Feeding the Flock -Part Six
by Edwin B. Strong Jr.
Feeding a large number of people at the same time is no easy task. It becomes a real challenge when the group to be fed consists of scores of growing children who have developed new appetites after recreation in the fresh air. To accomplish that task, the two wives in the Strong family, Minnie and Mary Etta (wed to F.W. and Edwin, respectively), spent weeks planning and preparing for each camp session and then 18 hours a day in seeing to it that all the campers had plenty to eat.
In the early spring each year a large garden was planted to the west of the soft-ball diamond. It once had been the feed lot for cattle and consequently the soil was about as nutrient rich as was possible. The garden had a lot of corn, tomatoes peppers and okra, all of which would come to bearing stage at the time of camp. Occasionally watermelon, cantaloupe and squash were planted but with limited success. Cabbage, onions and radishes were also plentiful but seldom reached harvest late enough to matter for camp.
For several years after WWII, surplus commodities were available to not-for-profit groups and churches. These were surplus agricultural products or government stored food that could remain in storage for long periods of time. By going to distribution centers, and Joplin had such a center, the camp cooks could acquire many staples that were used such as flour, cornmeal, salt, pepper, butter, sugar and even some frozen meats, usually in the form of hamburger. As the years passed from WWII the supply diminished but agricultural surpluses purchased and held by the government endured for most of the life of the camp.
Daily, Minnie Strong went to the Joplin Market which was located just east of Main at 13th Street. It was a block-long open air market with a roof but no sides. Farmers brought produce there and sold it daily. A daily purchase might have been 10 watermelons at 2 cents a pound, 3 bushels of corn, if the harvest at camp was exhausted, at $2 a bushel and lots of fresh green beans and vegetables depending what was available. With a car full of produce, Mrs. Strong would drive to a bakery and purchase 20 loaves of day-old bread for a nickel a loaf and then to the dairy, with empty glass bottles for a new set of 10 gallons of milk at 25 cents a gallon. These prices were not to endure forever but were representative from records kept by Mrs. Strong of what things cost in 1950.
Another ingredient that was essential was meat and that was made possible by the Strong families growing beef on the land and having a calf butchered each year before camp. For many reasons, the source of the meat was not discussed since some of the cattle and calves were still on the land and sometimes were viewed as pets.
The other source of food was contributions. Each evening, a church group would bring pies or cakes, prepared by women in the church. Those treats were special and always enjoyable and appreciated. More than once a farmer contributed a side of beef or ham, bacon or sausage to the camp.
No camper went hungry but some were introduced to foods not familiar to them. Okra was not a favorite and even some strange food aversions surfaced with a camper or two each year but were accommodated in some manner by the kitchen staff. Strangely, long before the Food Pyramid was introduced, the cooks and planners of the camp had ensured a balanced, nutritious diet for a week.
The Streetcar -Part Five
A streetcar once came to the camp and stayed awhile. It was an old retired streetcar that ran the streets of Joplin for many years. The Strong family was spending a lot of time in the summer getting ready for camp and decided to acquire an inexpensive place to spend the night if they wanted to work a few days on the camp. The streetcar was delivered by a large truck and its wheels and axles removed and deposited on the hillside just west of the circle drive. It overlooked the entire camp and had a glimpse through the trees of the river. The cost for the streetcar and its delivery was $100.00. It seems the city wanted to get rid of its surplus inventory of old streetcars and was making them available at only the cost of transporting them.
It took a few days for the Strong’s and friends to remove the seats and interior items and replace them with cots. Windows could be opened for ventilation and even in the fall and spring, the streetcar was useful for a Friday night outing. Soon fishermen began using it and not always with prior permission. After a year the streetcar was moved by a bulldozer to the east of the circle and stayed there another two years until its usefulness had expired. In the new location, it was used during camp by cooks who had to rise very early in order to have breakfast ready for the campers.
The streetcar needed a name and someone had read a children’s book about a real, operating streetcar named “Puddle-Jumper”. The name seemed to fit since when it rained there were a few puddles around it. It became “Puddle-Jumper” until its final demise when a truck larger than the one which brought it came to take it away to use for scrap metal. During its short tenure at the camp, it became the target of thieves who, even in 1948 were stealing copper and other metals for salvage. Fortunately the stripping of piping and hoses was primarily done externally and on the underside of the streetcar and “Puddle-Jumper” survived the experiences.
The experience with the streetcar was not unique at the time. After WWII there was not a lot of money but there were a lot of things that were no longer needed and were being disposed of. The camp could not have been built and maintained without the benefit of such unintended generosity. Around Joplin and other towns and cities, old streetcars, buses and even railroad cars were used by fishermen, hunters and families wanting an inexpensive and ready-made ‘cabin’ in the country. Near military bases which were quickly closing down, people benefited from being able to bring trucks and trailers and take almost anything they could load. Life was simple with a very ‘make-do’ attitude. The camp ‘made-do’ with many items that would have been otherwise discarded.
Very large army surplus tents and two buildings with tarps for roofs were the marks of the first two years of the camp. The dining hall and the girls’ dorm were top priorities and both emerged from concrete floors and concrete block walls with screens and shutters for windows to finished buildings with electricity and roofs. By 1950 those two buildings were completed and the two story rustic boys’ dorm was almost finished. The tents were not used again to no one’s dismay. In that year, F.W. Strong died and his family, consisting of seven children, including Edwin, contributed money to erect a chapel and “gathering” building. Others joined in the effort to financially support the construction and the building was underway in the spring of 1951. It was placed on a knoll across the circle driveway from the girls’ dorm to the east and across a steep ravine to the west from the boys’ dorm. In the process, the chapel building with a high roof, served as a privacy screen between the two dorms.
The chapel was filled with Army surplus benches from Fort Crowder, an old upright piano and a large hand-built lectern. As with all buildings, the windows were screened, not that it helped much if mosquitoes were determined but it did seem to keep birds out. There was no need for shutters on the windows and there were two doors at the back and a single door at the front. Much of the labor to build the chapel was donated, with Hugh Ash being a very handy carpenter and Don Price, a retired postal worker helping in many ways. On the day the roof was to be done, a crew of volunteers from local churches came out to put the sheeting on and to lay the green roll roofing. It was accomplished in one day although it didn’t rain for several days to test the roof. In fact, during it’s more than 50 year existence, the roof never leaked.
That same year the roadway was extended and graveled to the ball-field and a large garden was created to provide vegetables for the camp. The garden was 50’ by 120’ and placed where it appeared an old barn once sat. it was west of the ball-field and far enough away not to suffer from the effect of foul balls. Whatever had once been there had left a very fertile place to grow vegetables. Potatoes were planted early and dug up for use by the camp. Radishes, carrots and lettuce were grown but seldom lasted long enough into the summer to be served at camp. Tomatoes ripened just in time for camp and so did the corn. Much of the vegetables served in the dining hall were literally fresh from the garden that very day. The okra that the Strong family had enjoyed from its earlier Texas roots did not go over well with campers, but the watermelons that sometimes ripened in time certainly did. Cabbage was not the favorite of all campers but creativity by the cooks helped it serve a role in the menus.
Interesting History -Part Four
by Edwin B. Strong Jr.
An event occurred in 1948 that left unanswered question and remains a mystery. A robbery of a bank near Springfield, Missouri occurred in mid summer and netted the single robber almost $20,000 in cash. The robber and a female accomplice who waited in the car were seen driving away in a very nice car but were not apprehended at the time. A wide manhunt was undertaken and sightings in the Joplin area were reported but the bank robber remained at large for a few days.
A day after the robbery, a large, new car drove through the gate into the camp property but turned off of the road leading toward the circle and drove through a field and disappeared into a grove of trees. The car was seen by a neighbor but the neighbor said nothing about the incident until a few days later. Meanwhile the search continued and the robber was identified as having links to the Joplin area.
A few days after the robbery, some volunteers were working on the campgrounds and saw a large car drive across a field and exit through the gate. The car was far enough away that the workers could not see who was in it. Work had to be done since camp would open in a few days so the teenagers who were working and clearing buck-brush thought no more about the incident. A day later, a large, new car was spotted by the police near Joplin and pursued. A gun battle ensued and the driver, the only person in the car, was killed. He was identified as the bank robber but no money from the robbery was found in the car or on his body.
A few days later, some workers at the camp read the stories about the shooting and became curious about the car they had seen. They hiked into the area where the car had been seen driving from and found a small campsite hidden among a grove of trees. On the ground there were newspapers from Springfield, Missouri and some empty cans and trash indicating someone had stayed there a few days. Calls to the local sheriff brought an inspection by law enforcement but the visit by the sheriff brought no identification about who had camped there for a few days.
The money from the robbery was never found but the woman with the alleged robber was not found either. Was the driver of the car the man sought for the robbery? If so, was the ‘loot’ buried near the temporary campsite? Did the woman return to the campsite and retrieve the money stolen from the bank? If it was there and not recovered by an accomplice, it likely remains wherever it was hidden since no one found any evidence of digging nearby.
The Land of the Camp -Part Three
by Edwin B. Strong Jr.
There ware a few surprises in store for the crews of workers who used picks, shovels and rakes to clear out the brush on the five acres chosen for the site of the camp. The first was that there was a natural drainage flow toward the bluffs so that rains would not create bogs or pools of standing water. That would be very beneficial when the land was cleared. The second discovery was that there was ample wildlife in the area to create a zoo. Every kind of small animal was discovered, including an ample number of snakes. Deer were seen almost every evening wandering close to the work area.
Those discoveries were natural but a discovery was made that was not natural. In the middle of the area circled by the old road was a large pit about 10 feet deep and about 20 feet in diameter. At the place where the road began to create its loop was another pit of slightly smaller dimensions and near it to the east was still another pit. A search of the broader area revealed more than ten pits of similar size and recently dug since little vegetation had grown in the sides or bottom of the pits. Joplin was noted for its lead and zinc mines and the first people to see the pits declared them to be test holes for lead or zinc. Perhaps that was the case but doubts remained.
Most of the pits were near the base of very tall and large trees. Of the three pits not so located, two were very shallow and one appeared to have been near a tree that had recently fallen. Before he moved, Mr. Vincent was always willing to visit with anyone who gave him time and one afternoon he told a most interesting story about the people who had lived in the house before he had moved there in 1938. According to his story, a family had lived in the house since the turn of the century and raised their children on the land while they farmed it. The man, whose first name was Jake but his last name seemed to change with the telling of the story, worked in the mines not far away and made a lot of money when the mines were going well. Jake was a careful man and did not trust banks, especially as they began to fail in 1928 and 1929.
He kept his money in the house until one time in 1934, someone tried to burglarize the house while the family was at a church gathering. Jake decide it was too dangerous to keep the money in the house and one chilly, rainy night took some large jars full of money and silver and gold coins and left the house for a few hours. He came back, muddy and tired but comfortable that he would not be robbed or burglarized. Sadly, he died a few months later, having supposedly contracted pneumonia from his late night excursion to bury the hoard of money. All his family knew was that it was at the base of a large tree. Perhaps so, and perhaps not but in 1947 Mr. Vincent was convinced the treasure was still there.
Clearing the Land -Part Two
by Edwin B. Strong Jr.
The land the Strong Family purchased was fairly flat until it reached the edge of the bluff overlooking Shoal Creek. From the top of the rock ledges on the bluff to the water was a drop of about 20 feet. There were large rocks that showed just below the surface of the water and had obviously fallen off of the rock promontories of the bluffs over the years. Diving into Shoal Creek from the bluffs was not a good idea and was not ever practiced.
Otherwise, much of the land was covered with buck-brush that was about two feet high and very thick. It grew by means of tubulars and would prove to be very difficult to clear away. There was an old dirt road, seldom used it appeared, that entered the grove of trees and buck-brush that was in a five acre area near the bluffs. The road circled around and formed a loop. Even the road had grown over with weeds and small tress and driving it the first few times called for care.
Someplace near the bluffs was a well that had not been capped and was eventually found by the method of walking around until someone stepped into the 8 inch concrete pipe that was the opening to a smaller well pipe. It took about an hour before someone stepped into the hole and discovered the well. There was nothing else on the land that was to become the campgrounds—a well that needed testing and cleaning, lots of nice trees and acres of thick and hard to clear brush.
The view from the bluffs was striking. To the left and the east was the old concrete arched Filmore’s Bridge that carried US 166 highway from Joplin into Kansas. The bridge was about 400 yards upstream from the campsite. To the right and the west was the river that narrowed and flowed through rapids toward Kansas about 6 miles away and eventually flowed in to the newly created Grand Lake in Oklahoma.
Also to the west were hills that were heavily forested and were the edge of a very large forest and wilderness area that once housed mines and small settlements, long abandoned and fallen into decay. The land that would be used for the camp was on high ground and had an open field that would serve as a ball field. About half a mile from the river was an old two-story wood house that had seen better days, much better days. It was actually inhabited when the land was purchased by the Strong Family. A couple with the last name of Vincent lived in the house and were in the process of moving when the land was bought. Neither they nor the Strong’s seemed in a hurry so their departure took more than a year.
Turning a very primitive area into a campground that had a well and a great view was a challenge. There was, however something unique about the grounds the soon became evident and important.
1- THE ORIGIN OF OZARK CHRISTIAN CAMP -Part One
Although World War II curtailed many activities including travel and church camps, the tradition and practice of “camping” in the countryside for a week revived quickly at the end of the War. Edwin and Mary Etta Strong were in Kokomo, Indiana in 1945 and although the war was finished in Europe in early May, it lingered in the Pacific Theatre. The church where Edwin Strong ministered in Kokomo had purchased an old, slightly decrepit large home in the country and in the spring and early summer of 1945 began work on turning it into a camp site. As war-time rationing slowly abated, summer camping became a hope for scouts, churches and families who were anxious for life to return to normal. The summer camp in Kokomo went well and more than 100 youth enjoyed the two weeks of camping the church provided.
In early 1946, the Edwin Strong family moved to Joplin, Missouri. Edwin Strong had been asked by his father, Francis Wilburn Strong (usually know as F. W. Strong) to join him at the Ozark Bible College which had moved from Bentonville, Arkansas to Joplin at the end of the War. The college was headed and had been founded by F.W. Strong and Edwin was asked to join the faculty. The move by Edwin Strong and his family occurred in February, 1946 and by the spring, both men were looking for property near Joplin that could be used for a summer camp. Actually, F.W. wanted to raise some cattle with the hope they could be butchered for use in the dining room at the College and thereby save the College and its students some money.
In the spring of 1946, the father and son found a piece of land on Shoal Creek, southwest of Joplin and near what was then Tanyard Hollow Road. It was within easy driving distance of Joplin. What they found was 78 acres of unimproved land with an old house that was in great disrepair and little else on it. Some of it was in the flood plain of Shoal Creek and some of it was in hills with heavy timber and brush. There were two areas of tillable land, one being an upper pasture area and the other in a lower, flood prone pasture. There was no electricity to the property but the realtor indicated a well of about 60 feet depth was on the property and had been used until recently.
With more hope than might have been reasonable the two men and their wives, purchased the land in an equal agreement with each assuming one-half the financial responsibility and owning the 78 acres together.
Then began the task of determining how to use it effectively and get it ready for the first camp which was planned for late summer, 1946—a very unreasonable timetable but one they both were committed to achieve. How it was achieved is a very interesting story.