Árdís - 01.01.1955, Page 39

Ársrit Bandalags lúterskra kvenna
37
Camping — Chapter li
By INGIBJORG I. OLAFSSON
In the last issue of Ardis an article appeared on “Pioneer Days
in Camping” dealing with the first four years when the Lutheran
Women’s League rented a camp for a period of 12 days each sum-
mer. At the close of that first chapter the fact is mentioned that we
had started a fund for the purpose of buying a camp site and
building a camp. As I have had many requests to write another
chapter of this, our camping history, I will attempt to do so now.
But I choose to skip a few years—from 1942 when we had our last
camp in rented quarters, to 1945 when we unanimously settled on
a camp site. These were years of inactivity except for slight
augmenting of our camp fund, years of great value nevertheless
which lead us through various worthwhile and difficult experiences.
We had difficulty in finding a site satisfactory to all. We had
difficulty also in deciding whether it would be advisable to accept
an offer of partnership in the project: Two Lutheran groups offered
to share this project with us to become joint owners of the camp
and of course have their say in running it. These two groups were
from the American Lutheran Church and the Manitoba Synod (as
is was then called) the latter is affiliated with the U.L.C.A. while
the former group is not.
At that time we did not realize fully what an impossible
alliance this would be. As some of the leaders of the Synod were
in favor of it, others advised precaution, we were anxious to take
time to look at all sides of the question. So we refused to have it
rushed through at a convention where it was brought up but re-
ferred the matter to the Ladies Aids who would vote on it and send
the result of such voting to Mrs. Fjola Gray, who was the convenor
of a camp committee in the league. I quote from her report, 1944,
“The result of the voting sent in to our committee was a definite
rejection of such co-operation: 17 Ladies Aids voted against it.
Three voted for it.” So we were determined to do it alone.
In the spring of 1945, at a convention held in Selkirk, it was