B'nai B'rith Camp turns 85
By Deborah Moon Seldner
article created on:
B'nai B'rith Camp's 85th Birthday Bash drew 114 people ranging from parents bringing children for their first year of camp to former campers, including a pair of sisters who attended BB Camp in 1954 and 1955 on a scholarship to escape an abusive home.
A fatal accident that closed Highway 18 for four hours just as many Portlanders were traveling that route to the coast combined with high temperatures kept 27 people who had planned to come away from the party near Lincoln City June 25. But those who made the trek evoked a blend of nostalgia and excitement for the future while enjoying a host of traditional camp activities.
Charlene Mehan and her sister Diana Allen said that as young Catholics growing up in south Portland, they would frequently escape their abusive mother and swim or enjoy other activities at the Neighborhood House, a centerpiece of Portland's Jewish community for decades. They said they don't remember how it happened, but somehow they were given scholarships to attend BB Camp, the Jewish resident camp on Devil's Lake.
"It literally changed my life," said Mehan of those two idyllic summers when she was 12 and 13. "That's what made me fall in love with the Jewish people. ? I have a big-time love for Israel—God touched my heart in that respect."
Allen said that as an 8- and 9-year-old she was not as deeply impacted by the experience, which she said she considered a fun escape from an intolerable home. But she said she was amazed that though she and her sister weren't Jewish, "Everyone took us under their arms and loved us anyway."
The sisters said they now both belong to Christian churches with strong ties to Israel and the Jewish people. Mehan said that for many years she has supported the Holocaust Museum, the social work of various ministries in Israel and now BB Camp's scholarship program.
"I've tried to contribute (to BB Camp scholarships) ever since I learned it was still going on," said Mehan, who now lives in Washington. "I was done a good favor and I want to do that for others."
Another BB Camp alumni at the birthday bash said he came because he wanted his wife to see the place that had been such a big part of his life. Jeff Piha, from Seattle, was a camper for two years, a counselor-in-training for one year and on staff for four years in the 1990s and 2000.
"I wanted to bring my wife," said Piha. "She's never been here."
Elysa Piha said that the camp seemed smaller than she expected from her husband's description, but she was very impressed by all of the amenities and activities.
"The water program they have is amazing," she said. "I would liked to have had that as a kid."
The camp's size and water program also surprised Steve Unger, who brought his 7-year-old daughter Hallie and her cousin from California to spend their first summer at BB Camp.
Unger said he and his wife found BB Camp searching for a Jewish camp on the Internet. He said BB Camp "looked just like what my wife and I remember camp was as kids."
"I like that everything is more proximal," he said, adding he remembers having to walk a quarter mile from the cabins to the lake while at BB Camp the cabins overlook the lake.
After spending the day boating, swimming, eating and playing, Unger said, "It's very nice and has a nice tradition. The fact that the kids will be part of an 85-year-old BB Camp tradition is exciting to me."
Sally Hersh, whose daughters Becca, 17, and Alyssa, 15, have moved into leadership roles at the camp, said she came because she wanted to see the place that is "the highlight of their entire 12-month calendar."
"They have lasting friends who come year after year," she said. "It gives them a sense of community that doesn't exist that much in these days of families being so spread out."
Rosanne Levi, who was a BB Camper in the '60s, said, "You have lifelong memories you don't realize. You have lifelong friends—you might part, but you meet again as friends."
Levi's parents Si and Inga Newman met as counselors at BB Camp. And Levi's two children also have attended the camp, becoming the third generation to "have the same fond memories."
BB Camp also has been a family tradition for Doug Blauer, who now chairs the BB Camp Alumni Association. His grandfather, parents and siblings all attended the camp and now he has nieces and nephews who are campers. His own children, Sam, 4, and Lucy, 1, were at the birthday bash getting their first look at the place they are likely to spend a lot of summers.
"This is my second home, it's a part of me," said Blauer. He said he's stayed involved with the camp because, "I want to pay back for all the things I learned."
"There's a lot of unfinished business on how to make camp even more fun and help Men's Camp raise money for it," said Bluer. "It excites me to keep camp strong and vital. Camp is a blast. I think people are more true to themselves and get in touch with themselves and friends and nature when they are at camp."
Anniversary bash coordinator Jennifer Singer said of the celebration, "I think it was a great success. People got to enjoy the amenities and a beautiful day on the coast."