Application

Bethel Youth Camp and Conference Center, 12244 Bethel Camp Rd, Dale, Indiana, 47523

We have had LOTS of work projects that need to be done at Camp. Many have asked, what can I do to help at camp. Well, there is a LOT you can do. This portion of the website is designed so you can see some of the projects waiting to be completed now. We must absolutely insist, however, that before you begin a project, you MUST coordinate with one of the members of the Board of Directors to get approval. They will coordinate so that work won't be duplicated and so that your experience will be efficient, timely and well worth your visit. Please coordinate with one of these individuals and if you have questions or feel there might be a crisis/emergency that requires immediate attention, call Rev Jim Wilson at 812-319-1381, Rev Joe Greene at 812-649-4872 or Rev Dave Matthews at 812-987-8824. Of course, your first action should be to bring any problems to the attention of our caretaker there on the camp grounds.

The Tabernacle was built over forty years ago now. As you can see by standing next to it, all of the steel structures supporting the tabernacle need to have the rust removed and repainted.

The Tabernacle concrete footings were also built over 40 years ago. The ground around the concrete has eroded away and we need fill dirt placed around each of the footings and grass seeded into the dirt.

A rather large tree blew over and fell into the lake two or three years ago. It needs to be removed from the lake and cut up for firewood.

Note in the second photo Brother Joe turning the valve. That valve turning tool is stored inside the utility barn across from the Caretaker's House. Use it for turing valves on and off at the main source and by the telephone pole east of the house. Note also the bottom of the tool being used to turn the valve in the top of the first photo. Take care in turning these valves as the plastic "ears" on top of the valves can break off if too much force is used.

It is important to note that if the main valve--west of the caretaker's house where the meter is--is turned off, you will also be turning off the water to the caretaker and his family. This is obviously not desirable since they live there and need water. However, if an emergency arises and there is no other way to stop a leak, immediately turning off this valve will stop all water flow that we have to pay for. Once the issue has been corrected, the valve can be turned back on. Alternatively, there is a valve just east of the caretaker's house that can be used to control water flow to the rest of the Camp. This valve is located by the telephone pole in a hole designed to be used with the same tool to turn off water flow to the rest of camp. As with the previous valve, aligning the valve (valve "ears") with the line will let water flow. Aligning the valve perpendicularly, will shut off the valve and stop the flow. This is the desired location to shut off flow to all of camp.

The bucket is left on top of the hole so it does not fill with water when we are gone. Also, it is hard to see down this hole. Use a flashlight (bring one with you). Mud sometimes covers the valve and may require you to clean off before you get a chance to change the position of the valve at the bottom of the hole.

Now, take a look at the flow of water lines that run thoughout Bethel Youth Camp. Each location marked by an "X" is a major valve along the route of water that can help control flow of water and isolate lines in case a leak is suspected. Next in line, after the first two valves already discussed, are valves at the Junction Box between the Dining Hall and the All Weather Dorm; the main valve inside the All Weather Dorm; the main valve inside the Boy's Bath House (in the service area between the two halves of the Bath House); the main valve isolating Dorm 4 and RV Park, at foot level just inside the door accessing the Service Area; and one additional valve installed in the ground between the Bath House and Dorm 4.

The valves located in the utility box between the Dining Hall and the All Weather Dorm might be the most important valves on camp. Just inside the door to this "building" is a ladder that must be used to get to the two valves at the floor of the box. Note that there is no shutoff valve in the box for the All Weather Dorm. Shutoff of water to the All Weather Dorm must be made in the inside corner of the basement of the All Weather Dorm. There are two very important shutoffs inside this box, however, for the Boy's Bath House and the Dining Hall. The red handled shutoff valve goes to the Dining Hall. When it is pointed toward the Dining Hall it is open and supplying water to the Dining Hall. The blue rotary style handle shuts off water to the Dining Hall. Turning the valve right shuts off water while turning it left/counterclockwise opens water up. Rule #1 for water operation at Youth Camp could very well be "TURN BOTH OF THESE VALVES OFF BEFORE LEAVING CAMP UNOCCUPIED!"

As already mentioned above, the only shutoff valves for water supplied to the All Weather Dorm are on the inside wall in the basement of the All Weather Dorm. These should be turned to the off position as well prior to leaving Camp. It is worth noting that all of our problems with massive water leaks in years past have occured because someone has turned on one or more of these valves to do work or use water at Camp and not checked to make sure leaks are not present. Most leaks occur because pipes break during the winter months when Camp is not being used. We annually clear these lines and install RV Antifreeze to make sure this doesn't happen. But sometimes breaks occur anyway. If water valves are turned on and breaks have occured, there is nothing to prevent massive water leaks from happening other than a throrough inspection of all three facilities (Dining Hall, All Weather Dorm and Boy's Bath House) to make sure water isn't flowing. Additionally, it is critically important that anyone working at camp who turns water valves on does a thorough inspection to make sure all valves are turned off before departing Camp.

Across the road from the junction box is the Boy's Bath House. To the rear of the Bath House (on the southeast wall) is a door that accesses both the "pastor's" bathroom and the utility room of the bath house. There are two very important valves in the utility room, at the front and at the back walls of this room.

At the far end of this utility room is the pipe that comes into the Bath House from across the road. After slight bends in the pipe, there is a black shutoff valve about four feet off the floor. This valve will shut off all water to the Bath House as well as water going to Dorm 4 and the RV Park. This is a very important valve. If this valve is shut off, no water will flow beyond it thus isolating any water going to any of these three facilities. This is also the area where we have experienced most of our leaks. This valve MUST BE TURNED OFF before leaving Camp. The last major leak occured because this valve was on, the valves at the box were turned on as well and no one checked to see if there were any leaks in the Boy's Bath House. There were! And those leaks let water flow for a LONG time, costing us hundreds of dollars. Please check for leaks any time work is done at camp and please make sure valves are turned off before departing Camp.

There is also a blue "rotary style" valve at the other end of this room/hall. It is located at foot level just inside the door used to enter the back side of the Bath House. This valve controls water flow going to Dorm 4 and the RV Park. The valve can be turned counter clockwise to open up water to these facilities but must be turned off/rotated clockwise to completely shut off water flow before departing Camp.

As an aside, you will note that there are LOTS of other valves, dials and gages along the lines of our water supply throughout camp besides these major valves. You really need to spend time learning the system before you change most of these valves. Some of them shut off water flow from hot water heaters. Others isolate lines so any leaks can be stopped immediately. Leaving them open can cause the same problems with leaks going on undetected.

There is an outside valve that is located between the Bath House and Dorm 4 that was originally provided to isolate water flow just to Dorm 4, before we installed the RV Park. This valve is located below ground level and can be accessed by an access tube that was also originally installed. Because the RV Park now exists, this valve stays in the "in line" position providing water to both Dorm 4 and the RV Park. There is discussion about eliminating this valve in the future since it is no longer needed. In emergencies, this valve can be used to shut off water just to the RV sites. However, during normal operations, this valve should not be moved.

In the middle of Dorm 4 is a small utility room. This room houses the hot water heater and also is the location of the main shutoff valve to the All Weather Dorm. This blue shutoff valve is just above the floor in line with the only pipe coming into Dorm 4 through the concrete floor. With the valve aligned with the pipe, water will be provided to all of Dorm 4. Cross ways shuts the valve off. This valve should be turned off when Camp is not being used.

I went a little "paranoid" with valves when building Dorm 4. I used a LOT of them because I wanted to be able to isolate any lines that had leaks. You really need to study them and have a good understanding about where they go before you start changing valve positions in Dorm 4. As mentioned many times before in this discussion, you need to check for leaks when first opening up valves so that they can be detected early and not be allowed to cause unnecessary damage to the rooms. Again, as before, make sure the main valve coming into Dorm 4 is turned OFF before departing Camp.

In recent years, we decided to develop an "RV Park" on the road past the Tabernacle with several RV sites. These sites provide both electricity and water to each location. The water line runs from that junction box previously discussed, between the Bath House and Dorm 4, by a location just east of Dorm 7. This location is presently marked by a blue stake marked "Water". Future use of this location might include another water access. However, right now it simply shows us where we connected to previous line that previously ran to the lake. Now it runs to the RV sites.

Of course, most folks are now familiar with the stand pipes provided at the RV sites. These pipes have siphon abilities to prevent water freezing in the pipes. However, the lines are vacated before winter and valves like these are always turned off, with the valve lever down, before leaving Camp. The lever should never be left in the up position since large leaks could also occur if water valves are left on all the way to the end of these lines.

One final word about water flow. The only reliable indicator of whether or not water is flowing somewhere on the Camp grounds is this water meter. It is installed by Tennyson Water Company and it belongs to them. However, it is a very reliable indicator to us about what is going on in the system. If water is flowing at all, the little triangle on this indicator rotates. If it is flowing through useage, the needle also moves clockwise to meter the flow and the numbers on the indicator will increase. We used this valve to isolate where a recent leak had occured. If anyone is suspicious about leaks on the Camp grounds, this meter should be checked immediately. IF all valves have been turned off, the only flow registered should be coming from the caretakers house, and that will not be excessive. If you feel the flow is unusual or excessive, the best thing you can do is go back and check that all the major valves previously mentioned here are CLOSED. Next, notify the caretaker or give one of the three individuals above a phone call. As a last resort, if an emergency seems to be happening and you cannot detect or stop what appears to be a bad leaking condition, the valve should be shut off at this meter by turning the valve to the perpendicular position, stopping the flow. Of course, let someone know immediately so we don't cut off water to the caretakers unnecessarily.

Finally, please use these following guidelines any time you want to do work at Camp involving the use of water:
     1. Please know what you are doing and what valves you really want to open and close(the reason for this web guide).
     2. If you open a water valve for work at Camp or to prepare for opening, check all facilities to make sure there are no leaks anywhere.
     3. Bring any water leaks to the attention of the caretaker and one of the members of the board of directors.
     4. If you have the ability, fix leaks. One way or another, make sure leaks do not continue. Continued leaks will cost us money.
     5. When you leave Camp, make sure all of the important valves are in the off position so that if water gets turned back on, leaks do not exist unchecked.
     6. Please let someone know when you have changed the status of anything at camp. Coordination of work at camp is always a good idea.
     7. When in doubt about status of the water system, please ask. Knowledge of how things work is the best way to prevent future links.