The troops started mobilizing towards Echuca on Friday morning after months of planning. Justin made it over to my place around 11 am then we picked up Jarrod at McDonald’s who was dutifully sent off by his wife Emma and 3 kids (Noah, Jemima and Ezekiel). Jarrod soon realized that he had forgotten to pack a critical piece of equipment (sleeping bag) about 1 hour into the trip. We got into Echuca shortly after 2 pm and pulled into the Army disposals, with the cost of sleeping bags at $140, Jarrod opted for the security blanket option. The local guys advised me that last night it had got down to about -2 degrees!! We bumped into Mark (who had driven up from Lorne via most Victorian rural towns) and all headed over to camp site where we met up with Gavin and Benny L who were on site with ye olde faithful Europcar Ute and trailer and had already started on setup.

They had selected a site that was closer to Echuca than Christie’s Bend and had a nice view up the river. We got the tarp up, fire pit dug, and a couple of tents up. Older sober members (double digit sobriety) took the Chainey and went the hack on a massive river red gum. We soon had a nice hot fire going that took the chill out of the cold winter air. The Canberra guys (Derek, Darren, Dave, Paul and Nicko) from the Sixth Chapter Men’s group arrived around 5 pm after a 6 hour drive down from Canberra. This was the second time they had joined us on an Echuca campout. We fired up the Barbie and cooked up the “All beef” snags – voted to be the best sausages at a camp out so far. Justin had definitely scored a “win” with those snags and remarked a few times that I should write this up in the campout report.

Jarrod had the job of “Format and Structure” and kicked off the 8 pm meeting with a reading from “More about Alcoholism” followed by some great sharing from the Canberra guys. Shortly after the meeting we got a call from Adam and Chris who had navigated to Echuca but couldn’t find the campsite. With some direction, from Benny L, they soon arrived at site with a large food delivery including some much needed chocolate and lollies. Members sat around the campfire telling stories and enjoying the fellowship. The fire was really throwing out some heat by now. The camp fire had been setup in a trench approximately 4 ft by 2ft, and with some solid Echuca river red gum stacked up 2 feet high, with flames up to about 5 feet, it was voted the “hottest” campout fire to date. Most people slept pretty well, on a chilly Echuca night, bar Jarrod, who managed to make it through the night covered with one blanket, a few donated jackets on top of a dodgy air bed that went flat throughout the night.

We woke to a crisp morning and enjoyed a nice Fruit Salad, yoghurt and coffee for breakfast around the fire to the choir of birds in the background. This was followed by a Third Step reading from the 12*12 and some powerful sharing. I feel grateful and blessed to be in a strong home group where I hear a crystal clear message about the nature of the disease that I suffer from and also clear directions on how to tackle my recovery on a daily basis from my sponsor and older sober members. The head had started to clear now, and it was off to the local footy ground for some action of a different kind.

Camp out is all about participating and everyone had an opportunity to be a part of the soccer game. We met up with Warren who had driven up from Melbourne and brought Rowan on his first campout. The teams lined up as follows:

Team one: Jarrod, Warren, Justin, Derek, Gavin and Rowan

Team two consisting of: Jamie, Adam, Nicko, Ben, Darren, and Chris

We had yet to see the form of the Canberra guys and a couple of newcomers, but on paper, Team one started as favourites. The soccer game is always a competitive affair and 2009 proved to be no exception. Team one started strongly, shooting to a comfortable lead at half time of 3 – Nil. Adam Smith was a key midfielder for Team Two and covered a massive amount of ground, this finally paid off early in the second half with a fantastic goal where he faked out the goalie (Jarrod). Team two had a few opportunities to claw back a goal in the second half, but to no avail, and Team one scored 3 more goals with the final score ending up at 6 – 1. A great time was had by all.

Then down to the coffee shop in town, where we sat outside on the main street and listened to one of the local jazz bands. We had timed our arrival with the annual Echuca Blues/Jazz festival which is always held on the last weekend of July. I enjoyed my talk with Dave, from Canberra, who had almost 3 years sobriety and was working an active program with 3 sponsees. Then back to the campsite where Chris had prepared some tasty Thai chicken rolls for lunch.

The Canberra guys opted to check out the jazz bands in the afternoon, whilst we made tracks to the local bowling alley and met up with Matthew Smith. We had booked two lanes, with five people in each aisle and it started as a fairly leisurely afternoon, with the occasional spare and strike and some friendly banter. Then Warren told Gavin to stop talking to me, move over to his lane and declared that it was going to be a competition between their Lane (Mark, Ben, Warren, Gavin and Justin) and our lane (Jamie, Jarrod, Matthew, Rowan and Adam). In the first game, Warren’s team racked up a measly 499, with my team scoring 607. Warren muttered something about individual scores after they lost that game, and didn’t really mention teams again after that. Warren had scored 131 and Mark 111 with our top 2 being Rowan on 128 and Adam on 125. We played another game, and we pipped them again, this time Warren’s team scoring 591 versus and my team Jamie scoring 602. Top 2 scorers from team 1 were Warren 141 and Mark 135, and Top 2 scorers from team 2 were Jamie 138 and Matthew 132. Another great fun activity of fun and fellowship.

Back to the campsite and we threw a massive log on the fire, and Chris supervised the cooking of a nice beef stew with Mash and a regular Saturday night dessert, Nanna’s pies with cream and custard. Then our next meeting was the “Ask it Basket”. Members had submitted a host of questions on sobriety that were answered by members at the meeting, who shared their experience strength and hope on the questions asked. Questions ranged from “What is Happy, Joyous, and Free?” to questions on anonymity, service structures, inventory, the history of the Deal Men’s group and many other interesting questions. The questions were all well answered with all members contributing to the meeting and showing that a power greater than one was with us in Echuca. I talk a couple of minutes after dinner to walk down near the river and look up at the stars. I couldn’t help but feel that my higher power was all around me.

More fellowship and cups of tea around the camp fire and all were in bed by midnight. Up and at it again the next morning, with a few of the more experienced members packing their tents down before breakfast or before the 7:30 am wrap up meeting. Members reflected at the meeting on what they had experienced and learnt on the weekend. What struck me most at that meeting was the enthusiasm of the Canberra guys who were so pumped up about their new meeting and getting some more ideas from this campout combined with the experience of the Deal Men’s group that all came together at this time and place at Echuca campout #26. All good things must come to an end, and it was another record breaking pack down. Our car was last to leave (at 9:02 am); we tooted Gav and Benny as the new Jockey wheel on the trailer was “dragging”, which was quickly fixed and we followed them out of the camp site and headed back towards Melbourne.

Justin, Jarrod and I shared our experience, strength and hope on the way home in the car and at a café in Rochester. As we drew towards Melbourne I had some trepidation about getting back to reality but deep down I knew that everything will be ok so long as I stick with my home group. Campout #26 has been another journey of spiritual growth for me and all who attended.

Thanks to everyone who was involved in Echuca Campout #26 2009, especially to Gavin, campout chairperson who has really done a fantastic job over the past 2 years. This was my 9th campout and I can’t wait for the next one, Campout #27, which is the floating location campout and is traditionally in late October, early November. I hope to see you all there.

Jamie N
Deal Men’s Stag Group