Camp Howard completed Family Camp July 3, took the day off to celebrate the Fourth of July and are back at it July 5th, 2023 with Mini campers. Peggy English, Camp Director, Shawna King, Assistant Camp Director, Sean Ryan, Program Director, Karen von Borstel, Property Director along with Sr. Krista von Borstel, Exec. Director, round out the camp leadership for the 70th camping season at Camp Howard.
Mini Campers were escorted to Camp Howard by bus Wednesday morning from Oregon Catholic Press facilities in Portland to begin a mini week of experiencing camp. Activities will include The new, Low Ropes Course, Corcls, Arts & Crafts, swimming pool, slip and slide, archery & BB Guns. The pool and slip and slide are proving to be the big draws during this warm weather. Mini campers stay at camp for a partial week. Regular week long sessions will begin Sunday July 9th.
Watch for daily posts about Camp Howard this summer. – Sr. Krista
Karen in her element driving tractor to clear the roads at Camp Howard 2008-09
Clearing passage for Camp Howard Road December 24, 2008
The Camp Howard sign welcomes in spite of the 36″ of snow winter 2009.
All Saints and St. Benedict Cabins with a snowy topping
The mainline into Camp Howard snapped under the pressure of ice and snow
Karen von Borstel clears the camp roads winter of 2008-09
Chipping branches and picking up debris after winter storm 2008-09 at Camp Howard
The forest floor carpeted with branches, twigs and needles at Camp Howard Winter 2008-09
Sixteen trees lay down at camp during the 2009-09 winter storm at Camp Howard.
ALL of the power lines in camp Howard came down during the winter storm of 2008-09
During the winter of 2008-09, a huge winter storm hit Camp Howard falling sixteen trees due to heavy ice and snow. Thanks be to God, not a single building was hit by any of the trees but every electrical line in camp was brought down and the main electrical pole bringing power into the camp snapped like a toothpick. The camp was a mess. Three feet of snow covered the camp. Trees were strewn around the camp and the neighbors were ready to move out. The camp caretaker at the time called me to report the status of the camp and the fact that they had no power or heat.
Fortunately, my “go to” people were my blood sister, Karen and our brother-in-law, Chuck. I called them both to let them know what was going on as it was Christmas Eve. They geared up with diesel fuel, gasoline, chains, jumper cables and various other items as they headed to camp to free the caretaker family and neighbors from their situation. Karen and Chuck were able to plow the roads, get the equipment going and help the neighbors make it to town.
When Karen and Chuck returned, they brought plenty of photos which really showed the severity of the storm. I knew this would be a serious situation to get cleaned up and that it would take someone like Karen to lead the way. I asked her if she would shut her freight truck business down for a while and help us get the camp cleaned up. She graciously agreed to help get things turned around for us as her team began the three-month process of getting the camp cleaned up. It took a few weeks for the snow to melt and access the camp, but once it melted, they began the grueling task of cleaning the camp.
All of the sixteen downed trees had to be cut up and stacked then dried for future firewood for the camp.
Several trees had to be cut down that had been damaged. The tops of the trees for example had been lost or they were tilted ready to go over.
Branches, limbs, twigs, and needles carpeted the forest floor. Fortunately, Karen was a very handy with tractors and equipment and was able to use it to our advantage. She recommended we purchase a landscape rake from John Deere which we were able to pull behind the tractor which she then used to clean up the never-ending carpet of debris.
Outdoor School was scheduled to move in on March 8, 2009. It took all of January and February to complete the arduous task of cleaning the camp, but on March 7th, PGE came out and reconnected the power lines. The camp was shut from Christmas until March, the longest shut down in the history of the camp. Fortunately, we were able to reopen just as the Outdoor School was ready to move in.
Later in the year I had the opportunity to ask Karen if she would be interested in taking over the management of the camp as the Property Director. I was extremely blessed that she was ready to park the freight trucks and get back into property management. Our rentals set records with her management and service. The fields, building management and kitchen were all kicked up to a new level of service. I am very grateful to be working with my blood-sister, Karen at Camp Howard.
A huge “Thank You” to some of the students at All Saints School for helping CYO/Camp Howard out with our Camp Howard recruitment film this year. The students could not have been more charming and helpful in sharing their experiences at the camp! Way to go Ramblers! Gratefully, Sr. Krista
Check out the link to our new promotional video for Camp Howard:
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.
One of the new additions to the line up of activities was bird house construction Session 6 at Camp Howard. The bird houses were pre-cut out of 3/4″ pine in a traditional slant box pattern with bevels at the camp. Campers assembled the houses with screws and glue then painted them in the color scheme of the original cabins at Camp Howard. The Fircrest Unit of cabins was the original unit with 6 cabins. The board and bat buildings are painted in a rust red paint with burnt orange trim. All of the original buildings at the camp are painted in that color scheme.
We are off to the races with the first week of our 63rd camping season in the books. One hundred eighty campers made their way to Camp Howard via bus transportation and parent cars to engage in a weeks worth of fun, outdoor adventure, and a variety of camp experiences.
It’s not too late to sigh up for summer camp at Camp Howard. We will be running through the third week in August. www.cyocamphoward.org
Nurse Cindy and Camp Registrar, Nora, chat at the bus stop
Nurse Cindy talks to parents at Bus Check in
Checking in the meds for each of five units of cabins.
Counselors wait for the busses to arrive
Luggage Crew unloads the luggage before the busses arrive with campers
Unloading Luggage
Unloading Luggage
Waiting for luggage trailer to return for a new load to a different unit of cabins.
This was a PERFECT day to go to Camp Howard. There was actually dust on the road! A sure sign of spring! Karen, Bill, Candi, Leila and I meet almost weekly to work on our camp improvements for next year. We are reviewing all of the procedures and we have topics we surfaced during camp last year to discuss In the off season. Some of those topics include”
Keeping the Summer Staff Safe
Improving our Emergency Procedures
Make sure kids things are packed up properly before they return to Portland
and several other topics.
We worked from 10:00 until noon then stopped for lunch. After lunch, before we started the afternoon session, we went on a field trip to check out the progress on projects. I can tell you the kids will be jumping for joy with some of the improvements!
Kids Jumping for Joy!
Eagle Scout Project – New Overnight Location with fire pit, logs and sleeping area!
Candi Trapp, Bill Fogarty, Leila Blakely, Karen von Borstel
You may wonder…”What happens after the summer programs and Outdoor School programs at Camp Howard? You might not know that Camp Howard is open all year round and people rent the camp for family events like weddings, family reunions, retreats, church picnics etc. During January and most of February we do a lot of interior work like painting walls and renovations. Right now Aldergrove Unit is being renovated on the interior. Bunks and walls are being painted, things are being spiffed up so that campers will come to the unit and really appreciate the new clean look.
During the winter we sometimes get strong winds. Generally nothing happens except branches might fall and litter the ground. But every so many years we get especially high winds and these extra strong winds take down trees that are diseased. We lost one tree to high winds this winter and it hit All Saints Cabin in Aldergrove. It knocked the cabin off its foundation and the porch came off. It was a pretty hard hit and I am really glad we did not have any campers in the camp when it happened.
You may be interested to know that most often the trees that come down in the wind storms are the Hemlocks. Camp Howard is made up of mostly Douglas Fir, Oregon’s most popular crop tree.
The photos below show the damage that was done. We are in the process of fixing the cabins and my next posts will show where we are in that process. Check out these photos of the cabin and let me know your thoughts or reactions.
All Saints Cabin in Aldergrove unit was built in 1995. It was hit by a tree this winter and knocked off it’s foundation.
The rootball of the Hemlock tree that fell can be seen here as well as the “shadow” of where it lay prior to being sawed into “rounds” and removed to be made into firewood. The shadow is the sawdust!
The front of the cabin shows the porch off to the right, the stairs upside down to the right and the porch sitting at an angle to the front of the door. “Light still works!”
The fascia board hangs from the building by a few nails and the building has a number of issues that must be addressed.
When the building was thrust against the tree and moved off the foundation, it continued its downward movement and part of the foundation came through the floor of the cabin.
Another area where the foundation punched through the floor
Even the garbage can did not escape a “crunch!” Wrong place wrong time!
Bill Fogarty, Summer Camp Director at Camp Howard, shares the good news about Camp Howard and the exciting summer programs available this summer
Bill Fogarty, Summer Camp Director at Camp Howard took advantage of the opportunity to be Dina Marie’s guest on her morning show at KBVM this month during the Share a thon benefitting KBVM radio operations.
Other CYO Staff including Jenifer Kluthe, Jenna Bass and Jeff Sevilla also participated answering the phones and recording donations from generous listeners.
CYO/Camp Howard and KBVM have a long relationship of goodwill which benefits both organizations. KBVM has been an excellent partner with CYO spreading the good news of activities and happenings through out the year. CYO is a regular sponsor of the station.
Camp Howard is taking reservations for summer campers. We are excited about what is happening at camp this summer and it appears that a lot of kids are looking forward to a great experience. Campers can continue to sign up through out the summer on line at cyocamphoward.org
CYO/Camp Howard 