Remembering Winter at Camp
By Pati Egan
Imagine walking down the snow-covered Camp Road by Daniel in the early 1960s and 1970s. The only sound you hear are your boots crunching in the snow. Perhaps then Ranger Ralph Rheinecker sent you and your “off season” staff to find the perfect site for the next big project, or perhaps to find the perfect piece of cedar for the perfect campfire.
Many skills were needed in those days, but not the same skills that are needed today. I don’t know how well today’s staff are with hand tools, such as hand axes, or having one single gasoline generator to help build an entire cabin, but wait, this is about memories – not facts.
Rumor has it that the original off-season boy’s staff lived in the original Administration Building (Staff Lounge) and then in the Cook’s Cottage. The Cook’s Cottage is located on the Camp Road right next to the Health Center and the Handicrafts Building. The original Camp Ranger and his family lived in this small residence until the Ranger’s house was built. Dan King and his family currently live in the Ranger’s home. Imagine getting on a toboggan or old-fashioned sled, and your goal was to sled from the Ranger’s house to the bottom of the hill by the Cabana.
Long-time off-season staff Gene Canavan has memories of living in the Cook’s Cottage; a building never built for winter housing. A small dual space heater heated the building.
The Cook’s Cottage
Norb Garvey remembers living in the BOQ located where the Health Center is now located. A small wood stove provided the only heat. Showers were taken in Shower House C (the shower house by the dorms). Imagine crossing the star-lit parking lot – perhaps the brightest stars you’ve ever seen. Perhaps you hear the howl of a distant animal and recall the many scary stories told around a campfire the past summer. Perhaps you stare in awe at the beauty of God’s heaven and earth. Norb recalls that his hair would be frozen going from Shower House C.
Norb found himself living at Camp during the winter of 1976 as a place to heal. Norb Garvey offers a very interesting story of how his off-season journey began: “I decided to work hard to earn the Lodge Trip in 1975, and I was able to do so. There were many people I knew from Camp and from Evansville, Greg Stowe being one from Evansville. We sure had a bus full of fun people. There were several girls from St. Joe Parish, Elizabethtown – two of Bernie’s (Mike Herrmann) sisters, one of their friends and two of the Austin girls, Nancy (Joe Drone) and Judy. Judy and I became pen pals and later we dated, worked at Camp together, and I spent a lot of time driving to Southern Illinois to visit her and her gracious family. Judy made some trips to Evansville also, but sadly, in the Fall of 1976, she was killed in a car accident.”
“I was at a loss for what to think or do. After months of not being able to get my head straight, I called Royce in late February or early March to see if he could use a volunteer. Royce said to come on down and I moved to Camp. I was the only off-season worker. There was a local fellow, Layton from New Burnside, who helped during the day. We did every chore possible from soldering copper pipe repairs from frozen pipes to caring for the horse herd. Often on the weekends, I would go to Elizabethtown and visit Judy’s parents at their farm. When Royce would leave for a day or two, I would be totally in charge of Camp.”
Norb recalls feeding Tommy on vague directions from Royce. “I brought a big bag of dog/bear food in and poured it on the flat rock. Tommy got behind me and pushed me away from the gate blocking me in the cage. He wouldn’t leave, having just awaken from a long winter nap, he seemed groggy but I just kept talking calmly and eventually I reached out carefully and started to scratch his head, rub him down a bit, and gently push him and coax him off the gate. Not sure how long I was in there, but he eventually moved enough to allow the gate to swing in and let me out. I was the only person in Camp, maybe we were both lonely.
“When Royce got back, we went to work on building the Areopagus water cave and slide. I was assigned to two older concrete-forming experts from Belleville. We worked for several weeks, but I guess it’s still there. They told the Camp Director there was no way it would span the length, but he told them God would hold it up. He’s right so far!”
Norb stayed at Camp until late August, and was ready for a change. “My spirit had healed somewhat, though my heart will always grieve Judy’s youthful passing. There is a plaque with her name in the Chapel at Camp: Judy Lynn Austin. I’ve tried to lead a good life and raise a good family. It is all we can do out of respect for those we’ve lost. Camp means a lot to me for many, many reasons, but that’s how I ended up working the off season.”
Camp, in the early days, really had no Outdoor Education; that would come about in the mid-1980s. Camp now has a modern facility for its Outdoor Education Staff.
I’m sure that they spend time staring at the brilliant winter night sky just as the off-season staff did in the early 1960s.
Click here to learn more about Camp Ondessonk History & Misson.
