The Nurses of Camp ASCCA

These are the nurses of Camp ASCCA. Most of them have known each other for years even before they worked at camp as nurses, but one thing is for sure they love it here! We have five nurses this summer, more than normal because our Head Nurse, Abbey Love Murray, will soon be giving birth to triplets. So congrats to her and her family, but just to be safe throughout the summer, we brought in more nurses to keep her off her feet as much as possible.

Speaking of Abbey, she is an amazing person and nurse. She has been working with Camp ASCCA for over eleven years off and on. First, she worked as summer staff along with Amber Cotney, and she later came back as a nurse after graduating from Mississippi State University with her Bachelors degree. Also, she worked in labor delivery in numerous states and hospitals for over eight years. I asked Abbey why she always returns to work here, and she said, “Well every summer I would say that this would be my last summer, and Matt would always say it’s in your blood Abbey, you belong here. I just loved it so much that it always worked out during the summer I was able to come back.”

Sean Jaco is another nurse here at Camp, and he has been a nurse for just about twenty one years. His first summer here was in 1987, and he was a counselor, then program staff, and also a head counselor. After that summer he went off to nursing school and never stopped moving around and finding new adventures until he came back to camp in 2014 as a nurse. One of his special moments was when he was the best man in his former camper’s wedding, his name was Donovan Harris. Jaco was his counselor for only one summer, but they formed such a close bond that they became best friends after camp. Mobile Rotary week is his favorite week because in his words, “Everyone on that bus knows each other, and they’ve been coming to camp for years. So when they remember me from when I was a little sprout it makes me feel good.”

This is Cynthia & Nick Clearman’s first summer at Camp ASCCA. They are a married couple, and Cynthia has been a nurse for thirty four years while Nick has only been a nurse for five years. He was a teacher for twenty eight years teaching high school science and coaching football. I asked them both why they started working here and Cynthia said, “Well I worked with Abbey in labor delivery for awhile, and she would always talk about this place. So my husband and I wanted to do something different this summer and the camp popped in my brain. So Nick applied for the nursing position.” They were of course a package deal. I asked them what is their favorite moment from camp so far and Nick said, “When I met Danny G for the first time his speaking machine said something, and I just looked around to see who said it because I was very confused.” Cynthia said, “My favorite moment is definitely all the hugs I get from the campers.”

Lauren Beckman is also a returning staff of Camp ASCCA but this time as a nurse. She has been a nurse for ten years, and this is her fourth summer here. Her first few summers, she was a part of Adventure Staff and then she went to nursing school in Austin, Texas where she lived for eight years. She came back to Camp after so many years because she wasn’t happy with her job and needed to do a self analysis of when the last time she was truly happy. Sure enough she thought all the way back to Camp and realized this was the most happiest place for her.

We would not be able to enjoy our summers without our incredible nursing staff, so today and every day we say a big THANK YOU for their hard work and care for our campers and staff!

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