Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Camp Attitude is past its litigious history and heading into a new summer season with a new attitude and a new lease on life, back to its original mission: giving disabled children a place to experience camping and the outdoors, its leaders say.
Over the past couple of years, Camp Attitude has been entangled in litigation, which put a number of projects on hold and scaled back growth of the camp, according to an official statement from the Board of Directors. As of Aug. 15, Camp Attitude, Inc., officially took ownership of the 41-acre camp, buildings and assets.
“We would be remiss in not publicly thanking those who have gone before us that have endured and shown patience throughout the legal process,” the statement said.
Camp Attitude was established by Ron Heagy Jr., but he is no longer involved with the organization.
Ken and Phyllis Laing have been volunteering as camp directors since October. Both had been involved with Camp Attitude previously and returned after litigation was settled.
The litigation involved disputes between Heagy and members of the organization, who said they are not permitted to talk about the case.
The program was essentially in a two-year moratorium, Ken Laing said.
“We came back to fulfill the dream of developing this into the truly premier camp for disabled children in the western United States.”
At the beginning of the year, the camp opened for Christian retreats, he said, and the facility is also available as a fire camp during fire season this year if necessary.
The number-one priority will remain disabled children and sometimes adults, he said. The number-two priority is to maintain it as a faith-based organization.
“No one is turned away,” Phyllis Laing said. Camp Attitude is working with the state and counties to help pay the cost of hosting disabled children from around the state.
It’s a family camp, “so the entire family can experience camping together,” she said. Each disabled visitor is accompanied during a camp session by a volunteer.
The camp includes about 2.5 miles of paved trails, buildings and playgrounds usable by disabled children. To ride the swings, a disabled camper can pull onto a platform with his wheelchair and an assistant pushes him.
The camp was built on volunteer sweat. It includes three Eagle Scout projects, with a fourth under way.
“It’s all about the kids and the Lord,” Phyllis Laing said. “You can’t imagine the happiness you see. For the first time, the kids feel free. They can go. They’re with really wonderful people at the camp. They make lasting friendships.”
The children enjoying camp are incredibly happy to be experiencing it firsthand, she said. “It’s a deep emotional experience.”
In doing it, she gets to “serve the Lord” as well, she said.
Ken Laing said he has been blessed in life and, years ago, he began wondering what he had done to repay the Lord for those blessings he has had, and that’s what he is doing here.
Only, it turns out, doing something for someone who can’t is the biggest blessing one can receive,” he said.
Tim Walusiak, a board member from Albany, said he is more involved in the camp than he was prior to the litigation.
“It’s good to be back, involved again,” Walusiak said. “It’s good that it’s back on track. Now it’s basically building bridges again.”
With uncertainties settled, Camp Attitude is able to start raising money again, he said, and getting volunteers out working on the camp’s infrastructure. Previously at odds with the Linn County Parks and Recreation Department, the Camp Attitude organization is looking forward to working with county parks officials on connections between Camp Attitude and neighboring River Bend County Park.
“This has been just an answer to prayer,” said Louie Kazemier, board member of Rickreall. “It’s been an absolute miracle the way we’ve been able to get this going again.”
He credited Walusiak for bringing it back together, while Ken Laing credited both for keeping in touch, rebuilding the organization and bringing him back as camp director.
Laing said he’s thankful to everyone who has helped build Camp Attitude and keep it alive, he said. He is especially thankful to the churches and youth groups, some from out of state, who have helped.
The Laings grew up in Bend. Ken Laing spent 39 years working for Safeway after working with Les Schwab at the Bend Bulletin newspaper and then at the Statesman Journal in Salem. He retired from Safeway as manager of the Silverton store in 1994.
Phyllis Laing became an emergency medical technician in 1975, predating the CPR procedure and then teaching it for the Red Cross after the Seattle Fire Department started using it. Laing was a volunteer EMT with the Dallas Fire Department for 15 years.
After retirement, Ken Laing became a marine deputy for the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, and then the couple moved to California and managed Sky Valley Resort in Rancho Mira near Palm Springs. There, Phyllis Laing set up a quick response team that became the model for the state of California. She also worked for two casinos as an EMT and Ken Laing for the Betty Ford Center in security before they returned to Oregon to manage an RV park near LaPine.
While working at the Betty Ford Center, Ken Laing said, he had the privilege of saluting and escorting President Gerald Ford.
“It just gave me a nice warm feeling,” he said. “It was a privilege to walk alongside the President of the United States. It makes you feel good.”
They spent part of their time in California as snowbirds, returning three summers to work at Camp Attitude.
Camps for disabled children are scheduled for Aug. 5-12 and Aug. 12-18 this year. The camp also has church retreats and reunions scheduled through September.
The camps can handle between 80 and 100 persons, about half of them disabled, he said.