Churches of Miller County

MILLER COUNTY RA AND GA CAMP

In May of 1944 a group of women led by Mrs. John Musick, Mrs. O.D. Taylor, Gladys Karr and others met at the home of Mrs. John Musick and formed plans for the RA and GA Camp. The first order of business was to find a place to hold the camp. This was quickly solved when Professor Smith offered the Iberia Junior College campus for the camp. Plans were then made to have the first camp during the middle of July in 1944.

The group bought a hog and Mr. Musick, Glen Taylor and Walter Lottis did the butchering. After the hog had been made into sausage and lard rendered it was placed in the cooler at Okley Kinder's grocery store. Okley Kinder also ordered a beef and took care of it at cost. Most of the vegetables, fruit, jellies and jam were donated by members of the association. Others donated milk and butter.

Approximately 50 girls and 30 boys paid $2.50 each to attend the first camp. The girls came Monday morning and stayed through Wednesday noon. The boys came Wednesday noon and stayed through Friday evening. The two groups had the Wednesday noon meal together. Very good meals were served, making every effort to for each to eat all they could eat.

The camp had one paid cook, Minnie Moore, who was a member of Iberia Nazarene Church and a cook at Ft. Leonard Wood. She took a week of vacation to help with the camp and was paid $25.00. Gladys Karr was Minnie's main helper with others helping as they were free to help. The college kitchen and dining room were used to cook and serve meals to the campers. The dormitory was used for sleeping and the administration building was used for classes.

Several homes were opened in the area for camp workers to stay at night. Most of the counselors stayed in the dormitory with the children. Mrs. O. D. Taylor, Mrs. Pace, Margaret Kays, Clara Ferguson and Alice Vernon were among the faithful workers who were willing to take on difficult responsibilities.

In the early days RA's and GA's gave their steps before the association. Eula Mae Karr gave her steps at camp and was crowned Miller County Association's first GA Queen. Her sister, Emma, gave her princess steps.

After the first camp and all bills paid, $50.00 was given to Professor Smith as a love offering. Professor Smith in turn used the $50.00 for a Baptist Student Loan Fund. It was used several times for Baptist students.

There were several pastors who attended camp and participated in many functions which included messages to the boys and girls. Some of the pastors and ministers include: B.F. Dinwiddie, Glen Taylor, J.E. Brown, Malcom Younger, Tommy Bunch and Bro. Gebhardt.

The camp was as such a success that it was held again in 1945 and possibly in 1946. In 1947 the camp was moved to a site at Gravois Mills for one or two years. Next it was moved to Howard Hill Assembly of God Camp, then Camp Joy near Camdenton was used, Clover Point in the Lake of the Ozarks State Park and now is held each year at Camp Rising Sun in the State Park.