Lake Beulah is frozen, snow is covering the basketball courts, and we still have several months to go before the campers arrive. Nonetheless, I’m happy to share that we have many projects under construction that will improve the facility and the camper experience.

Renovating the Dining Hall

Dining Hall - Site Update Dining Hall 2 - Site Update In 2021, campers experienced buffet-style eating for the first time in Beber history. Food was always hot, there were plenty of choices, and campers preferred having a full plate rather than waiting in the long lines when they “killed it” and had to “fill it” during family-style dining. To accommodate the entire camp for buffet-style eating during Summer 2022, it’s necessary to expand the dining hall. 

Kitchen - Site Update

We’re making great progress and a huge thank you to Richie Fohr and Ed Soneberg from the site team who have worked really hard to get this important space ready.  

What was formerly known as the fishbowl and reception is being converted for the buffet space that will serve the community. We’re also remodeling some of the kitchen areas to create more efficiency. It’s all very exciting and we’re looking forward to an improved dining experience for the campers this summer.

Fish Bowl 2.0 - Site UpdateA New Fishbowl

Since the Fishbowl is being converted to accommodate additional dining hall space, it is necessary to find a replacement location. The Fishbowl is used for mail, Shomer sign-in/outs, and various other office tasks. As soon as the dining hall work is complete, the site team will begin remodeling the current mail shed to replace the Fishbowl. Have a clever name for the newly remodeled mail shed? Email us your ideas!

Filtered Water

Last summer, we installed a carbon filter water system to improve the water that came out of the kitchen. Campers found this water better tasting and often filled their water bottles during meals.  This summer, we are adding this same system to the well at the shower house. This water services all of the lower camp. The investment should result in highly filtered water. We are also adding filters at the taps in all the cabins so campers should see a noticeable improvement in both taste and smell.  

Service Hill

Many times a day, we have vehicles around camp to provide support for the health center, maintenance, and housekeeping teams. For those that remember the location of the old health center, we are doing some work to clean up that area and provide an alternate route for those that drive camp vehicles. A switchback hill is being created to provide a new path for vehicles to travel between upper and lower camp. Instead of having these vehicles on Highway J, this new path will allow for transportation back and forth from upper to lower camp without going on the road!

The Chapel

Kudos to Richard and Shannon Fohr from the site team for waxing the floors of the Chapel.  This building was in need of a nice shine and it’s now looking great thanks to a lot of hard work.  Last summer, campers used this building several times for program space.  For instance, the Chapel has a stage that accommodates our Rock Band program and the building is large enough to accommodate an entire division for evening programs. The building also houses the Beber Business Center, a room with computers for staff to use in their free time. We’re excited to continue to use the building to support the amazing summer program.

These are just a few of the projects that are happening before this summer. I look forward to reporting back with more site updates in a future blog.