A week or two before heading out to Eco Adventures camp from June 14-20, 1985, I received a postcard in the mail from the counselor of our group. The postcard was a photo of a young guy with a ‘Rick Springfield’ look, hiding behind a large plant. It was odd, I grant you, but I knew that I was in for a fun week when I saw that my counselor just might be half as nutty as I was. It turned out that Scott Sliver was an extremely charismatic guy with a great outlook, a wild sense of humor, the ability to effectively communicicate the Gospel, and a rare personality that would allow him to connect with virtually everyone. There he is in the photo above right next to junior counselor Rhonda, flanked by me (with the head of Brian Broyles seemingly growing out of my chest).
This week of Eco Adventures (my first of two) certainly ranked at the top of my Woodland Altars experiences and Scott certainly contributed to the great memories. Keeping us in check from getting too insanely wild, he certainly understood the rambunctious nature of thirteen year old boys – and my new friend Darin Anderson and I certainly must have pushed him to his limits. He played along with us in ‘sneaking out’ and spending the wee hours down by the lake or up on the roof of our Sugar Grove lodge, where we laid out under the stars, cracked jokes, discussed life, and made obnoxious noises simulating various bodily functions. What fun!
I tracked Scott down earlier this Summer only to find that he had pursued his calling to become a pastor – and a pretty good one at that. In fact the phrase ‘pretty good’ carries a lot of meaning at The Vineyard Church in Beavercreek that he helped form some ten years ago, its sign in front of the building designating it as ‘a pretty good church.’ Incidentally the church is located exactly 2.09 miles from my house on Winterset, where I lived at the time that I went to Eco Adventures camp.
Just one day after reuniting with fellow camper Wendy Johnston who had attended that very week of Eco Adventures in 1985, I attended a service of the Vineyard on Sunday, June 29, 2008, with Scott providing the message for the week (as seen at left). First of all, let me say how much I enjoyed the service and Scott’s sermon, which looked to address the problem of worry – and what’s around the next corner of life. Just as I remembered him, he was entertaining, charismatic, and still had his fabulous sense of humor. The entire congregation sat in either in rapt attention or laughing at the jokes that Scott had sprinkled throughout.
And secondly, let me say how much I enjoyed having lunch with Scott afterward. He treated me to a meal at Mimi’s Cafe in the Greene. He hasn’t lost his ability to mesmerize and amuse – not just me but the dozens of folks waiting to talk to him after the service, our waitress, and anyone else crossing our paths. He can still do the impressions – even the one of Naturalist Dave – but now he carries with him the responsibility of married life and four children, the oldest being 21, and seems to be succeeding admirably. He’s still a cool guy – even if he no longer resembles Rick Springfield.
It’s amazing that we hadn’t crossed paths before seeing that we have been in the same area for years – or perhaps we had and didn’t know it. In fact I learned during our lunch that we were both at the Gene Hackman book signing at the Greene earlier in the week. That’s not the only thing we had in common either. Both of us spend hours spinning Steve Martin records and honing our ‘humor’ craft in our younger days. (Actually I just listened to Steve a few weeks ago).
I have every intention of returning to the Vineyard sometime and meeting up with Scott again. And by the way, wouldn’t you agree that life gets a little surreal when you meet up with two different people within two days, both of whom you hadn’t seen in twenty years or more, and both from the same week of camp 23 years ago?
Continue to the next reunion…
Scott was the perfect introduction to my first time at camp. I think this was the first time I spent an entire week away from home / family and I wasn’t sure what to expect – and I was a bit nervous to be honest. But getting that postcard from Scott prior to camp gave me a goood feeling that this was going to be a great time, and meeting up with Brad just solidified it. Between the two of them I was treated to one of the best experiences of my pre-adult life – we had a blast!
Darin Anderson
August 11th, 2008
Darin,
Good to know that was a good experience for you. I’m glad I had a hand in it! It was a fun time and this has been great for me to think back to that summer in 19, 19, 1985.
Scott Sliver
August 18th, 2008
…and speaking of the Skoal hat you are wearing… Did I ever tell you I puked from trying Skoal in like the 9th grade? lol
Scott Sliver
August 18th, 2008
I agree that Skoal was disgusting – especially when it got stuck in my braces. Cigarettes were more my nicotine drug of choice.
But actually that’s not Darin in the Skoal hat. That’s Brian Broyles, a name thoroughly lost to time.
Brad
August 18th, 2008
ROFL It’s so nice to be warmly remembered…. as someone else…. 🙂
Darin Anderson
August 19th, 2008
You know Scott Sliver? He was a Sunday School classmate of mine all through my growing up years in Preble County.
Dean Garrett
June 22nd, 2011
Hey Brad (and Darrin!) in our staff meeting at church today several of our staff members spent last week at church camp with kids. As they were sharing their experiences your blog post popped into my mind. After quick Google search it was easily found. I read to them a couple of paragraphs to encourage them that you never know the impact you’re going to have on a child spending a week with them… And who knows, maybe 23 years later one of them would reach out to you to tell you that. Just wanted you to know that I used your blog post to make a point with our staff today. Hope you are well!
In other news, not sure if you’re still in the Dayton area… But I am now running for Dayton City Commission. http://www.electscottsliver.com
Scott Sliver
July 15th, 2021