The following article appeared in the Bitterroot Back Country Horsemen newsletter dated 7/15/2005. The article was accompanied by 10 captioned photos of Camp Eureka campers engaged in wilderness camping activities.
Nag News
Bitterroot Back Country Horsemen
Volume 30, Issue 7
Bringing New Vision to the Bitter Root
by Tanya Drayton
Eureka! Camp Eureka that is. Created and designed to provide an opportunity for children with visual impairments, Camp Eureka allowed the children to explore western Montana's wetlands and forests under the guidance of mentors who are blind, and with educators and naturalists who are trained to work with children who have visual impairments. Most importantly, the camp offered the children a chance to share in activities and stories with other children who have vision impairments, learn new skills, gain confidence, and have a great time doing it all. The mentors played a key role, giving the children guidance, and the tools to explore beyond their normal boundaries. The kids, along with their mentors, learned about nature, sang songs, and splashed in the river. Eight campers, six mentors, six counselors, twelve instructors, and seven musicians and artists took part in the three and a half day Camp Eureka at the Teller Wildlife Refuge just north of Corvallis, Montana. In all, it required the participation of 50 individuals to make the Bitterroot Valley's first Camp Eureka a reality and a success.
Bringing Camp Eureka to the Bitter Root was the brainchild of Beth Underwood. Beth is the Environmental Education Specialist for the Montana Conservation Science Institute, the lead organization for Camp Eureka. She is also vice president of the Missoula branch of the Montana Association for the Blind. Dan Burke, president of the Montana Association for the Blind, a National Federation of the Blind affiliate, was also instrumental in the success of Camp Eureka. A natural leader, Dan, with his personal understanding of blindness and generous portions of warmth and strength, provided guidance to the children, fellow mentors, and counselors throughout the camp. Beth undertook the monumental task of garnering grants, sponsors, and volunteer support to bring the first Camp Eureka to the Bitter Root Valley and Montana. Beth, Dan and their team of counselors and support staff then took it to the next level by tailoring their camp for the blind and vision impaired. Tucked away in their own small piece of heaven, the children discovered nature and the world they live in from a whole new perspective. On Thursday, June 23, 2005, the final day of this year's camp, BBCH members Tanya Drayton, Chuck Miller, John and Sue Pearson, Karen Philips, Ron Raffensperger and Fred Weisbecker all came together to help support this outstanding group of people by presenting hands on, how to set up a wilderness campsite and a scaled down equine safety and packing clinic. Of course, no wilderness camp would be complete without Sue Pearson's Dutch oven cooking. Karen and Tanya provided peripheral support while Chuck, John, Sue, Ron and Fred provided the equipment and animals and did all the hard work. To be honest, it seemed like our BBCH members had as much fun introducing the eager campers to the joys of mules, horses, packing and backcountry camping as the campers did learning about it all.
The day began at 9:30 a.m. with a Dutch oven cooking demonstration. Sue had the kids help her with concocting strawberry and peach desserts call "Dump Cakes". While the happy campers headed off to the next station Sue stacked the ovens and began cooking lunch for the crew. At the next station, Chuck, Fred and John separated the campers into three smaller groups and each had a horse or mule to brush, tack up and lead for the trip back to the camp area. Everyone had a chance to touch the animals all over, assist their group leader with the tacking and loading process and feed the critters treats. Chuck's mule, Dolly, even scored a good, down home ear scratching session! When the animals were tacked up and ready to lead, a couple of stowaways were found in John's pack bags hoping for a ride to camp. Hmmm, clever guys! After sorting out exactly who and what went into the packs on the mules, each group helped their group leader lead the pack animal into camp. Way to go guys! At camp, the critters were unleaded and the tents laid out and set up. The campers melded into two groups for this and each tackled the tent raising process with much enthusiasm and gusto. Then it was on to the final team activity. Remember Sue? Sue Pearson, Dutch oven cook extraordinaire? Yep, THAT Sue!! Well, everyone had to sit down and enjoy a meal of beef stew, Best Ever Cornbread (the weekend of June 4th comes to mind) and strawberry and peach Dump Cakes. It's a rough life, backcountry camping, but someone has to do it! With the day's experiences coming to a close both BBCH members and Camp Eureka campers headed home with great memories of laughter shared, happy, satisfied and maybe, just a bit wistful that it was all over.
Anyone interested in learning more about Camp Eureka can reach Beth Underwood at (406) 251-50695