Camp ASCCA has accomplished so much over the past 50 years. It is a place where everyone belongs, memories are created, and love is shared each day. For some, that love grows into something more than friendship. Camp ASCCA has a special way of bringing people together, whether for a single week or a lifetime. In our limited series, “Love, the ASCCA Way,” we highlight stories that began at Camp ASCCA and continued long after camp ended.
At Camp ASCCA, lives can change in an instant, often before anyone realizes it. A simple conversation, a shared meal, or a group assignment can quietly shape the future. What feels like just another week at camp can become the beginning of something extraordinary. For Chris and Keli, a friendship formed at camp grew into a love that would last a lifetime.
Chris Germann and Keli Steele met at Camp ASCCA in June 1994. Keli had been a counselor in 1993 and a unit leader in 1994, while Chris was a first-year counselor. They connected during orientation week and quickly became friends.
Chris’s first camper, 7-year-old Dante, instantly bonded with Keli and wanted to spend as much time with her as possible, and Chris happily encouraged it. They shared group activities and meals all week, sensing something special between them.
Camp ASCCA is truly unique. As you grow daily in patience, love, gentleness, selflessness, flexibility, kindness, and perseverance, there is no time to worry about what others think of you. Chris and Keli were not looking for romance. They simply fell in love that summer, watching each other care for others with joy and having a blast doing it.
Their first date was July 1, 1994, in Montgomery with other counselors, and the rest is history. With Keli at UAB and Chris at Auburn, their long-distance phone bills were enormous after camp. Keli graduated in May 1995, moved to LaGrange, and took a teaching job during Chris’s senior year. They got engaged on November 30, 1995, and married on September 7, 1996. They will celebrate 30 years of a great marriage this September.
They felt they had grown so much during their summers at Camp ASCCA that it became part of their parenting strategy. All three of their children worked at camp: Hannah as a CIT, Jacob as a counselor for two summers, and Nicholas for three. In 2024, Nicholas met his future wife, Pearl Bilbrey, at ASCCA. They are getting married later this year. The story continues…
