“It was something that I have always wanted to do,” Kathy Lotzer said. “When something lines up with God’s will, it will happen.” Lotzer is talking about Developing Winning Personalities (DWP) a day camp she organized. She first had the idea eight months ago. Lotzer wrote it down and put it in her Bible. “Whenever you want to do something, write it down and put it in your Bible. If it is meant to be, it will happen,” Lotzer said. This personal philosophy is working for Lotzer. Since writing down her idea, things have come together making her dream a reality. The camp had its first group of students Aug. 4-8. Each week, the camp serves 15 students in fourth to ninth grade. Everyone stays busy during the camp week. “Our schedule is really busy with different activities” Lotzer said. “I had to do the camp this way or I would get bored.” Lotzer said if helpers are bored, the participants won’t enjoy themselves. Therefore, she has included different activities in each camp day. On Monday, campers go to Broken Wheel Farm to ride horses, play paintball, try their hand at archery and hike the trails. Tuesdays consist of softball, soccer, swimming and learning sign language. Students also learn how to spin rifles used by marching bands in parades. Wednesday activities are going to the petting zoo, learning how to golf, play tennis and volleyball. Campers also try frisbee golf and croquet. On Thursday, the kids have a cooking class, volunteer at the nursing home, hear from the speaker of the week, paint, play board games and watch a movie with popcorn. The week rounds up with fishing, canoeing, a hotdog tube, water skiing and boat rides on Friday. There is also an option to stay overnight at Broken Wheel Farm on Thursday evening. Most activities take place at Lake Minnebelle, located outside of Litchfield, and in the surrounding area. Lotzer said she enjoyed many of the aforementioned activities as a child, and wanted to share these with other children Overall, Lotzer said many events are incorporated to expose children to activities that could become hobbies. She focuses on getting the children outdoors and having fun. “In the summertime, you don’t see kids outside, I feel like we need to get them out,” Lotzer said. “I focused on this group because I like kids and the need is there. Since most families work, parents don’t have time to share these activities with their kids.” Lotzer has an energy that keeps the kids interested and involved. She makes sure employees share her enthusiasm and are participant-oriented. Using utmost concentration, camp helper Mike Deveraux shows the participants how to use a bow in archery. “Just use two fingers,” Deveraux instructs, “or you won’t be able to let go.” Mary Loch of Broken Wheel Farm offerss encouragement to students riding horses, “Nice job riding Brook there.” Lotzer said that this encouragement helps the campers try new activities with confidence. It also helps reassure them if they are not the best. The campers seem to respond to this. Ten-year old Austin Jones of Litchfield said it was fun to ride horses. “You gotta be kinda strong to pull the horse and you can’t just let them go where they want.” “I thought that it was hard to shoot archery,” fourteen-year old Amanda Freitag of Hutchinson said. “I am really excited to go swimming and learn sign language.” Bringing it together Lotzer originally planned on opening the camp in July, but ran into delays. Local communities and businesses pulled together to help Lotzer open DWP in August. Because she charges only $75 for a week of camp, Lotzer needed to find other sources of funding. She was awarded a grant from the United Way out of Hutchinson. “This funding helped me purchase the van,” Lotzer said. It also pays for staff, rental and use of different facilities. For supplies, Lotzer approached area businesses. “Gander Mountain gave me a canoe, the archery and paintball stuff.” Lotzer got insurance for the camp through her father, who is an insurance agent in Litchfield. This insurance allows the campers to enjoy boating and water skiing, something that most summer camps cannot offer. The next step Lotzer plans to expand her camp next year by including children from surrounding areas like Kimball and Eden Valley-Watkins. She also has hopes of creating an after school program that will run throughout the year and provide activities like volunteering, snowshoeing and ice-fishing. For more information on the camp, contact Kathy Lotzer at dwp@hutchtel.net.
