Written by Council Historian, Rosemarie Courtney
When the council received its charter from GSUSA as a local council in November of 1926, plans were all ready in the works for its own summer resident camp. The Oak Park District had so many girls interested in camping that the Chicago council camp could no longer accommodate them.
The new facility would be needed for the 1927 camping season. After much fruitless searching in Wisconsin, property was finally found in southwestern Michigan on Long Lake in St. Joe County six miles from the town of Three Lakes.
The selling price for the thirty acres was $5,000.00 dollars. An article in the Oak Leaves Newspaper in January of 1927 announced the find and itemized the total estimated cost of $11,240.00 to pay for the land and furnish the camp.
Another article published in the Oak Leaves on March 5, 1927 announced a community-wide fund drive beginning March 7 to secure funds for the permanent camp. Fathers of some of the Girl Scouts volunteered to solicit the funds. The goal of the fundraising was to raise a minimum of $10,000 with an ideal figure of $20,000. By June 1, the fundraising reached $12,5000.
Mrs. E. L. March, the Council’s Executive Director (CEO), became the camp’s first director.
Registration opened for the inaugural session of Camp Lone Tree on April 30, 1927. Eighty girls attended this session which started on June 23, 1927.
Mrs. March organized a “Dad’s Patrol” to help with the construction at the new camp site. 35 platform tents were among the first items the dads built.
The recreation and dining hall were a gift from four businessmen’s organizations in Oak Park: the Lion’s Club, the Rotary Club, the Kiwanis Club, and the Oak Park Chamber of Commerce.
Fees for the new camp were $7.00 per week for food and lodging, plus transportation charges not to exceed $5.00 round trip. A Girl Scout could also spend ten cents per day at the canteen for candy or fruit but only after the evening meal.
In 1932, the camp needed a new boat, so Girl Scouts collected over 6,000 wire hangers that they turned in for cash to pay for the boat.
Swimming was a daily activity and later, horseback riding became the most popular activity at camp. By 1932, the camp program included canoeing, nature projects, hayrack riding, classes in photography, archery, dramatics and handcrafts.
There was an on-going building program to improve the camp, including cabins for Brownies. In June of 1944, 126 Brownies came for a week at camp. More acreage was purchased several times to accommodate this expansion. By 1948, the camp comprised 116 acres with 2,000 feet of waterfront and 52 buildings. But by 1957, civilization was encroaching on the camp which caused concern about safety.
Because of this, at the November 1957 board meeting, it was voted for a site-selection committee to be formed to find a new resident camp site. The last camping season in Michigan was in 1961.
Susan Shafer Helfer’s Memories of Camp Lone Tree in the 1940’s
“Late in the afternoon after a long bus ride along Hwy. 12, we arrived at Girl Scout Camp Lone Tree in St. Joe County, Michigan. We unloaded at the large white house on the top of the hill separated by age. Then each team, girls and counselors, set out down the hill path to the campsites. Each group of campsites cabins had names: Indian Village, Sherwood Forest, Treasure Island and Fort Dearborn. The cabins were set around the outdoor campfire stones. They were made of dark wood on the bottom and had a screened in area on the top. Each cabin held four metal bunk beds and some wooden orange crates to hold your things. Your duffle bag and tin suitcase went under the bed.
Fort Dearborn (my unit) was located along the shoreline of Long Lake where the older girls lived in large canvas tents. These tents were built up on wooden platforms. They had tent flaps that could be closed at night or when it rained. A separate piece of canvas went over the roof. If the roof canvas touched the main canvas during a rainstorm, the roof would leak so Girl Scouts had to make sure the tent ropes were tight at all times.
Mrs. March was the camp director. She drove around camp in a station wagon with wooden sides that we lovingly called “Old Woody.”
Katherine Miller, camp name Tinder, was the assistant director.
Everyone ate together in the large dining hall. We would all assemble on the porch deck before meals and sing camp songs. Food was served family-style with one person picking the food up in the kitchen. Eight people sat at each table with one girl seated at the foot of the table who poured the water. No one wanted that job!
Camp chores were done every morning. They included raking and sweeping the whole area. Cleaning the latrines and polishing the sooty lantern glass with old newspaper were also among the chores. Your cabin, bed, and floors had to be neat and clean.
On Sundays, all campers would march in and gather in the large clearing around the flagpole. The seven members of the color guard would march in through the horseshoe opening and up to the flagpole. Six members of the guard were all dressed in white with a bright red sash around their waist. The leader had a red sash over her shoulder and gave the orders, and the flag was unfolded and raised.
Photos taken from Mary Helen Jones’ 1927 – 1928 Summer Camp Scrapbook
Although this story is about a Girl Scout camp that operated from 1927 to 1961, before many of you were born, the Girl Scouts who experienced it carried those memories with them and shared them for years. Why not sign up for camp this summer and start making new memories, or continue building on the ones you already cherish?