Welcome The McGuire Family

One of our big aims at Huawni is to improve summer after summer. Whether it’s renovating restrooms, making our last-year camper experience better, or bringing back old activities (i.e. low ropes), we have been working hard behind the scenes on the little things that make a big difference for our campers.

For those of you who run some type of organization, you know that there’s a limit on how much you can get done based upon time and resources. Two years ago we realized that we needed help in making camp work smoother and easier, all with the end in mind of making your camper’s Huawni experience a more rich one. We began the search for a Director of Operations, a position whose ultimate goal is to make camp work, so that on Opening Day there’s not a two hour wait to get into camp, and on Closing Day there’s ample toilet paper in the bathrooms for our parents. On top of that, we were searching for a person that met our core belief that we want to attract, develop, and attain world-class talent. This is a very hard thing to do, especially in the camping world.

Thanks to a lot of answered prayers, I am delighted to announce that we have hired Mike McGuire. Mike is a superb fit, full of humility, a learner, and very detail-oriented. I’d like to welcome Mike to the Huawni Family, and I hope over the coming year that you’ll get to meet Mike and his family.

I sat down with Mike this week for the purpose of you getting to know him and his family a bit better. Meet Mike!

TEA: Tell us about your family.

MM: I’m married to my best friend and love of my life, Tamara! We got married February 12, 2011 and it’s been an amazing adventure since. This past February we welcomed our first child, Campbell Brock McGuire, into this world and that has added so much more to our lives than we could imagine.

TEA: What are you most excited about?

MM: I’m most excited about the idea of working at a smaller camp with a rich tradition and a tight knit family atmosphere. I’m also pumped to be part of Tribal Competition.

TEA: Tell about your background and camp experience.

MM: I first got my start in camping when I worked at Sky Ranch back in the summer of 2005. I started as a Counselor and then ended up working there full time after I graduated from Texas A&M (Whoop!). I have a huge respect of Huawni’s tradition and hope to be a learner of that this coming summer. I also hope that I’m able to bring a different perspective for how things could be done and new ideas for activities. I love the idea of bringing back old activities, like high ropes, so that our campers can experience things that our alumni (and in some cases, their parents) used to enjoy. I learn best by participating and getting my hands dirty. It’s very clear to me that campers and former staff are very fond of their Huawni experience, and I want to do as much as I can understand what it is that makes Huawni special. I want to play, sing at Sing Song, do Opening Night Show Skits, and make sure that traditions are preserved.

TEA: What would you like to say to the Huawni Staff?

MM: I’d say I can’t wait to meet each of you and hear your story and why you love Camp Huawni. You guys and girls are the heartbeat of what makes camp so fun and you’re the biggest reason kids come back every year. I’m honored to get to work alongside you and learn the traditions and culture. Oh, and I can’t wait to figure out whether I’ll be a Caddo or Tejas!

TEA: Tell us more about your role at Camp.

MM: My position is Director of Operations, so basically I see my job as making camp work. That includes everything from Day to Day Operations, Opening/Closing Day, Activities, Food, Facilities, and anything else that pops up. Along with that, I’m also the Men’s Staff Director which means I get to work alongside all the dudes on camp. I’m looking forward to supporting them in their daily efforts to continue our pursuit of being a premier Summer Camp, as well as doing life with them through one on one conversations, mentorship, and being a leader that they can lean on. During the Off Season, my role is to introduce new activities, make sure we are staying compliant with ACA, recruit staff, and take care of any camp need that helps it run smoothly. Surprisingly, we stay really busy in the non-summer months so it’s hard to put it all down on paper!

TEA: What’s one of your most embarrassing moments?

MM: Right after Campbell was born, I gave him his first bath and was on cloud nine as a new daddy. Well, being brand new to this whole father/baby thing, I had never dressed an infant before. Think about it, have you ever dressed anyone? After his bath, he was quite skirmy so I had to make quick work and put his little shirt on. When I finished, the nurse came by to give him some medication and burst out laughing at the sight of him. Having zero clue what was funny, I looked down and noticed that the shirt I put on Campbell was on upside down. So basically picture a little infant with the neck of the shirt around his torso and his arms forced through sleeves towards his waist. Needless to say, pictures got around and the nurses made sure to make fun of me until we left.

TEA: If you could take an epic adventure, what would you do?

MM: I would want to go and hike the Appalachian Trail. It would take quite a while but I’ve read stories about it and people make it a lifelong goal to do it. I think it’d be so fun and you’d really get to know one another when out on the trail.

TEA: If you could build one new activity for campers right away, what would it be?

MM: I want to build a High Ropes course so bad!!! The feeling of Ziplining through the forest and climbing a Rockwall is such a fun thrill. I’m working hard to make sure this becomes a reality and I can’t wait to update you on our progress!

TEA: Who are your heroes and how have they influenced you?

MM: I’ll share two heroes of mine: the first is Louis Zamperini. Louis’s story of being an Olympic athlete, flying on bomber planes in World War II, being a POW in Japan, and then his story of redemption that ultimately led him to start a summer camp is one of the most inspiring stories I’ve ever read. After reading the story, the idea of undergoing hardship brings a new meaning. If Louis could overcome the circumstances of his story, then nothing is too hard for anyone else.

The second would be Lonnie Green: Lonnie was my pastor in college and made more of an investment in me than anyone outside of my own father. Lonnie spent time with me through my formative years in college challenging me to think for myself, standing up for what I believe, and knowing my purpose in life. He helped me understand what the Bible teaches and how it still relates to my life. I’m blessed to know a man like this and hope that everyone has a relationship with a mentor like I had in Pastor Lonnie.