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N-51. lode Pork Seib: —Week of Julr 1a 1966
<br />Vet's camp a lifelong love affair for manager
<br />Camp reopens, but volunteers
<br />needed for renovation effort
<br />By Tom Ratiloff
<br />Mark Peterson is shrouded in
<br />shadows inside the mess hall at Big
<br />Island Veterans Camp. Around 1 m are
<br />duslcovered reminders of the boyhood
<br />vacations he spent on the shores of
<br />Lake Minnetonka.
<br />In those days, the large auditorium
<br />echofYll with the sounds of life.
<br />Children's giggles and squeals, raucous
<br />laughter and shouts from Late -night
<br />potter games, and Isle relaxed, reflec-
<br />tive sighs of vacationing veterans and
<br />their families fled the room.
<br />uoo
<br />Today, the mess hall is quiet as a
<br />tomb. Its windows and doors are board-
<br />ed up to discourage trespassers. Sturdy
<br />oak tab le
<br />and benches ere pushed Ina
<br />comer and a long -abandoned wooden
<br />wheelchair sits next to a dusty ping-
<br />pong table. All are emblems of a time
<br />when the camp was a summertime
<br />haven for ftusands of vacationing
<br />Minnesota .eterato.
<br />But walk outside the mess hall at I
<br />one quickly learns that fun and
<br />fellowship have returned to Big Island
<br />Veterans Camp. Dozens of veterans
<br />and their families attended rededi ition
<br />ceremonies July 10 to celebrate the
<br />reopening of the camp, which had been
<br />closed since 1984.
<br />The facility will initially operate as a
<br />day camp for picnicking and other
<br />recreational activities. The site will pro-
<br />bably be ready for overnight tent
<br />campers in a few months. The camp's
<br />board of governors, which consists of
<br />representatives from veterans' groups,
<br />hopes that long-range improvements
<br />such as construction of picnic shelters
<br />and handicapped -accessible tabus will
<br />restore the camp to its former glory.
<br />Peterson, 35, is the new ^amp
<br />manager and caretaker. Together with
<br />a corps of volunteers, he is helping
<br />spearhead the renaisance on Big
<br />bland.
<br />Peterson's love affair with the
<br />veteran's camp dates back to 1953,
<br />when he went here as an infant with
<br />his family for a summer vacation.
<br />Although It is located only one mile
<br />north of Excelsior's municipal docks,
<br />he said the island's quiet woods,
<br />meadows and leaches harbor an at-
<br />mosphere usually found only in less -
<br />populated outstate regions.
<br />"The camp is so close, yet it seems
<br />so far away. I just love the quiet, the
<br />stars and the cool lake breezes," said
<br />Peterson, who lives on the island in a
<br />renovated cabin. "I love Ibis camp. It's
<br />like a second home to me, since I've
<br />spent most of my life out here."
<br />O O O
<br />As a child, Peterson learned about
<br />the history of the camp, which was
<br />formed in 19M as a haven for returning
<br />World War I veterans. Located on the
<br />site of the old Big Island Amusement
<br />Park, which closed in 1909, it flourished
<br />for decades es a si-mmertime getaway
<br />for veterans and ' -ir families.
<br />In 1969, Peters— . . . native of Colum-
<br />his Heights, was hired as a summer
<br />worker at Big Island and spent the next
<br />few years helping maintain the grounds
<br />and buildings. During its heyday, the
<br />camp had more than 70 cabins, a large
<br />two-story dormitory, the mess hall, ball
<br />fields, a boathouse, staff cabins and
<br />:her amenities.
<br />Each Sunday, a new group of
<br />campers would arrive at the docks to
<br />begin a week of rest atd relaxation.
<br />R—-^tional activities included soft-
<br />ball, volleyball, fishing, swimming and
<br />horseshrles.
<br />"You meet so many people here,
<br />anu they'd keep coming back year after
<br />year," Peterson recalled. "If it was the
<br />third weep of July, you'd say, "Hmmm,
<br />I suppose the Henrys and the Maxwells
<br />are coming in. So you'd go out on the
<br />end of the dock and greet them.
<br />Romance, like calories, also flourish.
<br />ed on the island, according to Peter-
<br />son's wife, Susi. They first met as
<br />children at the camp in the 195..s. In
<br />1981 they were reunited while visiting
<br />the camp, and married a short time
<br />later.
<br />"It's a real Big Island romance," she
<br />said. "Two years later we were back
<br />with a baby and managing the camp.
<br />The thing that is so special about this
<br />place is seeing the generations that
<br />pass through here. Today my kids are
<br />enjoying the same things Mark and I
<br />did when we were Gtte."
<br />Ll LI L
<br />A wistful look flashes> rocs Mark
<br />Peterson's face when he Iwlts at the
<br />camp today. The old dormitory,
<br />holdover from the days when an
<br />amusement p,,rk :.food on the island,
<br />was recently torn down. Most of the
<br />collages and the old boathouse are
<br />gone, too. The rarings are part of an ef-
<br />fort by the board of governors to make
<br />the facility comply with modern-day
<br />health and safety codes.
<br />The camp fell into disrepair in the
<br />late 1970s after the state took over
<br />operation of the facility from the board
<br />of governors, according to Peterson. It
<br />closed in 1964 after it was was con-
<br />demned by the city of Orot ,.
<br />Stewardship of the camp was return-
<br />ed t, the board of governors in 1995,
<br />and volunteers have been working ever
<br />since to rehabilitate it.
<br />It's an awesome and expensive task,
<br />according to Peterson. Dependent sole-
<br />ly on voluntary contributions from state
<br />veterans' groups, the renovation effort
<br />needs both manpower and money, he
<br />said.
<br />Sall
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<br />Mark Peterson boards up a door les,11— Into the condemrh d mess hall at Big Island
<br />Veteran's Camp. lie hope- that the : _udb% can evennl9y be renovated and used
<br />aesln.
<br />This old men hall sill no a knoll above the main docks al Big Island Veteran's Camp on
<br />Lake Wmetooks. Built In the 19,V%li sere{ as dining and maesbon hag for Ibouwlds
<br />of veteram and tlrlr fanulies. The vdaan's camp reopened let .Ily for day camping and
<br />the rannp's board of governors hope to restore the camp to its tomher gkory. (Pbotoa by
<br />Pond Ntiddlestaedt)
<br />"If I had ^y way, 1'd like to see the
<br />aid kitchen a,d canteen renovated and
<br />brought up to code," he said. "And I'd
<br />like to see people stay'uuttgg in cabins
<br />again, too. I think it could be done, but
<br />It will take a lot of me], y, hard work
<br />and help. But it's certainly worth it."
<br />(.harks ILldbeir :(Idhfldd, saluted dur-
<br />b%a Oagt+bfug mmomy July 10 markhkg
<br />the reopening c( the Big island Veteran's
<br />Camp. He Is the sole UUM'Ing W.—ber of
<br />the gk p of Marines who relsad dw flax id
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<br />AragOo ly bted leaa-logbo- 1 the Big
<br />Wand vdcan's Camp to amply with r,
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