Josh Church

Head Counselor Josh Church 1993

Josh Church was at Birch Rock for nearly a decade from 1987 through 1994. He was Birch Rock's last 15 year old junior counselor (he was actually a CIT covering a cabin on his own) and one of the camp's youngest Head Counselors. Josh was a wizard on the waterfront and spent most of his time in the swim area.

Camper Years

Summers of 1987-1989

Josh and Justin Ingold on the Moose River trip

Counselor-in-Training Year: 1990

Due to a limited number of staff members, Josh was asked to head up Hilton A his CIT year, making him the last of the 15v year old counselors (even though he was a CIT). In 1990, the only swim staff was Waterfront Director Mike Mattson and Swim Instructor Josh Church. This was the last summer of a set of old and breaking apart battleship grey catwalks. Josh or Mike would be in the water fixing catwalks almost every period leaving the other to teach the swim groups solo. This often meant one counselor had to teach two or three different swim class groups at the same time, often culminating in lots of laps, treading water, and long distance swim endurance work. Josh did such a great job as a CIT and blending in with the staff that he was asked to return on staff in 1991.

Staff Years

Summers of 1991-1992

Chuck Hatcher and Josh, Swim Instructors

Josh spent much of his time on the waterfront. In the early years he leaned more towards sailing & canoeing but it wasn't long before he was being used full time at the swim area. Josh was the head of Hilton for a few summers and was known for his antics with the camp's youngest campers. Josh was also a keep contributer to Birch Rock's Biroca Blast newsletter during those summers. Josh and Justin Ingold would spend all night, overnight at the end of the summer finishing out the Biroca Blast with lots of coffee and loud music. Many remember the overnight spent in the Infirmary writing articles for the Biroca and the following morning when Josh and Justin were seen dancing about on the Infirmary deck to the music of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit. The parents were visiting camp that day and many were full of smiles watching the craziness at the top of the hill.

Summers of 1993-1994

Josh Church 1993

In 1993, Josh moved into the Swordfish and became the camp's Head Counselor. He was one of the younger counselors on campus and commanded a highly experienced group.

Josh's Summers at the Rock

Who's the real Burger King

Josh's first camper year 1987

Year	Cabin	Role	Note
1987	Eagles Nest	Camper	with Counselor Ron Mattson
1988	Buzzards Roost	Camper	with Counselor Chris Cogswell
1989	Pete's Palace	Senior Campers	with counselor Joe Curry
1990	Hilton A	CIT	Sailing, Canoeing & Swimming
1991	Hilton A	Junior Counselor	Sailing & Swimming
1992	Hilton A	Counselor	Swimming
1993	Swordfish	Head Counselor	Program
1994	Cabin 8	Head Counselor	Program