Maybe you have been there. If so, you're sure to remember it with some nostalgia. As Bill Richardson said, “I remember during my youth looking forward to the one week each summer spent at the camp.” Many people have memories of Southeastern Baptist Youth Camp off SR 3 since the late 1930s. The camp is more than 60 years old so I wondered if it is still as busy as it was “in the old days.”

Darlene Riley at the First Baptist Church assured me that it is much busier. Don and Sarah Snyder have managed the camp since the first of the year in 2004. Steve and Judy Malone were managers for 23 years before that.

The first trustees included The Rev. R. E. Pavy of Westport as president, vice president was Raymond Jessup of Madison, Mary F. Kennedy of Lawrenceburg was secretary, Annabell Evans of Sardinia was treasurer, and the Rev. Harold Gray of Versailles was camp director. Gray was a former pastor of Adams and Burney Baptist churches.

This camp is in the area that was once called Layton’s Camp that was developed by William Layton after a dam was installed across Sand Creek. I believe the dam was built by the WPA. It's located about five and a half miles northwest of Westport. Baptists of Southeastern Indiana purchased the property, about 30-plus acres of it, in September 1946. The Baptists had camped at Layton’s Camp as well as in other camps in Dupont and Versailles but found it more difficult each year to find places to rent or lease. They purchased this property and are constantly making improvements. The Rev. John N. Cassady was instrumental in the day-to-day operations of the camp during its early years. In 1966, an additional 20 acres were purchased from the Gatewood family for $5,000 which added another lake, hiking and boating areas. The grounds of the camp now total 62 acres.

The W. D. Wooden family of North Vernon gave $1,000 to be used in the construction of a chapel as a memorial to their daughter, Pauline, who died as a young child. Built in 1950 the chapel was called the Pauline Chapel in memory of their little daughter. The chapel will house about 100 children or 80 adults. It was built from materials that had been saved when the old Napoleon Baptist Church was torn down.

In 1947 the dining room and kitchen were in tents. The boys slept in the tents and the girls in the four cabins then on the property. The weather that first year was a lot less than ideal for camping. It was unusually cool and there were heavy rains and wind that did some damage. Sarah Snyder said she still hears stories about the kitchen tent being blown down that year. Sarah does much of the cooking but calls in help when it's needed.

The average attendance that first year was 80 young people and adults per week for five weeks or about 400 people. That had grown by the next year in 1948 to about 600 campers within a six-weeks camping period. More cabins were built. The kitchen and dining room were built. Now they have 18 cabins and the gym, Grace Hall, finished in 1999, is busy during the year as well as summer. In 2005 the Retreat Center was completed with 19 sleeping rooms, lounge and kitchen. It can house 76 people. The cabins are in the process of being updated this year and that will be ongoing for the next few years.

The camp wasn’t officially dedicated until what was then called Independence Day in 1948. Dr. J. M. Horton, executive secretary of the Indiana Baptist State convention, gave the address to more than 400 Baptists representing 40 churches of seven Baptist Associations in the general area. The Rev. Roy McClain, pastor of the Sardinia Baptist Church gave the invocation. The Rev. Harold Gray told how the camp and its program had been started from a small beginning while the Rev. N. M. Bodenhorn was pastor of the Westport Baptist Church. The benediction was given by the Rev. E. E. Kelley of the Sandcreek Baptist Church. The Rev. Robert Shipley of the Mt. Aerie Baptist Church was in charge of getting the program together and he also introduced Dr. Horton.

The mission of this camp is “...to provide a place located in the beauty of God's nature where people of all ages can gather to learn and study God's truths, build God's kingdom and have Christian fun. In sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the camp provides an atmosphere for nurturing individual Christian commitments and developing Christian leaders.”