Category Camp Howard

Karen sends Spectacular Fish Story – Camp Howard & Cindy Garcia from Holy Family

Sr. Krista von Borstel 4 Comments

To: Sr. Krista –  That photo is Cindy Garcia with Holy Family Parish Rental at Camp Howard who caught that 22 and 3/4 inch trout this morning.  I told her she might make it into the Sentinel.  I sent it to Jolie.  I told her to look on your blog and maybe it would make it there.  Here is the story, you fill in the blanks: – Thank you – Karen von Borstel

I was a sunny morning at Camp Howard today as some of the Holy Family Parish campers were fishing at the pond.  It was a very relaxing atmosphere with people sitting on chairs and benches catching some really nice 10 inch trout.  Cindy Garcia was sitting in her blue lawn chair right next to the little shed, wearing her frilly purple blouse and peddle-pushers (Cindy is a very stylish fisherwoman), fishing with her little trout pole, 6 lb. test line,  baited with a big fresh night crawler.  She had a little red and white bobber, the type usually used for little sunfish or perch, hooked on her line.   All of a sudden her pole bent half way over and that bobber disappeared.  She stood up and the fish came out of the water and we all knew she had a whopper on.  Everyone started heading toward her to help her land that fish.   That fish kept breaking through the water and it looked like a salmon.  We were all holding our breath. I knew there wasn’t any way she was going to get that thing to shore.  She had way too light of line, we didn’t have a net.  Her drag was set too tight.  I knew the line would snap and that would be that.  It would be the story about the one that got away!  Cindy brought that fish right up and onto the bank.  A huge cheer went up.  The biggest fish to my knowledge ever caught at Camp Howard.  22 and 3/4 inches long.  We got the groups photographer, the tape measure, and Cindy became a celebrity at Camp Howard.  It was so exciting.  Her husband, Alfonso, had to work this weekend.  He is going to be so jealous.  The cooks are preparing a seasoned stuffing to go into that trout and it will be cooked and served for supper, with the other fish they have caught today.  We are at 40 right now and we have one more session of fishing this afternoon.  Everyone should get a trout to eat tonight and Cindy’s will feed several.  Great day for fishing at Camp and it is all verified on film.

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Champions of Faith Dinner 2012 — Check this out!

Sr. Krista von Borstel Leave a comment

Check out our Champions of Faith info and get a glimpse of last years event:

http://www.champions-of-faith.org/

 

We are getting ready to launch our second CYO CHAMPIONS OF FAITH BENEFIT DINNER.  It will be held October 2nd at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.  I am still amazed at our first dinner and what a fun event it was.  Joey Harrington scored a major touchdown for us with a touching and heartfelt talk on his football career.  His connection to CYO, Camp Howard and the Catholic School system made everyone in the room proud.

This years dinner features another outstanding CYO product, Karen Gaffney, who has found herself an esteemed speaker on behalf of Downes Syndrome.  Karen, with the help of her parents, set out to achieve some goals and as a result has accomplished some pretty incredible milestones.  Don’t miss this opportunity to hear her speak at the Champions of Faith Dinner this October.

Champions of Faith Making a Difference

Sr. Krista von Borstel Leave a comment

If you attended the first Champions of Faith benefit dinner for CYO/Camp Howard  this past September, please note that thanks to YOU, we were able to accomplish a very important project at the camp.  For fifteen years, the most desired improvement to the camp at the request of the kids, has been to heat the pool.  Thanks to YOU we were able to accomplish that this year and we would like you to know about it!

A pool heater was purchased, ditch dug to connect it to the propane tank, wire cage built around the heater, filled the propane tank, covered the ditches, replanted the grass… just waiting for the kids so we can fire it up and heat the water!  Takes one hour to heat the water one degree, so I am told,  and the temperature will be around 80 to 83 degrees when “up to temp.”

Looking forward to surprising the kids with warm pool water this summer!

Thank you, Champions of Faith!

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Camp Howard…Plenty of Space…But Guess What?

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Camp Howard is a great place for youth to spend time at in the summer.  The camp offers rental opportunities year around and a seven week camping season in the heart of the summer.

After adding an addition 100 bed occupancy to the camp in 2001, there is always plenty of room for campers to attend the camp EXCEPT ONE WEEK.

The last week of camp is an interesting week. Counselors are heading back to college, camper numbers are much lower, so we schedule Joe Bushman’s football camp down at the sport camp.  He and his team take over Cougar Den Unit and Greenwood Unit.  Joe and his team have been coming to camp for several years and they are a great group of guys and gals.

This lowers the number of campers we can take the last week of camp during a session that is normally low anyway.  But believe it or not, this particular session has filled for week long campers.  So check out the other 5 weeks and find the week that will work best for your schedule and get registered for what promises to be a great summer of camping at Camp Howard.

Cadet Girls Long Jump CYO Meet of Champions 2012

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Twenty feet separated the top eight participants in the CYO Meet of Champions this year and Kate Patterson from All Saints CYO club tossed her javelin 5″ further than the second place winner, Claire Schwyhart of St. Ignatious.

Champion: Kate Patterson from All Saints

Second: Claire Schwyhart of St. Ignatius

Third: Mikayla Bilyou from St. Ignatious

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Camp Howard Pool Heating Update

Sr. Krista von Borstel 2 Comments

Might seem like I am beating a dead horse by reporting so often on the heating of the pool!  Actually, I consider it a historic occasion because after all…it has been the number one complaint from the kids for several years.  I want to make sure word gets out that we are finally in a position to be able to do something about it!  The Champions of Faith benefit dinner enabled us to make the capital improvement.

The 1000 gallon propane tank is in place, the heater is in place, trench dug to connect gas to the heater, water has been connected to the heater.  Trench has been covered since this photo and dirt brought in to fill around the concrete pad.  Area around the pool will be planted to fresh grass and landscaping will be improved.

Now we need the pool company to come out and do some testing and we will be ready to heat the pool.  Lots to learn in the process.

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Photo of the Day from Camp Howard

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The kitchen is the heart of the camp and the cooks at Camp Howard put out some fabulous food.  Scratch cooking for a few hundred people at a time takes some pretty special people.  The exciting thing is that the kids come away from each meal raving about the food!  In my opinion, Camp Howard has the best cooks at an Oregon Camp and we have the dishes to prove it!

Kathy Lively works on Breakfast Dishes at Camp Howard.

Camp Howard on TV!!!

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Check out our 2012 Summer Advertising Campaign for Camp Howard.

Look for it on Comcast.  It will also be on the Comcast Website!

Let us know what you think!

 

 

 

 

Thank You, 7&8 Graders, Blanchet Catholic School, Salem, OR

Sr. Krista von Borstel Leave a comment

Six faculty and 94 students from Blanchet Catholic School in Salem, Oregon came to Camp Howard today to give a day of service to the camp.  They were like a miniature army accomplishing things that would have taken the camp several weeks to do!  The goal was to continue the branch and limb pick up from three places in the camp and haul the refuse to a pile where it will e recycled into chips.  The camp is looking very clean on the forest floor thanks to the efforts of the camp staff and work groups like Blanchet Catholic School who volunteer to make a day of it!  Thank you so much, Blanchet 7th and 8th graders for a job well done!

Click on photo to enlarge

Why Are there so few Accredited Camps in Oregon?

Sr. Krista von Borstel 1 Comment

Answer:  Because it is a lot of work to go through to become accredited and stay accredited.  Why does Camp Howard go through the effort of being an accredited camp?  Answer: because it helps tremendously to maintain a level of safety at the camp.  Camp Howard holds itself to the highest standards in camping with the American Camping Association.  Camps are accredited every three years or whenever the camp has a new Camp Director.

Facility Manager, Karen von Borstel and Camp Howard Summer Program Director, Bill Fogarty, work on the preparation for the American Camping Association Accreditation which will take place this summer.