The Pine Valley Bible Conference Center is transforming into a holiday destination with the 3rd Annual Camp Christmas festival for 20 nights of holiday cheer for the entire family. Camp Christmas brings a surge of the holiday spirit with festive light shows, colorful dancing water shows, games, live entertainment, hayrides, gift shops, food, and more.
Camp Christmas will open to the public Nov. 17 and will run for five consecutive weekends, and in the last week, several weekday nights will be open as children get out of school for the Christmas holidays.
Pine Valley Bible Conference Center CFO and Camp Christmas President Randy Rebold has lived in East County for most of his adult life and has a background in Christmas productions. Rebold said that when he was the camp’s executive director, he was looking for other ways to serve the community, and Camp Christmas was the result.
Rebold said the Pine Valley Bible Conference Center is a camp for churches, along with educational programs, such as science camps throughout the year. The Center is nondenominational and has been in operation for 77 years. Camp Christmas is a separate nonprofit organization, partnering with the Center, using its facility to raise funds for future buildings at the Bible Conference Center.
“Camp Christmas runs 20 nights from 5:30 – 9 p.m.,” he said. “We have a complete computerized light show that we run several times throughout the evening. In addition to the lights on the trees, we have a computerized water show with music and lights called H2O on the Glow. It is quite spectacular. We have so many kinds of things for the family to do, and that is our intent. Though we provide the traditional Christmas story, we do not consider this a religious event. It is open to the public. It is lights, it is fun, its food.”
Rebold said there is so much to do for the evening with laser tag, bounce houses, hayrides, a bow and arrow arcade, and the Pine Valley Train Depot.
“This is individual hand cards that kids 5 to 12 can crank themselves, and go around the train track,” he said. “There are many events like this. We have the Sugar Shack where guests go in and get cotton candy, popcorn, and we have barrels with vintage candy. In addition, we have live entertainment, multiple campfires with s’mores.”
The trees of Pine Valley will come to life as hundreds of thousands of lights dance to the beat of your favorite Christmas songs at the top of every hour. Four different programmed shows each night at the top of the hour – 6, 7, and 8 p.m., and a stirring closing finale at 9:00 p.m. featuring Handel’s Majestic “Hallelujah Chorus!” H2O on the Glow will take place three times each night at 6:30, 7:30, 8:30 p.m. with a spectacular grand finale. “Sappy” the Talking Christmas Tree is the official host of Camp Christmas to greet the kids. There is a 7-minute production of “The Christmas Guest” twice nightly at the Live Entertainment Theater inside Snowflake Village. Some experiences are available for a nominal fee including laser tag, the Tree Top Climbing Wall, face painting, the Elevation Gift Shop, Alpine Peak Buffet, Rick’s Bar-B-Q, Summit Grill Snack Bar, Altitude Café Coffee Shop, Sugar Shack, and S’mores Galore.
For the first time, last year, Rebold said they converted the dining hall into a soup and salad bar. It is all you can eat with eight different soups and a full salad bar with all the fixings and trimmings. There is also a grill snack bar with hamburgers, chicken strips, fried shrimp, and other dishes, along with other spots to purchase food and beverages.
“We have everything you would expect at a fair-type setting,” he said. “We have all those fun favorites for our guests. As you exit, we have a complete manger scene. It is probably the largest manger scene in San Diego County.”
Rebold said the organization has a tremendous family value, so children 4 and under are free.
“We want families to come to this, especially young families,” he said. “Ages 5-15 is only $10, and 16 and older is only $15. We have worked very hard to keep the costs down so families can afford to come and have a fun-filled evening. This is the cost we started at three years ago, and we are committed to not raising that cost. We know that things are tight, and we want families to be able to afford to come.”
Rebold said that especially in East County, they think of Camp Christmas as the premiere holiday seasonal event for folks to be able to go to and enjoy, walk around, enjoy the sights, sounds, music, food, and all the fun activities it provides.
“It is a safe, wholesome fun environment for families,” he said. “We are committed to excellence.”
Rebold said when Camp Christmas started, there was no money to do what they wanted, and wanted a first-class destination. So, he reached out to four different businessmen and asked if they would loan him $75,000 each to meet the beginning budget of $300,000. “We had to buy everything from scratch,” he said.
Rebold got his money, with a repayment plan on a handshake. Independently, all four of his contacts contacted him, said that they believed in what he was doing, and each gifted $75,000 to Camp Christmas.
Rebold said for Pine Valley residents, out of the 20 nights, they are allowed in free of charge with identification, and a donation of canned goods from each member of the family.
“There is only one local church here, Pine Valley Community Church,” he said. “We give them the canned goods and they put them in their pantry and provide food for folks in need it in the Pine Valley community.”
Tickets are now available online for Camp Christmas and will run Nov. 17 – 19, 24 – 26, and Dec. 1-3, 8-10, 15-17, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23. Visit www. pinevalleychristmas.com.
