CBS Stories

It is 80 feet long, 46 feet wide and contains 41 cubic yards of concrete. And it will be the envy of every Kobe Bryant wannabe who visits Campus by the Sea this year. It’s the new basketball court.

On the weekend of October 21, ten participants arrived at CBS to take part in our inaugural “Cook like a Chef” cooking class. Skills from how to use and sharpen a chefs knife to plating and presentation were taught in a setting that was relaxed, fun and inspiring. We look forward to hosting future classes that help explore the ministry of cooking and hospitality. Please stay tuned for upcoming dates. Slideshow below are shots from the weekend.

To know a place by its smell suggests a degree of intimacy that most of us don’t possess. Steve and Sarah Jones are the exception when it comes to Campus by the Sea. Since the mid 1970’s, they have been involved with the retreat and conference center. They were both brought to family camp by their parents when they were children. As teenagers they both attended high school camp and later worked as summer staff. At some point along the way, Christian Camping became their vocational choice and we are delighted that they decided to focus their energies at CBS.

It seems like everyone is always talking about “going green”, but what does that really mean? At Campus by the Sea it means that we are becoming better stewards of all that God has given us, including Santa Catalina Island. We are taking steps in every area to conserve resources and reduce the amount of trash we create.

Each week during the summer, our guests disembark from a boat and lumber down the pier with baggage and children in tow. When they reach the beach, most turn left, pass the boat house, and head up the fairway towards our elegant dining hall, modern bathroom, and adequate housing accommodations. But those who turn right when they hit the beach are in for a different experience.

Success for a chef is often defined by becoming Executive Chef for a large hotel, owning your own restaurant, or cooking for celebrities or heads of state. Chef D’Arcy Letourneau, the new Executive Chef for Campus by the Sea, chased and accomplished all of these goals believing that this would bring contentment.

Rain At Last-Drought is a regular feature of life on Santa Catalina Island, punctuated with wet seasons every seven to ten years. In 1970, Inter-Varsity outgrew Campus by the Sea and moved its summer camp operations to Northern California. (They returned twelve years later.) Coincidentally, 1970 was the year the rain stopped falling in Southern California. Seven dry years later, the Island Company began discussions about hauling water by barge from the mainland to the island.

With respect to humans, the wildlife on Santa Catalina Island live by one rule—BE INCONSPICUOUS. But every once in a while an animal tries a different strategy. Billy the Buffalo parked himself in the upper canyon of Gallagher’s Cove for three months a few years back. Then there was Tripod the three-legged fox who hung around the kitchen looking for scraps. But the most interesting was Wilma the Pig. She appeared on the scene in the summer of 1977.

Shane and Susie Sabicer is a name that sounds like it belongs together. It does—for twenty years now.Three words that each begin with “s” in a cadence of one, two, and three syllables. For most of their married life, they have worked as a team in camping ministry. Susie, with her certificate in catering from Orange Coast College, cooked or managed the kitchen, while Shane worked in the main office.

Introduction As fate would have it, the higher one moves up the organizational ladder, the more complex the problems become. If there is any good thing to say about this predicament, it is that problem solving is a learned skill. What follows is the first-ever Campus by the Sea Problem Solver Guide for managers of all types. Organizational executives, student leaders, and even parents will find this easy to use twelve-step approach useful as you try to identify, analyze and maybe even solve a few of the tough issues that end up on your plate.