Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 11, 1995 TAG: 9508110044
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TONYA WOODS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Summer camp can mean days filled with swimming, horseback riding, canoeing and making crafts. But for some youngsters, those things often aren't possible.
The Smith Mountain Lake 4-H Educational Center in Franklin County has been able to accommodate few handicapped campers. Today, however, the center will introduce a new boat dock and gazebo, miniature-golf course and an improved educational center at its camp facilities - all accessible to the handicapped.
The 4-H center usually would have one or two handicapped children at summer camp, but Dee Brand, camp manager, believes that will change.
"When kids are on crutches on in wheelchairs, this makes things much easier for them," she said. Often children would decide not to attend camp because of the difficulty they faced getting around, Brand said.
All of the additions are the result of private donations of materials and some labor from businesses.
The miniature golf course, which was completed in July, has 18 holes and is sloped for easy wheelchair access. The Joco Educational Center, which has been open since April, has no wheelchair restrictions because it's on one floor. And the gazebo and boat dock, donated in honor of Advance Auto Parts employees, have no wheelchair restrictions.
"This building has had everything in it from horses to kids," said Brain Janney, building and grounds supervisor at the 4-H center. The educational center was gutted and renovated last year to create more room for classes. Now it has four classrooms and one large meeting room for electrical energy and environmental science classes, as well as arts and crafts classes.
Up to 300 campers come to the Smith Mountain Lake 4-H Center for a week at a time during the summer. Currently, the camp is temporary home to about 200 children from Craig, Montgomery and Giles counties.
"We're kind of off the beaten track," Brand said, "and most people think it'll be pretty rustic out here."
With 120 shoreline acres along Smith Mountain Lake, this 4-H center has served not only as a summer camp, but also as a year-round meeting place for retreats, seminars, conferences and workshops. Outdoor recreational facilities include tennis, volleyball and basketball courts, a junior olympic-size swimming pool, fishing areas, walking trails and a worship area. Five sleeping lodges and a dining room that seats 400 are also at the camp.
The improvements to make the center handicapped-accessible don't stop at the items being introduced today. A lift ramp has been installed in the swimming pool; near the Andy Reynolds Horse Center, a ramp has been built so campers in wheelchairs can get to a raised platform that lets them mount horses more easily.
"We don't want any child to be turned away from camp," Brand said. "We want all children to be able to come, regardless of their situation."
by CNB