Welcoming Visitors to Camp St. Vinny’s

Visitors from Alaska

By Patty Lawrence - Camp St. Vinny’s

   When Father Joe told me he wanted a place where young people could come to enjoy the outdoors and the animals, I knew I could help and be part of achieving that dream. Like Father Joe, my husband Dan and I have been involved with youth for about 28 years. All we could think of when we first saw the ranch in Campo was, ‘This is a wonderful place for kids!’

   In the last few months we’ve welcomed many young visitors. The first official group to visit us at Camp St. Vinny’s was the eighth grade from St. Martin’s Academy in La Mesa. The students came on a school day for a class retreat led by Tim Lawrence, the youth minister at Holy Trinity Parish in El Cajon. The retreat went well and so did the time the kids spent hiking among the oaks, climbing on the huge rocks, feeding the horses carrots and just hanging out with classmates on the decks of the A-frame cabins.

   Our next group consisted of student leaders from Mesa Collage. They came to have some time together as a leadership team and also help us build a new horseshoe pit for the camp. Succeeding at that service project, they returned in January this year and built us another. They are now looking at future service projects at the ranch.

   A very interesting group of young people visited us in January from the island of Kupreanof, a 23-hour ferry ride from Juneau, Alaska. Along with their chaperones, the youngsters arrived during a heat wave and thought it was terrible. With plenty of food supplied by Father Joe’s Villages® staff members Sylva Bungay, Oscar Labiano and Alfonso Alarid plus lots of things to do, our guests soon forgot the heat.

    They found the large ranch and all the animals fascinating. Every youngster had a chance to feed numerous carrots to the horses and take a turn brushing each one. We were very touched by their respect and quietness with the animals. After lunch and touring the ranch, we treated the group to a ride on the historic train in Campo.

   We were very honored to have them visit Camp St. Vinny’s and share some of their Tlingit Indian culture with us. In addition they told us they pay as much as $13 for a cantaloupe and they shop in Juneau about every six weeks, taking a ferry that visits their island only once a week. I guess I have nothing to complain about with only an hour ride to Campo from my San Diego office!

   We welcome visits from youth groups at Camp St. Vinny’s. For more information about arranging a tour, please contact me by email at plawrenc@neighbor.org or by phone at 619.687.1015.