord or to dedicate their lives to His service.
There was very little in the way of recreation - ping pong and shuffleboard were available. A nearby elementary school had a cement area where the men usually played softball in the afternoon. Right field was so short that outfielders often had to play on the street. Some folks went to nearby tennis courts and others ventured to the Lehigh River for swimming. Otherwise folks spent their "free time" in fellowship, reading or taking a nap.
The weather was often interesting. Gentle rain on the tents was soothing - unless it happened at night and you had to go to the bathroom. When heavier rains would come they had large curtains that could be lowered to protect those sitting in the large Tabernacle. The last year of Mizpah a large afternoon storm ripped down many of the tents, including ours. When it was really hot, sleeping could be a challenge and often we had to sleep with the tent flaps open to try and get some air.
One of the lasting benefits of Mizpah were the friendships that developed during those weeks. Many of the teen friendships eventually led to marriages. That is probably why so many folks in our denomination are related. It was a good place to meet Christian friends.
Now Mizpah is just a memory for most of us. The land was sold to the Allentown School District after our church bought Pinebrook. I believe that their board had planned to build a school there, but that never happened. We recently went back to the grounds. Weeds were everywhere, but we were still able to locate the main aisle and the foundations of some of the permanent buildings that once were there. The large tabernacle had been purchased by another camp and moved, but some of its markings were still visible. But if you had never been to Mizpah, you'd have no idea of what happened there in the lives of thousands a half century ago.
But there are many great memories for some of us seniors who met the Lord there. It was a key part of my life which I will never forget.
Many folks brought their own gas stoves to cook their meals. Many used ice chests to keep food cold. Every morning the ice truck would drive through the grove and folks could purchase blocks of ice for 5, 10 and 25 cents. A number of years I helped on the truck and that really was fun. We'd first travel to a nearby ice plant where we would load up with blocks of ice. Then we would deliver right to the tents.
Others purchased their meals in the dining hall which served good food at a reasonable price. When I was camping with my family we generally made our meals since in those days we couldn't afford to eat out. There was also a snack bar/store, where I worked for several summers, which served ice cream, drinks and some food supplies. I worked there for about three summers and thoroughly enjoyed that. After the evening service we would sell barbecues or hot dogs and there was always a big crowd lined up to purchase these. Some nights we ran out of these.
Most of the time was spent going to services. There was an early prayer service in a large tent. In the morning there were always two other services with pastors from our denomination speaking. That was a good way to find out which pastors were good in the pulpit and which were just average. The afternoon featured a program for children. Sometimes after supper there would be a meeting for teens. But the big event was the evening service which would feature great congregational singing, choirs and special music, and a special visiting evangelist. These were memorable services in which many folks came to know the Lord or to dedicate their lives to His service.
There was very little in the way of recreation - ping pong and shuffleboard were available. A nearby elementary school had a cement area where the men usually played softball in the afternoon. Right field was so short that outfielders often had to play on the street. Some folks went to nearby tennis courts and others ventured to the Lehigh River for swimming. Otherwise folks spent their "free time" in fellowship, reading or taking a nap.
The weather was often interesting. Gentle rain on the tents was soothing - unless it happened at night and you had to go to the bathroom. When heavier rains would come they had large curtains that could be lowered to protect those sitting in the large Tabernacle. The last year of Mizpah a large afternoon storm ripped down many of the tents, including ours. When it was really hot, sleeping could be a challenge and often we had to sleep with the tent flaps open to try and get some air.
One of the lasting benefits of Mizpah were the friendships that developed during those weeks. Many of the teen friendships eventually led to marriages. That is probably why so many folks in our denomination are related. It was a good place to meet Christian friends.
Now Mizpah is just a memory for most of us. The land was sold to the Allentown School District after our church bought Pinebrook. I believe that their board had planned to build a school there, but that never happened. We recently went back to the grounds. Weeds were everywhere, but we were still able to locate the main aisle and the foundations of some of the permanent buildings that once were there. The large tabernacle had been purchased by another camp and moved, but some of its markings were still visible. But if you had never been to Mizpah, you'd have no idea of what happened there in the lives of thousands a half century ago.
But there are many great memories for some of us seniors who met the Lord there. It was a key part of my life which I will never forget.
1 comment:
I too remember those days went for years stayed the whole duration during my earl youth in the late 40s & early 50s in fact my aunt & grandmother cooked ln that old cafeteria & made the evening barbecue you spoke of emiley neumoyer & marie rohrbach.they were great memories sincerly walter rohrbach wbrohrbach@msn.com
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