Laurel Ridge Moravian camp offers time for contemplation

In the 1950s, a group of Winston-Salem Moravians dreamed of a camp they could call their own in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

They drove into Wilkes County, crossed the Eastern Continental Divide and arrived at the top of Laurel Ridge. With its sweeping views and two sparkling mountain lakes, the Moravians knew they had found their camp.

The Moravians envisioned Laurel Ridge, as the camp is called, as a place for young Moravians to find God outside of church.

"It's a time where they can get away from the daily routine and slow down enough and experience God in a natural setting," said Mike Warren, the camp's director.

Officials in the Moravian Church Southern Province, which stretches from southern Virginia to Florida, paid $100 an acre for 115 acres, and asked the young people of the province to raise money to buy the land. Additional land has been bought through the years, and the camp now totals 688 acres in both Wilkes and Ashe counties.

Camps run from mid-June to mid-August. They are largely supported by fees paid by campers. There is a full-time staff of five people, numerous seasonal staff and five part-time staff.

Laurel Ridge Moravian Camp and Conference Center opened on July 29, 1960, and, in many ways, the camp has changed little as it celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

The forest-green cabins with their board-and-batten siding are original and decidedly rustic. An old railroad bell announces activities to a third generation of campers.

The summer-camp program is organized by ages. Children who have completed first and second grades attend an abbreviated two-day camp. Third graders through high-school students attend camp for one week. Camps are open to non-Moravians, and a week of camp costs $350. About 1,000 children are expected to attend Laurel Ridge this summer, Warren said. They come mostly from North Carolina, but a few come from other states in the Southern Province.

Children do not have to be Moravian to attend Laurel Ridge. Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist churches rent the camp from time to time, Warren said.

The camp also has a conference center for retreats and youth gatherings of up to 32 people. There is also Higgins Lodge, a 48-bedroom conference center. A one-person cabin for individual retreats is available, as well a new cabin for couples and families who want a retreat space.

In developing the camp, the late Bishop George Higgins said that he didn't want an outdoor Sunday school. He wanted a religious experience in an outdoor-camp setting, Warren said.

There are no crosses, no benches or a chapel.

"His view was that every cubic foot of air is God's," Warren said. "The whole place is a sanctuary."

Laurel Ridge is not the camp you go to in order to improve your athletic skills or enhance your knowledge of technology. There are campfires, arts and crafts, archery, fishing, canoeing and swimming. One of the most popular activities is a square dance that has been held for 36 years and is called by a retired Moravian minister.

The camp is run with the help of about 200 volunteer counselors who are drawn to the mountaintop each summer. Many of them are former campers who return as college students. Others are retirees.

Edith Johnson, 77, who lives in Charlotte, has volunteered as a counselor for three weeks each year since the early '60s. Her father, a Moravian minister, was one of the ones who worked to make Laurel Ridge a reality. She lives in uptown Charlotte surrounded by concrete. When she comes to camp she tries to avoid walking on any asphalt paths.

"It's the place where I feed my body and soul," she said.

Johnson is from a generation that found the outdoors a fascinating playground. But many of the children who come to the camp have spent their lives on computers.

One child was horrified when Johnson chewed on a mint plant. Another girl gathered a bouquet of flowers and exclaimed over their beauty. She asked Johnson what they were.

"Dandelions," Johnson told her.

An Eco Camp, which was first offered last year, gives children a chance to learn about nature in a structured, Christian setting, Warren said. Administrators were inspired to create the camp after seeing how fearful some children were about being outdoors.

Laura Watson, the camp's assistant director, said that after attending Eco Camp one girl told her, "I learned it was OK to be outside after dark."

Children might learn about wildflowers, collect rocks or observe the wildlife that lives on the mountain. A collection of skulls, beehives and snake skins fill a table.

"The children that we get now have a great fear," Johnson said. "They really don't trust the environment."

Warren said that Laurel Ridge is designed to give children time for reflection and exploration. People discover favorite spots along the overlooks and hiking trails that they feel are their own. In that way, each generation and each camper has a personal experience of the camp.

In looking at the camp's next 50 years, Warren said he hopes that Laurel Ridge doesn't change drastically.

"I hope we don't develop it so intently that it becomes like a planned-vacation destination," he said. "I hope it becomes a place where people can explore on their own."

mgiunca@wsjournal.com


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