“We’re hoping to host 150 families,” said Kimberly Munafo, the vice president of development, marketing & communication at the Great Miami Valley YMCA. “It’s a great means of discovering things to get the kids re-involved in, and re-engaged in this summer, as well as a YMCA job-resource fair. We have many positions available.”
“It’s a means of keeping the whole family entertained for four hours,” she said.
Food trucks will be there, and there will be about two-dozen activity stations, including archery, science, and arts fun, plus High Ropes Course demonstrations. Animal Friends Humane Society and the Lane Library also will be there.
The Camp Campbell Gard, which celebrates its 95th anniversary this year, is closer than many people realize, Munafo said. It’s located at 4803 Augspurger Road,10 minutes from the Bridgewater Falls shopping area, 9 minutes from downtown Hamilton and 28 minutes from Oxford.
Camp Campbell Gard is 600 acres located on the Great Miami River.
It was donated to the YMCA in memory of Charles Campbell Gard, who was a World War I veteran. His father, Homer Gard, was the longtime publisher of the Journal-News. Charles died unexpectedly, and one theory is that it was a late response to mustard-gas poisoning during the war, Munafo said.
“Homer once said he lost his son, business partner and best friend all at the same time, and so he thought what a fitting tribute to memorialize his son with a gift of YMCA Camp Campbell Gard.
“Since that time, it’s actually hosted, entertained and built character of more than 100,000 youth throughout Butler County and the tri-state area, so a pretty powerful monument to his son.”
For questions, go to the GMV YMCA Facebook page or GMVYMCA.org.
About the Author
