Camp Meeting

For as long as I can remember for two weeks in August my mom uses her motherly force to get as many of her children, and now grandchildren, to attend the Balls Creek Camp Meeting. At first glance the place looks likes something from a third world country. Camp Meeting is complete with row houses with tin roofs, dirt floors, and swings on every porch. This place has a lot of heritage for the Sherrill family (my moms maiden name). They have been "tenting" since before my mom, who is now 62, was even born. This is the place where my grandparents met. And for some reason, I guess tradition, people keep coming back year after year and the only thing that has changed is that some of the tents now have cement floors, vinyl siding, illegal toilets and air conditioning units. Its crazy to me to see the transformation some of these tents have, they actually look more like something from Gatlinburg...why people spend that much money on their tent when the next one beside theirs looks like my grandmothers, is a mystery to me. I think the reason my grandmother loves it so much is because she is like a celebrity out there! She is celebrating her 92nd birthday this week so everyone there stops by to see Mrs. Sherrill, she may be the oldest person who still tents out in the heat but I must say I think she is the most popular! Every year my mom plans a Sherrill family reunion around camp meeting and everyone goes up with their pot luck and we have "Sundy Dinner"(lunch) After lunch you walk the gravel loop that surrounds the open air church pavilion and wave to people sitting in their tents and you walk to the shack and pick out a prize, maybe get a milk shake and then head back to your tent to watch others do the same. Even though its an odd tradition, I'm glad that its one that I have been a part of. I wonder what kinds of traditions I am going to use my motherly force to get Mason to participate in. This year Mason had his first real experience with Camp Meeting and he loved it!