Banding Together on Retreat Trips
Harriet Long
When the youth group takes off on a retreat or extended outing in a caravan of cars, how do you keep everyone together? And on all-night trips, how do you keep drivers awake? Herb Hillabrand, youth director at Faith Evangelical Covenant Church, Wheaton, Illinois, has a sure-fire method: Equip each car with a CB radio. "Like most groups, we've had cars break down on trips," says Hillabrand, who borrows the CBs from members of the congregation. "Without the CBs, a car would drop out and be 10 miles behind before anyone else knew. With the CBs, everyone knows immediately what's going on, and one of the other cars can go for assistance, or we can radio for help if necessary. "The radios also help keep our drivers together. We often travel Interstates, and cars inevitably get separated. But with our communications, drivers rarely miss their exits." Another plus: "We've even cut down on the number of bathroom stops. Each car knows we'll stop in another half hour." But the CBs are for fun, too. "On retreats, we usually divide the kids into cars by teams. Each team has a code name, and the competition starts immediately. In addition to points teams can earn during the retreat itself, they also accumulate points during the drive. For example, after a rest stop the first team back in the car ready to go receives points. "Teams sing and chant back and forth using the CB system. Naturally, with all our horsing around, we stay away from the major channels so we're not a nuisance to others." Hillabrand's longest trip was from northern Indiana to Florida with three motor homes. Each vehicle had its name and its CB. (The idea can be modified if there aren't enough radios to go around. Once, Hillabrand could borrow only two CBs—for the first and ...
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