Fish Chow is the favored Camp Howard fish food. They are fed daily to grow to a good size in order to delight the lucky fishergirls and boys! Many Camp Howard campers catch the first fish of their lives right here at the camp. Trust me, it is a delight to watch!
Category Camp Howard
Part 6: The Mural up Close
Wayne Chin put the finishing touches on Mary’s Lodge with his spectacular mural painted for the youth of Camp Howard in July of 2018. Check out his masterful individual animals that come to life before your eyes!
The Cougar is the symbol of Camp Howard, built in 1953 on Cougar Mountain. The Cougar Award springs from the location of the camp.
Part 5 Dedication: The Lodge
Mary’s Lodge is the first component of a four part improvement plan for Camp Howard. Built in the early 50’s, the major buildings at the camp, dining hall, chapel and adult housing are slated for replacement. An additional building, the Franz Finley Welcome Center is scheduled to be built in 2019 followed by the Chapel and adult lodge.
Mary’s Lodge affords a variety of comforts and views:
Welcome to Mary’s Lodge at Camp Howard! The building was designed by Henry Fitzgibbon of Soderstrom Architects and built by Todd Construction.
The beautiful mural in the building was painted by well known Northwest artist, Wayne Chin.
Sister Michael Francine SSMO gazes on the mural as she visits the new facility.
The new fireside room at the entry to the building adds a remarkable warmth and comfort to the camp.
The fireside room at Mary’s Lodge includes a meeting space and lounging area.
The dining hall portion of the facility combined with the outdoor eating spaces will accommodate in excess of 350 individuals.
The kitchen, designed by the camp cooks, makes cooking for large numbers an enjoyable experience.
New to the kitchen includes two grills, a combi oven and a steam kettle. Other equipment was brought from the old kitchen.
The outdoor seating area includes space for 200 guests.
Outdoor fireplace and patio area makes a wonderful evening party spot!
Landscaping including grass and rhodies will be added this fall to enhance the facility and provide fire suppression.
Part 4: The Dedication of Mary’s Lodge
Plenty of friends were on hand to help us dedicate and celebrate the new Mary’s Lodge at Camp Howard. The donors, architects, builders, fundraisers, fun raisers, camp staff, year around staff, campers, parents, Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon, you name it, they were there! THANK YOU all for being a part of our special day! Fr. Dave Gutmann, Pastor of Holy Trinity Parish blessed the facility and all present. It was a truly remarkable day and one that all who were there will remember fondly.
Fr. Dave Gutmann and the guests give Sr. Krista a surprise blessing!
Sr. Krista and Fr. Dave after the dedication of Mary’s Lodge!
Part 2 Dedication of Mary’s Lodge “The Food”
Buster’s Barbecue catered the dedication of Mary’s Lodge August 11, 2018 at Camp Howard. The food was wonderful and greatly enjoyed by all in attendance! The pulled pork, bbq beef, coleslaw, rolls, and Camp Howard Cookies made the day!
6 Part Dedication of Mary’s Lodge – 1 The People – THANK YOU!
Some 250 – 300 people were present for the dedication of the new Mary’s Lodge at Camp Howard August 11, 2018. The turnout exceeded expectations which thrilled the CYO/Camp Howard staff!
The event was catered for the purpose of allowing the hardworking camp cooks the opportunity to enjoy the day as well! I might add they were all in attendance!
Special thanks to all of our friends for attending the dedication and sharing our joy!

The Kneefel Clan

The McCormick Clan

Sue & Rich Haener

Steve Beaird, (Fundraising helper), Ed Langois (Sentinel)

Dan Petit, Site Superintendent and family

Sr. Adele Marie

Ann Fitzgibbon & Dina Marie

Dr. & Mrs. Birkel

The Haener Clan
Carol Veranizan and Susan Menendez

Sr. Krista & Sr. Theresa Ann

Sr. K and Sr. Theresa Lan

Sr. Thuy, Sr. K, Sr. Marie Bernadette

Sr. Diana Jean

Sr. Alexa & Sr. Krista

Sr. Marcella, Sr. Rita

The Gentry Clan

Sheri Dooney (Leonard Adams Insurance)

Sr. Michael Francine, Sr. Angeline

Fr. Leo Remington, early staff member at Camp Howard

Sr. Krista, Sr. Charlene

1999 camp staff member, Andy Smith

Mr. & Mrs. Josh Danielson, Sr. Michael Francine

Sr. K with “The Gravel Man”, Mr. Davis

Sr. Angeline, Madi Parvankin

Holy Trinity: Ingrid, Fr. Dave with Sr. Krista

Ron Hungate, one of the Camp Howard outstanding cooks!

Sr. Rosemary, Sr. Charlene, Sr. Krista, Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon

Carolyn Romey, longtime cook at Camp Howard

Fergie Bush, Sr. Krista

Mark Gravengaard, June Gravengaard, Virginia Martinez

George & Tammy Weivoda

Gail Joseph, Sr. Krista, Ann Reinhart (Ann lead the dedication committee!)

Sr. Michael Francine, Sr. Krista and Judith Winczewski
The Awesome Fishing Hole at Camp Howard
Scads of kids catch their first fish at Camp Howard’s Sporeen Pond! The pond is stocked once or twice per year with farm trout which are fed daily as evidenced below! Once the Purina Fish Chow hits the water, the fish are on it creating a swirling frenzy at every feeding! Sr. Michael Francine fed the fish this summer to take one job off the hands of Property Director, Karen von Borstel. Feeding time provided some great photo opportunities!
Gaining Experience on the Job
Every few years, a seasoned group of young camp leaders graduate from college and move on to their careers leaving spaces for new individuals to fill and gain experience in leadership. The Unit Directors, Program Director & CIT Director make up the youth leaders at Camp Howard and most are pictured below with Camp Director, Nora Gravengaard, Asst. Director, Shawna King and Health and Safety Director, Leila Blakely.
Left to right: Maggie Miller (yellow), Anthony “Fergie” Fergusson (blue), Paige Alie (Orange), Emily Cochran (Gold), Hannah Duffy (Green) and Madie Parvankin (Orange) made up the leadership team. Not pictured, Colleen Rooney CIT Director)
They all put some new “tools” in their personal toolboxes throughout the seven week experience at Camp Howard! From the look of the smiles, they had a good time doing it.
“Leila” Our Camp Howard Safety Monitor!
Leila is a Camp Howard fixture. She is in charge of Health and Safety which means she and her helper make sure fresh water is put out at several locations daily, checked on, replenished and cups replaced, daily. She supplies materials to restock the restrooms and makes sure the restrooms are cleaned properly a few times a day. She and her helper haul garbage sacks from the units and other points around camp to the dumpster daily to keep the garbage in the proper place and away from the pesky crows! She supplies food from the kitchen to the outdoor white tents where the overflow campers ate until the new Mary’s Lodge was opened. She oversaw the safe food handling procedures for all outdoor meals. She checked that the pool was properly facilitated which includes cleaning the filters, checking the ph of the pool, applying the proper chemicals to the pool at the proper time. She checks to make sure the pool is locked when not in use. She does much more than this but you get the idea!
Most of the time you are going to get a smile and a genuine laugh from Leila. If you “done wrong” you are going to get that look over the top of her glasses with a face that asks, what were you thinking?
A precious, no-nonsense, get ‘er done, sort of employee, Leila is the type of person that helps makes things go smoothly, safely and correctly because she is “on it!”
Raising the Flag at Camp Howard
Colleen Rooney, Counselor in Training (CIT) Director, oversaw the raising and lowering of the flag this year at Camp Howard. Every day a different cabin had the opportunity to raise and lower the flag, to learn about how it is folded, unfolded, raised and lowered. A time honored learning experience at camp!