Hear ye, hear ye!

The 2026 St. Mary (Spokane Valley) Catholic Summer Camp theme is “A Cool Kingdom Party.” It is all about how Mary gets us closer to Jesus.

It is the last full week in June and that means one thing in our little corner of Spokane Valley: Catholic Summer Camp.

This year the theme at St. Mary’s (Spokane Valley) Catholic Summer Camp is “Cool Kingdom Party: Mary Leads Me Closer to Jesus.” I promise Beau is more excited for camp than how he looks in this photo 😂.

Yes, that glorious time of the summer has arrived where after an ever so brief respite from their friends, Sloan and Beau return to St. Mary and are re-united with their classmates (and others) for five days of camp filled with crafts, snacks, music, and faith. It just doesn’t get much better.

Marie Bricher once again is delivering incredible instruction to the campers. This year the theme is about how our Blessed Mother gets us closer to Jesus. I took this photo at the kickoff event on Sunday night.

Or perhaps it does. Because this year, the campers cross a moat each day to enter the Catello della Madonna. Who doesn’t love a medieval theme?

This year, Catholic Summer Camp is taking place in Catello della Madonna (aka the St. Mary gym)>

As per usual, Marie Bricher has taken a fun theme and leveraged it to the max with peak creativity and imagination. Aside from camp taking place in the Castle of the Madonna (aka the school gym), my kids are also creating art in the Crafters Hall, listening to stories in the Castle Garden, and trading in their “kingdom cash” at the Medieval Store. But the execution of the theme goes way beyond clever names because once again the gym is beautifully decorated in a way that would make any 1400s château blush.

A medieval bell tower, constructed by St. Mary teacher Kevin Schultz, stands in the center of the gym.

However, even though Marie aced the theme (again), the absolute best part of this year’s St. Mary Catholic Summer Camp is the content. This summer, it is all about helping the campers understand the importance of Mary and how she leads us closer to Jesus.

This year’s camp is focused on teaching the kids how Mary gets us closer to Jesus.

Sloan and Beau are learning how our Blessed Mother said “yes” to God, how she is pure and holy, how she is Queen (there is a throne for her in the castle), and how Jesus is King.

Inside the castle/gym is a worship area for the campers. Marie always thinks of it all!

Basically, the entire lesson of the camp can be summarized on what is written on the back of this year’s camp t-shirt. It is taken right from our Blessed Mother’s final words in the bible and should be used to guide us every day: Do whatever Jesus tells you (John 2:5).

The back of the t-shirts sum it all up at this year’s St. Mary (Spokane Valley) Summer Catholic Camp.

So as Catholic Summer Camp continues at St. Mary this week, let’s pray for the children and volunteers. May they follow Mary’s example of saying “yes” to God and follow her command of doing whatever Jesus tells us to do. Don’t Blink.