RVR Camp
Parent Information Page for Winter Meltdown
Arrival
- WHEN - Friday, February 20th at 6:30 PM
- WHERE - Sheetz in Hampstead 3281 Main St, Manchester, MD 21102
Departure
- WHEN - Sunday, February 22nd at 10:30 AM WHERE - RVR Camp 4443 Grave Run RoadManchester, MD 21102
- Parents may pick up their students at New Hope Fellowship toward the close of second service, between 11:30 AM–12:00 PM on Sunday.
Confirmed attending
Teens
- Abby Timmons
- Allison Hooper
- Blake Harper
- Caleb Harper
- Chase Sheehy
- Eleanor Captain
- Elliana Jerusalem
- Ethan Pearre
- Grayson Yaider
- Isaiah Jerusalem
- Jasmine Burden
- Madison Sheehy
- Norah Hooper
- Matteo Acampa
Adults
- Adrian Burden
- Will Pearre
- Brooke Harper
- Melody Hooper
Drivers to RVR
Nick Dunn
Passengers: Chase, Ethan, Grayson, Isaiah
Adrian Burden
Passengers: Jasmine, Abby, Eleanor
Melody Hooper
Passengers: Allison, Blake, Madison, Norah
Brooke Harper
Passengers: Eliana, Caleb, Will, Matteo
Drivers FRom RVR
Mike Timmons
Passengers: Chase, Ethan, Grayson, Isaiah
Adrian Burden
Passengers: Jasmine, Abby, Eleanor
Melody Hooper
Passengers: Allison, Blake, Madison, Norah
Brooke Harper
Passengers: Eliana, Caleb, Will, Matteo
RVR Correspondence
The most recent correspondence from RVR will be communicated below
Drop Down Menu Information below
Hi, All—
We’re looking forward to seeing you all on Friday! Just a few last-minute reminders…
Check in is on Friday evening, between 6:45-8:00 p.m. OTM doors open at 8 and our program will kick of promptly at 8:15. If you’ll be checking in after 8 due to bad traffic, please call 443-712-1010 so we know to modify check in for you. More instructions will be given during that call. If you are staying in Fort Roller, please come closer to 7 so you have time to get set up in your dorm and to drive back to Frontier Town for the first meeting.
Please have your groups arrive wearing their Storm Team colors! Here are the teams:
INFERNO (Orange): Cedar Grove, Perry Hall Baptist
BLAZE (Red): First Baptist of Crofton, Heartland Church, New Hope Fellowship
AVALANCHE (Blue): Grace Church Kutztown, Halethorpe-Relay UMC, Towne Baptist, Cornerstone and Manchester Baptist
BLIZZARD (Purple): Catonsville UMC, New Covenant Community Church, Spry Church
Also, some other reminders—
- Check in will be at the gym again this year. If you are coming in a bus we’ll have you pull in by the office. Any other vehicle will pull in by the Paintball barn.
- The first meal RVR will serve is breakfast on Saturday. You’ll want to stop somewhere for dinner Friday night.
- Assigned dorms are subject to change but if you’d like to know ahead of time please reach out and I’ll let you know where we currently have you assigned.
- Pack for the forecast—we’ll be outside a lot, and it’s going to be chilly!
- What to Bring: Bedding, including sheets and blanket or sleeping bag, and pillow; toiletries, towels and wash cloths; warm clothing suitable to play outside and get dirty; sneakers to wear in the gym; Bible; flashlight; cash for the snack shop & RVR store.
- The store will be open. We know many guests look forward to our milkshakes, and we will offer them on Saturday night. The rest of the time, we will have single-serve ice cream. Make sure your students know to bring money if they’d like to buy anything. We take cash or a card.
- While we maintain our sound volume well within industry safety standards, keep in mind that the kids love loud music!! If you’re not a fan, please feel free to bring earplugs!
- Please ensure that each of your guests (including chaperones) has signed the Smart Waiver.
- If you pay beforehand, it will make check-in faster for your group. You can pay through your account online, by calling the office, or by bringing a check. If you have a check, it’ll just take a few extra minutes to process it.
- Carpooling is highly encouraged so we don’t run out of space in our main parking lot. You’ll pull in by the gym to check in and unload. And then park in the Rodeo Arena lot near the RVR Sign.
- We’re once again collecting cans for the Transformation Center in Baltimore. The cans are worth points for your storm team.
- I’ve attached a copy of the schedule to this email. We will have a copy posted in your dorm so you can at a picture of it to reference. Some have found it’s helpful to make it the lock screen of their phone for the weekend.
We can’t wait to see you Friday!!
Stephanie
Hey, everyone—
It’s almost here, and we are so excited!! We’re putting the final touches on your week of Winter Meltdown 2026, and once again, we’ll be featuring STORM TEAMS!
Each group that will be coming on your weekend has been placed in one of four Storm Teams: Blizzard, Avalanche, Blaze, or Inferno. These teams will be participating & competing in activities throughout the weekend. Your team will have an RVR staff member as a team captain, and a color assigned to you. Since we’ll kick off Winter Meltdown on Friday night with our first Storm activity, please arrive for check-in with your entire group wearing your team’s color! If you want to connect with the other church on your team, let me know.
Another way to earn points for your team is by bringing in cans of soup, which we will donate to the Transformation Center in Baltimore. If each person brings 1 can of soup, it will make a big impact on the ministry there.
Here is the information on your team!
The Storm Team:
INFERNO (Orange): Cedar Grove, Perry Hall Baptist
BLAZE (Red): First Baptist of Crofton, Heartland Church, New Hope Fellowship
AVALANCHE (Blue): Grace Church Kutztown, Halethorpe-Relay UMC, Towne Baptist, Cornerstone and Manchester Baptist
BLIZZARD (Purple): Catonsville UMC, New Covenant Community Church, Spry Church
Your Team’s Color: Mentioned with team name above
Please let me know if you have any questions, and we look forward to seeing you soon!
Concerning Attire: I’d expect they’re outside for at least an hour 20 minutes for each activity they do. So about 2hours 40 minutes total. And then the rest of it is up to the child if they choose to play gaga, be on the swings etc. They’ll probably also spend 10 minute sections of times walking from their dorm to different things.
Only gear they need for activities is long pants and closed toe shoes, crocs don’t count. Thankfully in the winter most pack long pants and the right type of shoes.
Blessings,
Stephanie
We’re looking forward to seeing you soon at Winter Meltdown! Please share the details below with parents and leaders as needed.
Arrival & Check-In:
- Groups will arrive near the paintball barn (signs and RVR staff will direct you).
- Park by Buffalo Lodge; the youth leader should go to the gym to check in.
- Please leave luggage in vehicles until after check-in.
- Charter buses should pull in by the office for easier access.
- The gym must be your first stop—keep your group together until check-in is complete.
- After check-in, you may unpack, settle into dorms, and move vehicles to designated parking.
- Signed waivers are required for all guests and leaders via your SmartWaiver Portal.
- There will be free time after check-in—game room will be open, and you may bring your own games.
What to Bring:
- Dress for the weather (we’ll spend lots of time outside).
- Bedding and toiletries.
- Canned goods for the Transformation Center in Baltimore (earn storm team points!).
- Spending money for the RVR store, milkshakes (Saturday night), snacks, drinks, and merch.
Activity & Events:
- Saturday activity sign-ups (morning): paintball, archery tag, zipline, horses, bubble ball, and low ropes.
- Free-time options: camp store, trivia, game room, prayer room, fireside lounge, and more.
- Saturday night dodgeball! Teams of 10 (at least 3 guys and 3 girls). Costumes encouraged.
- Plus an extremely silly late-night event in the OTM with jumbo fun and prizes.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out—we’re happy to help!
See you soon!
Blessings,
Hi New Hope Fellowship,
Your stay at RVR is only as few weeks away! Please forward this information to all guests attending with your group.
At RVR, we want to do our best to ensure special dietary needs are met. We've created an online form so that you can request substitutions to your meals to meet a variety dietary concerns. If you have a dietary concern and would like to request meal substitutions, please visit the link below. We encourage everyone to have the request in the Wednesday before your event so the kitchen has time to prepare for the number of substitutions requested.
Dear Leaders,
We hope that you & your students are just as excited as we are that your program retreat is right around the corner! It’s one of our favorite times of year here at RVR, and we can’t wait to see the Lord at work in the lives of your students through this event.
We understand that the students who will be coming here lead full & busy lives, with a constant bombardment of demands on their attention. While juggling those demands and filtering those distractions are par for the course for young people these days, we’d like their experience here to be distinctly different from that of the outside world, allowing them to fully immerse themselves in worship, learning, and their beautiful surroundings. We are encouraging each group to “unplug” for a few days, and leave the cell phones & iPods at home. We are aware that this is a sensitive subject, because some parents expect their children to have cell phones available in case of emergencies. However, we often see students listening to music during meals, texting friends during meetings, and playing games on their electronic devices during activity times. The constant availability of the phone can minimize the impact this weekend could have for many students.
This is something we’re much stricter with during summer camp—no electronics allowed, period. But because Winter Meltdown and Ignite are a group experience, the decision to “unplug” must be made by you, based on the culture & expectations of your group. If “unplugging” is something you would like your students to commit to, we would be happy to offer assistance in supporting your decision. You can tell the students before the event to leave their electronics at home, and they can be provided with an opportunity to text or call their parents on Friday to let them know they arrived safely. Or, you could allow students to bring phones on the trip, call their parents when they arrive, and then turn them in to you on Friday night. We can then provide a secure place to store the phones until your Sunday morning departure. (Group leaders are still encouraged to keep their phones with them in the event that a parent needs to get in touch with one of your students in an emergency. We also have landline phones in the office that can be made available 24 hours a day, if your students need to make a call home.)
We hope the decision to spend the weekend free from access to technology will enhance their experience, enrich their relationships with each other, and provide more opportunities to connect with the Lord. Thank you for your consideration, and let us know what you decide. We welcome your thoughts & feedback on this issue!
Sincerely,
The RVR Family
Things are ramping up to preparing for your week of Winter Meltdown. This year we have a main theme and then each service will relate to it through our key passages for the services. To access the document you'll need to use this link and then put in this email address. If it does not work please let me know and I'll sent it to you as an attachment.
We created a Youtube video with an intro to the theme and storm wars as well. https://youtu.be/aT6N-oYokC8
Thank you so much for your efforts, as you work to make your own preparations for your retreat. We have added a few Winter Meltdown Marketing slides and the link to our video on our website if you need additional marketing resources. You can find them near the bottom of the page.
https://www.rivervalleyranch.com/about/press/
I am look forward to serving you, as well as your students, and having an awesome weekend together!
“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ.” Col. 4:2-3