True Friends’ John LeBlanc, in a bright green T-shirt, and Camp Eden Wood centenary celebrants gathered near the historic dining hall. The city and True Friends want to protect the building’s architectural legacy and modernize it for year-round use. Photo by Jeff Strate
Camp Eden Wood celebrated its 100th anniversary this week with hamburgers, hot dogs, tours of the historic site – and memories.
Originally established as Glen Lake Children’s Camp in 1925, the 51-acre camp on Birch Island Lake in northern Eden Prairie began as an offshoot of Glen Lake Sanatorium, with a focus on children with tuberculosis. It operated in that capacity until 1950.
A rock and historical marker honor George and Leonora Christian. The Christians’ funds built the camp after their son died of tuberculosis. Photo by Joanna Werch Takes
At that time, Hennepin County took over the space and operated it as a summer camp for people with developmental disabilities. The county transferred the site to the City of Eden Prairie in 1983, which began leasing it in 1995 to True Friends, which continues to operate Camp Eden Wood as a camp for children and adults with disabilities.
On Tuesday evening, former camp workers from the Hennepin County days sang the camp song “Eden Wood,” to the tune of “Abilene,” as popularized by country music artist George Hamilton IV, as they explored the grounds.
Nurses from different eras: Jina Gustavson, left, worked at the camp from 1986 to 1995, while Jan Hasselbring Gray, in a gray jacket in the right photo, was a geriatric nurse at Oak Terrace Nursing Home, part of Glen Lake Sanatorium, from 1980 until it closed in June 1991. Gray is pictured with friend Kate Tucker. Left photo by Joanna Werch Takes; right photo by Jeff Strate
Cathy Davitt-Barenburg spoke about how much Camp Eden Wood means to her son, Grayson, and their family. Photo by Joanna Werch Takes
Current and former campers were also on hand for the celebration.
Cathy Davitt-Barenburg, the mother of camper Grayson Barenburg, was one of the speakers during the short outdoor program. Grayson, now 24, began attending Camp Eden Wood in 2017 and attended this year for five weeks, the maximum amount he could, she said.
“Everyone here needs to understand how much this camp means,” Davitt-Barenburg said. “It gives people an opportunity to socialize after formal education.”
Kathie Case, the president of the Eden Prairie Historical Society, said that two tuberculosis camp sites remain in the U.S. today: a site in Maine and Camp Eden Wood. They were part of a movement to create “fresh air clubs” in the early 20th century as a way of treating tuberculosis, said Mary Krugerud.
Camper Christy Kierstead responds to the question, “Do you like it here?” Kierstead, of Eden Prairie, has attended the camp for about 20 years. Photo by Jeff Strate
Krugerud, author of the book “Interrupted Lives: The History of Tuberculosis in Minnesota and Glen Lake Sanatorium,” spoke on the history of such camps in general and the Camp Eden Wood site in particular.
Before the centenary celebration of Camp Eden Wood began, Judy Cronen, left, posed for a photo with True Friends President and CEO John LeBlanc and Eden Prairie Mayor Ron Case. Cronen said her son has been attending the camp for more than 50 years. Photo by Jeff Strate
Camp Eden Wood is one of two sites in Eden Prairie listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The other is the Cummins-Phipps-Grill House.
“We’re very much in love with what you’re doing today,” Case said to John LeBlanc, president and CEO of True Friends.
In his remarks, LeBlanc noted that True Friends is planning updates to the camp that would make the 1925 dining hall building usable year-round through the addition of insulation, heating and cooling, and more.
Eden Prairie Historical Society President Kathie Case, in blue sweater at left, and Mary Krugerud, author of a book on the camp’s history, were among the program’s speakers. Also speaking were state Sen. Steve Cwodzinski, Eden Prairie Mayor Ron Case, and a representative from the office of U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison. Photos by Joanna Werch Takes
The updates would be done in accordance with historic preservation guidelines, and would free up space in the building currently used as a dining hall, which also hosts other activities.
In addition to the 1925 dining hall building, now known as Birch Hall, a dormitory – still in use as such – a shed, and a rock with an historic marker are all original to the camp’s opening a century ago as Glen Lake Children’s Camp, LeBlanc said.
Steve Piekarski, senior director of operations for True Friends, spoke to visitors in the original 1925 dining hall, which features its original fireplace. True Friends plans to update the building’s interior, including spaces for arts and crafts, as shown at right. Photos by Joanna Werch Takes
As for this year’s camp season, Davitt-Barenburg asked Grayson, who declined to attend Tuesday’s festivities, what he wanted to say.
She quoted him as saying, “I made new friends and I had fun.”
A camp supper was available to those who attended the event in the current dining hall, left. Also available were drinks from the Eden Prairie Lions’ traveling bar, with Lions member Tom Anderson, right, directing traffic for parking. The Lions hold their regular meetings and an annual pancake breakfast at the campsite. Photos by Jeff Strate
Read more about the history of Camp Eden Wood and its planned renovations in this recent EPLN article.