A BRIEF HISTORY OF TRAIL TO LIFE CAMP

   In July 1957 Chester Weigle married Carol Morrow.  Their love and marriage is the beginning of Trail To Life Camp.  Chester ("Chet") grew up on a farm south of Greenwich, Ohio and Carol had grown up just north of Greenwich.  Her parents had leased their land to a local businessman who put in a sand and gravel operation.  Carol's dad, Herb Morrow, got to work for this business on his own property.  The sand and gravel business ceased operation not long after Chet and Carol were married and left behind a beautiful 12 acre lake where the sand and gravel had been extracted.   Chet had just completed 3 years at Ohio State majoring in vocational agriculture.  By the spring of 1957 he had come to a crisis of decision and was persuaded by his pastor's wife (Flo Collit) to train for ministry at Grace College and Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana.  Flo and her husband Robert had been ministering at an independent church in Greenwich for 8 years and had discipled several young people.  By the fall of 1957 several of those young people, including Chet and Carol, were heading off to various Christian colleges.
   While at Grace College Chet and Carol and 2 other couples got the vision for a camp on Carol's parents' property at the north end of the 12 acre lake.   I first heard of this plan in the summer of 1958 when I was at Chet's parents' house in Greenwich.  They had just sold their farm and moved into town.  Chet and Carol were home for a few days from Indiana and Chet was sitting at a drawing board sketching the plans and the layout for the camp he envisioned.  The heart of that vision was to reach for Christ kids who could not afford to go to camp in the summer.  That was my introduction to what would become Trail To Life Camp.  The next summer (1959) Chet and Carol came home from college long enough to install two swimming pools near New London to raise money to begin the camp the following summer.   When camp first opened for two weeks in August 1960 there was a kitchen/dining hall that was adequate but not impressive.   The six cabins were made of slab wood with black plastic roofs.  The camp had been advertised by Chet taking a stagecoach pulled by horses to the local schools in the spring.  There was a week of junior camp followed by a week of senior camp.  The first three years of camp had a western/cowboy and Indian theme.  The camp operated entirely by donations and campers were only charged one dollar for insurance.  A Christian man from Elyria "just happened" to come by the camp in those early days.  This resulted in a large number of young people coming from that area in the years ahead.
   I began helping in the summer of 1961 when the number of campers required us to add 6 Indian style teepees to the six cabins.  That year was also the beginning of the Canadian canoe trip for the 10 or so top campers of senior week. In the fall of 1961 Mansfield Christian School opened.  Chet had by then graduated from Grace College and studied 2 years at Grace Seminary.  He agreed to become the first principal of the new Christian school in Mansfield.  This would involve many people, younger and older, from the Mansfield area in the camp in the years ahead.  There was no camp in the summer of 1963.  When camp reopened in 1964 the western theme had been replaced by the military theme which continued until the camp closed in the mid 1980's.  Beginning in '64 the camp was "boys only" for a few years until there were 4 weeks of camp - junior and senior boys; and junior and senior girls.  In 1966 we built better cabins and in 1967 we built the lodge/auditorium.  In the 70's a new and much better kitchen/dining hall and more modern restrooms were built.
   In the spring of 1970 I had a growing concern about the safety of the campers as they canoed and swam on the lake at camp.  It turned out that my concern was probably the Holy Spirit trying to tell me that danger was definitely ahead.  But it did not happen at camp, it happened on the Canadian trip that year.  The entire story is told in Duane Miller's book "Survivor".  This was the greatest tragedy in the 25 year history of the camp.
   Many of you who read this know that my wife Susan is Chet's sister.  We were heavily involved in the camp ministry until our first child was born in 1971.  After that our involvement was very limited.  After the tragedy of 1970 the Canadian trip was replaced with a Pennsylvania mountain trip for a few years.  The top girl campers had been given the Pennsylvania trip all along and that continued until the camp closed.  Eventually, the Canadian trip was resumed for the boys.  Now, everyone on that trip wore life jackets when in a canoe!   Since I had little involvement with the camp from '71 until it closed in the mid 80's I will pass over that era with few details.  Why did the camp close?  By the 80's Christian young people in college had to work all summer to afford college so many of them no longer had time to volunteer to help at the camp as many of us had done in the early days.  Also, even though a small charge was by then made for each camper, finances and inflation were a growing problem.
   Chet was hoping that Mansfield Christian School would take over the camp and operate it as an extension of the school's ministry.  When this did not happen, and no other group or individuals stepped forward to take over the camp as a ministry, the end had come.   In the middle of the school year of '86-'87 Chet resigned from Mansfield Christian School to care for his aging parents.  His mother died in May and in July he and Carol moved to South Carolina to be near Chet's 2 brothers and their families.  Chet's dad, my father-in-law, spent winters in South Carolina with Chet and Carol and lived with Susan and I each summer for six years, until he was unable to travel.  The camp property was sold to a lady who has since allowed it to grow up to weeds and trees.
   Many lives were changed for eternity at that place (and on the outbound trips) and the sacrifices made by Chet and Carol and many others are still bearing fruit for the glory of God.