Summer is the time for camps

Camp Tamarack is starting its 70th year this week at Dark Lake. Photo by Tom Chace

School's out. Camp's in.

Four private camps are underway in the Suttle Lake area west of Sisters. Depending on one's definition, two or more are also open during the winter months.

Camp Davidson caters to Christian religious groups with church-oriented assemblage. Camp Tamarack hosts children from eight to 16 with optional horseback riding, plus a family camp over Labor Day weekend.

Camp Caldera offers a dual program: During summers they host, without charge, 40 children each in three sessions. The children are considered "underserved" or "at risk," said Miriam Feuerle, director of development in their Portland office.

During the balance of the year, Caldera offers an "Artists in Residence" program offering scholarships to people from all over the country in the fields of visual art, poetry, drama and writing, according to Feuerle.

Jane Petke is director of Camp Suttle Lake, operated by the United Methodist Church. She and her husband, Daniel, live year-round at the far end of the campgrounds near Scout Lake.

Daniel Petke is responsible for the food service at the camp, serving up to 160 campers daily as well as supervising much of the maintenance.

"We probably do $30,000 in local food buying," he said, "plus we buy almost all our maintenance supplies locally and are continually faced with construction costs, mostly with local contractors."

Camping in the Sisters area is big business. Add somewhere around 200 people hired as counselors and other personnel plus the transient or "bed" tax they pay, and it is an extensive "industry."

Marc Prigohzy is executive director of Camp Tamarack which started its summer programs Monday, June 30. He is vice-president of the parent operating corporation that recently acquired the land and facilities.

"Hard to believe that we started in 1935 with a girls riding camp here and have grown into this impressive facility now with three separate girls' camps and, new this year, a boys' riding camp," Prigohzy said.

"We're adding new things all the time," he said, "such as mountain bikes, a challenging rope course, new canoes, kayaks and a swimming raft. But we still maintain our riding program; that's the main reason our campers come here -- the same thing their mothers, and is some cases their grandmothers, did at Tamarack 70 years ago."

He said it "sounds silly, but we will have flush toilets by fall after all these years with only outdoor facilities."

Their long range goal is to be able to provide "camperships" for those who can't afford the $820 with horse, or $700 without horse for the eight-day program.

"Campers can bring their own horse if they want and we stable it along with our own 33 horses," Prigohzy said.

The total cost for the 13-day experience is $1,330 with horse, $1,137 without.

Generally campers are from eight to 16 years old, according to their web site. They also have a Family Time scheduled for Labor Day weekend, August 29 through September 1 for $60 per person for one to four and $55 per person for five or more. Children under five years old are free.

Matt Garcia is the summer camp director and Melissa Robertson is the assistant. Tyler Silver, president of True North Solutions, LLC, lives on site. The camp is now a privately held corporation but the owners plan within a year to become nonprofit to offer "camperships" and make available their facilities to other nonprofit groups.

"One of the things we are looking forward to," Prigohzy said, "is to get involved in leadership programs and to help with moral and social issues."

The camp is spread around one side of Dark Lake with a lodge that has a stone fireplace and the dining facilities. There is also a hobby house, a gazebo at lakeside for small group meetings, a corral in the horse area, tennis courts and a basketball hoop.

The lake is at the physical center of their facilities adding to the ambiance of the peaceful and private setting.

Camp Tamarack's web site is: www.camptamarack.com.