Bee Busy at Bayview

(Photos by Victoria Holt and the Rev. Nina Pickerrell)

For two weeks, from Monday, August 10 to Friday, August 21, Bee Busy at Bayview Mission was in session. This is an annual vacation Bible school led by the Rev. Nina Pickerrell. For the first week, the camp was held at Grace Cathedral; the second week took place at the Bayview Mission. Ms. Pickerrell has hosted this camp for about 5 years. A number of kids from throughout the San Francisco community played games, did arts and crafts, took tours of the cathedral, and engaged in a number of activities that would not be possible anywhere else in the city.


During the first week, the Rev. Nina, the 20-plus kids, and a number of youth and adult counselors occupied the dining hall at Grace. This location enabled the group to tour various sections of the cathedral, some of which would normally be off-limits to guests, including the nave, the columbarium, the bishop's office, and various basement rooms. Several cathedral staff also talked about Grace's history and secrets to the campers. The kids were additionally given the opportunity to walk the labyrinth in silence and to sing "Amazing Grace" in the cathedral, the latter being a stunning musical experience! In between these tours, the kids had ample space to do such crafts as beading, drawing, and crocheting, as well as to play with balls, frisbees, and hula hoops in the courtyard. Both breakfast and lunch were provided daily.

In a question and answer session with some of the campers, it was revealed that eleven languages are spoken among ten of the kids. Most of the kids also play at least one musical instrument and participate in multiple sports.

During the second week, the campers of Bee Busy came to Nina's house in the Bayview, otherwise known as the Bayview Mission. Again, the kids engaged in such crafts as beading and painting. Breakfast and lunch were again provided. They also got into a circle everyday and were read to by youth counselors. They additionally partook of some activities that they had not gotten to do at Grace Cathedral. That Monday, the camp coincided with the weekly food pantry at the Mission. The kids all worked together to fill backpacks to be given out to other children from the neighborhood. They also got to keep one backpack of their own. A few of the campers and counselors remained to assist with the food pantry after the day of camp was over. On Wednesday, a family from a farm in Petaluma brought farm animals, which included a small petting zoo of chickens and rabbits, as well as two horses and a pony that could be ridden by the kids-and even a few adults!

The fun continued on Thursday and Friday with an inflatable pool and seven-foot tall slide that the kids made use of enthusiastically, in spite of the cool, overcast San Francisco weather.

The Rev. Nina feels confident that she had the only 7-foot shark pool in the Bayview that day. "It was a joy to watch the children experience water play on a summer day!"

Victoria Holt Interview

David Cowen interviews Victoria Holt about Bayview Mission

You have been involved at Bee Busy at Bayview Mission every summer for a number of years. Did you attend the camp as a child?

I attended the camp back when it was Vacation Bible School at the cathedral, but it was much more of a religion-centered thing back then. I was very young and so have only vague memories, but I remember arts and crafts, making popsicle buildings and playing with Nina's amazing collection of stamps. We had the same awesome tour of the cathedral that the kids still have today, and I remember having a really good time! We used to have it in the Boys' School's classrooms, and we'd play out on the playground. We'd always learn a song and sing it to the congregation at coffee hour the following Sunday. Because Bayview Mission is only a recent development (at least when we compare it to when I was at VBS), I never got to experience the type of camp the kids get to have today, when they can enjoy Nina's backyard and the farm animals and so on. It's been wonderful to see it evolve over the years!


Describe some of the work you do to help out with the kids at camp.

For a few years, Nina would always describe me as the sort of Program Director of the camp, but all that really meant was choosing which activities we did from her amazing assortment of goodies in the barn. :]] Nina is the true mastermind behind this wonderful camp. I've mostly been a counselor-type of figure for the kids, letting them know what the plan is for the day and what their activities will be. When it's at the Cathedral, and more structured, I help to keep the kids involved in what we're doing, if its a tour or a slideshow or meeting with the Seniors. But when we're at Bayview, we can all relax, and I truly feel that I get a chance to get involved and have fun too. I know that I get as much of a kick out of being at Bayview Mission as the rest of the campers. :] This year I also helped a lot with the crafts planning and purchasing of materials. I really enjoyed that, working with Lizzy Compean, to think up some fun ideas and help the kids create such things as decoupage vases, paintings on canvas, animals made of toilet paper rolls, wizard hats, and so on.

I understand you do a lot of photography. What kinds of things do you
like to photograph? Have you taken pictures for the Mission?

I mostly photograph portraits that are framed within an interesting environment. It's sort of a very literal type of environmental portraiture, where through my compositions, I frame the subject so that it's interacting with its background, rather than just posing in front of it. That's my favorite, but I definitely enjoy all types of photography. I also really love band photography, both portraits and live shots of concerts. Just today I had a photoshoot (one of my first official ones with artists that aren't just my brother and his friends, haha) in Oakland that went really well, for a friend's new CD project. Over the years I've taken a ton of photos at Bayview Mission, some of which Nina has used early on for cards and so forth. It's mostly just stuff that she can save to remember the evolution of the place. Once I came over and shot photos of the house and barn before changes were made to both. And I shot the shed a lot before they had it taken down. Just archival stuff for keepsake. And every year at camp I've loved the opportunity to shoot the kids having so much fun!

Did helping out at the Mission fulfill any credit hours when you attended
high school at the Bay School?

I don't remember my school literally requiring credit hours... we did a lot of community service through our classes or as a group on special outings. I used Bayview Mission for a community project where we were told to go to another community we were unfamiliar with and interview someone who is involved there, then write a story from their perspective of one of their experiences of living there. It was a strange assignment but turned out great when I interviewed Nina. She told an amazing story of some of the things she's witnessed living in Bayview, and at that time I felt I truly was a part of the community at Bayview Mission. It's been such an honor to be able to be involved in a place I would probably never venture on my own for safety's sake. It truly enhances cultural empathy and is an experience all young adults should have!

You just completed a year of college up in Seattle. What school are you
attending?

I go to Seattle University, the Jesuit school in Seattle. It's a wonderful school with a great Core Curriculum based on the Jesuit values of a strong central education along with whatever the student chooses to major in. I'm really enjoying it!

Have you declared a major yet? If so, what are you studying?

I am studying for a BFA (Bachelor's in Fine Arts) in Photography. I knew while applying to colleges that I wanted to study photography, so I was looking at a lot of art schools. But in the end I chose a liberal arts school, because I decided that I greatly value a good general education. My major's department head says it best, that art cannot be created from a vacuum. I also appreciate the option to change my mind, should I decide to. :] I'm loving it so far though!