OSWEGO – Seventy-five years ago yesterday, July 8, 54 campers strolled across 40 Camp Health Rd. to an open field, a campsite that would go on to host three generations and counting of campers. Now, Camp Hollis celebrates its 75th anniversary with special guests making the trek to the campsite to see where the camp stands today.
Yesterday local government officials including Brian Chetney, the director of the Oswego City-County Youth Bureau, Legislature Chairman Jim Weatherup and Assemblyman Will Barclay joined those that consider Camp Hollis to be home to celebrate that anniversary and to “honor the leaders” who created the camp, as a press release from Oswego County described it. Throughout the day, officials and family members of the camp’s founders spoke on the importance of the camp, its commitment to children and even celebrated a long-time employee of Camp Hollis.
To start the event, Chetney welcomed all of Camp Hollis’ guests, including two prominent families, Jane Sullivan Spellman, who is the daughter of Judge Eugene Sullivan, the founder of Camp Hollis, and Betty Hollis, whose husband, Dr. Warren LeRoy Hollis, was the grandson of Dr. LeRoy Hollis, who originally started the Oswego Health Camp in the 1920s.
Following Chetney’s speech, he handed the floor over to Weatherup who read a proclamation, officially recognizing the 75th anniversary of Camp Hollis. As others spoke, they all seemed to bring the conversation back to one central theme: commitment.
County Administrator Phil Church spoke on the camp’s commitment to its campers. Despite the dangers and challenges of COVID-19, Camp Hollis was able to host campers in both 2020 and 2021, to preserve 75 consecutive years of operation.
“Last year, we were in the middle of a pandemic. Counties all over the state were shutting programs down, as they saw revenues fall,” Church said. “Thanks to Brian’s work and the work of the staff here, the options to stay open were viable and to do it safely … The commitment to this place is overwhelming and what we decided to do, we could run this place safely as a daycamp and continue the operation. Last year this place served 180 children, despite the pandemic. And this year it is sold out [as a day camp].”
Legislator Jim Karasek also spoke on commitment but in a different way. He celebrated Chetney’s focus on accessibility, as the camp has improved over the years.
“I want to take a minute to commend Brian and the [youth] board because they have done a lot of things with the Americans with Disabilities Act,” Karasek said. “We have a lift in the pool for children in wheelchairs that would like to swim, we have an ADA restroom in the lodge. They have accommodations for ADA campers. They’re going to be doing a playground and make that ADA.”
This focus on accessibility is incredibly important not only for the campers but also for community members that use the site for other events. It breeds a feeling of inclusivity which is important for its campers.
This central theme of commitment culminated in honoring someone who knows so much about the word. Lois Terminella has been committed to feeding campers for 40 summers as the kitchen manager. Former camp director Jim Farfaglia mentioned that she puts a focus on nutrition and good meals, making nearly everything in house.
To celebrate Terminella’s commitment to the camp, she was awarded with a certificate of appreciation and current camp director, Zack Grulich, dedicated the kitchen in her honor.
“I can say that [40 years] is unheard of, not just for a kitchen manager but for any staff at a summer camp,” Grulich said. “We are very gracious, very blessed and very lucky to have Lois.”
While the camp opened 75 years ago, its mission has really remained the same, with a focus on children. Barclay, who worked at the camp for one summer, discussed the camp as an “institution” that is so important today.
“Any institution that lasts 75 years deserves recognition and the fact that this institution still provides great services and entertainment to the children of Oswego county and other children, I think it is really a miracle,” Barclay said. “Think of how things have changed since 1946, all the challenges that children have now … But I think we can all agree the importance of a camp experience back in 1946 is as important as it was then, it is now.”
Sullivan Spellman corroborated the idea of how important camp is, explaining that it still follows her father’s vision 75 years later.
“I do think the camp is so inspiring that something created so many years ago still has the same wonderful spirit, the great appreciation of children and that it’s so important that they are cared for and loved,” Sullivan Spellman said. “I think that tradition that [my dad] has started has certainly been here.”
Camp Hollis started as a family project, with Sullivan trying to run a camp for the very first time, according to his daughter. The family would look through lists of children at their home and even try to plan out the camp, something they had never done before. At the end of the day, that is what camp and Camp Hollis is really all about. Whether the year is 1946, 2021 or for its 100th anniversary in 2046, it is about love, support and dedication to children.
“Kids are worthwhile and people need to take care of them and love them,” Sullivan Spellman said. “When the camp opened, a lot of those kids lived on farms where there was no electricity, so ice cream was totally [unknown], so [my dad] convinced the local ice cream person to provide enough so the kids could have as much ice cream as they wanted … It was just the whole idea that someone thought they were important enough to give them something they had never had before.”
missing or outdated ad config