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Photo by Greg Stiles Visitors at Wilderness Trails enjoy the fall colors and warm temperatures at the camp near Howard Prairie. Lodge lifts camp's spirits Will expand Howard Prairie-area outdoor program By MELISSA MARTIN HOWARD PRAIRIE -- Youngsters attending a Christian adventure camp will begin using a new 4,000-square-foot lodge this weekend. Wilderness Trails dedicated the two-story, $441,000 building on the camp's wooded acreage near Howard Prairie on Sunday. Chris Smith says the new lodge, background, will allow the camp to accommodate more campers in winter months. It will house 24 campers and 10 volunteer staff, twice as many as the nonprofit Christian camp could accommodate before in winter months, said director Chris Smith. "When people see the new lodge they tell us it looks like something that belongs in Sunriver," Smith said. "We are pleased with the way it turned out." The lodge features a green metal roof and white shiplap siding. Inside, knotty pine ceilings peak at 24 feet. The building has a commercial kitchen, a multi-purpose room and an oak floor. Six bedrooms sleep 36 campers and staff on pine bunk beds. The project was made possible by grants from nine foundations, as well as business donations of wood, shower doors and other materials. Wilderness Trails last year served 380 children. Several hundred Rogue Valley residents volunteer as counselors, cooks and other camp staff, Smith said. Campers are referred by Services to Children and Family Division of Oregon, the Jackson County Juvenile Department and private groups. Most come from foster homes. "Most of our campers have missed out on the love of their biological parents," said Jack Smith, the first director of Wilderness Trails. "We like to think of Wilderness Trails as a family for those kids." Wilderness Trails was started in 1967 by Ruch minister Earl Best. Volunteers raised $42,500 to purchase 160 acres off of Dead Indian Memorial Road near Howard Prairie in 1972. The campground is used year-round. Campers 8 to 12 attend summer camps in a teepee village. They swim or fish in a pond, make crafts, compete as teams and sing around a campfire at night. In the winter, they add sledding and snowball fights to their activities. Wilderness Trails also sponsors off-site backpacking trips. Camps are free to the children and their families. Wilderness Trails receives no government money, but receives 75 percent of its funding from donors and 25 percent from United Way donors. Besides dedicating the lodge, Wilderness Trails inaugurated a covered barbecue area and shelter named after longtime volunteer Larry Prince, who died last year. "Larry volunteered because he knew the positive changes that could happen to abused and neglected children when you reach out to them and touch them with God's love," Jack Smith told those who attended the dedication. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA