Summer Camp #5 Child in the Kitchens

Northern_Emp

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Hello all,

Been awhile since I've been around. The paranormal bug seems to bite once a year or so, haha. Last year when I first joined, I had posted a series of experiences from myself and friends at a Christian summer camp I used to work at. I had meant to post this last story I have on that place, but you know how it goes... and 2020 has been a wild ride. So here we go:

At the center of this large camp in the rural Midwest is the lodge, which was the central hub for all meals, but also included meeting rooms, bedrooms, and of course the kitchen. There isn't anything too spooky about the place, other than the fact that it was built in the 70s, so age has started to take its toll. During the day it is packed with campers and staff, but at night, usually only kitchen staff remains to prepare for the next day's meals.

The kitchen is organized in a strange way, as it isn't an open floorplan, but rather a series of halls and corners where appliances seemed to get squeezed wherever they would fit. Passed the kitchen, was the ice room and pantry, which was separated by a typical restaurant-style swinging door. Basically it was impossible to see the whole kitchen at once, which sets the stage for odd encounters that plagued the kitchen staff.

Reports started floating between the staff that kids were sneaking into the kitchen at night for some reason - prank the cooks, steal some snacks, whatever. So announcements were going out to remind counselors that this wasn't allowed and that they needed to keep watch of their campers at night. In spite of this, it seemed someone was still trying to sneak around.

My friends in the kitchen staff would say how they could often hear someone running around and giggling in the lodge. When they heard it outside the kitchen, they would go investigate, only to hear the slap of bare feet behind them, inside the kitchen. Thinking a child was giving them the run around and sneaking out the back doors, they started trying to coordinate efforts to catch him/her.

They never could.

The most solidifying experience happened one night around 2009 where a staff member heard laughing and saw the door to the pantry swinging back and forth. Confident they caught the child in the act, they ran in. To their shock, they were faced with the back-end of a naked boy sitting on the concrete floor. Then he just vanished.

In the weeks that followed, staff would report wet bare footprints in the kitchen and pantry, likely due to the ice machines being there, but often there were other wet prints, as if someone who was soaking wet decided to take a seat on the kitchen floors.

I'm not sure if things like this are still going on, as it's been 5 years since I've been there. My previous summer camp posts cover some other odd phantom encounters, so feel free to check those out too. I'm certainly grateful for the stories this place gave me. :D
 
Hello all,

Been awhile since I've been around. The paranormal bug seems to bite once a year or so, haha. Last year when I first joined, I had posted a series of experiences from myself and friends at a Christian summer camp I used to work at. I had meant to post this last story I have on that place, but you know how it goes... and 2020 has been a wild ride. So here we go:

At the center of this large camp in the rural Midwest is the lodge, which was the central hub for all meals, but also included meeting rooms, bedrooms, and of course the kitchen. There isn't anything too spooky about the place, other than the fact that it was built in the 70s, so age has started to take its toll. During the day it is packed with campers and staff, but at night, usually only kitchen staff remains to prepare for the next day's meals.

The kitchen is organized in a strange way, as it isn't an open floorplan, but rather a series of halls and corners where appliances seemed to get squeezed wherever they would fit. Passed the kitchen, was the ice room and pantry, which was separated by a typical restaurant-style swinging door. Basically it was impossible to see the whole kitchen at once, which sets the stage for odd encounters that plagued the kitchen staff.

Reports started floating between the staff that kids were sneaking into the kitchen at night for some reason - prank the cooks, steal some snacks, whatever. So announcements were going out to remind counselors that this wasn't allowed and that they needed to keep watch of their campers at night. In spite of this, it seemed someone was still trying to sneak around.

My friends in the kitchen staff would say how they could often hear someone running around and giggling in the lodge. When they heard it outside the kitchen, they would go investigate, only to hear the slap of bare feet behind them, inside the kitchen. Thinking a child was giving them the run around and sneaking out the back doors, they started trying to coordinate efforts to catch him/her.

They never could.

The most solidifying experience happened one night around 2009 where a staff member heard laughing and saw the door to the pantry swinging back and forth. Confident they caught the child in the act, they ran in. To their shock, they were faced with the back-end of a naked boy sitting on the concrete floor. Then he just vanished.

In the weeks that followed, staff would report wet bare footprints in the kitchen and pantry, likely due to the ice machines being there, but often there were other wet prints, as if someone who was soaking wet decided to take a seat on the kitchen floors.

I'm not sure if things like this are still going on, as it's been 5 years since I've been there. My previous summer camp posts cover some other odd phantom encounters, so feel free to check those out too. I'm certainly grateful for the stories this place gave me. :D
Glad to see you again! You have some really good stories. Thanks for sharing them!
 
Hello all,

Been awhile since I've been around. The paranormal bug seems to bite once a year or so, haha. Last year when I first joined, I had posted a series of experiences from myself and friends at a Christian summer camp I used to work at. I had meant to post this last story I have on that place, but you know how it goes... and 2020 has been a wild ride. So here we go:

At the center of this large camp in the rural Midwest is the lodge, which was the central hub for all meals, but also included meeting rooms, bedrooms, and of course the kitchen. There isn't anything too spooky about the place, other than the fact that it was built in the 70s, so age has started to take its toll. During the day it is packed with campers and staff, but at night, usually only kitchen staff remains to prepare for the next day's meals.

The kitchen is organized in a strange way, as it isn't an open floorplan, but rather a series of halls and corners where appliances seemed to get squeezed wherever they would fit. Passed the kitchen, was the ice room and pantry, which was separated by a typical restaurant-style swinging door. Basically it was impossible to see the whole kitchen at once, which sets the stage for odd encounters that plagued the kitchen staff.

Reports started floating between the staff that kids were sneaking into the kitchen at night for some reason - prank the cooks, steal some snacks, whatever. So announcements were going out to remind counselors that this wasn't allowed and that they needed to keep watch of their campers at night. In spite of this, it seemed someone was still trying to sneak around.

My friends in the kitchen staff would say how they could often hear someone running around and giggling in the lodge. When they heard it outside the kitchen, they would go investigate, only to hear the slap of bare feet behind them, inside the kitchen. Thinking a child was giving them the run around and sneaking out the back doors, they started trying to coordinate efforts to catch him/her.

They never could.

The most solidifying experience happened one night around 2009 where a staff member heard laughing and saw the door to the pantry swinging back and forth. Confident they caught the child in the act, they ran in. To their shock, they were faced with the back-end of a naked boy sitting on the concrete floor. Then he just vanished.

In the weeks that followed, staff would report wet bare footprints in the kitchen and pantry, likely due to the ice machines being there, but often there were other wet prints, as if someone who was soaking wet decided to take a seat on the kitchen floors.

I'm not sure if things like this are still going on, as it's been 5 years since I've been there. My previous summer camp posts cover some other odd phantom encounters, so feel free to check those out too. I'm certainly grateful for the stories this place gave me. :D

Great story. Was there any history or back story that gave a clue as to who the bare butt, wet feet kid was?
 
Great story. Was there any history or back story that gave a clue as to who the bare butt, wet feet kid was?

Nothing comes to mind. No deaths during its history as a summer camp. Prior to that it was farmland. Prior to that is was prairie.

Maybe just a good ol' fashioned spirit, maybe a group hallucination, who knows.
 
Welcome back. This is a good ghost story. I would think that a teen spirit or ghost would enjoy spending time around the other kids. Was there a lake or pond nearby? Perhaps a possible drowning, it wouldn’t have to be from the camp.
 
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Welcome back. This is a good ghost story. I would think that a teen spirit or ghost would enjoy spending time around the other kids. Was there a lake or pond nearby? Perhaps a possible drowning, it wouldn’t have to be from the camp.


Thanks! Only lake was man-made after the camp was built. There is a large river, but it's about a mile away.
 
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