TEG
MONDAY, MAY 9, 2016
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PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING
FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1895
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Good Evening
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Congrats
Camp Wood!
WWW.EMPORIAGAZETTE.COM
BOWYER AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY
E
mporia native Clint Bowyer finished 19th overall in Saturday’s Go Bowling 400
at Kansas Speedway Saturday night. The finish was 14 spots better than his
33rd position at the start and earned him 22 points in the Chase for the Cup.
P H O T O
C O U R T E S Y
O F
J A N
B U C K M A N
JESSIE WAGONER/GAZETTE
CAMP WOOD YMCA
MARKS 100 YEARS
The Emporia Fire Department extinguishes a fire in the 300 block
of West Street on Sunday.
By Jesse Murphy
[email protected]
Last weekend marked a special
moment in time for Camp Wood
YMCA — it’s been 100 years since
it has officially been serving campers.
Many things have changed over
the last century, and Executive Director Ken Wold said there have
always been more ups than downs.
“It’s very important,” Wold said.
“Many times we thought we were
going to lose the camp. But at this
point we’re looking at a good future for families and kids. It’s taken
a lot of good work by a lot of good
people.”
Wold has been director at Camp
Wood for 20 years, and said that
the YMCA serves more than 1,200
campers every summer.
“Enrollment has grown consistently,” Wold said. “The ‘for all’ is a
very important part of our mission
statement, we serve everybody.”
Roughly 450 former and current
campers, volunteers and family
were at the camp south of Elmdale
on Saturday to celebrate the occasion with camp-related events.
Live music, breakout speakers,
archery, canoeing and hiking were
just a few things on the list of the
day’s activities.
Recently, the camp has also
made improvements. The old red
cabins were all taken down — most
given to former campers who reassembled them somewhere else.
There are now 12 new cabins,
each with 12 beds and all-new
bathhouses to accommodate their
residents.
A skateboard park is the focus
VOL. 124, NO. 266
JESSIE WAGONER/GAZETTE
A piece of construction equipment is engulfed in flames when the
Emporia Fire Department arrived in the 300 block of West Street.
SUNDAY FIRE
EXTINGUISHED QUICKLY
By Jessie Wagoner
[email protected]
JESSE MURPHY/GAZETTE
Camp Wood YMCA Executive Director Ken Wold speaks with a
camper during the 100 year celebration over the weekend. Above,
Guests at the centennial celebration of Camp Wood were able to get
out and do some canoeing on Saturday as they reminisced about
their years spent at the YMCA camp.
of a new week-long camp, and the
southern part of the property will
have an outdoor education facility.
Five stations covering insects/
animals, grass, wind, the sky and
area rocks will be set up by Kansas
State University students by the
end of this month.
“Each one of those will be a
place to stop and learn about the
Flint Hills,” Wold said. “They’ll act
as part of the outdoor curriculum
The Emporia Fire Department responded to a report of a
vehicle fire in the 300 block of
West Street at approximately 2
p.m. on Sunday.
Upon arrival the fire department found a piece of construction equipment on fire in the alley. Flames were present when
the fire department arrived.
Neighbors reported smelling
a strong chemical smell and visible smoke about 10 minutes before the fire department arrived.
The fire department quickly extinguished the fire. At this time it
is unknown if the piece of equipment was a total loss or how
much damage was sustained.
No injuries were sustained as
a result of the fire.
for our campers and the KSU students.”
Myra Cassady was one of the
volunteers helping out on Saturday. She’s from Overland Park, but
has been a camper for years.
“I’ve been coming here since
I was little,” Cassady said. “It’s
taught me a lot of skills and core
value traits like respect, honesty
Please see Camp Wood, Page 3
JESSIE WAGONER/GAZETTE