Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch…

For some time now I’ve been aware that there is a Lasertron arena at a camp called Circle C Ranch in Delevan, NY. I was particularly interested in this because one of my goals is to eventually play at every laser tag site in New York, but I didn’t really anticipate being able to play here because this is a private facility, not a public laser tag arena like I typically visit. However, opportunity presented itself when Ed from Skateland was kind enough to make a phone call to try to facilitate me paying a visit to the ranch while I was traveling nearby. I was thrilled to be able to have un unexpected bonus experience during my trip to western New York and to get to play some laser tag with Wayne, Josh and Chloe.

Circle C Ranch is a 315 acre Christian camp that caters to families, kids and teens and provides a wide variety of activities for them to enjoy, including horseback riding, rock wall, swimming and games as well as Lasertron right on the premises.

When I arrived at the family operated site Wayne greeted me and drove me up to the building that they use for their game area. We walked in to a large, open space that was decorated to look like a town right out of the old west. My first thought was that if this is where they play tag then they must be utilizing a mobile maze structure. After all, I’ve seen laser tag set ups with everything from portable bunkers to coroplast movable walls, so I would not have been surprised if that had been the case here. However, what I was seeing was just the tip of the iceberg and I had not yet had even a glimpse of the actual arena.

Wayne opened the door to a small vesting room with a rack of Lasertron 11 packs hanging on the wall.

On the other side of the vesting room there was another door and this one opened up to reveal a full (and very good sized) Lasertron arena!

Now, laser tag can be a great opportunity for building a business, but this is a completely different setting in which to see a set up this elaborate. So, how does a camp end up with a fully decked out arena and complete laser tag system like this? Wayne gave me a bit of the history that began roughly 20 years ago. Because this site spreads their message of faith to young people through the camp experience it makes sense that the more appealing activities they can offer, the more people will hear their message. Over the course of several years (Wayne believes it was somewhere between five and ten years) they raised the money to be able to purchase the laser tag system for the camp, which of course is a fairly significant investment. That shows a great deal of confidence right there in the benefits that a laser tag system can offer. But as for the amazing arena, perfect timing allowed them to be the recipient of a tremendous gift and receive the arena elements as a donation to the camp when another arena was remodeling. It seems evident that this was the right place and time for this arena to be built and by 2005 they were playing laser tag at Circle C Ranch. Wayne showed me photos of the directors who have been running the Lasertron during the camp sessions ever since.

Right about then was when Wayne’s son Josh and Chloe walked in to see what was going on…and that’s how I ended up talking about tag on his next video edition of The Camp Life! :)

So now we had enough people gathered for a good game and I was really excited to be able to play in this arena. We had an awesome time and it was a real treat to experience Lasertron at this site. I’m really impressed that they have included this as one of their activities. It made my trip all the more worthwhile to be able to add this visit to my journey and really affirmed that I too was in just the right place this weekend. I want to thank Wayne, Josh and Chloe for joining me for a game and sharing a bit about what Circle C has to offer. I appreciate the experience I had and hope that laser tag continues to play a part in the good work that they are able to do at the ranch.

Comments or Questions?

Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com