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http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2008/06/11/1_CAMP_WYANDOT_ART_06-11-08_D1_9IAF1Q4.html?sid=101

Bette Jenks of Columbus holds the attention of the Council Fire at Camp Wyandot.

TIMOTHY E. BLACK | FOR THE DISPATCH

MILESTONES
At 80, camp still endearing
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 3:02 AM
By Jill Laster
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Bette Jenks of Columbus holds the attention of the Council Fire at Camp Wyandot.
ROCKBRIDGE, Ohio — In 1928, when Camp Wyandot opened, young visitors didn’t have the luxury of running water, electricity or television.

Not much has changed in 80 years.

“You feel like you’re going home because everything is like when you were a kid: the nature, the dining hall, the lake — everything. It’s all the same,” said Grace Simpson, who first attended the camp in 1943.

Although guests these days are able to shower there, modern amenities remain few at the site — on 110 acres in the Hocking Hills.

Camp Wyandot, after all, was designed as a summer getaway for learning and enjoying the great outdoors.

“It was heavenly lying there at night, looking at the stars,” recalled Simpson, 76, of Columbus. “Sleeping outside was some of the greatest times in my life.”

For other former campers, too, the attraction — owned by Camp Fire USA — has provided memories to spare.

About 125 alumni and their children, along with current staff members, gathered Saturday to swap stories during a daylong party to celebrate the camp’s milestone year.

Around the traditional Council Fire, the visitors recounted old times — from building a swimming pool in 1951 to hiking last summer.

“It really touched my heart,” said Ally Morrow, 83, of Delaware, who first attended Camp Wyandot in 1935 and returned as a counselor. “Camping has meant so much to so many people over the years.”

Started as an attraction for girls only, the camp charged $5 a person for a week of swimming, fishing and hiking. The sole buildings on the property then: a farmhouse, barn and chicken coop.

Although owned by the Camp Fire Girls at the time, the site welcomed all girls from elementary-school to high-school age. In the early years, campers and counselors slept outside each night. The ground was hard, but everyone would take empty mattress casings to the farmhouse and stuff them with straw for bedding.

Through camp visits in the 1940s, Simpson and Morrow began a lifelong friendship. The two attended the party together, with Morrow recalling how, during the Depression and World War II, the camp provided a haven of sorts from the world’s troubles.

“Camp went on even as the war went on,” she said. “Camp was always a constant.”

By the 1950s and ’60s, cabins and a swimming pool were added to the grounds, even as the programs remained pretty much the same: swimming in the morning and evening; sewing, plant identification and other such activities during the day.

Karla Davis, who camped and worked at Wyandot for a combined 40 years until 2006, recalled at least one tradition being dropped for safety’s sake: the torch-lined path to the Council Fire, a week-ending ritual in which costumed counselors perform a history of the camp and campers share what they learned.

“It was solemn; it was beautiful,” said Davis, 49, of Grove City.

“When you’re younger, it’s just awesome sitting on the logs with this huge fire and everyone in costume.”

Probably the most significant change in the camp, though, occurred in 1977, when boys were admitted for the first time.

Initially, caretaker Chuck Woodrum said, there was hesitation.

“When we first talked about having boys here, we just thought, ‘Oh, it’s all going to be different; everything’s going to change,’ ” said Woodrum, who has been with Wyandot for 41 years.

The transition was rocky, he said, because the girls were unaccustomed to having boys around. Today, though, boys make up about 40 percent of campers.

More recently, Camp Wyandot has struggled for survival.

Nancy Wardrell, 71, who attended in the 1940s, said that enrollment, following a national trend, reached record lows in the mid-1990s, allowing the camp to open for just one week during the summer.

Amid discussions that the camp might permanently close, former campers began spreading the word to fellow alumni.

After several meetings, alumni decided to staff the camp themselves as a money-saving move.

For every week spent as a counselor, volunteers could bring one of their children to the camp with them.

“There’s always an infusion of new people, but there’s also a heart that beats for generations,” Wardrell said.

Since 2003, when the camp again looked as if it might close, enrollment has increased steadily, said Amy Boyd, chief executive officer of Camp Fire USA Central Ohio Council.

The camp has cut from 10 to eight the number of sessions it offers, and the cost of a weeklong stay is now $350.

When Ally Morrow thinks of Wyandot, she remembers an old camp saying: “Friends who camp together will never again divide.”

Her best friends, she said, remain the women with whom she camped more than 60 years ago.

“It’s a life-expanding experience to be there for a week or two,” she said.

“Some of us have that experience for a lifetime.”

jlaster@dispatch.com

Copyright © 2008, The Columbus Dispatch