Newspaper Page Text
VOL. XVII. No. 8
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, AUGUST 22, 1936
ISSUED MONTHLY—52.00 A YEAR
S. Carolina Religious Vacation School Pioneer
The Open Air Chapel
The scene above visualizes the camp, located on a bluff by the Okatec
River, shaded by stately water oaks; the site is ideal for the purpose.
The Staff at Camp St. Mary
Bishop Walsh Dedicated New
Camp Last Year—Father
Kamler Is Director
“Great oaks, from little acorns
grow.” This old proverb may well
be applied to Camp St. Mary’s, near
Ridgeland, S. C. From very humble
beginnings it has grown in size, rep
utation, practicability, conveniences
and good results until today after
eight years, it is one of the best
known and well attended camps in
this section of the country.
The idea of Camp St. Mary’s was
first propounded by Father James
S. Linehan, who was for two years
assistant priest of the Beaufort Mis
sions. His intention was to gather
the scattered children of the parish
in one locality, and there to give
them intensive instructions, which
he could not otherwise arrange for
them during the year. In June, 1929,
Father Linehan put his idea into
execution and founded Camp St.
Mary’s, as a parish camp. In this
he was assisted by Miss K. M.
Ryan, Mrs. Kate Smith and Mr. Pat
Keating and in attendance were 54
children.
O-
AT PINCKNEY
PLANTATION I
-a
Father Kamler, director of Camp St. Mary’s, is assisted by the Sisters
of Mercy, Miss Katherine Ryan, president of the Diocesan Council of Catho
lic Women, which organization has been of invaluable assistance to the
religious vacation camp movement, seminarians, collegians and nurses.
175 Children at Piedmont
Religious Vacation School
GREENVILLE, S. C. — The fifth
annual encampment of Camp St.
Ann’s Catholic Vacation School of
the Piedmont opened at Rocky Bot
tom, Pickens, on June 22, and con
tinued for three weeks. Rev. Syd
ney Dean, assistant pastor of St.
Mary's Church, was the director and
175 children representing more than
50 towns in the state attended.
The purpose of the camp is to as
semble the Catholic children of the
rural sections for an intensive re
ligious instruction in the Bible,
catechism, church history and lit
urgy. The mornings were devoted
to class work and the afternoons
and evenings to the regular camp
features.
The teaching staff consisted of
the Rev. Sydney F. Dean, Richard
Madden and Lawrence McLaughlin,
of Sulpician Seminary, Washington;
Edward Keller, of St. Bernard’s,
Rochester, N. Y.; Sister M. Cath
erine, Sister Mary Concepta and
Sister Raphael of the Community of
Our Lady of Mercy, and Miss Ruth
Poechmann, of Duluth, Minn.
Councillors in charge of recreation
were the Misses Margaret Niggel, of
Columbia; Mary Dean, of Charles
ton; Charlotte Rowland, of Green
ville, and Veronica and Teresa Mon-
ohan, of Charlotte; John Steele, of
Spartanburg; William Goldsmith and
George Francis, of Greenville;
James Staples, of Charleston; Wil
liam Doyle, of Lowell, Mass., the
Misses Louise Bass, Elizabeth
Clarke and Louise Felder super
vised the camp infirmary; Dick
Smith was chief steward. Camp St.
Ann's closed Sunday, July 12.
This Charleston section
of The Bulletin, featuring
the Religious Vacation
Camp, is made possible
by the Charleston firms
whose advertisements ap-
p e a r herein, and we
recommend them and our
other advertisers to the
patronage of our readers.
The camp was conducted at the
plantation home of Mr. W. E.
Pinckney, at Guerard’s _ Point,
Pritchardville, S. C., Mr. Pinckney
kindly donating the use of his home,
grounds and beach for camp pur
poses. The girls were quartered in
the house, while the boys lived in
five tents. There were no lights, no
camp buildings, and no baths except
the salty Okatee. Religion classes
were held in the open, during the
morning and part of the afternoon,
the remainder of the afternoon be
ing devoted to games and recreation.
The Chapel was a large magnolia
tree, whose limbs formed a canopy
for the Blessed Sacrament, and here
Mass was said daily during the two
weeks at camp. In the evening the
Blessed Sacrament was transferred
to a Repository in the living room of
the house.
To offset expenses, each child
brought a basket of supplies, which
were kept in a storeroom borrowed
from Mr. Pinckney. Milk was do
nated, fresh vegetables begged from
surrounding farms; other necessi
ties were provided by visitors, the
staff and the pastor. The Okatee
River supplied fish most generous
ly.
| HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
□ □
The kitchen equipment included a
refrigerator, borrowed , which was
placed under an oak tree and cover
ed with a tarpaulin; a hole in the
ground, covered by a grating, three
borrowed pots, and later a stove ob
tained from a burned dwelling; a
piece of galvanized roofing nailed
to four poles kept the rain out of
the pots during cooking hours.
The dining room was but another
spot, walled in by the mighty live
oaks and roofed by the (occasional-
Religious Vacation School
Held for Spartanburg Area
(Special to The Bulletin)
SPARTANBURG, S. C.—The an
nual parochial summer school has
concluded another successful ses
sion. The registration numbered
forty, somewhat less than in the last
few years but the difference is ac
counted for by graduations and
moved away parishioners.
Three weeks of intensive work oc
cupied the children, covering in the
course of a catechism review of the
year’s Sunday School work. Project
work, prayer classes, liturgy classes,
Church and Bible history, Church
music and the daily story period
gave the youngsters plenty to keep
them occupied and through these
subjects sound instruction was giv
en in the fundamentals of Catholic
Faith.
Of the forty registered children,
twenty-two achieved absolutely
perfect records, which meant not
even one tardy demerit in all three
weeks, and included attendance four
times a week at Holy Mass. These
children with perfect records receiv
ed awards for perfect Mass attend
ance and perfect class records and
qualified for the much sought Rec
tor’s prizes. This latter award takes
into consideration the child’s record
through the year’s Sunday School
and the Summer School. The Rec
tor's prizes are the top award of the
year; this year five boys and three
girls took the first distinguished
awards in this honored group; six
boys and five girls took the second
distinguished awards. Every regis
tered child received two souvenirs—
a beautiful St. Christopher medal
and a class pin with ‘‘St. Paul’s
School” in raised enameled letters
thereon. The teachers were Sister
Ignatia and Sister Celestine of the
Sisters of Ou r Lady of Mercy and
the Rector, the Rev. Thomas J. Mac-
kin.
All religious services at Camp St. Mary were conducted in the open air
chapel, the altar alone being under cover. In rainy weather the children
could remain on the porches or verandas of the camp buildings facing the
altar.
The River at the Camp
Bathing in the Okatee River immediately in front of the camp was one
of the delights of the children at the camp. The bathing beach is hard,
smooth, sandy and gently sloping; depth at the end of the pier is not
dangerous for children. There is plenty of depth beyond. The Okatee is
a salt water river, and the beach has the benefit of the tide without the
danger of the heavy surf of an ocean beach.
ly) blue sky. The children were
seated on old church benches, at
roughly-made tables, and enjoyed
the simple but substantial fare,
though at times it may have been
scorched and seasoned with splin
ters and ashes.
Such was the beginning of Camp
St. Mary’s. Though rather primi
tive, it was so thoroughly enoyed
by all in attendance and so fruitful
and effective in a religious and spir
itual way, by providing a real Cath
olic atmosphere for the children to
live in, as well as obtain instruction
that the camp idea prevailed the
following summer.
•D-
FATHER DEAN CARRIES ON
-O
o-
Father Linehan was succeeded by
Father Sidney F. Dean, who enthus
iastically endorsed the camp plan
and conducted it most successfully
in June, 1930. He was assisted by
Mr. Berberich Pinckney, Mrs. D. C.
Boulware, Miss K. M. Ryan and
Mrs. K. Smith. The term was
lengthened to three weeks, and 75
children of the parish were accom
modated.
Three Sisters of Mercy, from
Charleston, attended camp to assist
in the religious instructions. The
camp equipment and accommoda
tions were similar to the pioneer
camp in 1929, Mr. Pinckney again
providing rooming space in his home
and grounds. Tents were pitched
along the bluff of the Okatee River
in front of the house. The open-
air kitchen was improved to the ex
tent of placing a screen around the
space occupied by the stove and ta
bles, but only the stove was roofed
over. Service was cafeteria style
which has always prevailed. Since
there was no roof over the tables
many of the meals were, perforce,
eaten under them during rainy
weather. The children again brought
groceries as in 1929.
Religious services and classes were
held in the open as formerly. Mass
being said under the magnolia tree
and the Blessed Sacrament reserved
in the Pinckney home.
FATHER WOLFE SUCCEEDS
The results and effects of the
camp were so impressively success
ful, that in 1931, the Most Rev. Em
met M. Walsh, Bishop of Charles
ton, decided to establish the camp as
a Diocesan institution of state-wide
scope. Father Henry F. Wolfe, then
Chancellor of the Diocese, was ap
pointed as director of the camp, to
succeed Father Dean, who had been
transferred to the Greenville Mis
sions. The transformation of the
camp from a parish to a diocesan
project brought about many im
provements, and, naturally, an fn-
increase in numbers. A mess hall
and kitchen were roofed and screen
ed, a Delco power plant obtained for
furnishing light and pumping water,
a shower bath built at the foot ot
the bluff at the water's edge.
Approximately 100 children from
all parts of the state attended Camp
St. Mary’s in 1931. As teachers three
Sisters and two Seminarians of the
Diocese were assigned to the camp.
To take care of any possible inju
ries, .a doctor and nurse were in at
tendance. Mass was said, and the
Blessed Sacrament reserved, in a
tent, erected for the purpose of
sheltering the temporary altar.
The children, both boys and girls,
were now housed in new and larger
tents, the line stretching along the
bluff and facing the river, making
a picturesque tented city. The chil
dren still brought foodstuffs, which
aided greatly in balancing the cur
rent expenses.
CAMP ST. ANN
In 1932, Camp St. Mary’s, now
firmly established, was again under
the direction of Father Wolfe. On
account of the increasing attend
ance, Camp St. Mary’s was designed
(Continued on Page Two-A)
A Glympse of the Buildings
GAMP SAINT MARY'S
COMPLETES SEVENTH
SUCCESSFUL SEASON
“To Bring About
a F riendlier
Feeling Among
Neighbors Irre
spective of Creed”
Published by the
Catholic Lay
men’s Association
of Georgia.