The Ojiketa Preservation Society continues Camp Fire’s impact in the Twin Cities region long after the camp it is named after closed. 

In 1926, the St. Paul Council of Camp Fire Girls opened Camp Ojiketa in Chisago City, Minnesota, on the shores of Green Lake. The summer camp hosted Camp Fire girls (and boys, too, starting in 1977) from the surrounding area for 79 years until it closed in 2005. More than 150 Camp Ojiketa alumni gathered in the summer of 2006 for what they assumed would be a final reunion at the former campgrounds. That was where the seed for the Ojiketa Preservation Society was planted. 

After that reunion, a group of former Ojiketa campers stayed in touch via email and began discussing how they could keep the spirit of Ojiketa alive and advocate for the land itself, which was being put up for sale. They didn’t want to see it become a housing development like Camp Cheewin, the neighboring Camp Fire camp that hosted younger campers between 1954 and 1995. 

In the summer of 2007, a small but passionate group met at Alice Magnuson’s cabin to strategize; they continued to meet that fall, when The Ojiketa Preservation Society (OPS) was officially born. The team rallied alumni from all over the country while meeting with local politicians and staying in the loop with Camp Fire leadership. 

“After 30 or so years of not really seeing Ojiketa campers, they came out of the woodwork to try to see what we could do to help preserve this very special place,” remembered Alice.  

Two of the things Julie Redpath, former camper and current OPS member, said she learned at Ojiketa was to “walk gently and respectfully on the earth” and “leave it better than it was.” The lessons the camp taught came back to save it in the end. 

 “Ojiketa has always been a place I feel safe,” said Amy Wood, the youngest member of OPS and its bridge to younger alumni. “It was important to me that Ojiketa, the property, remain a place people could enjoy exploring, sharing with friends and a place to find solitude.”

While developers were making offers for the land, OPS kicked into high gear. They were hatching  a plan of their own: Bring together private donors, city funds and public land bills to preserve the camp as a regional park. 

“I worked for the Minnesota DNR at the time of the sale process and was able to keep an eye on funding bills,” said Julie. “I attend and testified at funding committee hearings and rallied the troops when support was needed at the legislature.” 

In 2008, the real estate crash sent other potential buyers scattering. OPS began a fundraising campaign targeting Ojiketa alumni and hosted an awareness-raising open house in August. Their efforts picked up steam and caught press attention. Finally, at the end of 2008, Chisago City was able to purchase Camp Ojiketa for $3.4 million. $186,000 came from alumni donations through OPS’s fundraising campaign. Camp Ojiketa was now Chisago City’s Ojiketa Regional Park.

“I believe that being a part of OPS and helping to acquire the land as a Regional Park is one of the more important things that I’ve done in my lifetime,” said Margy Ingram, the first OPS treasurer. “I am so proud of all of us!”

OPS now operates a Camp Ojiketa Heritage Center at the park  featuring Camp Fire memorabilia — and the memories of so many former campers like themselves.  

“Saving Ojiketa was like saving part of myself,” said Nancy Nissen, the current treasurer for the Ojiketa Preservation Society. “So many friendships started here; so many memories were created; there is so much beauty to share with everyone.”

Some favorite memories from Camp Ojiketa: 

• “Baking a reflector oven birthday cake while on a BWCA (Boundary Waters Canoe Area) canoe trip in a snow storm in August while windbound on a small, rocky island.” – Julie Redpath 
• “My favorite memory of Ojiketa is everything!  I came with my dad on work weekends, both before camp opened and after it closed.  I came to Camp in the summer.  I came with our Camp Fire group for overnights on weekends during the school year.  In high school I convinced my friend who was not even a Camp Fire girl to come with me to camp and be a dishwasher/kitchen girl for a month!” – Nancy Nissen
• “I have no favorite memory but many I cherish. Learning about what birds were making noise at night keeping me awake and what birds were first to wake me up in the morning was one of the first things I was taught about nature at Ojiketa. I still check this out when I am visiting new places.” – Amy Wood
• “In order to spend more time at Camp Ojiketa I became a camp Bugler! I played 13 bugle calls each day and blew them twice, once in each direction of the camp, in order to cover the whole camp. I was late for Reveille only one time. The cooks made it VERY clear I was not to oversleep again. I didn’t.” – Alice Magnuson 
• “I loved everything: morning sing, swimming, handcraft, campcraft, being a hopper, cook outs and overnights, campfires, and the songs, and the horses—yes the horses were a favorite!” – Margy (Wood) Ingram

Camp Ojiketa Lessons:

• “Girls/women are capable, wise and command respect. Be proud of who you are. Walk gently and respectfully on the earth. Leave it better than it was. Make new friends and keep the old. One is silver and the other gold. Working together makes a task easier and probably fun.” – Julie Redpath 
• “What I learned that has stuck with me is that you need to scrape your plate and wipe the peanut butter off your silverware before you put it in the dishwasher!” – Nancy Nissen
• “It was at Ojiketa I learned how to develop friendships with girls with life experiences very different from my own. I learned to negotiate and stand back and let others take the lead. I learned to take the lead when needed, even when it may not have been something I really wanted to do. The true meaning of ‘give service’ became clear to me during my time at Ojiketa.” – Amy Wood
• “All of these experiences taught me leadership responsibilities, time management skills and built confidence in me as a human being — traits young women were working toward in the late 1960s and early 1970s.” – Alice Magnuson

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Written by: Ben Matthews, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Access Specialist  

In 1909, Charlotte Gulick held a small summer camp for her daughters, three of their close friends, and a young woman with disabilities. There was no way she could have known that that first camp would grow into a movement that would survive two World Wars and three global pandemics; see women and other marginalized people win the right to vote; and help shape artists, activists, rock stars and rocket scientists.  

The world was a much different place in those founding years, but so many of the values, goals, and outcomes of Camp Fire remain the same: More than 100 years later, we are still creating space for historically excluded young people; building social and emotional skills; facilitating developmental relationships and community building; and connecting young people to themselves, others, and the outdoors.  

Throughout its history, Camp Fire has made a global impact by breaking boundaries and helping young people make a difference:

In 1910, that small camp became a semi-formal program. The concept of a youth organization that focused on girls’ experiences was immediately popular. As it was called then, Camp Fire Girls empowered young women and challenged gender roles in a fast-changing society. The organization worked to normalize young women learning skills outside of “traditional women’s work” and is even credited with helping popularize bloomers and pants as part of women’s fashion.   

As early as 1914, Camp Fire recognized an increasing number of participants with disabilities and acted quickly to have many of our program materials translated into braille to increase access.  

As World War 1 began, clubs rolled bandages for the Red Cross, planted victory gardens, and sewed clothes for young people in areas of conflict.  A wartime program called “The Minute Girls” had nearly 60,000 participants nationally.  

During the World War II era, Camp Fire councils again organized initiatives to connect resources and people across the globe—sometimes directly saving lives. Two Camp Fire pen-pals, Marianne and Jane, worked together to secure an affidavit and sponsorship to help Marianne’s family escape Nazi-controlled Austria in 1938.   

In 1943, the national council began exploring the concept we now call “privilege” and advocating for marginalized communities by adopting the following policy: “In our program of training girls for responsible citizenship, the problems of minority groups, whether race creed or economic status, must be recognized. Camp Fire should, through its program materials and group activities, train girls of the majority group to understand and respect the accomplishments, capacities, personal dignity, and socio-economic problems of minority groups within our country. It must strive to give girls of all minority groups an opportunity to participate fully in such character-building and recreational programs as ours…”  

In 1952 a national committee on Intercultural Policies and Practices studied councils that had successfully integrated their clubs in order to provide guidance to councils who felt unsure about doing so in their local climates. In 1955 the committee released a pamphlet called “Opportunity for All” to help promote racial inclusiveness in all aspects of Camp Fire.  

Also in 1952, the Camp Fire National office released a booklet titled “Services with and for Handicapped Children” to help leaders adapt programs for youth with disabilities. Camp Fire continued to partner with other organizations caring for and advocating on behalf of people with disabilities. 

Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Martha Allen, the organization’s president, believed that Camp Fire was part of a larger ecosystem of social work, community building and support, health and recreation, and collective impact. This shift included even more efforts to include young women who had previously faced barriers to Camp Fire programs. Leadership, staff, and even volunteers were encouraged to be active and hold positions in other organizations within the social work ecosystem.  

In 1964, Camp Fire Alaska, with the help of the National Camp Fire Friendship fund, purchased a truck and loaded it up to deliver supplies to Alaskan Native villages affected by an earthquake. They opened a day camp for displaced young people and helped 29 of those young women find permanent housing through adoption. This was just the beginning of a long-lasting relationship between Camp Fire Alaska and the Alaskan Native communities that continues to benefit both groups today.  

Camp Fire has used youth voice in decision-making, evaluation, training, development, and youth leadership since its inception. In the 1940s, Camp Fire began offering Train-The-Trainer courses for folks to redistribute their knowledge and skills to their communities. In 1952, Camp Fire created the first official Counselor-In-Training program, then published that model to sell and share with other youth organizations in 1957. The organization hosted weekend seminars and retreats to teach college students extra job skills and youth development methods.  

In 1965 while conducting research on the developmental needs of young Black and Brown people, riots erupted in the neighborhood where programs were happening. Camp Fire staff escorted young people through the sea of rioters and safely to their classes.  

At the 1970 annual meeting, Camp Fire unveiled a proactive social justice platform:  

“We believe in the dignity and worth of each individual; we believe inherent characteristics of each individual differ and should be recognized and the good developed as fully as possible;  

We believe a girl should be encouraged to have positive attitudes and an open-mindedness toward diversity and change;   

We believe in providing girls with experiences to help them develop a responsible attitude toward society and to improve social conditions;   

We believe as a girl grows to accept herself, she is better able to accept and love others;   

We believe in experiences of all kinds for girls which stimulate curiosity, result in learning, provide renewal and adventure;   

We believe in the preservation, development, and wise use of human and natural resources;   

We believe in strengthening and exemplifying the highest standards of a free and democratic society, ever mindful of the need for equal opportunity and justice.   

Recognizing that Camp Fire Girls has always maintained a policy of openness and acceptance of all adults and girls in its program and organization regardless of race, religious belief, or national origin, and recognizing the extraordinary conditions we find present in America today, we submit that our survival as individuals and as a society demands that Camp Fire Girls reaffirm this agency’s involvement in bringing about social change in areas of:  Elimination of prejudice on the basis of race, religious belief, or national origin;  Improvement of the environment;  Improvement of the methods used to cope with social ills;  Opportunity for individuals to influence decisions that affect their lives.”  

In 1973 Camp Fire successfully lobbied to decrease the legal age limit for young people serving on boards of directors in the state of New York, allowing young people to serve as board members.  

In 1975, the movement renamed itself Camp Fire Boys and Girls, officially accepting boys into all programs nationally. Karen Barts, a national program director during this era, was quoted in the Los Angeles Times: “We concluded that boys and girls, men and women, were going to need to be able to relate as equals, to be caring, competent, confident people. And we also concluded that they were going to have to inter-relate as partners, not competitors, not as one being the boss over the other. So we changed our program to meet those needs.” 

Also in the 1970s, minority, disability, and other specialty camps were introduced, and Camp Fire’s approach to behavioral issues shifted from punitive to rehabilitative.  

As a result of young peoples’ passion to educate and bring awareness to the HIV and AIDS epidemic, Camp Fire added sexual orientation to its statement of inclusion in 1993. Groups of young people wrote speeches and plays to educate their peers on HIV/AIDS, some even touring the country to perform at schools and other organizations.  

In 2019, we began work to expand our statement of inclusion, which has some familiar language from our past: Camp Fire believes in the dignity and the intrinsic worth of every human being. We welcome, affirm, and support young people and adults of all abilities and disabilities, experiences, races, ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, religion and non-religion, citizenship and immigration status, and any other category people use to define themselves or others. We strive to create safe and inclusive environments that celebrate diversity and foster positive relationships.
 

Camp Fire’s boundary-breaking work continues today, as those who came before us predicted.  

In 1960, as Camp Fire celebrated 50 years, the authors of the first Camp Fire history book wrote in conclusion, “It is said that the future belongs to that which can change and grow. Camp Fire Girls has provided its creativity, its flexibility, its adaptability, and its ability to grow. Now it must prove it can grow even more to meet a growing, changing world. It has many unfinished goals toward which it will continue to strive.“   

Today, in uncertain times of social action, global warming, water crisis, and political unrest, the Camp Fire movement must continue forward toward those “unfinished goals.” Reminding ourselves of our rich history of inclusion, social action, and community response—and recognizing we hold power and privilege as an organization and network—we have a responsibility to further equity and access to all people.  

Are you a Camp Fire alum? JOIN US as we continue Camp Fire’s world-changing history. Get connected on our Alumni Hub!

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