October Newsletter (Yes, we realize it's now December... we're on Camp time.)

October Newsletter from the staff at Camp Myrtlewood

Everything at Camp is really great right now—summer is over and winter is coming! This is my favorite time of year—lots of changes and much promise.

BUILDING AND REPAIRS—John Jones

Yesterday was a great day because Sol and Dana Gaab and I got the bulkhead set for the new woodshed. We worked all day to move an 8”x22”x22 feet long creosote timber into place by hand. It might not sound like much of a project but it was. And it was a major step toward building the new woodshed—we’ll start building on Monday and we’re excited because we have stacks and stacks of firewood that need a woodshed.

We’re not going to have to buy any lumber for building the new shed because the Coquille Indian Tribe came to Camp. They brought their portable sawmill and cut up the big Douglas Fir from the campfire circle—that’s the wood we’re using for the new woodshed. They came in mid-summer and gifted us with hundreds of hours of free labor and over $6,000 in donated building materials. The Tribe put new roofs on Kiosk and Elm and built a new deck for Juniper. They painted Kiosk, Elm, Fir and Gum and the ceilings in the old bathrooms. They set new logs in the campfire circle, cut brush, mowed lawns, hauled and stacked firewood, pulled weeds in the garden and did a million and one other small favors—including work at the Farm. The Coos Bay World newspaper ran a great story about the Coquille Tribe’s week of service to Camp Myrtlewood. It was a great experience for all!

We got the new roof on the 10,000 gallon water storage tank. Dana and I have been working over at the Farm and there is now a bridge abutment (“deadman” bridge support) on the house side of the creek. We’re going to put another one on the road side before the big rains come. It doesn’t sound like much but it was. The storm damage clean-up and gardening at the Farm went well. Dana cut many of the snow-downed trees into firewood and he and Rider put in many hours on the garden. Both gardens, here and there, have been very productive and all of us have had some share of the work—it’s been very good to eat the fresh produce and share it with campers. Kevin Horst and his wife Sarah came and visited back in June (about the time the main pump went out—Sol will tell you more about the pump failure). Kevin laid new electrical lines to the pump house and moved all the control boxes inside, out of sight. Thanks Kevin!!

In June Owen and Pat Wright donated the logs from the big Douglas Fir that fell on their house. We helped mill the logs and and contributed toward the milling cost. Our original intent was to use the wood for a new Dining Hall floor and trade wood from the campfire tree to a local mill operator (Bob Sproul) for more flooring. However, the more Dana thought about the idea of us doing a fir floor with our own wood the less he liked it. He thinks we’d be wiser to save up and buy finished hardwood flooring. It would hold up better and we could lay it in a fraction of the time (laying and finishing our own floor would mean months of down time and, even in the winter months, we don’t have a lot of time when groups aren’t here and need to use the dining hall). We can still use the wood from the Wrights—several of our cabins would be greatly improved with the addition of a nice fir floor. Meanwhile, the donated wood is curing and will be surfaced—we look forward to the day when it is ready to use and we thank Owen and Pat for their generous donation!

It’s been a great year so far and there’s more to come!!

WATER REPORT—Sol Weil

Water Pump

The main water pump failed the Sunday before Catholic Family Camp (6/12). While John returned from Portland, Ed Rainey walked me through diagnostic procedures throughout the day and we were able to narrow down the problem. A new pump was ordered but shipping and ordering issues delayed the replacement until Thursday (6/16) two hours before the group arrived.

Sewage Pump

Dosing tank sewage pump #2 broke before Brethren Family Camp (7/19). [Editor’s note: Coincidentally the theme for this year was “When Disaster Strikes.”] While waiting for the replacement we acted as the automatic controls, constantly checking the sewage levels and pumping when necessary using our one remaining pump. There were a number of issues with lost and delayed orders and the new pump was installed near the end of Family Camp (7/22). Thank you Doug for wiring up the pump and walking me through the idiosyncrasies of the wiring diagram and thanks to Hal for the wire wrapping. Thank you, too, to Farr's Hardware who accidentally gave us the pump at cost (saving $500-$600) and then refused to accept the difference, saying it was “about time for a donation to Camp Myrtlewood.”

Redwood Tank

A large leak (~8gpm) was discovered in the redwood tank as Family Camp was to begin. Rider and I were able to reduce the flow by about half, giving John enough time to get home and further patch the leak before completely running out of water. Family Camp and the Coquille Tribe were great at conserving water and Camp was able to continue operating. When the Coquille Tribe left we drained the tank, cleaned the inside and fixed the leak from the inside with cedar shims. This winter we will drain the tank again for more maintenance. Dana says that the redwood tank should easily last another 20 years if maintained. Dana built the new lid for the redwood tank and it is in place.

Slow Sand Filters

Camp has obtained a 1500 gallon “B-tank” (so-called because of minor blemishes) for about $200 less than the usual retail price. This winter we will use the tank to construct a third slow sand filter which will give us the leeway to pull filters off-line for maintenance and will allow us to recover more quickly from shortages.

Rainwater Collection

Oregon allows rainwater collected from roofs to be used after minimal filtration for flushing toilets, irrigation, and other outdoor water use. Preliminary estimates show that Camp's allowable rain catchment area could provide more than enough water for our non-potable needs and would take some pressure off of the potable water system. I will take some rainfall and collection measurements this winter to see if the reality matches the estimate.

STAFFING REPORT—Trina McDaniel

We had a wonderful summer staff, consisting of Tiff and Ofelia from University of LaVerne, Shane from Oregon State University, and Amanda from Grinnell College in Iowa. Along with Rider, our “BVSer” (Brethren Volunteer Service worker), they helped clear trails, carry pieces of the water tank lid up the roughly half-mile trail to the redwood water tank, worked together to build a donated playground set, and of course helped make and serve wonderful meals for all of our campers. As the summer drew to a close, we were saddened to see them all go, but satisfied that we had made it through another busy summer with a brilliant and hard-working staff. We hope they were enriched by their experiences here at Camp, and we look forward to future visits from any and all of them.