Pine Lake Camp Celebrates its 60th CAMPiversary

Time capsule ceremony at Pine Lake Camp's 60th anniversary celebration.
by Alberta
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    The Salvation Army’s Pine Lake Camp celebrated its 60th anniversary in style on August 18. The summer camp, located near Red Deer, invited the public to attend with many current and former officers, camp counsellors, and campers from their 60 year history joining in the festivities.

    A big part of the celebrations was going to be unearthing a time capsule that was planted when the camp first opened in 1958. However, they weren’t sure where the original capsule was buried, and after extensive searching and the use of ground penetrating radar, the only thing they found was an old can of ginger ale. They came up dry – Canada Dry, in fact.

    Not deterred by this, they buried a new time capsule located where it could be easily found. The new time capsule contained the 60th anniversary ceremony brochure, the Gospel Arts Camp 2018 schedule and program, a copy of the Pine Lake Camp pep song, the latest edition of the Salvationist, a “One Army” t-shirt, various camp t-shirts, and a copy of Psalm 100.

    Guests were treated to tours of the camp, live music by big brass band Jazz Explosion, as well as a special time capsule ceremony. There were speeches and presentations by Major Margaret McLeod, our Divisional Commander; Ruby Olmstead, a member of the original family that sold the land to the camp; Adel Poratto, the Rotary Club of Red Deer Vice President; as well as greetings from former and current camp counsellors, Bob McLeod and Taylor Castelli. Closing out the ceremony was a prayer of thanksgiving by Captain Ian Gillingham.

    Since 1958, Pine Lake Camp has been providing kids from all backgrounds in Alberta with a great camp experience. Throughout the summer, over 400 children get to enjoy a week’s holiday packed full of wonderful camp experiences, including canoeing, wall climbing, swimming, mountain biking, archery, photography, and more. Maybe treasure hunting will be on the list next summer to find that lost time capsule?

    Photo caption: (L to R) Bob McLeod, a former camp counsellor; Capt. Ian Gillingham, Divisional Youth Secretary; Ruby Olmstead, whose family owned the property prior to The Salvation Army; Major Margaret McLeod, Divisional Commander; Taylor Castelli, a current camp counsellor; and Adel Poratto, Vice President of the Rotary Club in Red Deer.