News from June 7, 2007 issue

Local News
The Crittenden Press (3 pages) PDF
(Selected pages 1A, 4B, 5B)
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Hurricane celebrates 119th
Grover Cleveland was president. The automobile, radio, television and airplane had yet to be invented. And there were only 39 states.
Going back 119 years to the first Hurricane Camp meeting, the world was a different place. But things haven't changed that much at the campsite near Tolu.
Fellowship and the spirit of God can still be found on the same ground on which the first camp was held so long ago. Hundreds, if not thousands of campers have filed through the ranks and countless souls have been led to the Lord through the weeklong evangelism and Bible teachings.
Operating on donations and love offerings alone, it has sometimes been difficult to keep things running at the camp. Renovations have been slow to come, but adequate in serving the needs of campers.
This year, Crittenden County native Russ Davidson will return home for a week from his Salem, Mo., ministry to share God's word at the interdenominational youth camp and nightly meeting. He will be mentoring to descendants of past generations who visited the camp decades ago.
This year's camp begins Monday and runs through next Friday. Camping slots are still available.
Paula Belt, who attended the camp as a child, spent last Saturday along with a half-dozen others helping ready the campsite for the the 35 or so youth signed up for this year. Volunteer help has been strong this year, the group said, acknowledging their appreciation to anyone who has spent any of the last several Saturdays preparing for camp meetings.
After lending a hand to give the boys' cabin a fresh coat of paint, Belt recalled her favorite Hurricane memory as a steady rain fell on the roof of the renovated building.
"My favorite year was when George Phillips brought youth from Louisville," Belt reminisced.
That was in the mid-1960s, and the city youth seemed quite amazed to ride among the corn fields and take a boat across the Ohio River to Hurricane Island.
Her daughter Stacy's favorite memory is when she was led to the Lord. She's 19, and will be at the camp this summer.
"If you've ever camped here, you've got a memory," Paula Belt said.
Jessica and Jeremey Belt have their own very special memory at the camp. They will celebrate their eighth wedding anniversary while volunteering at the camp next Tuesday. Appropriately enough, the couple was married there June 12, 1999, and will add their son Jaxon to the mix this year. In a few days, the 2-month-old will spend the first of what will surely be many summer weeks at the camp over his lifetime.
Jeremey Belt's great-aunt, Susie Hardin, attended camp every summer of her 90-year life, so Jaxon has a time before the family record is broken, Jessica said.
Camp is not just for youth. Each night at 5:30 p.m., the air-conditioned dining hall is open to the public for an evening meal of meatloaf, roast and other local favorites. Sue and Candy Mills are the cooks.
Evangelism begins at 7 p.m., at the open-air pavilion. Worship, like the camp, is interdenominational, with different churches from around the county leading the singing each night.
Kids can still sign up for overnight camping. Cabins are air-conditioned. Arrival is at 10 a.m., Monday. Departure is June 16 at 9 a.m. Registration is $85, and can be made by calling 965-2865.