About one year ago, we told our friends about Phase Two of the Residence Renovations Project on all the interiors of standard cabins and lodging on the Ranch. Our goal was to complete these improvements by the summer of 2023. I am thankful to say that we completed all of the interior renovations before camp began this summer!

Thank you for your prayers and support during this project. Last year we had said that any money remaining upon the completion of the Residence Renovations Project would be used to begin improvements to all the rooms used for family camps. We have had just enough remaining funds to purchase new mattresses, pillows, and bedding for all thirty rooms! We are thankful for the difference this will make for campers and students alike year round.

Now we turn our sights on the next project, the Road To Camp. When I was in first grade, we paved about a half mile of gravel road from Highway 96 up to the John R. Rice Auditorium located at the heart of camp. For years now we have been patching the worst spots on this road that has led the way to camp for thousands of cars and buses.

Several years ago, we tore up the worst parts of the aging road on the “Horseshoe” portion of the road enveloping both sides of the auditorium and planted them with grass. But the road needs to be replaced and in places is actually as much of an obstacle as a conduit for traffic.

After much leg work, we have an estimate for repaving the portion of road at the heart of camp, from the Meadow up to Stallard Lodge. We will be using the same company that paved the new entrance for Bill Rice Christian Academy this past year. The road will provide a fresh, clean look for camp and college and will include a small parking lot at the base of the hill at the April House.

We believe we can repave the road for $153,600. We hope to begin this newest project as soon as we can after this summer. We will pave as much as we are able and hope to have the road fresh and flat by the summer of 2024.

We would like to invite you to the Friendship Banquet here on the Ranch on Saturday, August 5, 2023, at 6:30pm
in the Dining Hall. The gate will be open at 5:30pm if you would like to take a tour of the Ranch. We are eager to
report on how camp went this summer after enjoying a delicious steak dinner. Then, anyone who wishes to can
contribute to the Camp Road Project. Please email mdowns@billriceranch.org if you are planning to attend.

We are excited about the future, confident that God will provide for this need, and eager to get to work in September! May God bless you for being a blessing.