No computers…No Cell Phones…No Way!

By Pati Egan

I wonder how all of us would do if we were dropped into Camp Ondessonk and the only technology was from the 1960s to the mid-1990s? In the 1960s, high tech was phone lines that worked, manual typewriters, a Public Address System that consisted of a microphone in the main Camp Office, a cassette tape player – okay, we just jumped to the 1970s – the system was hard wired in order to reach all over the Camp. A good storm, a fallen tree, the system would go down. The Public Address System was the ONLY form of communication to page staff, play the bugle calls, and keep Camp running. The Office Manager was the only person allowed to use the system.

The Office Manager was behind the counter that no one was to cross. The bugle schedule is behind her on the wall. The Office Manager would wake up bright and early, collect the mail from the Trading Post, make sure the tape was set to “Reveille.” Press play on the tape recorder and turn on the microphone. The Office Manager had a timer that he/she would set for the next bugle.

For some reason I recall seeing a vinyl album made by Louis Armstrong of bugle calls. I can’t find this in the discography, so I may be wrong. Cassette tapes were known to break and occasionally a new tape would have to be made. I do recall having to make a new tape at Royce Reeder’s house from his stereo. This was in the 1970s.

Manual Typewriters, Carbon Paper, and Mimeograph

All communication was typewritten on a manual typewriter. Multiple copies were made by using carbon paper. Carbon paper is still sold!

If you needed a lot of copies, the mimeograph machine was your high-tech tool.

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Which Phone Do I Use?

This is the Personnel Office. It was located in the back of the Original Administration Building – now called the Staff Lounge. The white phone was an intercom phone. It didn’t work that well. In theory it would connect the entire Camp – one ring meant someone was trying to get ahold of the Kitchen, two rings could reach Central Supply, the “Infirmary,” and even Durbin’s Barn. The Durbin’s Barn phone didn’t last long…it kept disappearing! The line was very fragile, and in the end, I think it may have only gone to the Kitchen, Office, Infirmary (Health Center) and Central (Maintenance). I believe it was taken out of use in the mid-1980s.

The black phone was the 618-695-2489, and the other phone was a line for non-Camp business. The poor staff had to use a “pay phone” that was in the Program Office that took no money – all calls had to be “collect.” The line was officially called the “Johnson County Transit” line. I honestly could never figure out why it was called that name. It was a very poor-quality line that you would need to scream to be heard. No cell phones in those days!

Two Walkie Talkies

The Walkie Talkies were only used for Marathon. One was placed next to the Public Address System and the other was used by the Program Director to keep the campers aware of how Marathon was going.

Camp Enters the Computer Age!

The 1997 Newsletter announced Camp now had a website! It is still Camp’s online address – www.ondessonk.com. It was a phone line-based system with a dial up connection. The computer in the picture looks like an early MacIntosh. There was no registration online but it did give Camp a digital footprint.

All registration and health form documents were still hard copies.

I wouldn’t want to go back to “back in the day” on technology. No more “barter bucks” or, before there were credit cards, Camp had paper credit cards. Campers used these at the Trading Post. The barcode wristbands the campers use now are so much more efficient. Parents can even add money if they want or wonder why their child has had ten orders of Skittles.

Registration seems so smooth with the computerized system. I’m sure it is immensely helpful in the Health Center to have everything needed in one place.

Technological changes are superficial when you compare it to the wonder a camper feels watching Cedar Falls flow, riding a horse for the first time, or just seeing the beauty our Creator endowed us with while just sitting and relaxing with their friends.

Click here to learn more about Camp Ondessonk’s Mission and History.