View from the A Frame midwinter report

Today is Thursday, February 4, 2010.


Picture: Russell & Kathy Young at Ute Trail for the Ute Trail Boys Camp reunion in August 2009

Spotlight on Russell Young - We have had significant help the past few years from Russell Young of Grapevine, Texas. Russell is a Baptist minister who has pastored numerous churches in Texas and Colorado. His most recent position was at First Baptist Church of Grapevine where he was the business manager. Russell is married to Kathy Young and has 3 daughters and 7 grandchildren. One daughter lives in Salida, Colorado with her 2 daughters and the other 2 daughters live with their children near Russell and Kathy in the DFW Metroplex area. Russell and Kathy spend a lot of time with their granchildren as sitters, teachers and companions.


Russell was a camper at Ute Trail Boys Camp in the 1950s and was a counselor there in the 1960s. He had a positive experience at camp and has been helpful and productive with today's camping program as a volunteer and part time worker. He was in charge of the 2009 Ute Trail Boys Camp Reunion which was enjoyed by all 39 people who attended. Russell spent over a year assembling a list of names and addresses of former campers and contacted them and invited them to the reunion. He and Kathy took a leadership role at the reunion and acted as hosts along with Sky Ranch staff members. Russell currently serves on the board of directors of Ute Trail Ranch Alumni Association and he is working on some new benches for our cabin front porches.


In the past Russell has built for us a fence around our well, new shelves in The Red Shed and transported many items to Ute Trail such as our new museum furniture. To say the least he is an invaluable member of our team working on providing a camping environment which promotes a passion for Jesus Christ and His gospel.


Thank you, Russell, for all your dedicated work for the ministry. Also, thank you, Kathy, for your support as well.


Names for new cabins - we have chosen some names for our new family camp cabins. The 3 cabins on the northwest side will be Sunshine, Red Cloud and Hoppy moving from west to east. On the other side the cabins will be named Kit Carson and Bowers. Hoppy and Bowers are named for the founders of Ute trail Boys Camp, Hop Hopkins and Dr. Malcolm Bowers.


In addition, we are naming the old barn after the Benson Family, the ranch owners from 1903 until 1946. We are naming the old homestead cabin "Youmans" after Harry Youmans, the man who homesteaded Ute Trail Ranch in 1883. The new meeting room will be named "Handies".


Summer of 2010 - We are planning to have another Military Family Week this summer as we did last summer. 7-10 military families will be awarded scholarships to attend family camp in gratitude for their service to our country. If anyone would like to contribute toward this please contact me or Angie Fleshman or Thomas Ufer. We already have one scholarship pledged.


We also plan to have Carin Marie and Pony Express return and do at least 2 concerts this summer. They were a big hit last summer during the military week and at the Ute Trail Boys Camp Reunion. She is the USA yodeling champion and the winner of numerous music awards.





This summer Park Cities Presbyterian Church, Prestonwood Baptist Church and Academy and Highland Park Presbyterian Church have reserved specific weeks to have their members come and participate in family camp. HPPC has also reserved places in our wilderness ministry program. We are thrilled and honored to have these outstanding Christian organizations coming this summer. We would like to thank David Newman, Larry Taylor and Nelson Bell for taking the time to come to Ute Trail and help with these family camp programs.


Prayer requests and Bible verse - Thomas Ufer is talking with The US Forest Service about granting us permits to go into The Big Blue Wilderness Area with our wilderness groups. We would appreciate your prayers for success in this request. It would be a great boost to our programs.


Our Bible verse for this month is Psalms 24:1 which states "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." We are stewards of the earth and responsible to God for the way we care for His creation.


Recommended book - I just finished "The Treasure Principle" by Larry Alcorn and I recommend it. It is about giving to God's work and storing up for ourselves treasures in heaven.


Building program - our building program is on schedule to be finished by June 1st when we will have completed the following things:


1. 5 new family cabins
2. New meeting room
3. New waste water treatment plant
4. Fire protection system
5. New road from Hwy 149 into the camp.
6. New pavilion behind the Lodge for addtional dining facities.
7. Partial landscaping for the camp to be completed in the fall.


We are thankful to God for enabling us to build these new additions and increasing the capacity of the camp.


Pictures of the month - Below we have included some pictures from our Ute Trail Boys Camp Reunion which might be of interest. These were taken by Sara Kerens.









Nancy Hopkins Ferguson, the daughter of Hop and Susan Hopkins, is finishing up her history of Ute Trail Ranch and Boys Camp for the 1946 to 1973 period. We hope to have this in written form for the coming summer for those who would like to read it. Thank you, Nancy.


Thank you for your interest in Sky Ranch at Ute Trail. Have a good February, 2010 and I will be corresponding next month.


Sincerely,


George Seay Jr., Co Trustee,


Ute Trail Ranch Foundation

Ute Trail in Lake City Newspaper

This article about the construction at Ute Trail appeared in the Lake City Silver World newspaper this fall.

New Construction At Ute Trail Ranch
by Amy Jo O’Dubhaigh

Sky Ranch at Ute Trail, located north of Lake City on highway 149, is undergoing a transformation. A seven part land-use improvement plan is underway and is scheduled to be completed by June 1, 2010.
Having originally purchased the Ute Trail Ranch in 1973, the Seay family re-purchased the one thousand four hundred acre ranch in 1993 and are currently leasing sixty acres to the fifty four year old Christian Ministry, Sky Ranch.
Sky Ranch at Ute Trail is one of three Sky Ranch locations. Headquarters for the organization is located in Van, Texas and there is another camp in Cave Springs, Oklahoma.
The camp at Ute Trail encompasses three different ministries; a family camp with ten cabins, youth leadership ministries with twelve lean-to cabins, and a wilderness ministry program in the back country surrounding the ranch.
“This current project came about because Sky Ranch expressed the desire to increase the capacity of their camp,” said George Seay, who is overseeing the implementation of the new land-use improvement plan. “The camp has been a real success and in order for it to grow, it needs more room.”
“This is the second phase of improvements,” Seay said. “The first phase took place in 2005 and included the construction of twelve cabins and three staff cabins designed by Gunnison architect Joe Bob Merritt.”
Phase two of Sky Ranch’s land-use improvement plan began in 2008 with approval for the work by the Gunnison County planning commission. “We are off to a really good start,” Seay said.
The first and biggest component of the improvement plan is the construction of five new cabins to increase the capacity of the family camp at Sky Ranch. The family camp cabins are the buildings located closest to the highway.
“The first of the five cabins is nearly completed, and the other four are currently in the framing stage,” Seay said.
Construction of a new meeting room is scheduled to begin November 23. The room will provide space for meetings, programs, and shows at the camp.
A water treatment plant to treat and purify all of the camp’s waste water is the third element in the land-use improvement plan. This will be an entirely new system and will replace a septic/leach field system on which the camp was previously dependent.
“We are excited to implement this new water treatment system,” Seay said. “It will really benefit the ranch and will also be much better for the environment.”
Along with the water treatment plant, a fire protection system, including three fire hydrants, will be installed.
The sixth part of the land-use improvement plan is increasing the dining capacity of the camp lodge by adding a 30ftx50ft outdoor eating area. It is expected this space will be necessary to accommodate the increase in the number of guests. Improvements to the existing kitchen are also planned.
In anticipation of a larger number of visitors to Sky Ranch at Ute Trail with the completion of the new lodging facilities, modifications to the entrance road into the camp are being made.
“We are enlarging and improving the road into camp from highway 149,” Seay said. “Work has already begun on this part of the project with asphalt being laid down at the entrance.”
The final component of the land-use improvement plan is aesthetic. Upon the completion of the new construction, additions, and improvements grass, trees, and flowers will be planted throughout the camp. This landscaping will complete phase two of the camp’s transformation.
Matt Ventura and his brother Luke of M.Ventura Design Builders from Gunnison, are the builders in charge of the project.
Also involved are architect Leigh Dillenback from Alpine Dwelling in Crested Butte; Spallone Construction who did the infrastructure earth work; contractor Frank Mangum from Lake City; Larry Reschke of Dilmont consultants; Montrose Engineering; engineer, Jerry Greene from Gunnison; and Williams Engineering also located in Gunnison..
“We have focused on keeping the work local,” Seay said. “We have purchased almost all of our materials from Blue Spruce and have been really pleased with them and with everyone working on the project. We are excited to see everything completed next June."