Camp Killoqua celebrates Camp Fire's 100 years

EVERETT -- Camp Fire USA is 100 years old this week, and the Snohomish County Camp Fire council plans to celebrate in a big way.

Hundreds of people are expected at a centennial celebration Saturday at Camp Fire's Snohomish County jewel: Camp Killoqua.

During the free party, people can tour the 185-acre camp, take part in activities for all ages, peruse historical displays, eat a barbecue supper and participate in a special campfire ceremony.

From Maine to Alaska, ceremonial campfires are scheduled to be lighted at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in each time zone. People will be invited to sing the old Camp Fire songs, and Camp Fire alums, staff members and volunteers plan to talk about their experiences in the nonprofit youth organization and their memories of summers at Camp Killoqua.

The nationwide organization began as place for girls to come together and experience the outdoors. It started allowing boys to join in the 1970s. The Boy Scouts of America also are celebrating their centennial this year.

Carol Johnson looks forward to Saturday with the hope of seeing some of the thousands of people she has met during her 33 years as director of Camp Killoqua.

Johnson, 60, has spent most of her life in Camp Fire. Camp director is the only job she's ever had.

The reasons she believes kids should get involved hold true even more today. Summers at camp get young people away from their screens -- TV, computer and cell phone, she said.

Campers get to swim, canoe, ride horses, play games, get silly and have a lot of fun.

"Kids develop lifelong friendships here and learn about the outdoors without knowing they're learning," Johnson said. "I've seen multiple generations of the same families coming through this camp, and I hope to see some of them on Saturday."

Lou Denney said she wouldn't miss the celebration for anything.

Like Johnson, she devoted her life to Camp Fire and making life better for children.

Denney, 82, of Everett, grew up in Yakima during the Great Depression. She attended a Camp Fire summer camp near Naches and remembers sitting on her bedroll for the ride in a flatbed truck to camp. There, she brushed her teeth in a nearby creek and washed her face in a basin. One year, she earned a national honor for her beaded headband, part of the Camp Fire uniform in those days.

"I just loved it," she said of her childhood experiences.

Denney served as the executive director of the Snohomish County Camp Fire Council for 21 years. She retired in 1989 and helps out as one of the historians for the local Camp Fire council.

"I look forward to the centennial party in part because I love to go to Killoqua," Denney said. "It's the best-kept secret in the county."

Cassie Anderson, 25, lives at Camp Killoqua year-round and is spending her 17th summer there. Many of those years were spent as a camp counselor when she was a student at Kamiak High School and Western Washington University.

Anderson comes from an extended family of Camp Fire members, including her grandmother. Her closest friends are former Camp Fire clubbers.

As the camp's environmental education director, Anderson said her goal throughout school was to teach at Killoqua. Helping kids develop a love of nature and an awareness of life around them is her focus.

"This camp is the best part of my life," Anderson said. "It's my Disneyland, my happiest place on earth."

The Snohomish County Council of Camp Fire USA also offers after-school programs, self-reliance classes, parenting classes, programs for children with special needs and leadership opportunities for teens. In 2009, more than 8,140 kids were involved in Camp Fire programs in the county. The program has about 500 volunteers, including a 36-member board of directors.

Stephanie Church, 16, is among the teenage counselors-in-training group this summer at Camp Killoqua. The Glacier Peak High School senior has been involved in Camp Fire USA for 11 years.

Stephanie is working on her WoHeLo award, which Camp Fire officials say is arguably even more difficult to attain than the rank of Eagle in Boy Scouts. WoHeLo -- first two letters of the words work, health, love -- helps encourage the development of caring, confident young people to be future leaders, Johnson said.

"Camp Fire is still doing what it did 100 years ago," she said.



Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.



Camp openings

Camp Killoqua still has openings for summer day camp and residential camp. More information is at 425-258-5437 or www.campfireusasnohomish.org.



Reserve a spot at the celebration

The local Camp Fire USA Centennial Celebration is set for 3 to 9 p.m. Saturday at Camp Killoqua, west of Lakewood. The free event includes a barbecue dinner and a campfire ceremony at 7:30 p.m. People who plan to attend are asked to call 425-358-5437 to reserve a spot and get directions. Camp Fire and Killoqua alumni also are encouraged to join the alumni group at www.campfireusasnohomish.org.