White Oak

 For my next series of stories, I will be discussing my work (and play) at White Oak Baptist Conference Center, where I worked from 1981 to 1983.  It was owned and operated by the South Carolina Baptist Convention.  It was about 8 miles north of Winnsboro off of I-77 and Hwy 321 in the town of White Oak, SC.  They had a post office, a couple of churches, and a bunch of farm houses.
 The conference center was built on a large tract of land.  It had an administration building with a book store and canteen.  Adjacent to the administration building, there was a dining hall with 4 conference rooms separated by folding partitions.
 A short walk down a paved path, there was a motel-style living area.  Another short walk down an unpaved road was another living area that was made up of multiple bunk beds.  Beyond that building, there was a small lake.  Three houses were also on the property for the center's director, maintenance man, and administrative assistant.
 I was hired to do a variety of jobs.  My main responsibility was setting up for conferences.  Some were small with just a few people, while others were big.  We could do ones for up to 250 people.  Those were usually youth camps.  During the summer, I had others on staff to help me.  The rest of the year, I may only have one other person to help me.  His name was John, and he was a high school student in Winnsboro.  Another helper year-round was Amelia.  She did the food line and was our main lifeguard.  She was an EMT and lived in White Oak.
 My other jobs included: washing dishes; running the canteen; replacing sheets and towels; maintaining the drink machines; building bonfires; running the reservation desk at night; security; and whatever else came along.
 Other summer staffers included:  Jeff, Mark, Angela, Suzanne, Rod, Fran, and a couple of others during my tenure.  They were mostly college students.
 My day usually consisted of getting up around 6am and working breakfast.  I was on call all day with various chores to do.  I would have to stay up until the last conferee left their meeting area, which could be late into the night.  We had a TV in the dining hall, and some would watch late night football.  I tried desperately to get them to leave, so I could go to bed.  I had to lock up all of the buildings.  I would use the method of flipping the lights on and off or make a bunch of noise to let them know I was still there.  One thing I couldn't do was to ask them to leave.  The director never wanted me to make anyone mad, so I had to be subtle.  Some nights, I might get a couple hours of sleep before having to start all over again.  My body clock was very messed up.  When I left the job in 1983, I had to take a couple of months off and get back to normal.
 I had a room in the motel on the property, where I would stay as long as a conference was going on.  The motel room had two beds and a bathroom.  There were no TV's or radios in the rooms.  I brought my portables from home, but the guests staying there did not have that luxury unless they went up to the conference area.
 So, that's a brief overview of what was there.  More later.