Dear Buckaroos!

By Judy Blase Woodruff

Have you ever received a letter with the above salutation? This was how then Camp Director Gene Canavan addressed the first invitations to Camp Ondessonk’s popular Stable Round-Up weekend. The letter went on to state, “Get your boots and gloves and come to Camp!”

Stable Round-Up has been an important part of Camp’s calendar for many years – probably since the mid-1980s. Currently, it is held twice a year, in the Spring and Fall. It is when dozens of Camp Friends gather to make repairs and upgrades to pasture fencing, barn maintenance, tack preservation, and numerous other tasks that are required to run a first-class equestrian program. In addition, a project to create a goat playground was accomplished at Stable Round-Up last year. Goats have been a great addition to barn programming and a new element of animal husbandry education. As Equestrian Director Catherine Limkeman states, “Our passion is to help cultivate care for all living things in our students, campers, and staff through fun activities and through working with the animals.”

The challenge we have is to identify the first year Stable Round-Up was held. If you have a letter from Gene inviting you to Stable Round-Up those many years ago, and know when the first one was held, please let us know! This labor of equestrian love has been an essential part of Camp’s history, and we want to salute all of those many volunteers who have been coming to Ondessonk for this special weekend year after year.

Click here to learn more about volunteering at Camp Ondessonk.