CampLutherhaven was forced to close on August 7 last summer after routine water tests turned up E. coli bacteria in the camp's water system. The closure put an end to Lutherhaven's 2009 summer camp season and canceled all retreats, camps and programs into September. Nearly 75 campers were re-routed to improvised programs at Shoshone Base Camp, but over 200 kids had to be turned away.
Working with the state Department of Environmental Quality, Lutherhaven re-opened with an interim water supply September 8, 2009, in time for outdoor education programming for school groups and other fall retreats.
The second of two new wells, drilled down to 340-feet early this year, is producing 10 or so gallons per minute, just enough to supply the camp’s peak water needs. A 12,000 gallon water storage tank was constructed and approved and the new water system is finally operational … almost eleven months after the initial closure!
Like no other time in recent memory, Lutherhaven supporters rallied around us prayerfully and financially to meet this unexpected challenge. Altogether just under $14,000 came in from across the nation, including donations from kids, Sunday school classes, parents and grand-parents, congregations, auxiliaries, clubs, businesses, foundations and civic organizations.
It's been seven years coming, but Shoshone Base Camp is now ours! On December 18 papers were signed closing the deal for Lutherhaven Ministries to buy Shoshone.
Shoshone Base Camp was purchased by Lutherhaven Ministries from the U.S. Forest Service, Idaho Panhandle National Forests through two special Acts of Congress requiring 4 years of legislative work with our congressional delegation and two Presidential signatures.
Nearly 3/4 million in donations came in from across the country to fund the sale!
Many, many thanks to the hundreds of individuals, churches, and organizations that contributed toward the Shoshone purchase! We thank God for you!
Special thanks to the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust of Vancouver, Washington, who put us over the top with a $300,000 grant for the purchase of Shoshone!Other major donors include...
Thanks to an awesome grant from the Northern Rockies Region of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, campers at Lutherhaven will enjoy a 12-hole regulation Frisbee golf course this coming summer!
Players throw the Frisbee into a basket; each "hole" has a certain par, just like golf
Cabin groups traverse the course through camp from beginning to end, trying for the fewest number of throws of the disc
Frisbee Golf is great because it's physically accessible for all ages and abilities
Also new this summer ... a 24-foot Yurt will go up where the old Arts & Crafts building was on the hillside below Good Earth Lodge. (In the real old days it was the Snack Shack, removed about a decade ago when a tree crushed it.) The Yurt will someday become the new home for Yurts & Crafts!
Our Yurt is a modern adaptation of the ancient shelter used by Central Asian nomads for centuries. It comes complete with double French doors, windows all around, skylight, and deck.
Oh, and one more new thing on the camp: the Rockit!
The Rockit is a 14-foot saturn-shaped water toy for the Lutherhaven waterfront. The toy pivots round-and-round and up and down in place, held in one spot with a 200-pound anchor on the lakebottom.
Up to 8 kids stand on the "rings," hold on tight to straps on the top of the "planet," and the whole thing rocks wildly around.
Hang on, everyone! It's going to be wet n' wild this summer at Lutherhaven!!
Early spring up the river at Shoshone Base Camp allowed staff to begin foundation work on the restoration of the historic McPherson Homestead. The foundation was poured by mid-April, and base logs will be set by summer.
The 1930's-era buildings were hand-built built 30 miles further up the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River from Shoshone by Frank McPherson, a notorious homesteader, trapper, some-time Forest Service employee, and logger who worked seventy miles of traplines up and down the river.
Lutherhaven's Idaho Servant Adventures carefully disassembled the three cabins several years ago, numbered and mapped the logs, and moved them all to Shoshone, where they will be rebuilt on the new camp's back acreage by this summer's contingent of Idaho Servant Adventurers.
The McPherson Homestead should be up by summer's end, and will provide the anchor lodge for a dude ranch-type facility at Shoshone for youth, adults, families and groups. Teepees, "Hollywood" tent frames, and horsback riding are just a few of the new pieces the relocated homestead will feature.
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