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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Camping for Camp: Joanne Walters, Chris Wolfgram, Steve Kufer, Mike Deluvio, Minghong Yang, and Laurie Shriner arrived at 3 a.m. to wait for their camp assignment.
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Family camp die-hard fans rough it during sign-ups Some waited in line for 18 hours to get a slot in Sierra getaway
By Deborah Taylor-Hollis
When San Jose Family Camp opened sign-ups for its 1999 season on Saturday, March 13 at 7 a.m., more than 275 campers were already in line in front of the doors at in Kelly Park's Leininger Building. Many, including a handful of Willow Glen residents, had camped out on cement for 18 hours to get first dibs on a tent cabin--vying for group slots in the Yosemite-area campground, which they return to year after year.
Ed and Donna Pope say they raised their now-grown children on the yearly retreats, and now their sons-in-law and daughters-in-law all come as well. And son-in-law Mike Myslinski brings all of his brothers and sisters, as well as their children.
"It's fun out there, and it's a good experience," Myslinski says. "It gives you a real sense of nature. But what I really like is that it's isolated enough so that my cell phone doesn't work."
Myslinski's mother-in-law, Donna Pope, remembers their first family trip, back in 1967, the year San Jose took over the facility from the city of Oakland. "It was a freezing August, and it rained," Pope says. "The old tents leaked, and there was no electricity. We had to dry everything out in the recreation center around the fire. The same fireplace inside the camp's main hall still provides heat on cold spring nights for campers eager to hang out with old and new friends while playing board games, reading, or sharing a glass of wine.
Sandy Knell says this will be the first year at the camp for her and her sisters. "I like not having to sleep on the ground," Knell said. "This is kind of an entree into camping."
Mark Whitlock says he's only been going to the camp for two years. His family attends the camp with six other couples and their small children. "We love not having to cook or clean up," he says about the camp policy of relieving adults of daily chores.
Celestina Finkle has been going to the camp for five years. "We camp with people we met at camp," she says, laughing. She says that she, her husband Dave, and two friends "need two tents this year because we bring extra people!"
Jim Davis, the man holding down first place in line, says he has been coming consecutively for 58 years, from the days when the camp belonged to the city of Oakland. His cousin Marion, holding number 21, has been a devotee even longer. Davis' daughter and son, now in their mid-thirties, also bring their whole families--and hold the second and third places in line for their anticipated week. They say 40 to 50 family members camp with them.
"People have quit jobs to have a week off in July," Davis says. "We have a couple coming from Italy--the job requirement was to fly back for this week. We have T-shirts made up for everybody that say 'The Family.'"
Spaces are still open for the family camp, many until late in the spring, but multiple-cabin rentals and three-day-weekends go the fastest. Call 408-277-4666 or visit camp offices at 1300 Senter Road, in Kelly Park's Leininger Building.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
