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1947-1949 1950-1952 1953-1955

1947 Little chapel built with lumber given by Walter Jensen 1950 Construction of boys cabin #3 and girls 1954 New dining hall built
1947 Hazel Yeater joined CBM cabin #8, and sand traps and brush cleared 1954 New office built
March 1948 Ed Jensen resigned as director 1950 Margaret Cameron took over the work in 1954 Mr. & Mrs. Buckman, on leave from Brazil for three years,
1948 Edith Hulslander joined CBM Lake and Pasco Counties started working with the Bible clubs that began in Lakeland, FL.
1949 Cabin # 7 was built by staff and volunteers 1951 Anne Bell and Elsie Scott joined CBM 1954 Camps for every age group began at Gilead to help
March of 1949 ―Strawberry schools‖ were on summer session and helped spread the work to Orange and supplement the winter club work.
and camp was conducted for these children. Seminole Counties 1954 Evelyn Alder and Louise Wilcoxon joined CBM and worked
1949-50 Raymond and Ruth Yeater joined CBM expanding 1952 Reba Thompson joined CBM; she and Anne in north Pinellas, west Hillsborough, and Pasco Counties
Bell moved to North Florida area.
the work to Lake and Pasco Counties 1952 Lettye Baker joined CBM; worked with 1955 Mrs. Erva Hyde joined CBM and worked in Polk County
Elsie Scott in Hillsborough County

Edith and Hazel Old and new cabins Raymond and Ruth Yeater Anne Bell Reba Thompson Elsie Scott Lettye Baker Flag raising at dining hall First Camp Gilead office in 1954

Camp Gilead 1961-1980 The 60‘s and 70‘s brought not only changes to our programming, but also to
our facilities. Some of the projects completed during that time included: an air-
conditioned chapel seating 300, enlarged dining hall to seat 200, gym, craft
hroughout the 60‘s and 70‘s Camp Gilead experi- building, offices, several new cabins, and other buildings.
enced continual change and growth. The
T problems affecting work in the public schools
compelled the diversification and a reaching out to
other areas with additional programs of getting the 1981-Present
Word of God and His message to young people.
Additional weeks of camp were added to reach more So much has happened at Camp Gilead since 1981. Our lodge was completed
teenagers and also to include those not able to earn down by the lake. A new ministry called, ―Creation Critters‖ has been devel-
camp through CBM programs. The camp follow-up program was in- oped by Ron Yeater and is growing. As in all years that the camp has been in
creased to add to the continuing correspondence programs; a work-camper pro- existence, God has used the ministries of Camp Gilead to reach into the hearts
gram for ninth and tenth graders, a junior counselor training program for elev- of kids and change their lives. “Changing lives — one heart at a time” is our
enth and twelfth graders, and a senior training program for the college counsel- motto, and this is what Camp Gilead is all about. Faces and families have
ors. Florida Bible Memory and Mailbox Club programs were carried on in pri-
vate schools, churches, after school clubs, and through a telephone ministry. come and gone over the past 75 years, but each staff member has played a
Other clubs were held for teenagers as well as a teen rally held at camp each vital part in the lives of all the kids who have been changed here.
month. Personnel included nine CBM workers, four full time volunteers at
camp, plus many other part time volunteers.
In the winter of 1969, a large group of ―retirees‖ from Berne, Indiana came to
help us with various winter projects, and that started a valuable ministry
which continues to this day. This group has grown to include volunteers
from Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, New York and other states as
well as Indiana. We are truly blessed to have these willing servants here each
winter. They have made possible the accelerated building program.
Lake lodge—10 bedrooms and conference room Ron Yeater with ―Creation Critters‖
20