Historic Camps of Bethel

  • Ownership was transferred to the town of Canton, which allowed public use of the property in addition to the camp.
  • Weddings, reunions, fairs, and other events occurred at Camp Hope.
  • Boy Scouts leased the property for some of that organization’s activities.

1960s

CAMP HOPE

     Continued as a summer camp and also provided a training setting for Pisgah sports camps.

1961

HIGH VALLEY CAMP

     Closed after twenty-seven years in operation

1991

CAMP HOPE

      Ownership was assumed by Champion International after the YMCA's finances deteriorated.

1992

CAMP HOPE

2002

CAMP HENRY

  • Opened in Lake Logan in Haywood County but had been in operation as early as 1959 in Black Mountain at the “In-the-Oaks” estate of Franklin Silas Terry and his wife, Lillian Estelle Slocomb Emerson
  • Camp Henry was the camp program of the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina which dates to 1957.
  • The Episcopal Center moved to Lake Logan in 2000 and developed the camp and conference center over the next two years on the three-hundred-acre property.
  • The camp’s legacy is faith, friendship, community, and environmental stewardship.
  • Campers include grade two – high school.
  • Traditional and nontraditional sports and games, boating, fishing, sailing, swimming, hiking, arts, crafts, singing, storytelling, and worship constitute the camping experience.
  • Campers learn through firsthand experiences that include planning routes, food rationing, map reading, leave-no-trace ethics, and expedition management
  • Family camp sessions are offered.
  • Camp Henry continues today as a rewarding summer venture that is accredited by the American Camp Association.
  • Separate from the Camp Henry program, the Episcopal Center’s camping experience also includes a year-round outdoor school. The school is open to public, private, and charter school students and serves to enhance environmental training. The outdoor school is open to day campers or weekly campers where the staff conducts field trips and teaches classes such as forest ecology, river ecology, archery, night sky sessions, leave no trace training, and other programs with an environmental emphasis.

2005

CAMP HOPE

       Operations and upkeep presented financial problems for the Town of Canton.

WELLSPRINGS ADVENTURE CAMP at CAMP HOPE

  • Leased the Camp Hope facility from the Town of Canton and provided income and upkeep
  • Wellsprings focused on nutrition education and physical activity for the purpose of treating children who suffered from obesity.
  • Physical activity programs included the following: rock climbing, rappelling, whitewater rafting, backpacking, hiking, swimming, and kayaking,

2009

LAND of the SKY WILDERNESS SCHOOL (also known as LOTSWILD CAMP)

  • Original concept came from Camp Sequoyah in Boone, NC
  • Began in Swannanoa, NC, in 2003
  • Moved to Cruso in 2009
  • The base camp is on Burnette Cove Road.
  • Licensed by the U.S. Forest Service
  • Owner and director of the program – Spencer 2 Dogs Bolejack who has received awards from Veterans of Foreign Wars
  • The storefront location is at the Riverside Martial Arts Academy in Canton where students learn Tang Soo Do, Kenpo, IMA, and fifth degree black belt in Ninjutsu.
  • Instructors focus on traditions from many cultures passed on by one-on-one mentoring
  • Martial arts instructors have hard-earned belts.
  • Wood counselors carry the Yonah Ugali bear claw.
  • Features basic five-day beginner courses
  • Intermediate course is thirteen days
  • Variety of camp experiences that include tracker school, hunters camp, and elite wilderness training
  • Preserves knowledge of the Appalachian frontier through native Cherokee lore and history as well as through folk traditions
  • Goal of the camp is to develop a deep appreciation of the natural world through firsthand learning
  • Offers studies in folk skills, native lore, modern methods for living off the land, blacksmithing, edible plants, team-building, archery, shelters, primitive fires, and indigenous crafts
  • Cultivates young adults of high character who persevere through hardship, learn to lead and follow, work as a team, and become providers and protectors of the world
  • The program creates a sense of responsibility, respect, and love for home and family.
  • Includes ages 8 – 22, male and female
  • Benefits at-risk student population
  • Bolejack publishes the “LOTSWILD Smoke Signals Newsletter.”
  • Bolejack is published in Best Practices for Middle School Teachers.
  • Bolejack co-hosted fifty-nine episodes of Discovery’s “Hillbilly Blood.”
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