James had his first VIP camp activity today at the bowling alley. This puts the final stamp on his Christmas/Winter vacation as he will be starting school Monday. James was losing by 22 but came back with a spare and a strike to make it close (he lost only by two), however the fun was not in winning the bowling game but in seeing all his friends from summer camp.

Around a dozen campers showed up for the bowling and some of the talk was how Michigan would do in the National Championship game on Monday, should be alot of fun.

One of the staff was a volunteer from France during their exchange period and James had a chance to practice his French.

Continue reading “Bowling With VIP Camp 2024” →

Unfortunately James had a class at nearly the same time as the VIP camp Christmas Fantasyland. Rather than miss it, James and Dad left early and were able to attend for about ten minutes before heading on to his class at the Mike Illitch School of Business in Detroit (Fantasyland was in Lincoln Park near an exit so James made it to school on time, although it was close).

James got to say hi to several counselors and a few friends from VIP camp and also got his picture taken with Santa, which has been a tradition since he was little.

Thanks to VIP camp for putting on a great event for the campers!

Continue reading “Christmas Fantasyland 2023” →

Its hard to believe that VIP camp is already over as we just celebrated their end of season party. James has been going here since he was about 8 or 9 so its been at least a decade of VIP camp for James in the summer. Once again it was held at the bowling alley so both parents and campers could bowl if they wanted. After the bowling time we were served pizza, pop, salads, and sweets – A pretty decent spread. Once the food was served, the campers received their photo books and friendly competitive games were played between the campers and their parents. James was the coach for the campers team and Nick was the captain of the parents team. A great time was had by all.

Continue reading “2023 VIP Camp Party” →

VIP Camp continues to plan things once a month for its campers, and this month had a special treat, a bowling outing but not just a bowling outing but a bowling outing in an ultraviolet setting. The lanes were all lit up and the bowling alley looked pretty spectacular (or at least as spectacular as a bowling alley can get in this day and age).

James bowled very well and had one of his highest games. A great time was had by all and we are all looking forward to the summer VIP camp which is rapidly approaching.

James took advantage of this outing to turn in his deposit for camp via check, thus saving himself a stamp. Maybe all those business classes he is taking in college are starting to pay off!

Continue reading “2023 VIP Camp Bowling (UV)” →

VIP Camp put on another great event with a Holiday bowling party with the VIP campers. The event started at 11am and went through till 2pm which included drinks and food for the campers. James had a great time with his friends and stuck around at the end to get some pictures taken with them.

Usually this event included pizza but the bowling alley said that due to inflation it could not afford to provide pizza anymore so the campers got chicken nuggets and french fries which went over good. A great time was had by all and congrats to the VIP Camp.

Continue reading “Holiday Bowling with VIP Camp 2022” →

This was our second year visiting Fantasyland in Lincoln Park and James ran into many friends on this visit. The event was organized by VIP Camp and all members got a free picture with Santa included with their visit.

Dad went upstairs where the train display was to see if they still had the pictures of his old baseball coach on the wall ( Mr. Nik was a founding member). Sure enough they were still up there and Dad contributed to their raffle, although he has no idea what he would do with a train set if he won.

The displays were spectacular again this year, lots of Grinch and community trees contributed to a great time being had by all visitors.

Continue reading “Christmas Fantasyland 2022” →

Santa’s Magic Forest returned to Heritage park and so did the VIP campers who came out on a cool (not too cold) December evening. The problem this year was James had to be at College at 7pm and the event begins at 6pm, but the good news is that it is only a 5 minute walk away from the College and James was able to not only attend College during the day and evening, but got to the Santa’s Magic Forest in between classes.

Santa’s Magical Forest took 57 volunteers 840 hours to assemble and the bulk of the props came from Hudsons, Bronners, and South Land Mall. Continue reading “Santa’s Magical Forest 2022” →

Hard to believe another season of VIP Camp is over as it seems like it just started. James had a wonderful time as usual and this year the camp celebrated its final day at the bowling alley.

Once again the day was filled with games and events and while James did not do as well at bowling this year as he did last year, it was still fun and that is what VIP camp is all about. One of James friends Mom (Nicks Mom) invited us to his birthday party which will be celebrated at a Tiger game at Comerica park so we have that to look forward to in the near future.

Dad was able to make this one because he had to take his car in for tires. He dropped the car off before the party and picked it up after so it was a great day all around. Continue reading “VIP Camp Party 2022” →

It’s great how James and his VIP camp friends get together every December and this year was no different. The VIP Mini Camp Day was held at Skore Lanes in Taylor where everyone got to bowl to their hearts content. Lunch was served at 12:30 which consisted of pizza, fries, pop, and cookies and afterwards games were played with prizes.

Of course the main attraction was seeing friends that you have not seen since the summer. James had a blast and came home with some school supplies for his next semester at Wayne County Community College. A great time was had by all this Christmas Eve Eve and James and his family are now turning their attention to Christmas as this was Dad’s last day of work before the holidays.

After a year off from VIP Camp (due to the pandemic), James got to meet up with his friends and they had a great season.

As usual, many of the events included swimming, Heritage Park, Movies, and Restaurants. Best of all it was socializing after a year of not socializing. Everyone stayed healthy and all had a great time as the year was very well attended.

This year event was in the Taylor sports complex but he final party was at the bowling alley.

Continue reading “VIP Camp 2021 Party” →