Jacob Taylor • Derry Member

This summer, the youth got the opportunity to travel to Maine for a summer retreat. Our week consisted of lots of exploration, service, and adventure. After a long car ride accompanied by Harry Styles and filled with Claudia’s fun facts from her book about all the ways to die in Yellowstone, we arrived at our house and prepared for a busy trip. 

Throughout the week, we spent a lot of time visiting places in Acadia National Park. We saw the waves crash in Thunder Hole and watched the sunset from Cadillac Mountain. We hiked through trails of the forest and swam in the freezing water of the ocean. Some of us went rock climbing for the first time, while others enjoyed the carriage roads throughout the park. 

We got to serve in Acadia by weeding the carriage roads through “flossing.” We worshipped on Sunday morning at a service inside of the park. When we weren’t in Acadia, we were exploring the rest of Mount Desert Island. We received lessons on how to be lumberjacks and watched a show of the professionals competing with each other. On another day, many of us tried paddle boarding or kayaking for the first time. Other times we would just drive around and stop whenever we saw a great view of the mountains and lakes. 

These stops often led to some of the best moments of the trip. Mr. Steelman became the fastest human as he clocked in at 29 mph while running past a speed radar sign. At another stop, we jumped between rocks on the beach and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Between all these activities, we got to hang out as a group at the pool or basketball court at the house and enjoy Mr. Patton’s incredible cooking. After dinner each night, everyone looked forward to what game or activity we would be doing. These games produced some of my favorite moments of the trip. We got to pretend we were on TV with Family Feud or order each other to do whatever we wanted when we were the Great Dalmuti. Our non-talent talent show featured everything from Yar singing Christmas songs while doing a handstand and shaking maracas with her toes to Claudia performing a puppet show with her knees and feet.

The campfire in the backyard made for the perfect spot to have devotionals and make s’mores. We shared our favorite experiences from the day while debating if it was normal that people like their marshmallows completely burned (It’s not). On Friday night, we finished our trip around the fire with Mr. Steelman’s incredible parody of Bohemian Rhapsody. And after another long car ride again filled with random Claudia trivia and even more Harry Styles, we all made it back to the church safe. 

This trip was probably my favorite I have been on with the church. I can’t thank Claudia, Mr. Steelman, Mr. Patton, and Pastor Pam enough for the zesty time that was the Maine trip!

Editor’s note: Jacob is a 2022 graduate of Hershey High School. He is now attending West Chester University to pursue a degree in business. Jacob is the son of Greg Taylor and brother of Emma and Natalie, AKA “The Taylor Tribe.”