BLUE JAY, CA (March 19, 2008) \u2013 Raging forest fires came within a mile of overtaking Alpine Camp and Conference Center last October, threatening to destroy the facility. Recently, however, camp leaders and founders celebrated as they started their own fire and watched a copy of the camp\u2019s mortgage go up in flames.<\/p>\n
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The \u201cBurning the Mortgage\u201d ceremony held last month celebrated the first time the camp has been debt-free since it was founded in 1957, says John Gehring, Alpine\u2019s executive director. It also marked the beginning of new efforts to fund camp scholarships.<\/p>\n
Pictured (from left) are Stan White and Jim Stayboldt, lighting a copy of the camp\u2019s mortgage, along with Gordon Stayboldt, Bud Ekblad, and John Gehring.<\/p>\n
The original debt was never paid off because the camp lumped successive loans into the mortgage. At one point, the debt reached $2.6 million, Gehring says.<\/p>\n
In 1997, Edie Warning and other friends of the camp established an endowment of $170,000, and used the interest to help pay down the debt. The camp also was paying $20,000 a month against the mortgage.<\/p>\n
Additional financial gifts helped the camp pay off the final million dollars over the last two years.<\/p>\n
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Leaders wanted the camp to eliminate the debt during the year of the camp\u2019s fiftieth anniversary. On December 26, 2007, they made the last payment. \u201cIt was the old Covenanters who really stepped up and helped pay it off,\u201d Gehring says.<\/p>\n
Younger campers will be among the beneficiaries. Alpine announced that the money once used to pay the debt relief will now support the Edie Warning Camper Scholarship Endowment.<\/p>\n
Gehring says the scholarships are especially needed as the economy takes a downturn.\u00a0 \u201cThe whole idea is that in the time of recession, this is the best way to stabilize the camp,\u201d Gehring says.<\/p>\n
During difficult economic times, camping is considered discretionary funding, and parents are more reluctant to enroll their children, Gehring says.<\/p>\n
The endowment currently has $191,000. \u201cOur goal is to grow the endowment to $1 million,\u201d Gehring says.<\/p>\n