Submit an Article

Editor

Title:

The year was 1947. The place was a hotel in Saginaw, Michigan. The date was December 3. It took only a stroke of a pen and a check for $30,000 and 840 acres of woods with a 100 acre private lake belonged to the Michigan Conference of SDA. It was there that the story of what we call Camp Au Sable began.
Here is a brief history of some interesting events through the years:
<ul>
<li>1948 – The dining hall and two cabins were constructed</li>
<li>1949 – First camps at Au Sable: 
<ul>
<li>July 31- August 7 – First boy's camp</li>
<li>August 7 – 14 Second boy's camp</li>
<li>August 14- 21 – First girl's camp (almost everyone stayed in tents)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>1951 – Medical building and three more double cabins</li>
<li>1953 – Staff building and Chapel in The Woods</li>
<li>1954 – Craft building erected</li>
<li>1955 – First permanent caretaker moved onto camp property</li>
<li>1957 – First wilderness camp and winter camp</li>
<li>1965 – Forest fire which destroyed only about 2 acres</li>
<li>1966 – Cedar village built and first year both boys and girls had camp at the same time.</li>
<li>1970 – New shop built</li>
<li>1971 – A busy year when the barn was built and the horse area was established 
<ul>
<li>Fort Shellenbarger completed – Mission Village cabin built across the lake</li>
<li>First wedding performed at Chapel in the Woods – Athletic shed built</li>
<li>Saw mill constructed – Camp Director's cabin erected</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>1973 – Nature Center opened</li>
<li>1975 – Cedar Lodge built</li>
<li>1977 – New entrance sign over road</li>
<li>1978 – New home built for camp manager</li>
<li>1979 – Parking lot and part of road paved</li>
<li>1980 – New road built from entrance on M-72</li>
<li>1981 – Entrance sign moved to M-72 entrance – road paved from highway to dining hall</li>
<li>1982 – 1986 Mini-Mac bridge built – barn enlarged and horse shed constructed</li>
<li>1987 – Nature Center enlarged and new modern rest rooms built</li>
<li>1991 – Updated tack shed with classroom for teaching horsemanship</li>
<li>1993 – Forest Lodge built</li>
<li>1994 – Auditorium completed</li>
<li>1997 – Go Cart track finished</li>
<li>2001 – Astronomy Observatory</li>
<li>2002 – Fort rebuilt with treated poles</li>
<li>2003 – RV Park built</li>
<li>2008 – Store remodeled and expanded</li>
<li>2009 – New docks for swimming area</li>
<li>2009 – New kitchen</li>
<li>2009 – 2010 and beyond (Stay tuned – much more to come)</li>
</ul>
If you would like to read the entire History from Elder Harold Jewkes, please <a href="images/stories/camp_story/camp au sable story.pdf">download this pdf file</a>.

Publishing

Section:

Category:

Published: No Yes

Show on Front Page: No Yes

Author Alias:

Start Publishing:

Finish Publishing:

Access Level:

Ordering:

Metadata

Description:

Keywords: