New rec building opens July 1991

Camp's new rec building opens
By Lisa Bailey, staff writer
July, 1991

June 29 was an extra special day at Camp Cherith.

Past and present administrators, counsellors and campers gathered to honor the Christian camp's 30 years of operation and its new recreation building.

"We were really hoping to see this day here, to see this new recreation hall filled with children and used to its fullest potential," property management chairman Crawford Steele told 80 onlookers.

"It's a recreation hall but it's a tool the Lord has provided for us to use to serve and honor Him."

The new building is named 'Robinson Hall' after Margaret Robinson. She, along her father, Pop, purchased the site and undertook its development.

Ms. Robinson was present for the dedication. She helped cut the ribbon to open the building then warm heartedly recalled Camp Cherith's birth. She and her father moved the camp to this area around 1960.

Scouting for the camp's new home, Ms. Robinson and her father found the perfect spot on a pea farm just west of Walkerton.

"We drove up around this area to see this farm…It was rather attractive and we thought something could be done with it."

A flurry of construction ensued to open Camp Cherith during the first week of July as scheduled.

It did open on time, Under Pop, Robinson's direction, several structures were built including 15 cabins, two other buildings, a dining hall and the "palace" - a rather "luxurious camp bathroom", in its day.

Over the next several years, many other building were added at the site.

"Everything was paid for as it went up," Mrs. Robinson said, noting bonds were sold to help pay for the work.

"That was the greatest feeling, to know there were others working with you for this," she said.

Improvements to the site came steadily.

Camp Cherith has a pool now but back in its early days, campers swam in the nearby Saugeen River.

"We started in the river with ropes across…That was the only way to keep them from not going down the river," Ms Robinson said.

A pond was built and later, a pool.

A recreation hall was added in 1967 but in September 1989, it burned to the ground.

Without their main building, camp organizers were forced to hold many activities outside and others in the dining hall.

In the meantime, contributions came in for a new hall.

Construction began last August.

Administrator Bev Steele said the new hall is about one-third larger than the old one and is situated at a new location that is accessible to everyone.

The $80,000 structure is not quite finished, with storage units and other work yet to be completed.

Ms. Robinson marvels at Camp Cherith's development and, more importantly, its purpose.

"The thing is not the numbers but the people that come to know the Lord as their own personal savior."

Ms. Robinson, other directors and the camp's caretakers were presented with gifts in appreciation of their work.

Greetings were also extended from Pioneer Ministries in Wheaton, Illinois and its Canadian board of directors.

Camp Cherith is the summer ministry of the Pioneer Club program. A separate corporation, Camp Cherith is affiliated with Pioneer Clubs Canada by a licensed agreement.

Ms. Robinson, along with five others, established the first camp Cherith in Ontario. Today, there are seven camps across Canada with the only Ontario site located near Walkerton.