Willow Glen Resident
News
YMCA Camp Campbell gears up to celebrate its 70th anniversary
By Paul Lukes
Stan Chinchen was too young to attend the YMCA Camp Campbell near Boulder Creek when it opened in 1936.
Chinchen did go the next year and has stayed involved with Santa Clara Valley YMCA ever since.
"It was a great experience for a kid--going out into nature and learning how to get along and work with others," he says.
Today, Chinchen is on the board of directors of the Metropolitan YMCA on The Alameda. His grandfather, the late John D. Crummey, was also an active YMCA supporter as well as a founder of FMC.
"Camp Campbell is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year and still offers young people valuable experiences away from home and the opportunity for city kids to experience being in a forest setting. The Y has financial assistance programs that allow anyone to attend camp," Chinchen says.
The YMCA of Santa Clara Valley camping program began in 1907 at Camp Herman, near Felton, with 27 boys, according to Saratoga historian Willys Peck.
Ten years later, the program moved to Camp Roberts on Pescadero Creek in the Santa Cruz mountains with 110 boys, and, in 1924, 58 girls were included in the four-day camping program.
When the Y could no longer use Camp Roberts in 1936, the popular activity needed to find a new home. George B. Campbell and Frank Lewis headed the drive, raising the money to buy a dozen acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains for $6,500.
Using funds from the San Jose Kiwanis Club, the Y added a dining hall the next year and in 1938 added another 23 acres to the camp.
The expansion enabled it to increase attendance to close to 600 children.
In 1977 it gained accreditation from the American Camping Association.
Annually, Camp Campbell serves more than 12,000 participants of all ages from residential environmental education to its summer resident camp family camps.
To celebrate the 70th anniversary, Camp Campbell will hold a birthday party/reunion Sept. 10 from 1 to 6 p.m.
Former campers can register online at www.scvymca.org/redwoods/YMCAalumni.html and receive a personal invitation. For additional information, call YMCA Camp Campbell at 831.338.2128.
