By Maddy Fleming
Serving with Camp Pioneer
History and memory are intertwined. For a place such as Camp Pioneer, this is certainly true. Though I came to Camp Pioneer with little knowledge of what the 4-H experience offered, I can say that of the stories I’ve come across so far, 4-H Camp is one of the most memorable parts of that experience.
Maddy with historic group photos
When I first arrived at Camp Pioneer to start my service, I remember the stacks of 4-H Camp group photos being among the first things to greet me in my new office space. They’d been framed by the previous AmeriCorps member and awaited their return to the walls of the main building for display. They had been displayed improperly before, prompting a need for a new display. This was a project I’d become a part of very soon, but not one I yet realized I’d help complete.
It was with this photo collection I truly learned how significant these memories of 4-H Camp are to Camp Pioneer’s legacy. The oldest photo in the collection currently is dated 1930. Our collection mainly showcases the 1960s and beyond, though we remain hopeful we can find photos from before the 1960s. Except for a few missing, there is a group photograph for every year 4-H Camp has been held at Camp Pioneer. In every photo, there are smiles full of the fun I can only imagine took place. And there’s a great sense of community, of fellowship. It's this feeling of fellowship that connects the youth of the past with those of the present, experiencing 4-H for themselves. It’s what I also experience myself while working with the 4-H History Round-Up committee, who worked diligently to acquire each photograph essential to preserving Camp Pioneer’s long history.
My main role in preparing the photos for display consisted of making labels for the photos which were not visibly dated. This process required printing these dates on acid-free paper, cutting them to uniform size, and then placing them within each frame with the correct photo. By the end, I’d made around forty. While most were visibly labelled with the date directly on the photo, this process ensured the ones that were not could be easily identified. I also organized the collection of copies we keep in our archives to confirm we had every photo ready to frame that needed to be. A few photos were missing, but with some help I was able to get copies of those to prepare and frame too.
Volunteers hanging photos in the main building
On Monday, January 16th, I met with the 4-H History Round-Up committee to organize every photo for display. Across five large tables, we were able to sort every photo by date, save for the bunch that were vertical rather than horizontal and had to be placed in their own group. The following Thursday, January 19th, I returned to assist with mounting them to the wall. The day was full of hard work, but as each photo was placed upon the wall we added to the smiles. Future 4-H Camp photos will find their place upon the wall too, and our fellowship accomplished a task that will only add to the history and memories made at Camp Pioneer. This project is also a memory that will remain with me throughout the rest of my AmeriCorps service and beyond.
Luanne Moore, June Meadows Semenick, Maddy Fleming, Lennie Whritenour, Barb Whritenour, and Dawn Swecker
