The summer of 2025 marked 60 summers of Bethany Birches Camp (BBC) programming. To celebrate 60 summers of youth camping, past board members reflected on their involvement with Bethany Birches. While many aspects of camp have transformed over 60 years, the common theme of local youth, learning to love like Jesus, and discerning how to steward resources are interwoven throughout the last half century.
Lourene Bender reminisced about her role as the camp cook during the inaugural summer. She recalls cooking food at the parsonage at Bethany Mennonite Church and transporting it eight miles up to BBC because there were no buildings the first summer! She fondly recalled making Oriental Beef Steaks which “was really just a fancy name to make the beef go farther.” Campers heated up the food over the fire at their campsites. Cooking meals over the fire continues to be a trademark of Bethany Birches Camp. This activity still creates community among campers just as it did 60 years ago.
Allen Guntz joined the board in the 70s. He got involved because his kids enjoyed the camp and his arm may have been twisted a bit. During the 70s and 80s Steve Moyer and Daryl Martens represented Bethany Mennonite Church and Andover Community church on the board of directors. Each board member interviewed, referenced facility planning being a large part of their conversations. A bath house, shelters, the maintenance shed and the pond were all constructed over the course of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Board members and other volunteers helped to make it happen including at work days. Regina Beidler was a board member in the late ‘90s, and she remembered the camp operating on a shoestring budget with spirited discussions about how to honor the early vision of the camp and how the facilities and property should be managed. The board grappled with questions of how much infrastructure should be improved or changed? The ‘90s also brought a renewed energy for an Annual Benefit Auction to accompany the fundraising efforts of the annual chicken barbecue. The Annual Benefit Auction recently celebrated 20 consecutive years of successful fundraising for BBC thanks to supporters from near and far.
The BBC support community continued to expand into the 2000’s while continuing to serve campers within a 40 mile radius. Phil Lapp started his board tenure in 2006. He recalled “The big project was the new pavilion and the related capital campaign. We worked with outside folks to determine what was feasible and then did something twice as expensive! In the end, the BBC family showed support through tons of volunteer hours and significant financial support to help put up a structure that is so important to the camp, now year-round.”
Stacy Selbo served on the board from 2016-24. She recalled continued strategizing about facilities but also spent significant time discussing board and camp leadership development including succession planning and long range goals. She appreciated the diversity on the board of directors as it brought healthy and interactive discussions.
Board members and facilities at BBC have changed over the 60 years of the camp’s existence but the rustic, faith based, community building, and accessible intentions of BBC have not. Regina Beidler summed it up well in stating “the long-term sustainability of the camp program’s future has been accomplished by the shared partnership of local people who love and support the camp and a wider community of Mennonites and others who believe the little camp that could has something to provide in a way that is unique amongst Mennonite camping experiences.” Ongoing faith in a God much bigger than us and a supportive community wanting children to experience a week of love and fun will carry BBC into the next 60 years.