A BRIEF HISTORY IN TESTIMONY
This is not intended to be a complete and in-depth history of Pilgrim Camp. Perhaps some day soon one will be forthcoming. In the meantime, the following are testimonies of early campers recounting their first years at Lake George and Brant Lake.
GORDON P. GARDINER
From previous writings and taped interviews
In 1946, the beautiful thirty-four acre tract of land at the head of Brant Lake in the Adirondack Mountains, formerly the summer estate of a wealthy New Yorker, was purchased, and Pilgrim Camp came into being.
The earliest beginnings actually occurred years before, in 1939, when Hans R. Waldvogel, pastor of the Ridgewood Pentecostal Church, suggested to several of the young men that they take their Sunday school boys camping on Lake George. After the success of these trips, which continued annually there for several years, Pastor Waldvogel planted the idea of purchasing some land for camp use. Some time before, he had received a substantial amount of money from the sale of a house he had purchased before going into the ministry. He had given the house to his parents when he entered the ministry. On their death, the money returned to him, but he felt this money should be used for the work of the Lord.
On March 26, 1946, Edwin and Edith Waldvogel, Karl Sailer and Gordon P. Gardiner went up north scouting for a site. They looked at various properties on Lake George but did not find anything suitable. Finally they were put in touch with a real estate agent from Warrensburg, who suggested they look a little further north at two possibly suitable properties. The first site, a "camp" on Friend's Lake, was inaccessible, due to the winter thawing. The second property was part of an estate bequeathed to a Manhattan hospital, the trustees of which were negotiating the sale.
When they arrived on the grounds of what is now Pilgrim Camp on Brant Lake, the surveyors had begun to divide the 34 acres into smaller parcels, since it had been on the market for so long with no prospective buyers. Later, after driving Pastor Waldvogel up to see the property, and after much prayer, it was decided they would make an offer of $15,000. (The asking price was $25,000.)
Gordon Gardiner recalled the day they received an answer. He had just left the Faith Home in Woodhaven, where the Gardiners had been living at that time, when the call came. Caroline took the message: the estate trustees would not accept the offer of $15,000, but they would accept $18,000 cash. This counter offer was accepted and things began to move in earnest.
"While the legalities were in process, we were given permission to do work on the exterior of the property, providing we did not sleep on the grounds and that we did no work inside the buildings," Gordon remembered. It was during this period that Edwin, his brother Arthur, Charles Hofflander and Karl Sailer stayed off grounds and did a lot of needed work. The understanding was that if the deal did not go through, they would not be reimbursed for any improvement expenses. On July 1, 1946, the closing took place, and on July 13, 1946 the first group of boy campers arrived.
EDWIN H. WALDVOGEL
My uncle first became acquainted with Lake George through the Meiers, whom he had met in Europe in 1932. After they came to America and settled in the midwest for a while, they accepted a job offer to work as gardeners on a Lake George estate. The Meiers had received the baptism before going upstate, and so my uncle would visit them once in a while and spend a few days with them. I accompanied him several times on these trips. He would take me along just to give me a good time.
Of course Lake George was magnificent to me. At that time it was not very populated. The only way to get to Bolton was by boat. The train would pull into Lake George and a short distance away was a boat dock where three steamers were available to take people up the lake, stopping at several towns along the way. Later the construction of a highway began that went through to Ticonderoga. (This proved to be the death knell for Lake George as it was then, because this beautiful area, once secluded and a haven to wealthy city folks, became increasingly inhabited by tourists. One by one the beautiful large estates were put on the real estate market.)
So in 1939, having become familiar with the area, my uncle encouraged Gordon Gardiner and Charles Andrews to take their Sunday school classes there. They rented three cottages, managed by Mr. Steves, a man who worked with Mr. Meiers. There was no running water and we had old fashioned kerosene stoves. For several years we rented those cottages and had a wonderful time. Later, when the war came with its associated gasoline and tire restrictions, we were able to rent some additional motel units, since the tourist business was so bad. Then the older people from the fellowship began coming up, and year after year we had a nice group of people.
I remember when the girls first wanted to get in on things. They grew a little tired of the fare offered them and decided to have a spaghetti meal one time. So up came Rosie and some of the other adventurous ones to cook on those kerosene stoves. After waiting several hours past the noon meal hour, they still couldn't get the water to boil. Finally they realized the pot was too large for that stove, and only when they got the idea to divide the water into smaller pots, did things move a little faster.
Although we may not have had the best facilities and accommodations there, the spiritual side was another thing. People sought the Lord, and He came in a wonderful way?especially to the young fellows. Later, when the adults began vacationing there, my father and uncle both came and ministered in the tent we would set up on the property. The town people came also. So we had a real camp going there for a while.
When the war ended and travel began again, Mr. Steves decided not to rent us the cabins anymore, and we understood that very well. But it was one of the reasons we decided we would look for property of our own, a place that we could expand?where boys and girls could have a little of the outdoors and swimming. We looked around the Lake George area, but we couldn't find anything with a good, safe, accessible beach along that whole western side. Of course properties there were very expensive too. At that time Lake George property was going for $100 per foot of lakefront, whereas further north it was only $10 a foot.
So in the spring of 1946, several of us went upstate. We spent the first two days in Lake George. Then on the third day, after spending a morning in prayer, we decided to go further north. I remember driving up and seeing beautiful Brant Lake. As we came to the end of the lake and drove on the property, we met Allen Meade, the caretaker of the estate and a local political official. Later he would become a good friend of the camp.
As we went around and looked at the grounds, Mr. Meade would have to remove some of the boards and shutters to allow a little daylight into the buildings. The power was turned off at that time. The property, we felt, was ideal. Although we felt that this was an answer to prayer, the Ridgewood church had just purchased the building on Harman Street and the brethren felt the church should not accept this obligation. That is why to this day the camp and the Ridgewood church are legally separate. We feel this has been an advantage all through the years.
Eventually we purchased the property, and now there were the jobs that had to be done. First of all, the place was cluttered with more than just deer heads and other stuffed animals. Mr. Freedman had travelled and collected relics from all over the world—swords, daggers, incense burners from Asia, large decorated stands, lamps and other brass items, many of them with serpents and other beastly designs—really heathen in appearance. This had quite an effect on Mr. Gardiner especially, and they had to be taken off the property the sooner the better! We kept some as decorations, but we disposed of many items and donated other things to an Indian museum in the Bronx.
We immediately went to the Board of Health in Glens Falls and asked for suggestions. They were amazed that we came to them and asked for advice before we started. They said that generally it was the other way around.
The only sanitary facilities available were chemical toilets located in what is now the ladies room. There was no running water there. A few small buildings were in such bad shape that they had to be torn down. We also had to take down some trees. Several had purposely been allowed to grow through the lodge porch deck and roof, and although it may have been nice to have these trees there when they were smaller, they had increased in size and they now almost entirely filled the holes that had initially been made for them. When the wind blew, the entire lodge would sway.
While working on the cesspools with some of the young men that first year, the Lord showed me at one of our morning worships that a trial would be coming that day—and that we should be prepared for it. I passed the word on to the fellows, and we prayed about it. God did a wonderful thing that day. As they hauled in material from Mr. Meade's gravel pit, one of the side walls of the cesspool caved in. The man in charge began jumping up and down and cursing. But none of our fellows was troubled at all. Nobody made a remark, nobody showed disappointment. The Lord just held us. There was no murmuring or complaining. We just got to work and began rebuilding the wall. It was wonderful. And afterwards we found out that this had made quite an impression on them and that Mr. Meade had expressed to others in town that "those fellows have the real thing."
We had enough wood on the property to keep the kitchen woodburning stove going. Brother and Sister Onkes were the first cooks at Brant Lake, and they really had to endure. When it became very hot outside, it was even hotter inside. But we also needed lumber for other projects, and at that time permission was needed from the government to use any kind of lumber for building purposes. We met a local fellow whose wife was one of a group of very fine prayer warriors in the Wesleyan Methodist Church. He expressed to us that he liked the work we were doing among the children and said he would give us any lumber we needed. He had trees on his property, he had his own sawmill, and any wood he cut or milled did not come under government control. He also put at our disposal kegs of nails, which in those days were very scarce. Anything we wanted, he tried to help us with. We saw again the hand of God in arranging for us to get in touch with that contractor. Later he helped us with other projects.
One thing that really changed camp radically was the relocation of the main town road, which originally came right through the camp property—along the shore, in front of the Lodge and down past the Palace. The turn in the road there by the [ministers'] cabin was quite a difficult one to maneuver, too. But it took a very serious accident to wake up the county that something needed to be done about that road. Eventually they decided to re-route it from the bridge right through our property and down in front of the newly-built Palace. In fact, the county had already staked out the path a new road would take, which is why even today the Palace is built on a slight angle from the road—in line with the proposed staking at that time. But then they changed their minds and decided to bring the road through behind the Palace and down to the Village area where we now have the archery set up. The road was to continue along the shore in front of the property adjoining ours. When Mr. Heller, our neighbor, heard this proposal, he was upset. Ultimately he became very persuasive with the officials and came to some sort of agreement. As a result of these negotiations between Mr. Heller and the county, although they had already started clearing trees on our property, this work was halted and the plans were changed to construct the road as it is now, bypassing both the camp and the Heller property. No one can fully understand what a blessing that has been to the camp, and again we saw how God stretched out His hand for us.
The caretaker of the Freedman property lived in what we now call Cherub Inn, which was located much closer to the lake than it is now. Next to it was an old garage with a gas pump nearby. Karl Sailer moved both the house and the garage back and years later built another similar structure called Seraph Inn. The old garage eventually became the site of the children's chapel.
Although the water we pumped up from the lake for drinking and cooking was pure, it was not very cool by the time it came from the faucet. Several years after camp opened, one of our German sisters [Mrs. Bremer] took a drink from one of the fountains, and the water was lukewarm. This was just too much for her. As a result, she paid for the search and digging of a new well, for which we were very thankful.
From the very start, all improvements and moves made at camp were prayed over and considered very earnestly by the camp trustees. My uncle would join us and we would pray together and consider what to do. We always determined, by the grace of God, to seek His will. We wanted to please Him in everything, praying that the government of camp would be on His shoulders.
The Gardiners were the first directors. They were able to be at camp the entire summer and give themselves to the camp work. Karl Sailer, also one of the early trustees, was a wonderful gift of God to the camp as our caretaker for many years. Gritli Sager came along and was our nurse. How thankful we are for these oldtimers. Alice and Margrit Blum came, Sister Elisabeth Lindau used to come and work diligently until she went out as a missionary. Sister Pearl Young also spent summers at camp. And so God has always raised people to work at camp. He has put a real love in their hearts for the work of the Lord. That has been a marvelous thing to me all these years.
It is a joy to ask our Sunday school children how many found the Lord at Pilgrim Camp and to see the response. Some were saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. The adults, too, have been touched by God and have received healing. We trust that in the coming seasons the Lord will allow us to continue seeing His kingdom grow, His will to be done and His work accomplished in the hearts of the young and old. Most of all, we pray that children who don't know Him will find Him; and all those who do have a knowledge of the Lord will open the door wider to Him.
CHARLES N. ANDREWS
From a 1971 taped interview
Several car loads of us went up that first year in 1939. Gordon Gardiner and I had asked our Sunday school classes about the trip, and they all wanted to go. Frank Galish drove his car and stayed with us.
Since there were no plumbing facilities in the cottages we rented, we had to bring water up the hill from a little stream down below. All the boys took turns doing dishes and other chores. They all pitched in and helped. Gordon and I were the cooks that first time, and we went into town and bought food on a daily basis. Neither of us knew much about cooking, and so we'd have to ask the butcher how much meat we needed for this many boys. I believe there were 14 fellows that first time. (The second year at Lake George, 1940, my mother came up and did the cooking for us, which was very helpful. Of course we had more time with the boys then.) Later Edith Waldvogel and others helped with the cooking.
One day Charlie Kreuzer volunteered to cook pancakes. He wanted to make them from scratch. They turned out very well, and the boys made it clear that they liked his flat pancakes much more than the ones we had made from the box. I think it was that year that Anthony (Sid) Galeoto and Vito Gaglio prepared a dinner. They worked for a long, long time on that meal, but it was worth it.
It was interesting to be with the boys in that setting. I remember Vito complaining that he was kept awake until 4 o'clock in the morning from a robin's chirping. I guess a New York City train wouldn't have done that, but a bird did. We had a real good time. We usually started out in the morning having worship after breakfast. While Gordon and I prepared dinner, the boys would play ball and run around. In the afternoon we would go swimming. Ernie Bieber served as our lifeguard. He was a little older and a good swimmer. Once we took a day trip to New Hampshire to visit one of Gordon's relatives.
Gordon and I would generally take some time during the day and go off some place to pray. Usually to a cemetery. I feel those seasons at camp prepared me for my ministry in the years to follow.
Mr. Waldvogel came there to Lake George and was with us a for a few days at the beginning. He set the pace. He started us with reading Proverbs, each boy reading around and commenting on his verse. As a result of this, one of the campers, Eddie Gadzaliszyn went home and told his mother that he wanted to follow this pattern. I think Eddie in particular is an outstanding example of the help camp has been to our young people. He was a changed boy. (We remained friends, and years later he visited us and attended one of our street meetings while he was in the Navy. Shortly after, he was killed while serving his country.)
On Sundays we took the boys to a little Wesleyan Methodist church not far from Lake George. On one of those days there was a travelling evangelist there, an elderly man. He had one eye. We had a little difficulty there, because the boys began laughing. But we got through it anyway. Other times we would go over to Hudson Falls to a Pentecostal church.
The girls decided they wanted the camping experience, too, so in 1940 they had their own time. Mr. Waldvogel evidently had this camp work in his light for years. After the first couple years at Lake George, I began driving him around looking for our own camp site. We went all over upstate and around Albany. At that time there were several estates for sale right on Lake George. But Brother Waldvogel was very careful. He would often just make suggestions and put out feelers and see if anything developed.
ARTHUR WALDVOGEL
From a 1970 taped interview
Some of us had been going to Lake George several years before the camp began. Louis Klaus and my brothers Edwin, Herbert and I enjoyed camping there in tents, and we had one of our Sunday school picnics up there, too.
Later I helped as a junior counselor for two years. I was 21 at that time. I was given care of a cabin with three or four of the boys who were 10 or 12 years of age. The cabin had two or three rooms and a porch. Altogether there were about 30 boys at this time in four cabins, which were quite large?five rooms in each. We had meetings in one of them and we ate in one of them. Sometimes we had to feed the boys in two shifts. I believe the adults ate by themselves. Different people cooked at different times: a woman from Yorkville was there, Edith Waldvogel, Wally Roth, Mrs. [Rosa] Kreuzer—they all helped out. I remember Mrs. Kreuzer coming back from an early morning jaunt with some fresh raspberries or blackberries which she had just picked. Another time my father came from town with about a dozen pies.
The water we had to carry from the brook was not only used for drinking and cooking, but we used it to wash the dishes, too. It was a small brook, but it had quite a bit of water. The boys all took turns getting water, and I think we took turns washing dishes on the back porch, too.
My father would have meetings or Bible studies in one of the main houses on the Steves' property. My uncle would also come up now and then. He had a tent and would show Mickey McGuire films. Often there were swarms of mosquitos, so we would build fires. We tried to play ball, but these mosquitos were so thick they would get into your eyes and your mouth. It was terrible.
After a few years on Lake George, we realized that we'd have to make a move. First of all, the cottages were in very bad shape and falling to pieces. Screens would come loose from the windows and the doors were coming off the hinges. The place was just falling apart and the whole arrangement with kerosene stoves and no running water?just proved too primitive. If I recall correctly, we had to use lanterns. We also realized we did not have the privacy we wanted for worship and prayer, and we began hearing things from the neighbors. Then, too, the whole idea of camp began catching on with the girls. I remember Emma Schuschat [Posta] brought up some young ladies, and it started catching on more with the adults, too. There was a definite indication that a need existed for our own place.
Eventually we located the camp site on Brant Lake. I first went up there with Uncle Hans and Gordon Gardiner before it was bought. We stayed in Chestertown at the Panther Mountain House. It was early in the Spring and it was quite cold yet. Others had already looked at the property before.
After we purchased the property, I went up to help prepare the place for the first campers. It all happened so quickly. We took possession just a few weeks before camp was to open, and a lot of work was necessary. That first year at Brant Lake both boys and girls were campers. I was working on the grounds primarily. Charlie Hofflander and Caroline were acting as counselors for these groups. We would have our meetings in what was then the dining room and is now the adult library. We'd sit around the tables in there. Uncle Hans came and helped sometimes. I remember how he prayed for one fellow. He said there was a small candle of light that God had placed into this boy. And he prayed that the Lord would take care of that light that it wouldn't go out.
The second year of camp they built the Palace, which was used to house the campers. Two large rooms downstairs were used as dormitories, each holding 16 boys. On either side of these large rooms, in the middle of the Palace, was a small counselor room. Charlie [Hofflander] and I were the counselors this year. We had a really rough time. Most of the kids were new to any kind of camp life and we were new to camp life. I used to stand in the middle of the room at night until those kids calmed down and went to sleep. They would throw their shoes at each other, shine flashlights around and just cut up. To have all those kids in double bunks in one room, you can imagine what fun they had. At that time the activities weren't as structured. We had to devise all our own activities. It was very strenuous. The Gardiners and Sister Gritli helped us along this line in directing us. We had our worship right there where we ate. By the second season we had also built the children's dining room, which is now Mayhew Manor.
In those days we had ball games and would play against the Boy Scouts. We would go to town and play. We'd also pile into an old truck and go out to the sand pits. It was a lot of fun riding on that truck. We also did quite a bit of hiking those first years and explored a lot of places. I think the first year we were there the workers went up to Pharaoh Lake together.
Something happened at camp in those early years, on a Labor Day weekend. We were expecting quite a group of young people and adults. Brother Gardiner came to me beforehand and mentioned he would like me to find out about renting a film. Those were the days before retreats, and he wanted something special for the weekend. I contacted a local company that came around and would show films for a fee, and after looking through a catalog we chose one on the life of Franz Schubert. From its description, it appeared to be harmless and interesting. So the day came, and two men arrived with their equipment and started showing the picture. Well, it turned out to be a rather worldly film. I remember it showed some very wild parties. All of a sudden Brother Gordon calls out, "Stop!" Now remember, a lot of people were there watching this film. And he says again, "Stop! I'm afraid this is not the kind of film we want to be watching here. This is not in keeping with our standards at camp, and it's not the kind of thing we want to see." Even some of our people were kind of puzzled and taken back. There were quite some groans from the young people, many of whom had just returned from the Army. But Brother Gardiner stood his ground. He told me to quickly go over to Watch Rock and get a fire going for a wiener roast. It turned out to be a nice evening after all. But it made an impression on me. I saw that this man was willing to stick his neck out and be very unpopular, if necessary, to keep the standards up; and I admired him for that.
A lot of things at camp developed gradually. Camp life was all new to the Gardiners and the others. We just had to feel our way. In the early days the young people might go out in a boat at night or read, or play anagrams. But then there were problems, too. And I suppose that's why it became necessary to have activities and scheduled meetings. When we were first there, we were a small group and a family. We knew each other and trusted each other. But as things grew and others came, we found people might not share that same attitude. So it had to be changed.
There was a time, too, when people wanted to have more freedom?go off to Lake George at nights, some wanted to buy a piece of the property and build a cabin. There were all kinds of pressures in the first few years. People had their ideas about the way things should be run, and it was a struggle for the Gardiners—determining how to do things and how to please God.
One time in a meeting, Hans Waldvogel began a sort of groaning, which naturally puzzled people. Only later he told Brother Gardiner that the Lord had given him a sight or vision of what Pilgrim Camp could become if the flesh were allowed to reign and unless they kept it "holiness unto the Lord". I believe Brother Waldvogel spoke firmly to them about this being an important part of directing the camp, and the Gardiners took it very seriously.
GRITLI SAGER
On the drive up to camp that first year on July 3, 1946, we first had to make a stop in Manhattan to pick up the deed. It was very hot, and the drive took a long time. We decided to stay overnight in Saratoga, but we couldn't find anything that was suitable, available or within our means. We continued north and finally around midnight found lodging in Warrensburg. We stayed overnight and then went on to Brant Lake the next morning, July 4th.
We arrived around 9 a.m. Although the grounds were beautiful, a lot of work had to be done. I had been serving the Lord in Virginia and came back at the prompting of Uncle Hans and Brother Gordon. Apparently Brother Waldvogel had gotten light that I should serve at camp, and he relayed it to Gordon. I prayed about it and felt it was of God. We had intentions of coming to the property much earlier, but the deed and other legal papers were delayed for two weeks. That is why we could not begin cleaning and getting things ready until we received word. At that time, when things did not seem to be moving too quickly, Uncle Hans helped test Gordon's faith by asking him, "Are you sure it's the right thing?" Brother Gordon was a little upset.
In addition to the beautiful lodge, the original buildings at camp included a boathouse, a dining room (which is now the library), a kitchen off the lodge, a storage room (where Brainerd's Hut now stands), and next to that storage room was an ice house. This was torn down in 1947 and a children's dining room was built. Later it became Mayhew Manor. An old barn stood where the laundry room is now, which came down years later. There was a little cabin right behind the old kitchen, which was moved down to Cherub Inn, and then much later down to the Village.
In those early years of camp, the lake was quite a closed community. There was a lot of talk and competition between those wealthy people?who had the fanciest car? the best cook? which cook had the best recipes?
Before we went up, Caroline and I went to Manhattan shopping for cutlery. It was a very hot day. We found something we liked, but we didn't have enough money with us. Then we remembered that Lilly Schilly [Kreuzer] worked nearby, so we went to her job and borrowed some money from her.
That first year the Mitchells were there with their children, and Joanne and I swam across the lake. Later the Sailers moved to camp. Trudy Sailer was just a few months old. Before Karl Sailer built their home, they stayed where the office is now, in Camp Belle, which had been an apartment for Mr. Freedman's sister.
I have such good recollections of the early camp days. Each year things got organized better. I consider camp my home. I was there almost every year since 1946, and I am thankful for the years I was able to serve the Lord there.
KARL SAILER, SR.
One of the first things we had to do at the camp in 1946 was to arrange for drinking water. Mr. Freedman had just put in electricity a few years before he died, but the pump to get water from the lake was run by a windmill on Watch Rock. Since the place had been vacant for so long, by the time we got there and looked things over, the windmill was smashed and good for nothing. The pump also was very dilapidated.
We decided not to use a windmill and instead to run an electric line over to Watch Rock to drive a pump. But it was just after the war, and supplies like that were almost impossible to get. We had been in touch with the Health Department, and one of the men there told us about a place in Plattsburgh that had just installed new pumps. He suggested that maybe we could contact them and find out about the old ones. I remember Edwin and I drove up there and got a pump and a motor. That was a real miracle.
The people in Ridgewood were very generous with furniture and other things we needed for camp. And the young people were very involved in the work and pitched in to drive these donations up. My truck made seven trips that first year! I remember Gordon Waldvogel helping to drive some of those times.
The second year we had a big flood. The water level was about five feet higher than usual. It came up and over where the bridge is, and you could take a boat right over the road across into the swamps. It was up to the floor level of the Boathouse, perhaps an inch below. You could dive right out the front door.
All down the lake the roads were flooded. One day our friend and neighbor, Mr. Meade, called and asked if we could come across the lake and pick him up and take him as far as our place. He wanted to go to town, because there was some word that the dam was about to wash out in Horicon.
We had just painted our rowboats the day before so Arthur Waldvogel decided to take a canoe over. It was kind of a cloudy and rainy day. We later found out that Arthur had to go back far into the brush to get Mr. Meade.
Another neighbor lady heard them calling to each other through the fog, and she thought somebody was shouting for help and was drowning on the lake. So she got on the telephone and spread the news. Mrs. Meade, knowing her husband was out on the lake, and knowing he had trouble with his heart, imagined all sorts of things. They got in touch with camp, and then Charlie Kreuzer and Charles Hofflander went off in a big rowboat looking. Gordon, Caroline, Gritli and I kept walking up and down the shore. I went down to the Cottage. Somehow my boot came off, or I took it off?I don't remember why. But just then I saw what looked like an empty canoe, and I walked back to the Boathouse with my boot in my hand and said, "Well, I think Art's gone." Of course they all looked at the boot and thought the worst.
We continued watching. First we thought we could see the canoe. Then we couldn't. It was hazy and everyone was imagining things. Elizabeth Lindau said, "Wouldn't it be terrible to start camp with a funeral." But meanwhile, Art and Mr. Meade were paddling over to camp. Art saw the two Charlie's coming towards them, and he later told us he wondered why those two guys took one of the newly-painted boats and were having a good time.
When Art finally made it to the Boathouse Gordon was all excited and asked, "What happened?" Allen Meade responded, "Well' we're getting a lot of rain."
Finally it was all explained, and Mr. Meade called his wife. Caroline said, "I knew Artie could take care of himself. I knew nothing was wrong."
ERNEST BIEBER
Our arrival in 1939 at Bolton seemed endless, but we endured. It was a ten-hour drive on Route 9 from Red Hook, where the Taconic Parkway ended. No Thruway or Northway existed.
Bolton was a very small town with one commercial building that contained the post office, a gasoline station and a small store. We could hardly wait to get to Trail's End, our housekeeping cabin.
The main room in the cabin had a large table and chairs and was used for eating, worship and fellowship. Every morning we sang, worshipped and read the Word. Each camper was asked to comment on the verses we read, and if nothing came to mind, the usual comment was, "It's self explanatory." Brother Gordon always elaborated on the chapter, though, and it was here that I was first taught never to take a verse out of its context.
Our song service was different also. We sang a capella (12 male voices), and the favorites were "Dare To Be A Daniel" and "Mansion Over The Hilltop," the latter one being the one we sang the loudest and most often. We ended our day with evening worship, giving us time to pray and wait on the Lord. One Sunday night we were taken to the Baptist church in Bolton Landing. An evangelist gave an interesting sermon on "Mighty to Save," but he had fierce competition from a nanny goat wandering about in the side yard. The fellows had a hard time keeping the laughter inward, but we managed to keep control?with the help of Brother Gordon's guiding eye.
In the mornings, our free time was spent pitching horseshoes, hiking or playing softball in the cow pasture located behind the cabin, but the afternoons were usually spent by the lake at the town beach which had a nice long dock. The Lord directs our steps without our knowing why or how. I had taken a lifesaving course in high school, so I served as one of the first camp lifeguards. There was a large rock sticking out of the water about one hundred feet from the end of the dock where we swam. We made good use of this rock to sit and rest. It was also used as a hiding place for our baths and occasional night swims. Of course these times were never long enough, and Brother Gordon often had to come down with his big bright flashlight and bring us back. We had a great time.
It was the start of something that increased in the years that followed and still lasts to this day.
WILLIAM LIEBMANN
I was 14 years old in 1939. That year and the next I was a camper in Bolton. We left Ridgewood for camp after the Sunday night meeting. It was past midnight, and it took us 14 hours to drive up. We had a flat before we got out of Westchester and the next morning a fan belt broke on another car. But we had a good time.
Charlie and Tony Kreuzer went up that first year, too. They were pretty young at the time, but they had a car with a rumble seat and a broken or missing speedometer. I remember them pulling along aside of us and yelling out, "Hey, how fast are we going?" Another time Charles Andrews got a ticket for speeding.
Anthony Galeoto brought a pair of boxing gloves up, and Charlie Krezuer and I began throwing punches at each other. Suddenly he stopped and said, "This is no fun."
We had good times of worship around the table in one of the cabins. We memorized Psalm 15 one year. Many good memories come back to me when I think of those days.
JOANNE MITCHELL
The drive to Pilgrim Camp from Waukegan, Illinois in 1946 took us three days. We had an old, off-white Ford with a very bad set of springs. The children, Paul and Joan, were restless and uncomfortable in the back seat as we neared camp and drove over those bumpy roads.
We finally arrived at Brant Lake towards evening, tired and weary. But Gordon met us, rubbing his hands and ever joyful. He barely gave us a chance to go to the washroom. He insisted on dragging us all over and showing us around. We went up into the attic and he showed us all those treasures and those marvelous dishes.
Mostly staff was there at that time. I remember Caroline and I going to town and buying flowers. She was in charge of the planting. I also remember hiking up Swede Mountain with Paul, my husband, Edwin Waldvogel and Gordon. There were so many blueberries. It was kind of dangerous getting at them, but if you climbed down over the side, facing the mountain with your back to the drop, it wasn't too bad. We picked at least a dishpan full, and when we returned, all those German ladies cleaned them and prepared them for pies.
After that, our family went to camp almost every year. It was the highlight of the year to vacation at Pilgrim Camp. We all enjoyed it. The kids loved it. We'd always find them in the woods catching those orange colored salamanders, and of course we would have to get jars from the kitchen to put them in. The salamanders, that is.
We would take one of those big grey rowboats out past the island and get off on a nice sandy beach there. We did quite a bit of rowing in those days. We used to sleep up in the Boathouse as a family, which was a lot of fun.
I'm getting on in years now. They say you don't get old, you just get shiny. But I have such wonderful memories. Caroline and I would go out in a boat and sing. Oh my, that was so much fun. Art Waldvogel and I would sit on the swing and play Scrabble. I remember Mrs. Lydia Waldvogel being there. I asked her once if she was going to take a nap and she told me she never took naps, because once she started she would have to do it every day. Another time several of us were sitting on the Lodge porch and we saw a wonderful display of northern lights for over an hour.
There are also memories of untold blessings and glorious times spent in the sweet presence of the Lord. That overshadowing presence! So very wonderful. Those were precious, precious times, and I will never forget them.
JOSEPH SCHILLY
In 1942, at the age of 13, I had my first opportunity to be a camper. This took place at Bolton on the shores of Lake George, in three cabins--Anna Wanna, Trail's End and Winnie Winkle. While at camp during those early years, I met some exceptional people who became good friends--Sal Gaglio, Rolf Bocker, Robert Kalis, Ed Gadzaliszyn, Tony Kreuzer, Ed Potts, Ernie Bieber, Joe Oswald, Jack Hellerman, to name a few.
In 1943, during a ten-minute after-dinner worship service in Trail's End that lasted two hours, I gave my heart to the Lord and have never regretted doing so.
In 1945, we did not go to Lake George, but under the direction of Brother Karl Sailer, many boys from the Ridgewood church went up to Camp of the Woods. While there we celebrated the end of Word War II in the Pacific, V.J. Day?all of us Ridgewood campers (almost 20 people) riding through the town of Speculator, inside and outside of Brother Karl's 1934 Pontiac, with railroad flares blazing.
In 1946, when Brother Karl was led to be involved with Pilgrim Camp, he asked me to spend the summer with him, working at Pilgrim Camp. (I had been working part time for him at his business, the Forest Lumber Company.) That first year at Brant Lake, the area behind Pilgrim's Rest was cleared to make way for cesspools, the ice house was demolished and the original Cottage was remodeled.
One of my assignments that year was to supply the cooks with wood, which was the fuel used for cooking. I also had to remove all garbage and trash and burn it. Many of my friends from Lake George were also working at Pilgrim Camp. I had a wonderful summer and left for home the Saturday before school started.
Again in 1947 Brother Karl asked me to work at camp for the summer. But this time I had to start by making several trips up and moving the Sailer's household belongings to Brant Lake. The last trip up was to take Mrs. Sailer, Paul, Karl, Edwin and 3-month old Trudy and Mrs. Kreuzer. After two flats, many stops and 12 hours of traveling, the Sailers and their car arrived safe and sound in their new home.
That same year, while helping to unload the suitcases and baggage of arriving campers, I noticed a cute young girl trying to look brave in a strange place. I don't remember if I helped her with her suitcase, but she impressed me as a classy girl from Maspeth. Up to that day, I thought my four sisters and my mom were the only important girls in my life. Fortunately for me I found that not to be true. (In 1953, after returning from service the U.S. Army, I married that pretty girl, and it was the best thing I ever did!)
Our family grew and it was a great joy to have each of our four daughters spend time at camp as campers and in later years become part of the camp staff. Two of our daughters were baptized in water at Brant Lake, and one was filled with the Holy Spirit at camp. Many Memorial Day weekends were spent as a family preparing camp for the coming season. So Pilgrim Camp has meant very much to our family.
I am very thankful to the Lord for all the people who had the vision for camp and also for permitting me to spend two full summers at Pilgrim Camp during the first two years.
ANNA HAHN BOCKER
How well I remember 1946. Before graduating from high school, I was approached by the Gardiners and asked if I would consider helping open up this camp at the start of the summer. My parents were very agreeable, and so it came about that I was Pilgrim Camp's first housekeeper.
Al Horn drove us up. Gordon and Caroline Gardiner, Sister Gritli Sager and I all squeezed into a very small car. That was the start of my adventure that summer. In those days it was a big deal to drive upstate. It took much longer than it does now. That didn't deter Gordon from insisting on a few side trips of an historical nature. I remember eating in a restaurant called Smith Brothers. By the time we reached Warrensburg, it was too late to continue the trip. I shared a room with Sister Gritli in the only hotel there. The next morning we drove to Brant Lake.
Seeing this place for the first time was thrilling for me. The lodge was a collection of hunting trophies, antiques and Indian relics. Most of these items had to be carried upstairs for storage. Gordon had a great time rummaging through everything, directing that the liquor be poured out, furniture moved and playing cards and chips discarded. We scrubbed floors, washed windows, and got rid of many spider webs. You name it and I did it all joyfully. That's because the Gardiners made it all seem like an adventure?a discovery into a new world.
Caroline gave me the task of cleaning the dining room (which years later became the library). She gave me carte blanche in arranging all the curios and dishes. I understand that it remained this way for many years until the Palace was used as the dining room.
I was told that wherever I chose to sleep had to be cleaned first. When Annamarie Onkes arrived with her family, we decided we wanted to bunk in the cottage down the road (which was later named Cherub Inn). So we had our job cut out for us as we cleaned that place, getting rid of dirt and evicting the many mice.
Eventually the first group of boys arrived. They were all of different ages. My future brother-in-law, Bob Kalis, was among them. There were no counselors and no scheduled camp activities for them as there are now.
I had a terrific time that summer, including the wonderful times we gathered for our worships. It was truly a privilege for me to have had a part in the beginnings of Pilgrim Camp. In the ensuing years, camp became a special part of my life. Later on, after Rolf and I married, it continued for us as it has for our children and our children's children.
CHARLES HOFFLANDER
Karl Sailer, Edwin Waldvogel and I went up to Brant Lake in June 1946 to prepare the property for opening. We stayed at The Rising House in Chestertown until the real estate closing.
The property had 16 buildings, including a large ice house for storing huge hand-sawn ice blocks in sawdust. All cooking was done on a wood stove. Cherub counselors heated water in pails for baths. Oil lamps were used until electricity was installed. Mr. Hutsteiner, a local Christian man, a friend of his and I cleared all the timber in the area east of the Lodge. Karl and other men (including Joe Schilly) did a lot of work on the grounds, making use of the many cedar logs taken from the property. The first four wooden rowboats were very large and were made in town. A dock had to be made and board walks repaired. Two World War II life rafts were purchased.
The first official session was for the boys in July. It was a very difficult time. The ten or so campers had to bunk in scattered buildings, and construction and repairs were everywhere. Gordon conducted morning worship. I recall the final evening of that first boys' period. Rudy Josenhans and I made a lighthouse with a lantern perched above a big barrel with a sheet to give it shape. Brother Hans Waldvogel gave a challenging devotional message on Watch Rock, after which we were awed by a glorious display of northern lights. Great shafts of blue and white light scintillated from a huge hub overhead. Then from a boat below Arthur Waldvogel sang, "Let the Lower Lights Be Burning," and following each verse we on the rock responded with the chorus. As a climax, Art played taps on his trumpet, and the echoes reverberating from mountain to mountain offered a gracious finale to an otherwise stressful camp session.
Sal Gaglio stayed on a few extra days due to a sprained ankle. While visiting with him on the Lodge porch he quietly received Jesus as his Savior. This was possibly the first camp convert.
The second session in July with ten junior boys was a pleasure. For our creation study we used a large sand-filled flat as a base for trees growing in the Garden of Eden. A dahlia blossom was the tree of life. Sister Gritli made Adam and Eve of clay. A lizard served as the tempter. Gary Hoss, James Cooper and the Somma twins were in this orderly group.
I returned in 1947 and was the counselor for 14 boys. Art Waldvogel had 12. On the second floor of the Palace, in what is now the adult dining room, we had a chapel. This is where Ron Klaus received his baptism in a glorious evening meeting.
During one of those early years, the girl campers were bored with everything the camp offered. The counselors were pulling their hair out to interest them. So at a staff meeting, Gordon Gardiner led a powerful group prayer on their behalf. The change was radical. They opened up to the Lord in their worships, God met them in a mighty way, and they wept when they had to leave.
SAL GAGLIO
I was only sixteen and fresh off the asphalt streets of Brooklyn when Anthony Galeoto convinced my parents that I attend the first Pilgrim Camp session at Brant Lake. As in most lives, many concerned friends have input in seeing that a soul is exposed to the saving grace of the Lord. My parents were godly and prayed incessantly for me.
A few days before our group session was over, I injured my ankle playing baseball. Sister Gritli thought it best for me to convalesce for a few more days after the other fellows left. It was during this period of confinement that the Lord got my full and undivided attention.
Charles Hofflander was alert in challenging me while I was reclining on the Watch Rock porch. Hesitantly I entrusted my life to the Lord Jesus, wondering if He could "keep me" from the evil influences of the Brooklyn streets. He has kept me by His grace and mercy, for which I am eternally grateful.
RUTH E. KALIS
After the boys had spent several summers up at Lake George, the young ladies also went up in 1942 and 1943. When the property was purchased on Brant Lake in 1946, on August 10th a group of us young ladies went up, too. I was among that group. We took the bus from the Port Authority terminal in New York on Friday night at 11 p.m. We rode all night through every small town, stopping along the way to take on and let off passengers. Towards morning, by the time we arrived in Chestertown, the sun began to show through. Several taxis took us to Brant Lake, and we were ushered into the beautiful museum-like lodge.
We had a time of orientation that morning after breakfast in the quaint dining room, and after breakfast we went into the lodge for worship. Brother Hans Waldvogel was there and exhorted us that while there are many outdoor activities we could enjoy, that the Lord would like to make it a place where people could meet the Lord and be changed. He suggested that we use the library. Then we were all assigned our rooms. I was assigned to what is now our camp office, which four of us shared. That summer changed my life. When I returned home, I didn't have to tell my mother what the Lord had done for me; she immediately saw it.
The following two summers I worked at camp for the entire summer. In 1947 the Palace was built. At that time the boys came up in July and the girls in August. Later this was reversed when August proved to get real cold. I remember being a waitress, housekeeper, a junior counselor. I was kept busy every moment. Sometimes I would have to get up at 6 a.m. to wash the bathrooms or cabins. Or else I would help Sister Gritli iron. Then I would help waitress. At that time, we all helped each other dry dishes, set tables, or whatever needed to be done until we were all finished. It was a lot of hard work, but I always managed to get a swim in.
During those years, camp was always in my summer plans?either working as a staff member or later on attending for a short vacation. What wonderful memories! I wouldn't exchange them for all the worldly pleasures. Of course that is where I first met Bob Kalis, whom I later married. Together we ministered at the Emmanuel Pentecostal Church. As our children came along, we took them to camp, too, and they looked forward to it every summer. In 1987, when the Gardiners passed away, we were asked to be the directors. Although we knew it wasn't an easy assignment, we felt it was a great privilege. We served in that capacity until 1992, when Bob became ill. He passed away in January, 1994.
Camp will always hold a hallowed place in my heart. It changed my life and it has changed so many lives. It has strengthened and encouraged people on their pilgrim way.
ELISABETH LINDAU
In the summer of 1946, while I was vacationing at Camp of the Woods in Speculator, New York, Caroline Gardiner, Frieda Naujock and Milton Waldvogel visited me from nearby Brant Lake, where the Ridgewood fellowship had just purchased a camp. Caroline thought I would be interested in seeing the property, so I drove over with them. As we looked over the place with the lovely buildings, I thought "What an ideal and beautiful vacation place!" Caroline said to me, "Elisabeth, I would love to ask you to come and help here, but I hesitate since I know you have a good job and a good salary." She did not know that the Lord had already been dealing with me. I replied, "Jesus has already begun dealing with me about this, so I will make it a matter of prayer." Within two weeks time I quit my job and was on my way to Pilgrim Camp.
What a joy to serve the Lord there. There was such wonderful cooperation.
I am so thankful for Pilgrim Camp and for the presence of the Lord so greatly manifested there. I have always looked upon it as my "alma mater".
A BRIEF HISTORY IN TESTIMONY(Part III)
BILLY COOPER
I was just a kid in the Cottage that first year in 1946, and there was just a handful of children. Elisabeth Lindau was my counselor. The Palace had not been built yet, and they were just preparing for it.
Later, when I was a camper in the Palace, Arthur Waldvogel was my counselor. One time we went to Pharaoh Lake, and we all returned to camp in a sea plane. It was nice seeing camp from an aerial view, and taxiing up to the Boathouse.
I am thankful I was able to go to camp. My parents couldn't afford sending my brother and me, but someone else saw the value and did. I never knew who paid year after year. I've been inquiring lately, and I've heard rumors who that might have been.
I remember being a staff member and being in that big workers' tent with Leslie Smith and John Perz. Late one night we were carrying on, talking and mimicking Brother Gordon's preaching. We went on for a long while and later discovered him standing outside the tent. That's probably the most terrifying experience of my youth.
The year I worked on the staff with Sister Pearl Young is especially memorable. I was her potboy when the kitchen was still up by the Lodge. She made a tremendous impression on me. I never forgot her. I look back at the value of working with her and seeing her godliness and patience. I knew there was something about her and her relationship with the Lord.
I was a rebel in those days. I don't think I ever entered into the meetings. One thing I always think about is how Brother Gordon used to sit there leading the meeting, either in prayer or in a quiet time. He would have his eyes closed, but then instinctively know if we were doing something wrong. Then he'd open his eyes just a slit, to let us know, and then he'd fall back into worship.
If it weren't for Pilgrim Camp I don't think I would be here today. The Lord had a hand on my life and embedded a seed in me. Years later I would always think of things I had heard at Pilgrim Camp. It was like the Hound of Heaven.
I'm thankful for all my counselors, and for the other staff members. Many of them went into the ministry or to the mission field. Only much later did I come to value these people?especially the Gardiners. The memories I have of them!
MARIE SALVIA COLLURA
I was only 14 or 15 when I first went to camp in 1946. I can't say I remember everything that happened that year, but I do remember having to dry the dishes in that old kitchen right off the Lodge. I also remember not liking that chore very much.
Five of us young girls stayed in what is now the office. Helen Schilly Waldvogel was one of them?Jean Hall and Eleanor Parker were two others I remember. One incident sticks out in my memory. We were up rather late one night, talking and giggling and just being regular teenage girls. I guess we got a little loud. We didn't realize that there was an entrance from the back area of the Lodge into our room. All of a sudden we started screaming at the sight of a "ghost" who quietly came in the back and managed to scare the living daylights out of us. When we realized it was Sister Caroline, with her hair long and flowing, and wearing a white robe, we screamed and laughed even louder. Of course she saw the humor of it, too, and joined in the laugher.
But I am thankful for Pilgrim Camp. Years later I worked on the staff and spent many years as a guest. My children were campers year after year, and we all have good memories of that place. My sister, Rosie, also worked for many years as the camp cook and had a special spot in her heart for the Gardiners and for camp.
EDMUND KERUT
I was at camp one of those first years on Brant Lake. Even as a kid I was thrilled to be there. I found the Boathouse especially a neat place to be. Charlie Kreuzer was the cook that first year I was there. Otto Schad and I did dishes in that hot kitchen, and we became famous for singing the dirge, Nobody knows the trouble I've seen...nobody but Jesus." Ruth Bocker Kalis and Anne Zanuck Fette were waitresses. Ruth really loved her pies. She made sure to put a few extra pieces away for her snack, and we used to tease her about this. Anne Fette told us that teasing was very unspiritual.
Charlie, Robert Borst and Chuck Hofflander and I stayed in Karl Sailer's house, in the unfinished attic. The highlight of that year was an overnight camping trip Charles Hofflander made with me to Pharaoh Lake. That really was very thrilling.
Camp is also memorable for me because a few years later I met my wife, Marianne, there. Actually I had seen her earlier at Brother Steffan's camp out in Huntington. I heard that she and Eleanor Herzog Pra were going to Pilgrim Camp, so Brother Van Houten and I decided to go upstate. Marianne and I played a game of pingpong at the Boathouse, the deal being that the loser would buy ice cream. Of course I allowed her to win, but she has disputed that all these years.
Since those early days, camp has been a great blessing to me. Years later the Lord filled me with the Holy Spirit at camp, and I'll never forget that.
CATHERINE GERBINO IMMORDINO
I remember travelling on the bus for eight hours?going to this beautiful place in the Adirondacks Sister Caroline Gardiner had told us so much about. We arrived in pouring rain and were directed into the Lodge. We were told that we all had to "volunteer" our services in washing and drying dishes, because the staff was small. I shared a cabin with another girl, and I recall how cold it was during the night. I just couldn't warm up.
The next morning the sun shone, and we were all amazed at the beauty of the lake, the mountains and the stillness and quiet. It was nothing like the city. From the very first meeting, the Lord met us and poured out His Holy Spirit. Brother Hans Waldvogel encouraged us to get alone with God during the day. Many felt God's pleading and did just that. Despite my fear of country bugs and insects, I recall going into the woods, sitting on a rock and seeking the Lord. The Lord had said it would be a "red letter day" in my life. Indeed it was.
Though I was not officially on the staff that first year, I was privileged to be a counselor with the girls later, and then much later I counseled at the cottage with my husband Vincent.
I recall Brother Hans Waldvogel, saying under God's anointing, that Pilgrim Camp's grounds would be "holiness unto the Lord"?and it has been to this day.
EMIL SOKASITS
My introduction to the beauty of God's creation began there in the Adirondacks, first at Lake George and then at Brant Lake.
I have many memories of camp. One night that first year on Brant Lake is especially vivid. It was tremendously hot. Usually we did not go swimming at night, but it was so unbearable that they made an exception. I remember Edwin Waldvogel was there with us. Although we had a good swim, we were also working very hard clearing away the many rocks that in those days were all along the beach.
Arthur Waldvogel was my counselor that first year. He also ran the candy store. I remember being crammed in a room off the Lodge until the next year when the Palace was built.
I have been back to Pilgrim Camp every year from 1946 to the present. Whenever I visit there I marvel at the tremendous dedication and devotion of all those who throughout the years have given their time to this work. May God bless them.
ROSEMARIE GERBINO IMPELLIZZARI
I used to go to the East Side church as a girl, when Brother Frank Posta was the pastor. A group of us girls, 10 to 12 years in age, went up to Brant Lake that first year for one week. Sister Elisabeth Lindau was our counselor in the Cottage. The place was full of those tiny mice. Every time you opened a drawer, you never knew if they would jump out at you. But we had to keep that place spotlessly clean.
The luxuries of home were not there either. On each dresser was an old fashioned basin and pitcher, and the water was very cold. We would wash our hair in the lake on Saturday night.
One of the girls with us that year from the Williamsburg church was Lucy Pompalonia. We didn't know it at the time, but she was a very sick girl. I remember she gave her heart to the Lord during that time we were at camp, and we later learned that she died within two weeks. It was something for young girls to go through that?very sobering.
I returned to camp every year following that first time, and when I became 17, I waitressed for the whole summer. I served with Paula Harman and two other girls. I recall vividly that Nina and Bob Lyons were there ministering. Also the Mitchells. I was so nervous serving them in the dining room. Gordon McKinnon was the potboy at that time.
Then, after I married, our children enjoyed camp, too. After being campers for many years, they worked on the staff. Joanne was a waitress and John worked from the time he was 16 until he got married, serving as lifeguard and later counselor. We all grew to love camp and the Gardiners.
RUDY JOSENHANS
I was a camper that first year at Brant Lake. My family used to go to Liberty Corner on a regular basis, but somehow I wound up at Pilgrim Camp in 1946. I was 17 at the time, and I suppose the campers were allowed to be a little older then.
My recollections are a little vague, and the years seem to run together. I do recall some tidbits. I remember Arthur Waldvogel playing his trumpet in the morning to wake everyone up. He played in the meetings, too. I had brought my fiddle along, and Caroline would play the piano. We had good meetings with lots of praise. I especially remember a good meeting we had on Watch Rock one night.
We used to swim across the lake with rowboats following us. Sometimes we would canoe down to Horicon and then get out on shore and walk to the general store for an ice cream. One year we played softball against the fellows from Horicon. There were always plenty of mosquitos at camp, even back then. Another thing that sticks out in my mind is Brother Karl Sailer driving pretty fast in his truck back and forth to town. I guess it was safer in those days, because there weren't that many cars on the road.
SARAH GERBINO KLAUS
It was June, 1946 and I was looking to spend some time in the summer home of a school chum. Edith Waldvogel approached me after Sunday school with a message from Sister Caroline Gardiner, who was at the time in Brant Lake. A place in the Adirondack Mountains had been purchased, and workers were needed. Would I be interested? I really wanted to spend time with my friend, but I knew in my heart what the Lord wanted me to do.
The beauty of camp was breathtaking. One of my first jobs was waitressing. When it rained during the serving time, you had to run with trays from the kitchen to the dining room. When the dining room became crowded with guests, tables were put on the porch both in the front and on the side. After waitressing, I either washed or dried dishes. In the evening, I was a part-time junior counselor, taking care of the younger girls in the Boathouse.
The following year, when the Palace was built, I counseled full time under Sister Margaret Michelsen. Eventually I became the head counselor for a number of years. I can still hear the girls singing and praising the Lord in the upstairs chapel room. Such wonderful memories come back to me of the Palace days.
I spent the entire summers of 1946 and 1947 at camp. I often think of the choice I had to make that first summer. If I had chosen to go through with my own plans, I wonder if God would have been able to lead me where He wanted me? 1946 was the year I made a consecration to follow Jesus into Christian work. I will always thank the Lord for the privilege of going to camp and finding Jesus in a greater way.
GORDON P. GARDINER
Diary Excerpts
FEBRUARY 1946
(5) Betty Schilly, Anna Hahn, Elsie Keller graduate...
MARCH 1946
(25) HW left for California... (26) Left for Lake George with Edwin and Edith and Karl Sailer... (27) Scouted around... (28) Prayed this a.m. for definite guidance. Lord marvelously led us to Brant Lake property... (29) Went over to Brant Lake again. Dealt with the real estate man.
APRIL 1946
(2) Had dinner with Karl and Edwin. Discussed matters... (4) Saw Mr. Miller, lawyer, today about forming a corporation to hold Brant Lake property... (5) Edwin told GAW [Gottfried A. Waldvogel]. We again?all of us?committed the matter to the Lord... (10) HW returned from California late this afternoon... (11) After dinner, HW, Edwin, Arthur and I left for Chestertown. Arrived there about 9:30. Had several good discussions on the way... (12) This a.m. we all went out to view the property on Brant Lake with Mr. Stevenson. HW said little, but seemed to like it. HW and I returned this afternoon by plane so that I could get started on paper. Worked this evening late. It was a beautiful trip down the Hudson. We could see Hyde Park and the crowd of cars gathered for today's activities there when the estate was turned over to the U.S. and Truman spoke... (15) About 5 HW, Edwin, Edith, Karl, Carol and I met to discuss purchase of camp. It was decided... (16) Called Stevenson... (18) HW took me to dinner to discuss camp with me... (23) This evening "the board" met for prayer re camp. We decided to incorporate under the name of Pilgrim Camp. Also, HW and GAW are to be invited to join us as members.
MAY 1946
(3) This a.m. we received a copy of the letter sent to Stevenson re Freedman property... (13) Decided to leave for Brant Lake. Just a little after 7, Edwin, Karl and I left. Stayed at Albany "Y"...
(14) Left Albany for Glens Falls a little after 9. The Lord made so real to me this a.m. Psalm 19. Had dip at Y in Glens Falls. Visited Finch & Pruyan [and] Health Office. Then on to Chestertown. Made inventory of furnishings. Then over "abandoned road" to Padan Aram road to see Hutsteiners and Steves and back again... (15) Quite a wonderful day in seeing the Lord's appointments. The health inspector came and went with us to camp. Charles Hofflander here from Okinawa... (17) Today I signed the contract for purchasing the Daniel B. Freedman property now known as Camp Watch Rock, Brant Lake, New York. Paid $1,000 [down]... (18) Had conference with Edwin and Edith and Karl re camp dates, camp rules, etc. Very good. Early this a.m. it came to me, "the government is upon His shoulders." The Lord is impressing me more and more that it is His camp.
JUNE 1946
(10) HW, Wally and Betty Schilly left for Kenosha today... (12) Miller called. We have to get consent of trustees for use of [term] "affiliated with RPC"... (14) At meeting tonight, GAW explained about camp... (19) Chuck Hofflander arrived this a.m... (26) Went to purchase rafts.
JULY 1946
(1) With men?impossible. With God, all things possible. By the exceeding goodness of God we were able to purchase this afternoon the property on Brant Lake for Pilgrim Camp. Some day!... (3) Busy packing all morning. Left NYC about 2:20 with Al Horn, Anna Hahn, Gritli, Carol and myself. Fine trip. Stayed in Warrensburg... ( 4) Rose early and came to camp. Arrived about 9. Started to clean at once. Did a good job in den and main lodge. Johnnie and Lilly, Ernie and Ann here visiting. Edwin, Karl, Ronald Onkes, Alfred, Arthur, Charles H. complete the gang... (5) Alfred and I went to Albany to see about the rafts, express, etc. Then to Speculator where I had a fine visit with the R[idgewood] folks. At camp tonight we had a marvelous prayer. Johnnie testified to real help. God put His name in this place as never before. Tony and Lilly arrived today... (6) The B's and Edith left this a.m. This afternoon Karl and Al Horn. Worked on beds, especially some in Camp Belle. Mr. Josenhans called today... (7) This day a blessed one of rest. And how we all needed it! Good evening service. Tony and Lilly left today... (8) More work on beds. Joe Schilly and Theodore G. came back with Karl... (9) Got our room straightened out. It is beautiful...
(10) Alfred and I went to Albany and Vorheesville today. Filed sugar rationing application. Got three life rafts. When returned to camp found the refrigerator installed. Swept front porch and arranged [it]. The lodge (main room) arranged today. First meal tonight in Freedom Lodge...
(11) Truly it has been wonderful how the Lord has worked. Today the chlorinator came and was installed. I cleaned downstairs of boat house. Carol washed. Gritli, Anna Marie and Anna H cleaned the little house [Cottage]...
(12) Had good prayer for the camp tonight when we all got together for that purpose. Alfred and Herman DePold arrived this afternoon. Jack B. brought Mrs. Sailer and the children...
(13) At our first worship period tonight, Edwin gave [a verse] for the camp. Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. The boys arrived irregularly today...
(14) Good Sunday school. Hard sledding at night. In afternoon truck took most of us to Fort Ticonderoga...
(16) Today the telephone was installed...
(17) Fellows on hike to Pharaoh Mountain and Lake...
(18) HW and the Fosters arrived this evening in time for worship. God spoke wonderfully about how He had put His presence here and would keep it here as long as we kept it "holiness to the Lord." Later the Lord spoke of how He wanted this spot on earth to be a "vestibule of heaven" and a place where there will be a foretaste of heaven?where there is no sorrow...
(19) Another wonderful meeting tonight. The fruits of it were best seen when after it [unnamed person] returned two swords and a dagger which he had stolen and had hidden in the woods...
(20) One cesspool (large) finished today?and the middle one almost. HW left today. God certainly has met us...
(22) [One of the fellows] came this afternoon to air the grievances of the boys. Their troubles and difficulties simply mean this: is this place to be run as a summer resort, every man doing that which is right in his own eyes? Or is it to be a camp where all comply with the routine of camp life?...
(23) God has marvelously cleared up the difficulties here in camp. Had a good talk with --- tonight and believe our differences have largely been resolved. Swam over and back across the lake...
(24) Good evening worship. Martha P., Elisabeth L. and Frieda N. came over for a few hours today from Camp of the Woods. HW and Edith arrived late tonight. The fill has begun here and two mishaps. The big cesspool (one wall) caved in. The middle one--parts of two walls...
(25) Excellent day. State health inspector here. Many of our principles confirmed: no swimming alone; a life guard not required, but supervision required; be very careful about kitchen and dining room; no open garbage...
(26) O God, give me love. I feel my lack of it so greatly. Under pressure, when there is danger of trouble, I so often become hard. Difficult to express. But, O God, keep me very sweet. Had a very successful hot dog roast tonight on Watch Rock...
(27) The exodus [of the first group of campers] began early this a.m. [More] arrived in the afternoon. A lively bunch. In between we all cleaned house...
(28) Edwin conducted a fine Sunday school in the morning. In the afternoon, Chuck and I took the boys on a hike?perhaps 3 or 4 miles one way. My feet took a beating, but it was worth it. Fine evening service. Edwin did well. Several went into library to pray?Mary Gray, Ruth Pollack, Janet M. and Billy Cooper. Great presence of the Lord there. Said I not unto thee that if thou wouldst believe?
AUGUST 1946
(10) Well, the children left this a.m. and the girls arrived. What a change! I am relaxed though tired. Other observations from these two weeks: Not such a long rest period; and not such a large crowd. Our crowd was too large this time for our staff and facilities. Smaller numbers in a room and in a house mean less trouble and a better spirit...Good meeting tonight...
(11) Had quite an experience here with people having lice. HW showed Gospel film in evening. Meades here...
(19) Read Fred, Marie and Me tonight to the campers...
(24) Girls left this a.m. ...
(26) Jackie H. and Joe S. arrived today. Mr. & Mrs. GAW came, Alfred and Stanley. HW came too...
(28) Today we visited Brant Lake Camp?much to our profit. We find that for a camp, we have been much too lenient--not strict enough.
SEPTEMBER 1946
(1) A day of rest--first since camp opened. Wonderful meeting tonight. GAW gave one of his very best ever...
(2) It is not wise for anyone to stay here too long unless he has the vision of the work. He gets careless, natural, at home...
(3) I failed by not acting in love?by not rejoicing always...
(5) HW sent money and word to have his Kodak cared for...
(16) HW here. Arthur still quite sick from leg infection...
(18) Edwin, Edith, Carol and I had good talk with HW about camp...
(19) Wally, Nina, Bob, Milton and HW left today...
(20) I think this is the most perfect birthday I have ever celebrated. I had so many of my close friends with me--Edwin and Edith, Paul and Jo, Janice and Paulie, Chuck, Arthur and Gordon Waldvogel, Gritli and Elisabeth Lindau. Edwin prayed that I would know the Lord as my portion, remembering that the Levites had no portion on earth...
(24) Bob, Arthur, Elisabeth Lindau and GAW left today. Busy closing up...
(26) Tonight we went to revival at Wesleyan Methodist Church...
(27) Chuck, Gritli, Carol and I left for bus and New York about 9:45. Rest to follow by car. And so camp is closed.
This is not intended to be a complete and in-depth history of Pilgrim Camp. Perhaps some day soon one will be forthcoming. In the meantime, the following are testimonies of early campers recounting their first years at Lake George and Brant Lake.
GORDON P. GARDINER
From previous writings and taped interviews
In 1946, the beautiful thirty-four acre tract of land at the head of Brant Lake in the Adirondack Mountains, formerly the summer estate of a wealthy New Yorker, was purchased, and Pilgrim Camp came into being.
The earliest beginnings actually occurred years before, in 1939, when Hans R. Waldvogel, pastor of the Ridgewood Pentecostal Church, suggested to several of the young men that they take their Sunday school boys camping on Lake George. After the success of these trips, which continued annually there for several years, Pastor Waldvogel planted the idea of purchasing some land for camp use. Some time before, he had received a substantial amount of money from the sale of a house he had purchased before going into the ministry. He had given the house to his parents when he entered the ministry. On their death, the money returned to him, but he felt this money should be used for the work of the Lord.
On March 26, 1946, Edwin and Edith Waldvogel, Karl Sailer and Gordon P. Gardiner went up north scouting for a site. They looked at various properties on Lake George but did not find anything suitable. Finally they were put in touch with a real estate agent from Warrensburg, who suggested they look a little further north at two possibly suitable properties. The first site, a "camp" on Friend's Lake, was inaccessible, due to the winter thawing. The second property was part of an estate bequeathed to a Manhattan hospital, the trustees of which were negotiating the sale.
When they arrived on the grounds of what is now Pilgrim Camp on Brant Lake, the surveyors had begun to divide the 34 acres into smaller parcels, since it had been on the market for so long with no prospective buyers. Later, after driving Pastor Waldvogel up to see the property, and after much prayer, it was decided they would make an offer of $15,000. (The asking price was $25,000.)
Gordon Gardiner recalled the day they received an answer. He had just left the Faith Home in Woodhaven, where the Gardiners had been living at that time, when the call came. Caroline took the message: the estate trustees would not accept the offer of $15,000, but they would accept $18,000 cash. This counter offer was accepted and things began to move in earnest.
"While the legalities were in process, we were given permission to do work on the exterior of the property, providing we did not sleep on the grounds and that we did no work inside the buildings," Gordon remembered. It was during this period that Edwin, his brother Arthur, Charles Hofflander and Karl Sailer stayed off grounds and did a lot of needed work. The understanding was that if the deal did not go through, they would not be reimbursed for any improvement expenses. On July 1, 1946, the closing took place, and on July 13, 1946 the first group of boy campers arrived.
EDWIN H. WALDVOGEL
My uncle first became acquainted with Lake George through the Meiers, whom he had met in Europe in 1932. After they came to America and settled in the midwest for a while, they accepted a job offer to work as gardeners on a Lake George estate. The Meiers had received the baptism before going upstate, and so my uncle would visit them once in a while and spend a few days with them. I accompanied him several times on these trips. He would take me along just to give me a good time.
Of course Lake George was magnificent to me. At that time it was not very populated. The only way to get to Bolton was by boat. The train would pull into Lake George and a short distance away was a boat dock where three steamers were available to take people up the lake, stopping at several towns along the way. Later the construction of a highway began that went through to Ticonderoga. (This proved to be the death knell for Lake George as it was then, because this beautiful area, once secluded and a haven to wealthy city folks, became increasingly inhabited by tourists. One by one the beautiful large estates were put on the real estate market.)
So in 1939, having become familiar with the area, my uncle encouraged Gordon Gardiner and Charles Andrews to take their Sunday school classes there. They rented three cottages, managed by Mr. Steves, a man who worked with Mr. Meiers. There was no running water and we had old fashioned kerosene stoves. For several years we rented those cottages and had a wonderful time. Later, when the war came with its associated gasoline and tire restrictions, we were able to rent some additional motel units, since the tourist business was so bad. Then the older people from the fellowship began coming up, and year after year we had a nice group of people.
I remember when the girls first wanted to get in on things. They grew a little tired of the fare offered them and decided to have a spaghetti meal one time. So up came Rosie and some of the other adventurous ones to cook on those kerosene stoves. After waiting several hours past the noon meal hour, they still couldn't get the water to boil. Finally they realized the pot was too large for that stove, and only when they got the idea to divide the water into smaller pots, did things move a little faster.
Although we may not have had the best facilities and accommodations there, the spiritual side was another thing. People sought the Lord, and He came in a wonderful way?especially to the young fellows. Later, when the adults began vacationing there, my father and uncle both came and ministered in the tent we would set up on the property. The town people came also. So we had a real camp going there for a while.
When the war ended and travel began again, Mr. Steves decided not to rent us the cabins anymore, and we understood that very well. But it was one of the reasons we decided we would look for property of our own, a place that we could expand?where boys and girls could have a little of the outdoors and swimming. We looked around the Lake George area, but we couldn't find anything with a good, safe, accessible beach along that whole western side. Of course properties there were very expensive too. At that time Lake George property was going for $100 per foot of lakefront, whereas further north it was only $10 a foot.
So in the spring of 1946, several of us went upstate. We spent the first two days in Lake George. Then on the third day, after spending a morning in prayer, we decided to go further north. I remember driving up and seeing beautiful Brant Lake. As we came to the end of the lake and drove on the property, we met Allen Meade, the caretaker of the estate and a local political official. Later he would become a good friend of the camp.
As we went around and looked at the grounds, Mr. Meade would have to remove some of the boards and shutters to allow a little daylight into the buildings. The power was turned off at that time. The property, we felt, was ideal. Although we felt that this was an answer to prayer, the Ridgewood church had just purchased the building on Harman Street and the brethren felt the church should not accept this obligation. That is why to this day the camp and the Ridgewood church are legally separate. We feel this has been an advantage all through the years.
Eventually we purchased the property, and now there were the jobs that had to be done. First of all, the place was cluttered with more than just deer heads and other stuffed animals. Mr. Freedman had travelled and collected relics from all over the world—swords, daggers, incense burners from Asia, large decorated stands, lamps and other brass items, many of them with serpents and other beastly designs—really heathen in appearance. This had quite an effect on Mr. Gardiner especially, and they had to be taken off the property the sooner the better! We kept some as decorations, but we disposed of many items and donated other things to an Indian museum in the Bronx.
We immediately went to the Board of Health in Glens Falls and asked for suggestions. They were amazed that we came to them and asked for advice before we started. They said that generally it was the other way around.
The only sanitary facilities available were chemical toilets located in what is now the ladies room. There was no running water there. A few small buildings were in such bad shape that they had to be torn down. We also had to take down some trees. Several had purposely been allowed to grow through the lodge porch deck and roof, and although it may have been nice to have these trees there when they were smaller, they had increased in size and they now almost entirely filled the holes that had initially been made for them. When the wind blew, the entire lodge would sway.
While working on the cesspools with some of the young men that first year, the Lord showed me at one of our morning worships that a trial would be coming that day—and that we should be prepared for it. I passed the word on to the fellows, and we prayed about it. God did a wonderful thing that day. As they hauled in material from Mr. Meade's gravel pit, one of the side walls of the cesspool caved in. The man in charge began jumping up and down and cursing. But none of our fellows was troubled at all. Nobody made a remark, nobody showed disappointment. The Lord just held us. There was no murmuring or complaining. We just got to work and began rebuilding the wall. It was wonderful. And afterwards we found out that this had made quite an impression on them and that Mr. Meade had expressed to others in town that "those fellows have the real thing."
We had enough wood on the property to keep the kitchen woodburning stove going. Brother and Sister Onkes were the first cooks at Brant Lake, and they really had to endure. When it became very hot outside, it was even hotter inside. But we also needed lumber for other projects, and at that time permission was needed from the government to use any kind of lumber for building purposes. We met a local fellow whose wife was one of a group of very fine prayer warriors in the Wesleyan Methodist Church. He expressed to us that he liked the work we were doing among the children and said he would give us any lumber we needed. He had trees on his property, he had his own sawmill, and any wood he cut or milled did not come under government control. He also put at our disposal kegs of nails, which in those days were very scarce. Anything we wanted, he tried to help us with. We saw again the hand of God in arranging for us to get in touch with that contractor. Later he helped us with other projects.
One thing that really changed camp radically was the relocation of the main town road, which originally came right through the camp property—along the shore, in front of the Lodge and down past the Palace. The turn in the road there by the [ministers'] cabin was quite a difficult one to maneuver, too. But it took a very serious accident to wake up the county that something needed to be done about that road. Eventually they decided to re-route it from the bridge right through our property and down in front of the newly-built Palace. In fact, the county had already staked out the path a new road would take, which is why even today the Palace is built on a slight angle from the road—in line with the proposed staking at that time. But then they changed their minds and decided to bring the road through behind the Palace and down to the Village area where we now have the archery set up. The road was to continue along the shore in front of the property adjoining ours. When Mr. Heller, our neighbor, heard this proposal, he was upset. Ultimately he became very persuasive with the officials and came to some sort of agreement. As a result of these negotiations between Mr. Heller and the county, although they had already started clearing trees on our property, this work was halted and the plans were changed to construct the road as it is now, bypassing both the camp and the Heller property. No one can fully understand what a blessing that has been to the camp, and again we saw how God stretched out His hand for us.
The caretaker of the Freedman property lived in what we now call Cherub Inn, which was located much closer to the lake than it is now. Next to it was an old garage with a gas pump nearby. Karl Sailer moved both the house and the garage back and years later built another similar structure called Seraph Inn. The old garage eventually became the site of the children's chapel.
Although the water we pumped up from the lake for drinking and cooking was pure, it was not very cool by the time it came from the faucet. Several years after camp opened, one of our German sisters [Mrs. Bremer] took a drink from one of the fountains, and the water was lukewarm. This was just too much for her. As a result, she paid for the search and digging of a new well, for which we were very thankful.
From the very start, all improvements and moves made at camp were prayed over and considered very earnestly by the camp trustees. My uncle would join us and we would pray together and consider what to do. We always determined, by the grace of God, to seek His will. We wanted to please Him in everything, praying that the government of camp would be on His shoulders.
The Gardiners were the first directors. They were able to be at camp the entire summer and give themselves to the camp work. Karl Sailer, also one of the early trustees, was a wonderful gift of God to the camp as our caretaker for many years. Gritli Sager came along and was our nurse. How thankful we are for these oldtimers. Alice and Margrit Blum came, Sister Elisabeth Lindau used to come and work diligently until she went out as a missionary. Sister Pearl Young also spent summers at camp. And so God has always raised people to work at camp. He has put a real love in their hearts for the work of the Lord. That has been a marvelous thing to me all these years.
It is a joy to ask our Sunday school children how many found the Lord at Pilgrim Camp and to see the response. Some were saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. The adults, too, have been touched by God and have received healing. We trust that in the coming seasons the Lord will allow us to continue seeing His kingdom grow, His will to be done and His work accomplished in the hearts of the young and old. Most of all, we pray that children who don't know Him will find Him; and all those who do have a knowledge of the Lord will open the door wider to Him.
CHARLES N. ANDREWS
From a 1971 taped interview
Several car loads of us went up that first year in 1939. Gordon Gardiner and I had asked our Sunday school classes about the trip, and they all wanted to go. Frank Galish drove his car and stayed with us.
Since there were no plumbing facilities in the cottages we rented, we had to bring water up the hill from a little stream down below. All the boys took turns doing dishes and other chores. They all pitched in and helped. Gordon and I were the cooks that first time, and we went into town and bought food on a daily basis. Neither of us knew much about cooking, and so we'd have to ask the butcher how much meat we needed for this many boys. I believe there were 14 fellows that first time. (The second year at Lake George, 1940, my mother came up and did the cooking for us, which was very helpful. Of course we had more time with the boys then.) Later Edith Waldvogel and others helped with the cooking.
One day Charlie Kreuzer volunteered to cook pancakes. He wanted to make them from scratch. They turned out very well, and the boys made it clear that they liked his flat pancakes much more than the ones we had made from the box. I think it was that year that Anthony (Sid) Galeoto and Vito Gaglio prepared a dinner. They worked for a long, long time on that meal, but it was worth it.
It was interesting to be with the boys in that setting. I remember Vito complaining that he was kept awake until 4 o'clock in the morning from a robin's chirping. I guess a New York City train wouldn't have done that, but a bird did. We had a real good time. We usually started out in the morning having worship after breakfast. While Gordon and I prepared dinner, the boys would play ball and run around. In the afternoon we would go swimming. Ernie Bieber served as our lifeguard. He was a little older and a good swimmer. Once we took a day trip to New Hampshire to visit one of Gordon's relatives.
Gordon and I would generally take some time during the day and go off some place to pray. Usually to a cemetery. I feel those seasons at camp prepared me for my ministry in the years to follow.
Mr. Waldvogel came there to Lake George and was with us a for a few days at the beginning. He set the pace. He started us with reading Proverbs, each boy reading around and commenting on his verse. As a result of this, one of the campers, Eddie Gadzaliszyn went home and told his mother that he wanted to follow this pattern. I think Eddie in particular is an outstanding example of the help camp has been to our young people. He was a changed boy. (We remained friends, and years later he visited us and attended one of our street meetings while he was in the Navy. Shortly after, he was killed while serving his country.)
On Sundays we took the boys to a little Wesleyan Methodist church not far from Lake George. On one of those days there was a travelling evangelist there, an elderly man. He had one eye. We had a little difficulty there, because the boys began laughing. But we got through it anyway. Other times we would go over to Hudson Falls to a Pentecostal church.
The girls decided they wanted the camping experience, too, so in 1940 they had their own time. Mr. Waldvogel evidently had this camp work in his light for years. After the first couple years at Lake George, I began driving him around looking for our own camp site. We went all over upstate and around Albany. At that time there were several estates for sale right on Lake George. But Brother Waldvogel was very careful. He would often just make suggestions and put out feelers and see if anything developed.
ARTHUR WALDVOGEL
From a 1970 taped interview
Some of us had been going to Lake George several years before the camp began. Louis Klaus and my brothers Edwin, Herbert and I enjoyed camping there in tents, and we had one of our Sunday school picnics up there, too.
Later I helped as a junior counselor for two years. I was 21 at that time. I was given care of a cabin with three or four of the boys who were 10 or 12 years of age. The cabin had two or three rooms and a porch. Altogether there were about 30 boys at this time in four cabins, which were quite large?five rooms in each. We had meetings in one of them and we ate in one of them. Sometimes we had to feed the boys in two shifts. I believe the adults ate by themselves. Different people cooked at different times: a woman from Yorkville was there, Edith Waldvogel, Wally Roth, Mrs. [Rosa] Kreuzer—they all helped out. I remember Mrs. Kreuzer coming back from an early morning jaunt with some fresh raspberries or blackberries which she had just picked. Another time my father came from town with about a dozen pies.
The water we had to carry from the brook was not only used for drinking and cooking, but we used it to wash the dishes, too. It was a small brook, but it had quite a bit of water. The boys all took turns getting water, and I think we took turns washing dishes on the back porch, too.
My father would have meetings or Bible studies in one of the main houses on the Steves' property. My uncle would also come up now and then. He had a tent and would show Mickey McGuire films. Often there were swarms of mosquitos, so we would build fires. We tried to play ball, but these mosquitos were so thick they would get into your eyes and your mouth. It was terrible.
After a few years on Lake George, we realized that we'd have to make a move. First of all, the cottages were in very bad shape and falling to pieces. Screens would come loose from the windows and the doors were coming off the hinges. The place was just falling apart and the whole arrangement with kerosene stoves and no running water?just proved too primitive. If I recall correctly, we had to use lanterns. We also realized we did not have the privacy we wanted for worship and prayer, and we began hearing things from the neighbors. Then, too, the whole idea of camp began catching on with the girls. I remember Emma Schuschat [Posta] brought up some young ladies, and it started catching on more with the adults, too. There was a definite indication that a need existed for our own place.
Eventually we located the camp site on Brant Lake. I first went up there with Uncle Hans and Gordon Gardiner before it was bought. We stayed in Chestertown at the Panther Mountain House. It was early in the Spring and it was quite cold yet. Others had already looked at the property before.
After we purchased the property, I went up to help prepare the place for the first campers. It all happened so quickly. We took possession just a few weeks before camp was to open, and a lot of work was necessary. That first year at Brant Lake both boys and girls were campers. I was working on the grounds primarily. Charlie Hofflander and Caroline were acting as counselors for these groups. We would have our meetings in what was then the dining room and is now the adult library. We'd sit around the tables in there. Uncle Hans came and helped sometimes. I remember how he prayed for one fellow. He said there was a small candle of light that God had placed into this boy. And he prayed that the Lord would take care of that light that it wouldn't go out.
The second year of camp they built the Palace, which was used to house the campers. Two large rooms downstairs were used as dormitories, each holding 16 boys. On either side of these large rooms, in the middle of the Palace, was a small counselor room. Charlie [Hofflander] and I were the counselors this year. We had a really rough time. Most of the kids were new to any kind of camp life and we were new to camp life. I used to stand in the middle of the room at night until those kids calmed down and went to sleep. They would throw their shoes at each other, shine flashlights around and just cut up. To have all those kids in double bunks in one room, you can imagine what fun they had. At that time the activities weren't as structured. We had to devise all our own activities. It was very strenuous. The Gardiners and Sister Gritli helped us along this line in directing us. We had our worship right there where we ate. By the second season we had also built the children's dining room, which is now Mayhew Manor.
In those days we had ball games and would play against the Boy Scouts. We would go to town and play. We'd also pile into an old truck and go out to the sand pits. It was a lot of fun riding on that truck. We also did quite a bit of hiking those first years and explored a lot of places. I think the first year we were there the workers went up to Pharaoh Lake together.
Something happened at camp in those early years, on a Labor Day weekend. We were expecting quite a group of young people and adults. Brother Gardiner came to me beforehand and mentioned he would like me to find out about renting a film. Those were the days before retreats, and he wanted something special for the weekend. I contacted a local company that came around and would show films for a fee, and after looking through a catalog we chose one on the life of Franz Schubert. From its description, it appeared to be harmless and interesting. So the day came, and two men arrived with their equipment and started showing the picture. Well, it turned out to be a rather worldly film. I remember it showed some very wild parties. All of a sudden Brother Gordon calls out, "Stop!" Now remember, a lot of people were there watching this film. And he says again, "Stop! I'm afraid this is not the kind of film we want to be watching here. This is not in keeping with our standards at camp, and it's not the kind of thing we want to see." Even some of our people were kind of puzzled and taken back. There were quite some groans from the young people, many of whom had just returned from the Army. But Brother Gardiner stood his ground. He told me to quickly go over to Watch Rock and get a fire going for a wiener roast. It turned out to be a nice evening after all. But it made an impression on me. I saw that this man was willing to stick his neck out and be very unpopular, if necessary, to keep the standards up; and I admired him for that.
A lot of things at camp developed gradually. Camp life was all new to the Gardiners and the others. We just had to feel our way. In the early days the young people might go out in a boat at night or read, or play anagrams. But then there were problems, too. And I suppose that's why it became necessary to have activities and scheduled meetings. When we were first there, we were a small group and a family. We knew each other and trusted each other. But as things grew and others came, we found people might not share that same attitude. So it had to be changed.
There was a time, too, when people wanted to have more freedom?go off to Lake George at nights, some wanted to buy a piece of the property and build a cabin. There were all kinds of pressures in the first few years. People had their ideas about the way things should be run, and it was a struggle for the Gardiners—determining how to do things and how to please God.
One time in a meeting, Hans Waldvogel began a sort of groaning, which naturally puzzled people. Only later he told Brother Gardiner that the Lord had given him a sight or vision of what Pilgrim Camp could become if the flesh were allowed to reign and unless they kept it "holiness unto the Lord". I believe Brother Waldvogel spoke firmly to them about this being an important part of directing the camp, and the Gardiners took it very seriously.
GRITLI SAGER
On the drive up to camp that first year on July 3, 1946, we first had to make a stop in Manhattan to pick up the deed. It was very hot, and the drive took a long time. We decided to stay overnight in Saratoga, but we couldn't find anything that was suitable, available or within our means. We continued north and finally around midnight found lodging in Warrensburg. We stayed overnight and then went on to Brant Lake the next morning, July 4th.
We arrived around 9 a.m. Although the grounds were beautiful, a lot of work had to be done. I had been serving the Lord in Virginia and came back at the prompting of Uncle Hans and Brother Gordon. Apparently Brother Waldvogel had gotten light that I should serve at camp, and he relayed it to Gordon. I prayed about it and felt it was of God. We had intentions of coming to the property much earlier, but the deed and other legal papers were delayed for two weeks. That is why we could not begin cleaning and getting things ready until we received word. At that time, when things did not seem to be moving too quickly, Uncle Hans helped test Gordon's faith by asking him, "Are you sure it's the right thing?" Brother Gordon was a little upset.
In addition to the beautiful lodge, the original buildings at camp included a boathouse, a dining room (which is now the library), a kitchen off the lodge, a storage room (where Brainerd's Hut now stands), and next to that storage room was an ice house. This was torn down in 1947 and a children's dining room was built. Later it became Mayhew Manor. An old barn stood where the laundry room is now, which came down years later. There was a little cabin right behind the old kitchen, which was moved down to Cherub Inn, and then much later down to the Village.
In those early years of camp, the lake was quite a closed community. There was a lot of talk and competition between those wealthy people?who had the fanciest car? the best cook? which cook had the best recipes?
Before we went up, Caroline and I went to Manhattan shopping for cutlery. It was a very hot day. We found something we liked, but we didn't have enough money with us. Then we remembered that Lilly Schilly [Kreuzer] worked nearby, so we went to her job and borrowed some money from her.
That first year the Mitchells were there with their children, and Joanne and I swam across the lake. Later the Sailers moved to camp. Trudy Sailer was just a few months old. Before Karl Sailer built their home, they stayed where the office is now, in Camp Belle, which had been an apartment for Mr. Freedman's sister.
I have such good recollections of the early camp days. Each year things got organized better. I consider camp my home. I was there almost every year since 1946, and I am thankful for the years I was able to serve the Lord there.
KARL SAILER, SR.
One of the first things we had to do at the camp in 1946 was to arrange for drinking water. Mr. Freedman had just put in electricity a few years before he died, but the pump to get water from the lake was run by a windmill on Watch Rock. Since the place had been vacant for so long, by the time we got there and looked things over, the windmill was smashed and good for nothing. The pump also was very dilapidated.
We decided not to use a windmill and instead to run an electric line over to Watch Rock to drive a pump. But it was just after the war, and supplies like that were almost impossible to get. We had been in touch with the Health Department, and one of the men there told us about a place in Plattsburgh that had just installed new pumps. He suggested that maybe we could contact them and find out about the old ones. I remember Edwin and I drove up there and got a pump and a motor. That was a real miracle.
The people in Ridgewood were very generous with furniture and other things we needed for camp. And the young people were very involved in the work and pitched in to drive these donations up. My truck made seven trips that first year! I remember Gordon Waldvogel helping to drive some of those times.
The second year we had a big flood. The water level was about five feet higher than usual. It came up and over where the bridge is, and you could take a boat right over the road across into the swamps. It was up to the floor level of the Boathouse, perhaps an inch below. You could dive right out the front door.
All down the lake the roads were flooded. One day our friend and neighbor, Mr. Meade, called and asked if we could come across the lake and pick him up and take him as far as our place. He wanted to go to town, because there was some word that the dam was about to wash out in Horicon.
We had just painted our rowboats the day before so Arthur Waldvogel decided to take a canoe over. It was kind of a cloudy and rainy day. We later found out that Arthur had to go back far into the brush to get Mr. Meade.
Another neighbor lady heard them calling to each other through the fog, and she thought somebody was shouting for help and was drowning on the lake. So she got on the telephone and spread the news. Mrs. Meade, knowing her husband was out on the lake, and knowing he had trouble with his heart, imagined all sorts of things. They got in touch with camp, and then Charlie Kreuzer and Charles Hofflander went off in a big rowboat looking. Gordon, Caroline, Gritli and I kept walking up and down the shore. I went down to the Cottage. Somehow my boot came off, or I took it off?I don't remember why. But just then I saw what looked like an empty canoe, and I walked back to the Boathouse with my boot in my hand and said, "Well, I think Art's gone." Of course they all looked at the boot and thought the worst.
We continued watching. First we thought we could see the canoe. Then we couldn't. It was hazy and everyone was imagining things. Elizabeth Lindau said, "Wouldn't it be terrible to start camp with a funeral." But meanwhile, Art and Mr. Meade were paddling over to camp. Art saw the two Charlie's coming towards them, and he later told us he wondered why those two guys took one of the newly-painted boats and were having a good time.
When Art finally made it to the Boathouse Gordon was all excited and asked, "What happened?" Allen Meade responded, "Well' we're getting a lot of rain."
Finally it was all explained, and Mr. Meade called his wife. Caroline said, "I knew Artie could take care of himself. I knew nothing was wrong."
ERNEST BIEBER
Our arrival in 1939 at Bolton seemed endless, but we endured. It was a ten-hour drive on Route 9 from Red Hook, where the Taconic Parkway ended. No Thruway or Northway existed.
Bolton was a very small town with one commercial building that contained the post office, a gasoline station and a small store. We could hardly wait to get to Trail's End, our housekeeping cabin.
The main room in the cabin had a large table and chairs and was used for eating, worship and fellowship. Every morning we sang, worshipped and read the Word. Each camper was asked to comment on the verses we read, and if nothing came to mind, the usual comment was, "It's self explanatory." Brother Gordon always elaborated on the chapter, though, and it was here that I was first taught never to take a verse out of its context.
Our song service was different also. We sang a capella (12 male voices), and the favorites were "Dare To Be A Daniel" and "Mansion Over The Hilltop," the latter one being the one we sang the loudest and most often. We ended our day with evening worship, giving us time to pray and wait on the Lord. One Sunday night we were taken to the Baptist church in Bolton Landing. An evangelist gave an interesting sermon on "Mighty to Save," but he had fierce competition from a nanny goat wandering about in the side yard. The fellows had a hard time keeping the laughter inward, but we managed to keep control?with the help of Brother Gordon's guiding eye.
In the mornings, our free time was spent pitching horseshoes, hiking or playing softball in the cow pasture located behind the cabin, but the afternoons were usually spent by the lake at the town beach which had a nice long dock. The Lord directs our steps without our knowing why or how. I had taken a lifesaving course in high school, so I served as one of the first camp lifeguards. There was a large rock sticking out of the water about one hundred feet from the end of the dock where we swam. We made good use of this rock to sit and rest. It was also used as a hiding place for our baths and occasional night swims. Of course these times were never long enough, and Brother Gordon often had to come down with his big bright flashlight and bring us back. We had a great time.
It was the start of something that increased in the years that followed and still lasts to this day.
WILLIAM LIEBMANN
I was 14 years old in 1939. That year and the next I was a camper in Bolton. We left Ridgewood for camp after the Sunday night meeting. It was past midnight, and it took us 14 hours to drive up. We had a flat before we got out of Westchester and the next morning a fan belt broke on another car. But we had a good time.
Charlie and Tony Kreuzer went up that first year, too. They were pretty young at the time, but they had a car with a rumble seat and a broken or missing speedometer. I remember them pulling along aside of us and yelling out, "Hey, how fast are we going?" Another time Charles Andrews got a ticket for speeding.
Anthony Galeoto brought a pair of boxing gloves up, and Charlie Krezuer and I began throwing punches at each other. Suddenly he stopped and said, "This is no fun."
We had good times of worship around the table in one of the cabins. We memorized Psalm 15 one year. Many good memories come back to me when I think of those days.
JOANNE MITCHELL
The drive to Pilgrim Camp from Waukegan, Illinois in 1946 took us three days. We had an old, off-white Ford with a very bad set of springs. The children, Paul and Joan, were restless and uncomfortable in the back seat as we neared camp and drove over those bumpy roads.
We finally arrived at Brant Lake towards evening, tired and weary. But Gordon met us, rubbing his hands and ever joyful. He barely gave us a chance to go to the washroom. He insisted on dragging us all over and showing us around. We went up into the attic and he showed us all those treasures and those marvelous dishes.
Mostly staff was there at that time. I remember Caroline and I going to town and buying flowers. She was in charge of the planting. I also remember hiking up Swede Mountain with Paul, my husband, Edwin Waldvogel and Gordon. There were so many blueberries. It was kind of dangerous getting at them, but if you climbed down over the side, facing the mountain with your back to the drop, it wasn't too bad. We picked at least a dishpan full, and when we returned, all those German ladies cleaned them and prepared them for pies.
After that, our family went to camp almost every year. It was the highlight of the year to vacation at Pilgrim Camp. We all enjoyed it. The kids loved it. We'd always find them in the woods catching those orange colored salamanders, and of course we would have to get jars from the kitchen to put them in. The salamanders, that is.
We would take one of those big grey rowboats out past the island and get off on a nice sandy beach there. We did quite a bit of rowing in those days. We used to sleep up in the Boathouse as a family, which was a lot of fun.
I'm getting on in years now. They say you don't get old, you just get shiny. But I have such wonderful memories. Caroline and I would go out in a boat and sing. Oh my, that was so much fun. Art Waldvogel and I would sit on the swing and play Scrabble. I remember Mrs. Lydia Waldvogel being there. I asked her once if she was going to take a nap and she told me she never took naps, because once she started she would have to do it every day. Another time several of us were sitting on the Lodge porch and we saw a wonderful display of northern lights for over an hour.
There are also memories of untold blessings and glorious times spent in the sweet presence of the Lord. That overshadowing presence! So very wonderful. Those were precious, precious times, and I will never forget them.
JOSEPH SCHILLY
In 1942, at the age of 13, I had my first opportunity to be a camper. This took place at Bolton on the shores of Lake George, in three cabins--Anna Wanna, Trail's End and Winnie Winkle. While at camp during those early years, I met some exceptional people who became good friends--Sal Gaglio, Rolf Bocker, Robert Kalis, Ed Gadzaliszyn, Tony Kreuzer, Ed Potts, Ernie Bieber, Joe Oswald, Jack Hellerman, to name a few.
In 1943, during a ten-minute after-dinner worship service in Trail's End that lasted two hours, I gave my heart to the Lord and have never regretted doing so.
In 1945, we did not go to Lake George, but under the direction of Brother Karl Sailer, many boys from the Ridgewood church went up to Camp of the Woods. While there we celebrated the end of Word War II in the Pacific, V.J. Day?all of us Ridgewood campers (almost 20 people) riding through the town of Speculator, inside and outside of Brother Karl's 1934 Pontiac, with railroad flares blazing.
In 1946, when Brother Karl was led to be involved with Pilgrim Camp, he asked me to spend the summer with him, working at Pilgrim Camp. (I had been working part time for him at his business, the Forest Lumber Company.) That first year at Brant Lake, the area behind Pilgrim's Rest was cleared to make way for cesspools, the ice house was demolished and the original Cottage was remodeled.
One of my assignments that year was to supply the cooks with wood, which was the fuel used for cooking. I also had to remove all garbage and trash and burn it. Many of my friends from Lake George were also working at Pilgrim Camp. I had a wonderful summer and left for home the Saturday before school started.
Again in 1947 Brother Karl asked me to work at camp for the summer. But this time I had to start by making several trips up and moving the Sailer's household belongings to Brant Lake. The last trip up was to take Mrs. Sailer, Paul, Karl, Edwin and 3-month old Trudy and Mrs. Kreuzer. After two flats, many stops and 12 hours of traveling, the Sailers and their car arrived safe and sound in their new home.
That same year, while helping to unload the suitcases and baggage of arriving campers, I noticed a cute young girl trying to look brave in a strange place. I don't remember if I helped her with her suitcase, but she impressed me as a classy girl from Maspeth. Up to that day, I thought my four sisters and my mom were the only important girls in my life. Fortunately for me I found that not to be true. (In 1953, after returning from service the U.S. Army, I married that pretty girl, and it was the best thing I ever did!)
Our family grew and it was a great joy to have each of our four daughters spend time at camp as campers and in later years become part of the camp staff. Two of our daughters were baptized in water at Brant Lake, and one was filled with the Holy Spirit at camp. Many Memorial Day weekends were spent as a family preparing camp for the coming season. So Pilgrim Camp has meant very much to our family.
I am very thankful to the Lord for all the people who had the vision for camp and also for permitting me to spend two full summers at Pilgrim Camp during the first two years.
ANNA HAHN BOCKER
How well I remember 1946. Before graduating from high school, I was approached by the Gardiners and asked if I would consider helping open up this camp at the start of the summer. My parents were very agreeable, and so it came about that I was Pilgrim Camp's first housekeeper.
Al Horn drove us up. Gordon and Caroline Gardiner, Sister Gritli Sager and I all squeezed into a very small car. That was the start of my adventure that summer. In those days it was a big deal to drive upstate. It took much longer than it does now. That didn't deter Gordon from insisting on a few side trips of an historical nature. I remember eating in a restaurant called Smith Brothers. By the time we reached Warrensburg, it was too late to continue the trip. I shared a room with Sister Gritli in the only hotel there. The next morning we drove to Brant Lake.
Seeing this place for the first time was thrilling for me. The lodge was a collection of hunting trophies, antiques and Indian relics. Most of these items had to be carried upstairs for storage. Gordon had a great time rummaging through everything, directing that the liquor be poured out, furniture moved and playing cards and chips discarded. We scrubbed floors, washed windows, and got rid of many spider webs. You name it and I did it all joyfully. That's because the Gardiners made it all seem like an adventure?a discovery into a new world.
Caroline gave me the task of cleaning the dining room (which years later became the library). She gave me carte blanche in arranging all the curios and dishes. I understand that it remained this way for many years until the Palace was used as the dining room.
I was told that wherever I chose to sleep had to be cleaned first. When Annamarie Onkes arrived with her family, we decided we wanted to bunk in the cottage down the road (which was later named Cherub Inn). So we had our job cut out for us as we cleaned that place, getting rid of dirt and evicting the many mice.
Eventually the first group of boys arrived. They were all of different ages. My future brother-in-law, Bob Kalis, was among them. There were no counselors and no scheduled camp activities for them as there are now.
I had a terrific time that summer, including the wonderful times we gathered for our worships. It was truly a privilege for me to have had a part in the beginnings of Pilgrim Camp. In the ensuing years, camp became a special part of my life. Later on, after Rolf and I married, it continued for us as it has for our children and our children's children.
CHARLES HOFFLANDER
Karl Sailer, Edwin Waldvogel and I went up to Brant Lake in June 1946 to prepare the property for opening. We stayed at The Rising House in Chestertown until the real estate closing.
The property had 16 buildings, including a large ice house for storing huge hand-sawn ice blocks in sawdust. All cooking was done on a wood stove. Cherub counselors heated water in pails for baths. Oil lamps were used until electricity was installed. Mr. Hutsteiner, a local Christian man, a friend of his and I cleared all the timber in the area east of the Lodge. Karl and other men (including Joe Schilly) did a lot of work on the grounds, making use of the many cedar logs taken from the property. The first four wooden rowboats were very large and were made in town. A dock had to be made and board walks repaired. Two World War II life rafts were purchased.
The first official session was for the boys in July. It was a very difficult time. The ten or so campers had to bunk in scattered buildings, and construction and repairs were everywhere. Gordon conducted morning worship. I recall the final evening of that first boys' period. Rudy Josenhans and I made a lighthouse with a lantern perched above a big barrel with a sheet to give it shape. Brother Hans Waldvogel gave a challenging devotional message on Watch Rock, after which we were awed by a glorious display of northern lights. Great shafts of blue and white light scintillated from a huge hub overhead. Then from a boat below Arthur Waldvogel sang, "Let the Lower Lights Be Burning," and following each verse we on the rock responded with the chorus. As a climax, Art played taps on his trumpet, and the echoes reverberating from mountain to mountain offered a gracious finale to an otherwise stressful camp session.
Sal Gaglio stayed on a few extra days due to a sprained ankle. While visiting with him on the Lodge porch he quietly received Jesus as his Savior. This was possibly the first camp convert.
The second session in July with ten junior boys was a pleasure. For our creation study we used a large sand-filled flat as a base for trees growing in the Garden of Eden. A dahlia blossom was the tree of life. Sister Gritli made Adam and Eve of clay. A lizard served as the tempter. Gary Hoss, James Cooper and the Somma twins were in this orderly group.
I returned in 1947 and was the counselor for 14 boys. Art Waldvogel had 12. On the second floor of the Palace, in what is now the adult dining room, we had a chapel. This is where Ron Klaus received his baptism in a glorious evening meeting.
During one of those early years, the girl campers were bored with everything the camp offered. The counselors were pulling their hair out to interest them. So at a staff meeting, Gordon Gardiner led a powerful group prayer on their behalf. The change was radical. They opened up to the Lord in their worships, God met them in a mighty way, and they wept when they had to leave.
SAL GAGLIO
I was only sixteen and fresh off the asphalt streets of Brooklyn when Anthony Galeoto convinced my parents that I attend the first Pilgrim Camp session at Brant Lake. As in most lives, many concerned friends have input in seeing that a soul is exposed to the saving grace of the Lord. My parents were godly and prayed incessantly for me.
A few days before our group session was over, I injured my ankle playing baseball. Sister Gritli thought it best for me to convalesce for a few more days after the other fellows left. It was during this period of confinement that the Lord got my full and undivided attention.
Charles Hofflander was alert in challenging me while I was reclining on the Watch Rock porch. Hesitantly I entrusted my life to the Lord Jesus, wondering if He could "keep me" from the evil influences of the Brooklyn streets. He has kept me by His grace and mercy, for which I am eternally grateful.
RUTH E. KALIS
After the boys had spent several summers up at Lake George, the young ladies also went up in 1942 and 1943. When the property was purchased on Brant Lake in 1946, on August 10th a group of us young ladies went up, too. I was among that group. We took the bus from the Port Authority terminal in New York on Friday night at 11 p.m. We rode all night through every small town, stopping along the way to take on and let off passengers. Towards morning, by the time we arrived in Chestertown, the sun began to show through. Several taxis took us to Brant Lake, and we were ushered into the beautiful museum-like lodge.
We had a time of orientation that morning after breakfast in the quaint dining room, and after breakfast we went into the lodge for worship. Brother Hans Waldvogel was there and exhorted us that while there are many outdoor activities we could enjoy, that the Lord would like to make it a place where people could meet the Lord and be changed. He suggested that we use the library. Then we were all assigned our rooms. I was assigned to what is now our camp office, which four of us shared. That summer changed my life. When I returned home, I didn't have to tell my mother what the Lord had done for me; she immediately saw it.
The following two summers I worked at camp for the entire summer. In 1947 the Palace was built. At that time the boys came up in July and the girls in August. Later this was reversed when August proved to get real cold. I remember being a waitress, housekeeper, a junior counselor. I was kept busy every moment. Sometimes I would have to get up at 6 a.m. to wash the bathrooms or cabins. Or else I would help Sister Gritli iron. Then I would help waitress. At that time, we all helped each other dry dishes, set tables, or whatever needed to be done until we were all finished. It was a lot of hard work, but I always managed to get a swim in.
During those years, camp was always in my summer plans?either working as a staff member or later on attending for a short vacation. What wonderful memories! I wouldn't exchange them for all the worldly pleasures. Of course that is where I first met Bob Kalis, whom I later married. Together we ministered at the Emmanuel Pentecostal Church. As our children came along, we took them to camp, too, and they looked forward to it every summer. In 1987, when the Gardiners passed away, we were asked to be the directors. Although we knew it wasn't an easy assignment, we felt it was a great privilege. We served in that capacity until 1992, when Bob became ill. He passed away in January, 1994.
Camp will always hold a hallowed place in my heart. It changed my life and it has changed so many lives. It has strengthened and encouraged people on their pilgrim way.
ELISABETH LINDAU
In the summer of 1946, while I was vacationing at Camp of the Woods in Speculator, New York, Caroline Gardiner, Frieda Naujock and Milton Waldvogel visited me from nearby Brant Lake, where the Ridgewood fellowship had just purchased a camp. Caroline thought I would be interested in seeing the property, so I drove over with them. As we looked over the place with the lovely buildings, I thought "What an ideal and beautiful vacation place!" Caroline said to me, "Elisabeth, I would love to ask you to come and help here, but I hesitate since I know you have a good job and a good salary." She did not know that the Lord had already been dealing with me. I replied, "Jesus has already begun dealing with me about this, so I will make it a matter of prayer." Within two weeks time I quit my job and was on my way to Pilgrim Camp.
What a joy to serve the Lord there. There was such wonderful cooperation.
I am so thankful for Pilgrim Camp and for the presence of the Lord so greatly manifested there. I have always looked upon it as my "alma mater".
A BRIEF HISTORY IN TESTIMONY(Part III)
BILLY COOPER
I was just a kid in the Cottage that first year in 1946, and there was just a handful of children. Elisabeth Lindau was my counselor. The Palace had not been built yet, and they were just preparing for it.
Later, when I was a camper in the Palace, Arthur Waldvogel was my counselor. One time we went to Pharaoh Lake, and we all returned to camp in a sea plane. It was nice seeing camp from an aerial view, and taxiing up to the Boathouse.
I am thankful I was able to go to camp. My parents couldn't afford sending my brother and me, but someone else saw the value and did. I never knew who paid year after year. I've been inquiring lately, and I've heard rumors who that might have been.
I remember being a staff member and being in that big workers' tent with Leslie Smith and John Perz. Late one night we were carrying on, talking and mimicking Brother Gordon's preaching. We went on for a long while and later discovered him standing outside the tent. That's probably the most terrifying experience of my youth.
The year I worked on the staff with Sister Pearl Young is especially memorable. I was her potboy when the kitchen was still up by the Lodge. She made a tremendous impression on me. I never forgot her. I look back at the value of working with her and seeing her godliness and patience. I knew there was something about her and her relationship with the Lord.
I was a rebel in those days. I don't think I ever entered into the meetings. One thing I always think about is how Brother Gordon used to sit there leading the meeting, either in prayer or in a quiet time. He would have his eyes closed, but then instinctively know if we were doing something wrong. Then he'd open his eyes just a slit, to let us know, and then he'd fall back into worship.
If it weren't for Pilgrim Camp I don't think I would be here today. The Lord had a hand on my life and embedded a seed in me. Years later I would always think of things I had heard at Pilgrim Camp. It was like the Hound of Heaven.
I'm thankful for all my counselors, and for the other staff members. Many of them went into the ministry or to the mission field. Only much later did I come to value these people?especially the Gardiners. The memories I have of them!
MARIE SALVIA COLLURA
I was only 14 or 15 when I first went to camp in 1946. I can't say I remember everything that happened that year, but I do remember having to dry the dishes in that old kitchen right off the Lodge. I also remember not liking that chore very much.
Five of us young girls stayed in what is now the office. Helen Schilly Waldvogel was one of them?Jean Hall and Eleanor Parker were two others I remember. One incident sticks out in my memory. We were up rather late one night, talking and giggling and just being regular teenage girls. I guess we got a little loud. We didn't realize that there was an entrance from the back area of the Lodge into our room. All of a sudden we started screaming at the sight of a "ghost" who quietly came in the back and managed to scare the living daylights out of us. When we realized it was Sister Caroline, with her hair long and flowing, and wearing a white robe, we screamed and laughed even louder. Of course she saw the humor of it, too, and joined in the laugher.
But I am thankful for Pilgrim Camp. Years later I worked on the staff and spent many years as a guest. My children were campers year after year, and we all have good memories of that place. My sister, Rosie, also worked for many years as the camp cook and had a special spot in her heart for the Gardiners and for camp.
EDMUND KERUT
I was at camp one of those first years on Brant Lake. Even as a kid I was thrilled to be there. I found the Boathouse especially a neat place to be. Charlie Kreuzer was the cook that first year I was there. Otto Schad and I did dishes in that hot kitchen, and we became famous for singing the dirge, Nobody knows the trouble I've seen...nobody but Jesus." Ruth Bocker Kalis and Anne Zanuck Fette were waitresses. Ruth really loved her pies. She made sure to put a few extra pieces away for her snack, and we used to tease her about this. Anne Fette told us that teasing was very unspiritual.
Charlie, Robert Borst and Chuck Hofflander and I stayed in Karl Sailer's house, in the unfinished attic. The highlight of that year was an overnight camping trip Charles Hofflander made with me to Pharaoh Lake. That really was very thrilling.
Camp is also memorable for me because a few years later I met my wife, Marianne, there. Actually I had seen her earlier at Brother Steffan's camp out in Huntington. I heard that she and Eleanor Herzog Pra were going to Pilgrim Camp, so Brother Van Houten and I decided to go upstate. Marianne and I played a game of pingpong at the Boathouse, the deal being that the loser would buy ice cream. Of course I allowed her to win, but she has disputed that all these years.
Since those early days, camp has been a great blessing to me. Years later the Lord filled me with the Holy Spirit at camp, and I'll never forget that.
CATHERINE GERBINO IMMORDINO
I remember travelling on the bus for eight hours?going to this beautiful place in the Adirondacks Sister Caroline Gardiner had told us so much about. We arrived in pouring rain and were directed into the Lodge. We were told that we all had to "volunteer" our services in washing and drying dishes, because the staff was small. I shared a cabin with another girl, and I recall how cold it was during the night. I just couldn't warm up.
The next morning the sun shone, and we were all amazed at the beauty of the lake, the mountains and the stillness and quiet. It was nothing like the city. From the very first meeting, the Lord met us and poured out His Holy Spirit. Brother Hans Waldvogel encouraged us to get alone with God during the day. Many felt God's pleading and did just that. Despite my fear of country bugs and insects, I recall going into the woods, sitting on a rock and seeking the Lord. The Lord had said it would be a "red letter day" in my life. Indeed it was.
Though I was not officially on the staff that first year, I was privileged to be a counselor with the girls later, and then much later I counseled at the cottage with my husband Vincent.
I recall Brother Hans Waldvogel, saying under God's anointing, that Pilgrim Camp's grounds would be "holiness unto the Lord"?and it has been to this day.
EMIL SOKASITS
My introduction to the beauty of God's creation began there in the Adirondacks, first at Lake George and then at Brant Lake.
I have many memories of camp. One night that first year on Brant Lake is especially vivid. It was tremendously hot. Usually we did not go swimming at night, but it was so unbearable that they made an exception. I remember Edwin Waldvogel was there with us. Although we had a good swim, we were also working very hard clearing away the many rocks that in those days were all along the beach.
Arthur Waldvogel was my counselor that first year. He also ran the candy store. I remember being crammed in a room off the Lodge until the next year when the Palace was built.
I have been back to Pilgrim Camp every year from 1946 to the present. Whenever I visit there I marvel at the tremendous dedication and devotion of all those who throughout the years have given their time to this work. May God bless them.
ROSEMARIE GERBINO IMPELLIZZARI
I used to go to the East Side church as a girl, when Brother Frank Posta was the pastor. A group of us girls, 10 to 12 years in age, went up to Brant Lake that first year for one week. Sister Elisabeth Lindau was our counselor in the Cottage. The place was full of those tiny mice. Every time you opened a drawer, you never knew if they would jump out at you. But we had to keep that place spotlessly clean.
The luxuries of home were not there either. On each dresser was an old fashioned basin and pitcher, and the water was very cold. We would wash our hair in the lake on Saturday night.
One of the girls with us that year from the Williamsburg church was Lucy Pompalonia. We didn't know it at the time, but she was a very sick girl. I remember she gave her heart to the Lord during that time we were at camp, and we later learned that she died within two weeks. It was something for young girls to go through that?very sobering.
I returned to camp every year following that first time, and when I became 17, I waitressed for the whole summer. I served with Paula Harman and two other girls. I recall vividly that Nina and Bob Lyons were there ministering. Also the Mitchells. I was so nervous serving them in the dining room. Gordon McKinnon was the potboy at that time.
Then, after I married, our children enjoyed camp, too. After being campers for many years, they worked on the staff. Joanne was a waitress and John worked from the time he was 16 until he got married, serving as lifeguard and later counselor. We all grew to love camp and the Gardiners.
RUDY JOSENHANS
I was a camper that first year at Brant Lake. My family used to go to Liberty Corner on a regular basis, but somehow I wound up at Pilgrim Camp in 1946. I was 17 at the time, and I suppose the campers were allowed to be a little older then.
My recollections are a little vague, and the years seem to run together. I do recall some tidbits. I remember Arthur Waldvogel playing his trumpet in the morning to wake everyone up. He played in the meetings, too. I had brought my fiddle along, and Caroline would play the piano. We had good meetings with lots of praise. I especially remember a good meeting we had on Watch Rock one night.
We used to swim across the lake with rowboats following us. Sometimes we would canoe down to Horicon and then get out on shore and walk to the general store for an ice cream. One year we played softball against the fellows from Horicon. There were always plenty of mosquitos at camp, even back then. Another thing that sticks out in my mind is Brother Karl Sailer driving pretty fast in his truck back and forth to town. I guess it was safer in those days, because there weren't that many cars on the road.
SARAH GERBINO KLAUS
It was June, 1946 and I was looking to spend some time in the summer home of a school chum. Edith Waldvogel approached me after Sunday school with a message from Sister Caroline Gardiner, who was at the time in Brant Lake. A place in the Adirondack Mountains had been purchased, and workers were needed. Would I be interested? I really wanted to spend time with my friend, but I knew in my heart what the Lord wanted me to do.
The beauty of camp was breathtaking. One of my first jobs was waitressing. When it rained during the serving time, you had to run with trays from the kitchen to the dining room. When the dining room became crowded with guests, tables were put on the porch both in the front and on the side. After waitressing, I either washed or dried dishes. In the evening, I was a part-time junior counselor, taking care of the younger girls in the Boathouse.
The following year, when the Palace was built, I counseled full time under Sister Margaret Michelsen. Eventually I became the head counselor for a number of years. I can still hear the girls singing and praising the Lord in the upstairs chapel room. Such wonderful memories come back to me of the Palace days.
I spent the entire summers of 1946 and 1947 at camp. I often think of the choice I had to make that first summer. If I had chosen to go through with my own plans, I wonder if God would have been able to lead me where He wanted me? 1946 was the year I made a consecration to follow Jesus into Christian work. I will always thank the Lord for the privilege of going to camp and finding Jesus in a greater way.
GORDON P. GARDINER
Diary Excerpts
FEBRUARY 1946
(5) Betty Schilly, Anna Hahn, Elsie Keller graduate...
MARCH 1946
(25) HW left for California... (26) Left for Lake George with Edwin and Edith and Karl Sailer... (27) Scouted around... (28) Prayed this a.m. for definite guidance. Lord marvelously led us to Brant Lake property... (29) Went over to Brant Lake again. Dealt with the real estate man.
APRIL 1946
(2) Had dinner with Karl and Edwin. Discussed matters... (4) Saw Mr. Miller, lawyer, today about forming a corporation to hold Brant Lake property... (5) Edwin told GAW [Gottfried A. Waldvogel]. We again?all of us?committed the matter to the Lord... (10) HW returned from California late this afternoon... (11) After dinner, HW, Edwin, Arthur and I left for Chestertown. Arrived there about 9:30. Had several good discussions on the way... (12) This a.m. we all went out to view the property on Brant Lake with Mr. Stevenson. HW said little, but seemed to like it. HW and I returned this afternoon by plane so that I could get started on paper. Worked this evening late. It was a beautiful trip down the Hudson. We could see Hyde Park and the crowd of cars gathered for today's activities there when the estate was turned over to the U.S. and Truman spoke... (15) About 5 HW, Edwin, Edith, Karl, Carol and I met to discuss purchase of camp. It was decided... (16) Called Stevenson... (18) HW took me to dinner to discuss camp with me... (23) This evening "the board" met for prayer re camp. We decided to incorporate under the name of Pilgrim Camp. Also, HW and GAW are to be invited to join us as members.
MAY 1946
(3) This a.m. we received a copy of the letter sent to Stevenson re Freedman property... (13) Decided to leave for Brant Lake. Just a little after 7, Edwin, Karl and I left. Stayed at Albany "Y"...
(14) Left Albany for Glens Falls a little after 9. The Lord made so real to me this a.m. Psalm 19. Had dip at Y in Glens Falls. Visited Finch & Pruyan [and] Health Office. Then on to Chestertown. Made inventory of furnishings. Then over "abandoned road" to Padan Aram road to see Hutsteiners and Steves and back again... (15) Quite a wonderful day in seeing the Lord's appointments. The health inspector came and went with us to camp. Charles Hofflander here from Okinawa... (17) Today I signed the contract for purchasing the Daniel B. Freedman property now known as Camp Watch Rock, Brant Lake, New York. Paid $1,000 [down]... (18) Had conference with Edwin and Edith and Karl re camp dates, camp rules, etc. Very good. Early this a.m. it came to me, "the government is upon His shoulders." The Lord is impressing me more and more that it is His camp.
JUNE 1946
(10) HW, Wally and Betty Schilly left for Kenosha today... (12) Miller called. We have to get consent of trustees for use of [term] "affiliated with RPC"... (14) At meeting tonight, GAW explained about camp... (19) Chuck Hofflander arrived this a.m... (26) Went to purchase rafts.
JULY 1946
(1) With men?impossible. With God, all things possible. By the exceeding goodness of God we were able to purchase this afternoon the property on Brant Lake for Pilgrim Camp. Some day!... (3) Busy packing all morning. Left NYC about 2:20 with Al Horn, Anna Hahn, Gritli, Carol and myself. Fine trip. Stayed in Warrensburg... ( 4) Rose early and came to camp. Arrived about 9. Started to clean at once. Did a good job in den and main lodge. Johnnie and Lilly, Ernie and Ann here visiting. Edwin, Karl, Ronald Onkes, Alfred, Arthur, Charles H. complete the gang... (5) Alfred and I went to Albany to see about the rafts, express, etc. Then to Speculator where I had a fine visit with the R[idgewood] folks. At camp tonight we had a marvelous prayer. Johnnie testified to real help. God put His name in this place as never before. Tony and Lilly arrived today... (6) The B's and Edith left this a.m. This afternoon Karl and Al Horn. Worked on beds, especially some in Camp Belle. Mr. Josenhans called today... (7) This day a blessed one of rest. And how we all needed it! Good evening service. Tony and Lilly left today... (8) More work on beds. Joe Schilly and Theodore G. came back with Karl... (9) Got our room straightened out. It is beautiful...
(10) Alfred and I went to Albany and Vorheesville today. Filed sugar rationing application. Got three life rafts. When returned to camp found the refrigerator installed. Swept front porch and arranged [it]. The lodge (main room) arranged today. First meal tonight in Freedom Lodge...
(11) Truly it has been wonderful how the Lord has worked. Today the chlorinator came and was installed. I cleaned downstairs of boat house. Carol washed. Gritli, Anna Marie and Anna H cleaned the little house [Cottage]...
(12) Had good prayer for the camp tonight when we all got together for that purpose. Alfred and Herman DePold arrived this afternoon. Jack B. brought Mrs. Sailer and the children...
(13) At our first worship period tonight, Edwin gave [a verse] for the camp. Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. The boys arrived irregularly today...
(14) Good Sunday school. Hard sledding at night. In afternoon truck took most of us to Fort Ticonderoga...
(16) Today the telephone was installed...
(17) Fellows on hike to Pharaoh Mountain and Lake...
(18) HW and the Fosters arrived this evening in time for worship. God spoke wonderfully about how He had put His presence here and would keep it here as long as we kept it "holiness to the Lord." Later the Lord spoke of how He wanted this spot on earth to be a "vestibule of heaven" and a place where there will be a foretaste of heaven?where there is no sorrow...
(19) Another wonderful meeting tonight. The fruits of it were best seen when after it [unnamed person] returned two swords and a dagger which he had stolen and had hidden in the woods...
(20) One cesspool (large) finished today?and the middle one almost. HW left today. God certainly has met us...
(22) [One of the fellows] came this afternoon to air the grievances of the boys. Their troubles and difficulties simply mean this: is this place to be run as a summer resort, every man doing that which is right in his own eyes? Or is it to be a camp where all comply with the routine of camp life?...
(23) God has marvelously cleared up the difficulties here in camp. Had a good talk with --- tonight and believe our differences have largely been resolved. Swam over and back across the lake...
(24) Good evening worship. Martha P., Elisabeth L. and Frieda N. came over for a few hours today from Camp of the Woods. HW and Edith arrived late tonight. The fill has begun here and two mishaps. The big cesspool (one wall) caved in. The middle one--parts of two walls...
(25) Excellent day. State health inspector here. Many of our principles confirmed: no swimming alone; a life guard not required, but supervision required; be very careful about kitchen and dining room; no open garbage...
(26) O God, give me love. I feel my lack of it so greatly. Under pressure, when there is danger of trouble, I so often become hard. Difficult to express. But, O God, keep me very sweet. Had a very successful hot dog roast tonight on Watch Rock...
(27) The exodus [of the first group of campers] began early this a.m. [More] arrived in the afternoon. A lively bunch. In between we all cleaned house...
(28) Edwin conducted a fine Sunday school in the morning. In the afternoon, Chuck and I took the boys on a hike?perhaps 3 or 4 miles one way. My feet took a beating, but it was worth it. Fine evening service. Edwin did well. Several went into library to pray?Mary Gray, Ruth Pollack, Janet M. and Billy Cooper. Great presence of the Lord there. Said I not unto thee that if thou wouldst believe?
AUGUST 1946
(10) Well, the children left this a.m. and the girls arrived. What a change! I am relaxed though tired. Other observations from these two weeks: Not such a long rest period; and not such a large crowd. Our crowd was too large this time for our staff and facilities. Smaller numbers in a room and in a house mean less trouble and a better spirit...Good meeting tonight...
(11) Had quite an experience here with people having lice. HW showed Gospel film in evening. Meades here...
(19) Read Fred, Marie and Me tonight to the campers...
(24) Girls left this a.m. ...
(26) Jackie H. and Joe S. arrived today. Mr. & Mrs. GAW came, Alfred and Stanley. HW came too...
(28) Today we visited Brant Lake Camp?much to our profit. We find that for a camp, we have been much too lenient--not strict enough.
SEPTEMBER 1946
(1) A day of rest--first since camp opened. Wonderful meeting tonight. GAW gave one of his very best ever...
(2) It is not wise for anyone to stay here too long unless he has the vision of the work. He gets careless, natural, at home...
(3) I failed by not acting in love?by not rejoicing always...
(5) HW sent money and word to have his Kodak cared for...
(16) HW here. Arthur still quite sick from leg infection...
(18) Edwin, Edith, Carol and I had good talk with HW about camp...
(19) Wally, Nina, Bob, Milton and HW left today...
(20) I think this is the most perfect birthday I have ever celebrated. I had so many of my close friends with me--Edwin and Edith, Paul and Jo, Janice and Paulie, Chuck, Arthur and Gordon Waldvogel, Gritli and Elisabeth Lindau. Edwin prayed that I would know the Lord as my portion, remembering that the Levites had no portion on earth...
(24) Bob, Arthur, Elisabeth Lindau and GAW left today. Busy closing up...
(26) Tonight we went to revival at Wesleyan Methodist Church...
(27) Chuck, Gritli, Carol and I left for bus and New York about 9:45. Rest to follow by car. And so camp is closed.