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
Let us know if there is any new information on the camp!
ReplyDelete