Ness Lake Bible Camp holds a special place in the hearts of those who have been affiliated with the site over the past six decades.
Though the experiences of those who camped, worked or sent their kids to the lakeside location were all different, there was a common thread in the stories shared at Sunday's 60th anniversary celebration - this was a place were great memories were created.
Past and present campers, staff, and supporters gathered in the camp's gymnasium Sunday afternoon to share those stories, reminisce about days gone by and look ahead to what they hope is at least another 60 years of camping at Ness Lake.
Babs Watt, 91, sent all five of her children to the property every summer, starting with her oldest son, who is now 71 years old.
She said she sent them because she wanted them to learn the Bible's teachings, which are a staple at the facility run by the Canadian Sunday School Mission.
And despite any reservations her children may have had, they were quickly erased after time spent at the camp, Watt said, recalling the difficulty faced when attempting to leave her youngest son for his first stint at camp.
"He was hanging on to the car and screaming," she said. "When I came back to pick him up, he didn't want to leave. 'I'm having such fun,' he said."
Time spent at the bible camp helped Connie Cards' four grandchildren to grow in positive ways, she said.
"My one granddaughter accepted the Lord when she was five years old," she said, adding two of her grandkids went on to do missionary work in Mexico.
Cards said the camp helped to enforce their self-esteem and that the camaraderie amongst the kids and staff was refreshing.
Those relationships sometimes grew into something more.
Beginning in 1959, Ron Shiels spent many summers as a camper and then counsellor at Ness Lake Bible Camp before serving as director for the first time in 1978. It that summer that he met another counsellor named Sharon, who he would go on to marry the next year. Ron and Sharon returned to the camp in 1980 were they served as co-directors for another two summers.
Despite the tragedy that immediately followed, Henry Derksen looks back on his decade with the camp with nothing but fondness.
After first coming to the camp in 1954, fresh out of Bible school, Derksen learned that he was called to work with children. Though he was a high-school dropout himself, he dedicated 36 years to being a school teacher. He returned the following year with his new wife Naomi.
"We spent our honeymoon at camp," he said, acknowledging it may not have been the best idea, but that they nevertheless had a great experience.
In 1964, Derksen returned to Ness Lake as camp director, bringing along his wife and three young children.
That summer, Naomi was unwell and in August, while on the road to Briercrest Bible College, they stopped in Revelstoke.
"I was able to get her to the hospital. I think, give or take, in a half hour it was all over. She passed away with a pulmonary thrombosis," Derksen said. "Well, what a way to end a tremendous summer. My memory of 1964 Ness Lake is wonderful, always will be and never will be anything different."
