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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2017
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Rebecca Sedlak | Weekend Editor
rsedlak@dailyastorian.com
WEEKEND
BREAK
The gem
of Clatsop
County
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DailyAstorian
Submitted Photos
When the weather is right, Camp Kiwanilong’s Long Lake provides fishing, swimming and canoeing
opportunities for visitors.
W riter’s
N otebook
Camp Kiwanilong
allows kids to be kids
By SUE CODY
For The Daily Astorian
W
hat if there were a place where happy voices
echoed in the woods? Where kids could just
be kids? Where they could swim, sing silly
songs, enjoy a campfi re or paddle a canoe? What if
this place were safe and nurturing and available to
all kids, regardless of their background, income or
abilities?
Welcome to Clatsop County, where there is such
a place: Camp Kiwanilong. It is the place where
Clatsop County history, a founder’s passion and a
community’s embrace created a program that instills
respect, understanding and confi dence in children.
During Kiwanilong’s Summer Youth Program,
campers can enjoy fi ve to seven days of overnight
camping and activities geared toward having fun,
building self-esteem and creating friendships.
“Camp Kiwanilong is a gem in Clatsop County,”
says former camper and counselor Brooke Duling
Stanley. “We are so lucky to have this. The biggest
difference is that many summer camps are elitist.
They serve the privileged kids. Here, camp is acces-
sible to all kids. It puts everyone on an even playing
fi eld where they get to have fun.”
Without cellphones, computers or tablets, kids
explore the outdoors, sleep in primitive cabins and
get to know each other.
“For a lot of kids, camp might be the only time
when they just get to focus on being a kid,” Stan-
ley says. “They don’t have to worry about anything
— not their family or food or whatever they worry
about with their family.”
Valued kids
Deborah Vail’s eyes light up when she talks about
Camp Kiwanilong. It’s no wonder, because she was
the spark that started the popular Summer Youth
Program and kept it vibrant
for 30 years as camp direc-
tor. Aptly, her camp name
is Sparky. Now retired, she
still serves on the board of
directors.
“Sparky was the coolest,”
says Stanley. “As a little kid,
I thought she was so fun. She
always wore a beanie. She
was always in a good mood,
she sang the loudest and sang
Deborah Vail
good morning to everyone
who entered the dining hall.”
Sparky’s enthusiasm stems from a genuine car-
ing for a healthy environment.
Kids are asked to sign a contract and follow the
Golden Frog Rules. Sparky says the main rule is:
Have fun! Other rules are no hitting or hurting with
words; listen to your counselor; no running on trails;
go to the nurse if you are bleeding — the basics.
“Camp is a unique place where kids are expected
to cooperate and get to know each other in a way
they don’t at school,” Stanley says. “They are sleep-
ing in the same cabin, working together. They might
be from different schools or different backgrounds,
but they learn to work as a team.” When they do,
they can earn coveted beads like those their coun-
selors wear.
Children of all abilities and income levels are
welcome: kids with autism, attention defi cit hyper-
activity disorder or social diffi culties are all treated
with dignity and understanding. There are “Sparky-
ships” available for children who cannot afford to
attend.
Sparky created an environment built on resolv-
ing confl ict through conversation. “Most confl ict
arises from misunderstanding,” she says. If she saw
Camp Kiwanilong board member Marge Hud-
dleston, left, and Amy Koch, a ranger at the
camp, pose at the camp office.
better in the classroom and have more social contacts.
Many times, their behavior improves and they become
more self-confi dent.
Kids wearing their Camp Kiwanilong sweatshirt feel
a bond with other kids in their camp shirts, even if they
aren’t in the same class.
Board member Marge Huddleston says her daugh-
ter and grandchildren have developed skills they can use
at camp and in their professions. One grandson says he
learned his values at Kiwanilong and is working on a
doctorate in psychology to help adolescents.
Community embraces camp
a problem, she invited a cabin or group to meet with her
Huddleston taught school in Gearhart and sent her
and share their experiences and perceptions.
children and grandchildren to Camp Kiwanilong.
Once the kids realize someone has autism and reacts
After retirement, standing in line with her young-
differently, they embrace him or her, because they under-
est grandchild at camp, she noticed the infi rmary door
stand, Sparky says. “They learn how to interact with
could use some paint.
each other. When kids are valued, they behave.”
“It was a pitiful building,” Huddleston says. She
Stanley affi rmed Sparky’s approach: “She was skilled
offered to paint the interior and things took off from there
at confl ict resolution. If a camper had a hard time, they
as she and her husband, Dwayne, pitched in to make
would talk to Sparky who often offered an alternative
small repairs. “We put lipstick on the building.”
activity. Rarely did anyone need to go home.”
Before long, they were asked to join the board of
Each week has a designated theme, and the counsel-
directors, which oversees the camp year-round. Many
ors create a special event. Once a counselor is in cos-
in Clatsop County are aware of the six-week fl agship
tume — as a pirate, a fairy, a superhero — everything
Summer Youth Program, says Amy Koch, the part-time
changes. The authority fi gure is seen as a fun individual.
camp ranger, but the camp is also available to rent in the
That might be why Sparky always wears a beanie. Who
off-season. The camp hosts weddings, family reunions,
can be threatening in a colorful rainbow beanie?
Christmas parties, housing for soccer tournaments, out-
But, there is a message behind the fun. At the end
door schools, VOCA (Victory Over Child Abuse) and
of the week, each child receives a certifi cate from their
CERT ( community emergency response team) training.
cabin counselor. The instruction to the counselors is to
Koch, a lifelong Girl Scout and Kiwanilong fan,
make it meaningful for the child and to sign it. Sparky
books rentals in the spring, fall and winter, and over-
says, “The camp is based on giving of oneself and realiz-
sees repairs.
ing the worth of others.”
Volunteers pitch in to write grants, host
Sparky tells the kids to read their cer-
fundraisers, organize work parties and
‘It is
tifi cate when they are feeling low to see
make improvements. Local businesses
who they really are and who cares about phenomenal offer discounts, volunteer services and pro-
them. “One camper came back years later
vide materials. “We hire people when we
and said he took his certifi cate to college,”
can,” Koch says, but with limited funding,
to see
she says.
volunteers are the core workforce.
where we
Recently the National Guard’s 442
Reviving Clatsop history
Vertical Engineers designed a new craft
The camp fi lls a need for healthy sum- started and building and wood shed, Tongue Point
mer activities Vail saw when she began
Corps students laid the concrete fl oor,
where we Job
teaching in Clatsop County. She was sur-
Hampton Mill donated the lumber and
prised to see the number of children at
Windermere Realty built the woodshed.
are now.’
risk. Children were having diffi culty with
“This community is very generous,”
behavioral, emotional and social problems. Marge Huddleston Koch says.
Camp Kiwanilong board
There were no options for young children
The Gray Foundation, Meyer Memo-
member, speaking about the
except organized sports, she says.
rial Trust, private donations and former
camp’s transformation
“I saw a need, and it became a wave.”
campers have also contributed to keep
Pat Kershull, a Girl Scout leader, told
Camp Kiwanilong vibrant.
Vail there was an abandoned Girl Scout camp on 270
“It is phenomenal to see where we started and where
acres in Warrenton that had been closed for a few years.
we are now,” Huddleston says. “Every building needed
Sitting in a forest of spruce and other trees planted for
attention. Now we have a strategic plan. The camp can
an arboretum by the Conservation Civilian Corps in the
move forward after we are gone.”
1930s, it featured cabins, a large dining hall, lakes and
Even though Sparky has retired, her vision remains as
meadows. All it needed was a director, Kershull said.
new camp directors take over. After all, she trained them.
Vail surprised herself on the spot by saying she would
Huddleston says, “What makes this special is having
direct the camp. Before long, she had recruited teachers
this experience right here in our own backyard. And it is
to serve as counselors.
provided for the whole community.”
The Kiwanis Club stepped in to build cabins, shelters
The Way to Wellville and the Columbia Pacifi c Coor-
and repair existing buildings that sit beside Long Lake.
dinated Care Organization encourage healthy activities
Thus, Camp Kiwanilong was born from Kiwanis and
like those offered at Camp Kiwanilong.
Long Lake. Kiwanis continues to support the camp.
For information on how you can help with volunteer
The property is owned by Clatsop County, but
time or supplies, or to request a Sparkyship, contact the
Camp Kiwanilong’s board of directors signed a 99-year
camp ranger’s offi ce at 503-861-2933.
lease for $1 per year to run the camp as a nonprofi t
Registration for next summer will begin in February.
organization.
For more information, visit www.campkiwanilong.org
Sue Cody is the communications lead for the Clat-
Making a difference
sop County Way to Wellville. She is also a former deputy
Camp Kiwanilong can help struggling children in
managing editor for The Daily Astorian and still does
many ways. School counselors have noticed that stu-
part-time work for the paper. Brooke Duling Stanley,
dents who attend the Summer Youth Program perform
who is quoted in this column, is Cody’s daughter.