Closing Camp Seven Springs![]() View the "Hank Harris" page to see how the lake got it's name.
Posted: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 12:00 am
Lisa O'Donnell/Winston-Salem Journal A link to the original article and photos can be found HERE. FARMINGTON — In its heyday, Lake Harris at Camp Seven Springs in eastern Davie County was home to all manner of merriment, with girls fishing, paddling, splashing and screaming as they barreled down slides into the water. Last week, the landscape was sadly serene, with soft ripples from a light, sporadic rain creating the only disturbance on the lake’s surface. A stack of aluminum canoes and fiberglass kayaks were parked under a tree for the season. Not far from the lake’s edge, shelters resembling covered wagons, once home to giggling girls whispering ghost stories or planning late-night raids, were as quiet as a country church. The 57-acre camp will no longer be a getaway for girls. Officials with the Girl Scouts Carolinas Peaks to Piedmont council have decided to sell the 46-year old camp, a move that reflects the organization’s changing mission and will result in an annual savings of several thousand dollars. The campground will be auctioned at noon April 13. Marcia Cole, the CEO of the 40-county council, which includes Forsyth and Davie counties, said Camp Seven Springs is one of several that the area council has decided to shed since the state’s councils were reorganized in 2009. The camp costs $75,000 annually to maintain while bringing in about $12,000 in revenues. “We just can’t do it anymore,” Cole said. Despite those significant savings, selling the camp is bittersweet, she said. “It’s like having a homeplace in the family for 100 years and no one wants it anymore, and it breaks Grandma’s heart,” Cole said last week, standing in the lodge overlooking the lake and surrounding woods. “Selling these is hard. But we’ve got to provide the best facilities with the most options for the girls.” In an effort to streamline costs, several North Carolina councils, acting on a mandate from the national office, merged in 2009, creating super councils that suddenly had too many camp properties. The Peaks to Piedmont council, for example, had eight camps, including Camp Seven Springs. “We don’t have the participation to warrant eight camps,” she said. “We’re camp-happy, but we can’t afford them.” The council decided to sell some camps, including Dot Perry in Wilkes County and Camp Douglas Long in Guilford County. Camp Seven Springs was put up for sale because it is one of the smaller camps, with little room to expand. Some of the council’s largest camps, including Keyauwee Program Center in Randolph County and Camp Golden Valley in Rutherford County, have zip-lines, climbing walls, horses and swimming pools. Seven Springs lacks that sizzle, with its central feature being the two-acre lake and the 6,000-square-foot lodge. It also has small cabins, the covered-wagon shelters and picnic shelters. “It’s very cozy, quaint, cute and safe,” Cole said. “It’s a great place for someone to have their first overnight trip.” Built in 1967, the camp has mostly been used recently by individual troops for outdoor adventures. Most overnight Girl Scouts camps are at the larger camps, where there are more activities, Cole said. “It hasn’t been used as an overnight summer camp for quite a while,” she said. Tom Smitherman, who is selling the property, said he has already talked with several potential buyers. If an offer is made –– and accepted by the Girl Scouts –– before April 13, the auction will be called off. The Girl Scouts will decide at the auction whether to accept the high bid, Smitherman said, and have not set a baseline bid. The property includes 1,300 feet of road frontage on Pineville Road and 800 feet on Whippoorwill Road, and plenty of hardwoods. Besides the lodge and shelters, other structures include a ranger’s home and a cabin. “It’s a unique piece of property that can serve many different purposes,” he said. For her part, Cole said she would like to see the camp continue as a natural playground for people, a place where they can escape and slow down. “Personally, I’d feel wonderful if it could stay a camp, but it would also be a wonderful facility to build a dream home.” |