5 Things You Didn’t Know About Camp Crestridge

Posted by Karah

For two years in 1926 and 1927 an attempt to create a girls camp that was similar to Camp Ridgecrest was made. This camp was called Camp Star Note… that sounds a lot different from Camp Crestridge, huh? The camp really didn’t take off for different reasons. A couple of other attempts here and there were made during the summers to create a girls camp, but nothing really seemed to take off. So, how did Camp Crestridge even come about?
As quoted from an article about the start of Camp Crestridge for Girls here is a brief history of the very beginning of camp.
“T.L. Holcomb, executive secretary of the Sunday School Board, received a twenty-five dollar check designated for a girl’s camp. Holcomb planted that seed money immediately and growth began with the formulation of a committee to study the matter and select a site. Holcomb let the Board to allocate one hundred thousand dollars for 1953 and fifty thousand dollars for 1954 to begin the development process.
George Pickering, director of Camp Ridgecrest for Boys, strongly supported the effort for a sister camp. Many of the programming concepts and administrative techniques which he developed in the boys’ camp were shared with the girls’ camp to make the beginning much easier. He suggested that the name of the boys’ camp be used with the syllables reversed as a name for the girls’ camp. Camp Crestridge for Girls was born.”

We have seen a lot of changes in camp over the years. Some of those changes are a big part of what has helped to create the camp that we all know and love today! Here is an inside scoop on a few things that you didn’t know about Camp Crestridge.
1. The dining hall was not finished in the first summer of camp. No, campers didn’t have to make and bring their own food, the Ridgecrest Conference Center provided meals… 3 times a day. That is not the crazy part though. Did you know that for each meal, campers and staff were required to put on their Sunday best and walk to the conference center? Imagine walking to Nibble Nook 3 times a day in your nicest dress. I guess that is why the packing list included 3 Sunday dresses instead of Nike running shorts.

conference CenterMeal time
2. Have you ever noticed the big Camp Crestridge sign right outside of camp when you first come to the fork in the road between the upper and lower gates? It has moved locations over the years to mark the entrance to camp, but it has been around since the start in 1955!

Front Gate
3. One of the best days in camp is when those big yellow buses roll up to take villages off to go on their village trip. Did you know though that Camp Crestridge owned a bus? Today when we go on trips we rent buses from a company, but back in the day Crestridge had its very own monogrammed bus.

Bus
4. We have seen the camp emblem on stickers, we wear it, and it’s probably most noted in the stained glass in the chapel. But what does the emblem even mean? There is a purpose in every little detail of the emblem. The horseshoe stands for the sincere best wishes that we have as each camper comes to camp that she will find her piercing purpose (arrow) in life. As she does this, we believe that completion (circle) comes in the growth of spiritual, mental, physical, and social areas of life (points).

Emblem
And last but not least, #5.
5. This past year was the first time that we had more than one place to swim at Camp Crestridge! Up until last summer, we only had the lake. Did you know that the Crestridge Lake has been said to have first been created in the shape of a heart? Whether or not that is a solid fact is a mystery to us. So, next time you are here, take a look at it and see for yourself if you think that may be true.

Lake
We are excited for the many years of camp to come! Looking back on all the different years of Camp Crestridge and seeing changes that have been made but our God who always stays the same is so neat! We thank our Heavenly Father that He is and always will be the constant in our changing lives.


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