Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Camp Attitude, in the third year of its new life, has grown to the point it will need to break up its camps for disabled children next year, according to organizers.
With litigation resolved about two years ago, the camp’s board of directors began hosting annual camps for disabled children while renting the grounds out to various groups during the remainder of the summer.
This year, participation far exceeded what the camp’s directors believed to be the camp’s upper limit for serving families with disabled children.
Last week’s camp for disabled children started with 206 people, including volunteers and campers. More came in throughout the week, with almost 250 attending the camp Friday evening.
The faith-based nonprofit camp provides an annual camping experience free of charge to families with disabled children. Campers come from all over the nation. One Australian family has attended in the past.
High school and college students from Twin Lakes Church of Santa Cruz, Calif., and Faith Evangelical Free Church of Dallas helped staff the camp, along with junior high students from Northwest Hills Community Church of Corvallis.
Initially, some of the volunteer youths are shocked by the disabilities they see, volunteer Hal Spence of Dallas said. “Then they become good friends, and they don’t even see the disabilities.”
Among returning participants was Sarah King, 13, who is uses a wheelchair and whose family has been attending Camp Attitude since the late 1990s.
She loves “all the people,” she said. “They’re so great. I love them to death.”
While attending the camp, children such as Sarah enjoy a wide variety of activities, camp volunteer Melissa Kazamier said. Friday, the boys went skeet shooting while the girls had a visit from Ms. Nevada and received real tiaras. A sheet of plastic was set up to serve as a giant Slip ‘n’ Slide. Instead of boating and tubing on Foster Lake, which was down too far, campers floated part of the South Santiam River at the camp.
Other activities included horseback riding with the Dutton family of Roseburg. One of the horses, “Goliath,” was a star on the TV show “Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman.” Friday night entertainment included the band Guilty B.C., a Christian act from the Portland-Vancouver area. Members of the group have played the camp over the past couple of years.
“It seems like this camp is getting better and better,” said volunteer camp cook Bruce Richert of Dallas, whose wife is the camp’s head cook. The Camp Attitude Board of Directors keeps improving the kitchen, which had a new range this year.
Richert and his wife volunteer “because we love it,” he said. “It’s basically just a mission for us. We love the Lord and feel He’s just called us to do this. The rewards of just serving are really great. The campers are able to come to this place and be normal.”
Camp Attitude also offers parents and caretakers a break as volunteer students serve as camping buddies to the disabled children, Richert said.
So constantly tied to their disabled children, parents sometimes don’t know what to do with the time they have on their hands during the camp.
Sarah King’s father, Bob King, was among those this year. In the past, he has helped out around the camp; but with so much volunteer help this year, he has had a lot of extra time. His family has been attending Camp Attitude since founder Ron Heagey Jr. held the first camp about nine years ago.
“The faces change, but the story never does change,” King said. “It’s all about them having fun. We just get to come here and relax.”
King has 12 children, three of his own and nine adopted. Six of them have disabilities. This year, he brought seven children. One of his disabled children, Adam, actually served as a camp buddy this year.
Camp Attitude is one of the highlights of the year for his family, he said. “They’ll talk about this for the next couple of months.”
The talk will be more sporadic after that, but when this time of year approaches again, they’ll start talking about it again, he said.
When he offered his children the chance to see the Grand Canyon, he said, they asked if they had to choose the Grand Canyon or Camp Attitude. They did, and they chose Camp Attitude.
Volunteers and participants say the camp is like a family, and through word of mouth, it keeps growing.
“I’m guessing next year’s going to have to go to two (camps),” Richert said.
Organizers had believed they were maxed out last year with 146 attending, he said.
This year, the camp had eight to 10 new families, King said.
The camp likely will have to go three camps next year, board member Louie Kazemier said. “We’ve maxed the facilities out.”
The camp is double the size it was two years ago, he said. Two years ago, the camp had about 40 families. This year, it was 97.
Among the growing number of participants is a Portland group called Winners on Wheels, he said, and another group of families dealing with Down’s Syndrome from Santa Cruz, Calif.
Both of those groups are large enough that they will probably split off into their own camps next year under the direction of the Camp Attitude Board, Kazemier said.
The camp will need more volunteers, although Twin Lakes volunteers will probably handle the Santa Cruz group. Another church from the Portland area may serve the Portland group.
For information or to volunteer, call 367-3420 or email [email protected]. More information is available on the camp Web site at http://www.campattitude.com.