Horsin' around
Don Coldsmith, Syndicated Columnist
Originally published 01:51 p.m., May 5, 2008
Updated 01:51 p.m., May 5, 2008
My Dad was a Methodist minister. At that time they were expected to move to a new church assignment about every three years. And, we certainly did. I grew up in at least five eastern Kansas towns and attended their schools.
When I was in junior high about 1937, there came a chance to go to summer camp with others of the Junior Hi-Y Club, (High School YMCA), one of the most important of extracurricular school activities. It was to be held at the state YMCA camp, Camp Wood, near Elmdale, Kansas. This proved to be one of the turning points of my life.
Although we had lived in several areas, I had never before seen tallgrass prairie. We arrived, checked in and put our bedrolls in the assigned cabins. Then I walked out to the edge of the hill overlooking the lake and gazed out over the hills to the south and east. There was nothing but grass — miles and miles of it. For some reason which I still can’t explain, I felt a strong spiritual bond: HEY, I’M HOME! It established an affinity for the tallgrass country and the Flint Hills that has been one of the driving forces in my life.
When I was old enough, I worked at Camp Wood each summer, both before and after a hitch in the Army. I went into professional YMCA work, counseling, outdoor recreation and camping as a result. Eventually in another line of work, I settled in Emporia. The call of the grassland was still there. It still is. My present vocation is almost entirely concerned with writing about it. I sometimes feel that my whole life has been influenced by that contact with the tallgrass prairie at Camp Wood.
The “Camp of Far Horizons” was established in 1915, with the gift of the first 40 acres. Stephen M. Wood, a Civil War veteran and rancher in the area, apparently felt the spiritual influence of the spot. It was said that he loved to spend time on the hill where the camp now stands, gazing across the Cottonwood Valley and the hills beyond. He and Mrs. Wood donated the hilltop to the state YMCA “for the boys of Kansas.” The first summer camp sessions there were in army style tents. Cabins were built a few at a time.
Camping is for girls too, now, as well as for adults of all ages. The original cabins were intended for summer use only. More recent buildings which supplement or replace 80-year old frame structures are designed for year-round use. Programs are expanding to include outdoor education, conferences and retreats by church and Scout groups and special interest camps. Family reunions find a welcome there. Descendants of Stephen M. Wood hold an annual reunion on the site.
The organizational structure of the YMCA has changed over the years. There is no state YMCA structure to operate camps or other programs. Such functions were turned over to local YMCAs. This led to loss of statewide support and Camp Wood fell on hard times. But in the 1980s, a committee of former staff members, former campers and Wood family members organized as a free-standing unit and received a charter as the Camp Wood YMCA. This allows cooperation with other YMCAs, offering not competition but an opportunity for extension of their own programs. In addition, hundreds of campers with no YMCA program in their own areas benefit from direct enrollment in Camp Wood’s programs. Present day campers, somewhat younger than the early years, start at age seven and come from state-wide and beyond. Programs are offered at different levels and provide for special interests such as horsemanship, canoeing, crafts, as well as nature, hiking and environmental interests. Outdoor education is growing.
For older teens, there are such possibilities as ski trips to the mountains and summer canoe trips. The program remains flexible and expanding, both in content and in greater year-round availability.
This summer will mark the 93rd season of operation at Camp Wood. It is impossible to estimate the impact of the spiritual values which thousands of young people have found in this place. Stephen M. Wood’s dream is now modified to include people of all ages who are young at heart and who feel the spiritual call of the grassland. But it’s alive and well.
For further information, write Camp Wood YMCA, Elmdale, KS 66850 or call (620) 273-8641. Author and columnist Don Coldsmith lives in Emporia.
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