RIDGECREST, N.C. (BP)–Calling all former scoopers of ice cream, washers of dishes, cleaners of rooms and others who worked summers at Ridgecrest, a LifeWay Conference Center. A group of former summer staffers is looking for you.
If you have ever worked at Ridgecrest as a summer staff person, you’re invited to become a part of the Ridgecrest Staff Alumni Association, said Dave Duncan, a summer staffer in the 1970s, who currently works full-time at the North Carolina Baptist conference center as technical services coordinator.
“So far, we’ve located staffers from the 1940s to the present, and it’s been exciting to find out what they’ve been doing throughout the years,” said Duncan, who is also on a team to coordinate the alumni association search process.
Duncan said the alumni association hopes to reunite old staffers and friends, participate in group projects and volunteer opportunities, create a website and newsletter, coordinate staff reunions, remember the past and shape the future.
While some activities for the summer program have varied through the years, others never change, said Bill Vickery, who is also on the alumni association team. Currently an events services leader at Ridgecrest and formerly a food services, classrooms and audio visual summer staffer in the late ’70s, Vickery said the similarities of tasks then and now are astonishing.
“It’s amazing to me that the summer staff of today still do some of the same things we did back in 1978,” he said. “They play and work just as hard as we did.”
Former staffers who want to join the group should contact the association by e-mail at [email protected] or telephone (828) 669-8022, ext. 5909. Interested former summer staffers may also join a free e-mail newsletter group. To do so, sign-up at www.eGroups.com, and join the group named “ridgecreststaffalumni.”
The alumni association would like former staffers to send the following information by e-mail or regular mail to Ridgecrest Alumni, in care of Robin Hawkins, P.O. Box 128, Ridgecrest, NC 28770:
— First, middle and last name
— Maiden name if applicable
— Male or female
— Mailing address
— Home and work telephone number
— E-mail address
— Years and areas worked at Ridgecrest.
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