Mark Kruger and Boyd Billingsley remember well the whoops and hollers of excited scouts when the two were counselors at their old Boy Scout camp.
Visit Old Kia Kima
Youth groups of up to 64 people may reserve Old Kia Kima for a week or a weekend at no charge. Groups bring their own food and adult supervision. The kitchen features a walk-in refrigerator and freezer. The dining area seats 64 hungry campers. Each cabin sleeps four. There’s a lodge for adult leaders. The camp has hot showers.
Old Kia Kima may be reserved from March into November.
Information: www.oldkiakima.org, or call Mark Kruger, 479-531-4061.
Source: Old Kia Kima Preservation Association.
The menu of adventure was long at the camp on the Spring River in Northeast Arkansas, near Hardy. Swimming and fishing in the river was a given. There was hiking and mystery in the woods, and life lessons to be learned from scout leaders and fellow scouts.
It has a precious place in their hearts, this former scout camp. To see it fall apart, to deteriorate from neglect, just about broke the hearts of Kruger, from Rogers, and Billingsley, of Bentonville. Sadness is now glee when the two visit the camp that has been restored to new and immaculate condition, thanks to the muscle and sweat of camp alumni.
Today, Old Kia Kima is a thriving camp that is open and available for use by youth groups from around the United States. The cost? Totally free.
The name means "nest of the eagles," in the language of the Chickasaw, Kruger said. And like eagles, former campers from around the nation migrate to Old Kia Kima each year for a work weekend in the spring and a reunion in the fall.
An army of camp alumni spent a weekend in April at the camp, sprucing up and fixing up the grounds and buildings.
There are 16 stone cabins with tent-like windows and four bunks per cabin. There's a kitchen and dining pavilion, hot showers, a beach on the Spring River and much more. The camp can accommodate up to 64 people.
Turnout was large for last month's work weekend, Billingsley said. Sixty volunteers from as far away as Michigan and Georgia showed up to lend a hand.
"The work was quite strenuous, but went very well," he said. Most of the volunteers are in their 50s and 60s. Two helpers last month were in their 80s, Billingsley said. Adult children of some volunteers were part of the work team.
Landscaping, painting, cabin cleaning and boat-dock repair were among the completed chores.
In the evening there was plenty of food, socializing and storytelling.
Camp Abandoned
The bright, new look of Old Kia Kima is a far cry from the condition it was in years ago. The camp was built in 1916. No telling how many campers slept in bunks of the stone cabins before the camp and property were purchased by Cooper Communities in the 1960s. Cooper bought the land to build Cherokee Village, one of their resort communities.
The company didn't leave the Boy Scouts out on a limb. Cooper built Boy Scouts of America a new camp in the region. The restored Old Kia Kima isn't affiliated with the Boy Scouts, but scout groups are welcome to use it. It is available to any nonprofit youth group.
Old Kia Kima was abandoned in 1963 and sat empty for 40 years. Illegal dumping was rampant. Old appliances and trash littered the camp. Roofs caved in and weeds took over. In 1993, four former camp staffers visited their old camp and were appalled at its fate.
That visit left an impression. Two of the four returned the next year with other camp alumni who couldn't believe their eyes. Those visits sparked a decision. They men vowed to rebuild the camp. It would take work and lots of it. The Old Kia Kima Preservation Association was founded.
A giant step occurred in 1998 when Boyce and George Billingsley of Bentonville bought the camp and land back from Cooper Communities, which never built on it. The Billingsleys gave ownership of the camp to the Old Kia Kima Preservation Association, which runs the camp today.
Word spread to former campers eager to help with restoration. Donations came in to fund it. Work sessions were organized. The cabins were refurbished, along with the dining hall and other buildings. The camp reopened in 2002.
Old Kia Kima is now better than new and improvements keep coming. Plans are to build some tent campsites and make more seating room in the dining hall. Donations fund the work. A 12-member board oversees operation of the nonprofit camp.
All For Youth
Any youth group is welcome to reserve the camp for a weekend or a week, Billingsley said. There are weekends available this summer after mid July, and plenty of weekday openings. There's no cost, but most groups make a donation, he said.
Rogers High School cross-country teams are frequent visitors to Old Kia Kima, said Becky Efurd, coach of girls track and cross country.
"We've been there several times and love it," she said. "It's right on the Spring River. We get to do a lot of running over there and the facilities are nice."
It's a getaway treat for the cross-country team or any team of youths, thanks to the teamwork of camp alumni who've given new life to Old Kia Kima.
Outdoors on 05/15/2014