BROOKS, Maine — Fair Haven Camps in Brooks was flooded with activity Saturday when at least 150 current and former campers, counselors and volunteers turned out for a 60th anniversary celebration.
The faith-based camp, which is an outgrowth of the Central Maine Bible Conference, has been operating for 60 years on the tranquil shores of Lake Passagassawakeag. Revelers at Saturday’s ceremony enjoyed activities ranging from skeet shooting to live music and a chicken barbecue.
A group of local residents decided to purchase land on the lake after a hunter, who was also a local pastor, found the remnants of the abandoned Camp Melco. Among the founders were Elwin and Hilda Sheldon, Leroy and Rebecca Sheldon, the Rev. David and Anna-Lisa Madeira and the Rev. Richard and Helen Henley. The year was 1950 and they paid $5,000. They founded the Central Maine Bible Conference, which has run Fair Haven Camps ever since.
The original camp was on one side of the lake and called East Haven. Today the camp occupies both sides of the lake, with boys at East Haven and girls at West Haven, which was purchased in 1958. West Haven is the site of the main lodge, and is open through the winter as a year-round retreat.
Hilda Sheldon, 93, spent much of the day Saturday being greeted by friends and strangers who know her only by legend as one of the founders of the camp.
“We were just young couples then,” said Sheldon, seated in the main lodge and waiting for a musical group to begin. “Keeping this place going over the years has basically been about trusting the Lord for many things.”
Just a couple of years ago, the State Fire Marshal’s Office found a long list of deficiencies spread throughout most of the camp’s 54 buildings. After being unable to find grant funds, the organization launched a fundraising effort that netted $130,000 in its first five months. Today many of the fire code problems have been reme-died but the camp is still raising money, according to Dave Sheldon, the general manager and Hilda Sheldon’s son, for further improvements, including a sprinkler system in the main lodge.
Despite that challenge and others, including the erosion of grant money from the Libra Foundation that used to sponsor campers’ stays, Fair Haven Camps was host to 637 children this year from second- to 12th-graders. Sheldon said that’s a respectable total, though he’d like to double it.
“That number’s not good enough, but it’s very good,” he said. “There’s always room for improvement. We’ve been the right place for a lot of years and we’ll continue to be the right place. We have touched a ton of people.”
Ken Keller of Palermo attended Fair Haven Camps when he was about 10, and again when he was a teenager. On Saturday he was sifting through hundreds of old photographs spread across a table, looking for familiar faces.
“It was a great experience for me,” said Keller. “It contributed a lot to my spiritual growth.”
