The Transformation Begins

On August 1, 2008, Laurentian Camp Cherith bought a property of our very own.

This was no small feat -- it took almost a year of planning, thinking, deliberating and praying in order to make it happen. And there will be many months ahead of planning, preparing, fundraising and building -- which is what this blog is all about. We want you to be able to keep up-to-date on our planning and construction progress, and give you opportunities to help out with fundraising and construction work.

This is an exciting time for everyone. We have existed, as a summer camp, since 1948, and we have been renting from the same place, Camp Kalalla, since 1969. That's almost 40 years -- three entire generations have grown up going to the same place. We loved it, cherish it, and will miss it... but at the same time that we were renting, we were also looking to find a place to call our own. Somewhere we could run four, or even more weeks of camp, do weekend retreats, run more activities. And as much as we loved those outhouses, you can't deny the allure of real flushing toilets!

We've been looking at properties off and on for decades. I recently went through some old minutes from meetings of the board of directors in the mid 1990's, and those also included some growth plans and evaluations of sites that were for sale at the time. Clarus and Peaches (for those who remember them, and their near-legendary contributions to Camp Cherith as we know it today) were looking at alternate places we could rent from or purchase.

In the fall of 2007, Bunny and Black Bear were driving home from their cottage out in Lanark County when they happened upon River Farm Christian Campground. I'll save that story for another day, but fast-forward to today, we are now the proud owners of 160 acres of land along the Clyde River in the Lanark Highlands.

Keep watching this blog. We'll post photos, show you how we're doing, and tell you about ways that you can help! We look forward to seeing you soon at our new home!