What Was The Last Full Day of Camp Martin Johnson Like?

This well could have been the last sunset on Big Bass Lake that the campers and counselors of Camp Martin Johnson saw before their camp closed for good. I do have some questions in that regard.

(1) What was the last campfire like?

(2) What was the last meal at the camp?

(3) Before the camp officially closed were there any off seaaon trips there?

(4) How did you first react when you heard the camp would be no more?

(5) How do you think Martin Johnson himself, who loved this area, would have reacted to the news had he been alive?

(6) Were you present during the last year of the camp?

(7) What do you miss most (one thing) about the camp that you will never forget?

Of course, it is altogether possible that the news of the camp closing was not made available to the last year campers. Still, it must have come as quite a shock whenever the news was revealed. Let us know your thoughts.

The “In House” of Four Winds Island

Among the several cottages on Four Winds Island one in particular was vital and that was the “outhouse”. There had to be one, you know, or else kids would have to paddle to the mainland camp to “go”. But, as to “where” it was located on the island, I’m not sure so maybe some of those that used this very “In House” can let us know where it was placed on that island.

I still have to believe that the current owner of the island uses that facility as well. I doubt if any of the regular cabins had indoor facilities. Also, where did kids wash up? Was it in the lake or were there some sort of sinks set up outdoors where kids could wash up and brush their teeth?

Where Is Sauble, Michigan?- Part Two

In 1974, Ward Hills added a snow making machine. Howard Reese original owner of Ward Hills, sold the ski area in September 1960 to Camp Martin Johnson who allowed open skiing for some time to the public. 7 slopes, of which five were lighted and six tow ropes.

Ward Hills area operated from the mid 1950′s until the 1970′s. There were several rope tows and many runs. Some were named and some were numbered.

In The Cass City Chronicle for Friday, November 9, 1956, in the “Michigan Mirror” column, Ward Hills near Cadillac is listed among the rapidly developing ski areas of Michigan. According to a Consumers Power brochure from 1959, Ward Hills was 6.5 miles north of Branch, midway between Ludington and Baldwin via US-10 and Co-669. By the way, that now provides you with the geographical location of Sauble, Michigan. They had 4 slopes (1 novice run) 1 tow, instruction, and a warming shelter with a lounge serving snacks.

The Cass City Chronicle printed the 1968 AAA Michigan Guide to Winter Sports Fun on January 4. 1968. It listed Ward Hills as having 8 lighted ski runs, trails, and rope tows. They listed both a Michigan and a Chicago phone number for the resort, no doubt since they were then affiliated with Camp Martin Johnson

Apparently the Ward Hill Ski Area was purchased by the Chicago YMCA and added to their nearby Camp Martin Johnson, listed as being near Irons. Camp Martin Johnson was run by the Hyde Park YMCA from 1926 until 1980. They may have continued to run the tows for winter campers or other users (local school groups) until they closed the camp in 1980 and sold the property, reportedly to Ted Nugent, the “Motor City Mad Man.” It has been sold several times since, the last being to the Ward Hills Lodge. Again, it is now under private ownership.

Motoring Past CMJ Waterfront

Permission to come aboard? I enjoyed using our motor boat to glide past the waterfront of Camp Martin Johnson. It gave one a great view of the camp but caution had to be exercised as one didn’t want to get too close due to water activities at the camp.

The camp itself had a very active waterfront with sailboats, water skiing, rowing, kayaks, and of coure swimmers, some of which actually swam all the way to the Big Bass Lake store which was quite a swim.

Now the camp is a housing addition which is sad. Big Bass Lake deserves another resident summer camp on its shores.

The Boundries of Camp Martin Johnson

I had always wanted to know as to the extent of the land at Camp Martin Johnson. It covered far more land than I had dreamed possible. I knew that it bordered on Big Bass Lake and Blue Gill Lake but I didn’t know it had some land contingent to Little Bass Lake. The extent of its land nearly reached the Big Bass Lake Store.

My thanks to all the campers who sent me maps of the area. This one was my favorite in that it actually gave me the entire camp size as it related to the various lakes that bordered it. When I walked through this camp in the early 1970′s with some of the boys club kids with me on that trip, we basically just walked down the main road to the waterfront. But there was so much more to this camp.

How many cabins for the kids were there here? How many kids per camp session? Any former campers care to inform me of that? When did camp start in the summer and when did it end? My summer camping experience at Union League Boys Club Camp and Camp Mishawaka was about nine weeks in all counting staff training. At Mishawaka we had snow on the ground when I first arrived just a week before the kids were due. It was gone in a few days though.

Let us know more about the camp fellow campers as memories never die.

Council Fire at Camp Martin Johnson on Four Winds Island

I can almost imagine the beautiful scene at Four Winds Island during the council fire of Camp Martin Johnson. You could see the moon shimmer off the current of Big Bass Lake just behind the fire. The cool night air made you huddle fast around the fire. Ghost stories, songs, and laughter filled the air as campers and counselors sat around the fire and engaged with each other.

The island’s four buildings housed the campers that were fortunate enough to be part of the CMJ experience. Imagine! Living on your own island. Today that island is still inhabited by the current owners of that island and they utilize all of the island’s buildings in one way or another.

The buildings are still as rustic as they were in CMJ’s heyday although a little more worn for wear. None are insulated which would make them fit for winter. Thus the island stands deserted when the snow flies. Yet memory after memory must resound off the waters of Big Bass Lake for the times that were held there by campers and counselors alike. One would almost think you could hear ghostly echoes there from time to time.

Bugle Calls Are Not For 6 A M

I’ve often mentioned of the continual rain we had with the Salesian Boys Club when they were at our property one summer but that was not the major concern on that trip. The boys dealt with the rain rather well as there was rarely any lightning associated with it. But the boys did object to being awakened every morning at 6 am by the bugle of Camp Martin Johnson. That bugle may have well served that camp as their kids were in bed by 10 pm every evening. Our boys often began their night time hiking activities at about that same time. Even our trip to the Haunted Island commenced at midnight.

Our bedtime usually ran from between 1 am to 2 am so the boys loved sleeping in. However that sleep was often interrupted by that bugle call from Camp Martin Johnson. Even though they were quite a distance from us, that bugle’s sound bounced off the waters of Big Bass Lake and came in loud and clear at our campsite. Our boys were impressed how well that wake-up call was played however they did not know until much later that what they heard was a recording. What? No real bugle call? Is nothing sacred anymore?

After a few days most of our boys did not even notice the call anymore and slept right through it. I did hear it each and every morning and wanted ever so badly to change that recording to “Go to Sleep” instead. I wonder what the rest of the residents around Big Bass Lake felt like being awakened every morning by that bugle.

Some Things Remain Nearly The Same at Camp Martin Johnson

This is the road that leads to the old CMJ infirmary. It is now called Homestead Circle Road but I’d wager the road looks just about the same when CMJ was operational. But aside from the tennis and basketball courts, little else is recognizable about the former camp that ceased operations in the late 1970′s.

That is unless permission is granted to tour the now privately owned Four Winds Island which largely remains the same as in the days of the camp.  Graffiti is still found on the walls of the cottages of that island from campers and staff alike. 

The dirt road also has appeal especially since the full course around Big Bass Lake has been paved for years now.  For a time the section around Lakeview Cemetery and the camp was unpaved.  Sadly even the nameplate on the burial site of camp founder, Martin Johnson, as been removed and only a boulder marks his grave. 

For the man who wanted his land to remain a camp forever, he was betrayed by the Hyde Park YMCA for many youth organizations in Michigan could have made use of that land for a summer camp.  Johnson’s house is now a Heritage Museum in nearby Irons, Michigan, at the entrance to Skinner Park. 

If you want to locate traces of Camp Martin Johnson they are strewn all about with the exception of this dirt road leading into camp.  Yes, some things DO remain the same!

The Legend of Redeye at Camp Martin Johnson

The Legend of Redeye is true for who could re-”herse” it? Throughout the decades at Camp Martin Johnson there have been many monsters but none like Redeye. Yes, Baby Bender might have had his appeal with he ability to rattle some kids or Stumpy might scare a few as well but none had the legend of Redeye behind them.

Redeye could only be found at Lakeview Cemetery and, yes, some locals did not like the undue attention that the staff and campers paid to that area.  Also his particular Redeye did not come out of a bottle but after observing it some counselors might have abided in a few rounds. 

Redeye was not from some institution like either the Baldwin or Sauble Mental Hospital’s but after seeing Redeye for the first time, some might have opted to find those two places and check themselves in!  And, Redeye was no mere tail light either.  So, what was it?

Redeye was an Indian brave who had lost his life on the original land before Martin Johnson purchased it.  He was killed in ambush and with his dying breath warned that his eye would not perish from that land.  And, from time to time, out of nowhere, this red-eye appears in the darkness.  Some believe it searches for its grave at Lakeview albeit an unmarked one. 

But here it is before your eyes at Lakeview as one former camper emailed it to me.  It is said to appear throughout that area yet today including the land once owned by the camp.  It is said to guard the boulder that lies over the grave of Martin Johnson yet today.  Beware of Redeye!

Canoe at the Ready by Cottage

An interesting thing about Four Winds Island on Big Bass Lake was as a part of Camp Martin Johnson, everything was at the ready for campers that lived there. A canoe sided each cottage and since the island was not all that large it afforded campers the ability to step out of their cottage, grab their canoe, walk not over thirty yards, and put their craft into Big Bass Lake. It was that simple.

The island itself was a couple of hundred away from the mainland camp but it came complete with cottages and its own council ring. It had an area to swim from and perfeft sleeping accomodations. Meals had be taken back at camp unless a cookout was in oider that day. I suppose going back and forth for meals was a sort of headache but one well worth it to be separated from camp like they were.

Four Winds Island is the real only link to Camp Martin Johnson history yet today since the camp closed in 1978 and most of the mainland camp is near unrecognizable to even the most ardent one time camper. But the camp remains nearly intact at Four Winds Island with only some slight remodeling by the new owners. Graffiti remains on many of the cottages there.

The island is like a glance, or glimpse, if you will, into what CMJ stood for.

Noreika Tie to Camp Martin Johnson

This week I found out a few things that I didn’t know about Camp Martin Johnson. First, an old friend, Corrie, sent me this picture of a postcard of the camp. Corrie is on my grandmother’s side of the family, that being Barbara Noreika.

The other thing I found out when I recently read my Aunt Beth (Norris) obituary and noticed that in her early life she had volunteered at Camp Martin Johnson. Since our family farm was on the southwest corner of Big Bass Lake and CMJ on the Northeast side of the lake that would have made for easy travel. I can almost see my aunt rowing back and forth each day.

Thus the Norris/Noreika family does have one certain tie to Camp Martin Johnson.

Big Bass Lake For Sail

Now, don’t anyone panic! Big Bass Lake is not up for “sale” but rather SAIL. At least it was when Camp Martin Johnson was located on the lake. Then beautiful sailboats made the blue waters of Big Bass Lake even more colorful.

Are there still people that use the lake for sailing? I would think that with all the big speedboats on the lake that might be limited at best, but are there still those that use the lake for sailing? If so, what kind of sailboat do you have and what are its colors?

I would think Big Bass Lake to be ideal for sailing races what with all the islands located on it. If not, perhaps sailing can be resurrected on the lake as it would draw as many people to it as does the parade during the fourth of July. Or it could become a part of the festivities of that day?

Camp Martin Johnson Water Skiing

Every so often the CMJ speedboat would come cruising by with water skiiers in tow past our wooded beachfront in the 1970′s. It was usually our first experience with them in an afternoon before their recorded bugle call would wake us up the next morning. The odd thing was that most of the campers at CMJ went to bed before 10pm and that is largely when our evening activities began on our boys club trips to our property. So their morning bugle call was a tad early for us.

Our campers largely slept in to about 9:30 am. Our kids really thought that bugler was real and so did I. I only just recently found out that was a recorded bugle call. One of our kids thought so too as he said, “That guy is just too good as he never misses a note!”

Each day we would spot the camp speedboat carrying some skiers behind it going ever so fast over the cool blue waters of Big Bass Lake. But our kids knew there was another camp on the other side of the lake. Our camping seasons were much shorter than there’s as the longest trip our boys club ever took to our property was ten days with the majority of them being a week. A couple of years there were two separate weeks within one summer but those largely came with the Marion Boys Club.

What Has Singer Ted Nugent Got To Do With Big Bass Lake?

At one time, this shoreline of Big Bass Lake was owned by the Professional Singer Ted Nugent. He reportedly purchased it from the Hyde Park YMCA when they put Camp Martin Johnson up for sale after closing the camp in te late 1970′s. It was said that Nugent then redeveloped the land for its next usage that being the Heritage Bay Development.  And that company has since constructed many large homes where Camp Martin Johnson once stood.

Regrettably, the founder of that camp, Martin Johnson, sold his beloved property to the Hyde Park YMCA to be used perpetually as a place where children could enjoy.  The Hyde Park YMCA broke that sacred trust when they sold the land to Nugent.  Yet he himself, having suffered a troubled youth, could have made it into another summer camp.  He opted not to go that way.

I have said before that there are any numbers of Michigan Boys Clubs of America that would have loved to be able to own Camp Martin Johnson.  Were they ever contacted by the Hyde Park YMCA much less any other youth service group?  Did Nugent try that or even consider supporting a summer camp for  kids himself?  Natalie Cole and Bryant Gumbel once attended CMJ in their youth.  Perhaps former campers could have purchased the camp much like the Green Bay Packers are owned by the general public. 

Any thoughts on this issue?  There is sure not much information about what Nugent did with the land once he purchased it.  Leave us  comment about what you might know about all this.

Four Winds Island Tribal Area

It must have been great for the campers of Martin Johnson to be lodged on Four Winds Island. It must have given them that elite feeling. After all this island was separated from the mainland camp and offered them great vistas of Big Bass Lake. I can almost imagine the great campfires that took place in this location.  Think of all the stories that were told and how the kids must have been in awe on this island. 

It would be interesting to go to this island and explore some of the only history that remains from Camp Martin Johnson as the mainland camp has now been turned over to a housing complex with very few things remaining of the original camp. Not so on Four Winds Island. There the CMJ atmosphere still exists.

Say, maybe someone will get the idea that Four Winds Island itself could house a small camping experience for kids?

Natahki Drive on Big Bass Lake

My new blog friend, Joan, from “My Quality Day (Blogroll)” recently featured the northern two most islands (Turtle and Four Winds) on Big Bass Lake which she mistakenly thought were the two largest islands. She snapped the picture from Natahki Drive or Road on the land that used to be owned by Camp Martin Johnson. The area she outlined in yellow bears that out. In fact, Four Winds Island was owned by the camp.

From Joan’s satellite view you can observe the two islands in question just off the shoreline of what used to be Camp Martin Johnson.  However the two largest islands are south of there and can be photographed by either the Public Landing or by taking the bridge to the Big Island and gaining view of that island as well as Haunted Island to its west. 

I personally believe Haunted Island to be the most fantastic of all the islands on the lake.  Natahki is what Big Bass Lake used to be called in its early days.  There was even a girls camp under that name once on the lake. 

Here now are Joan’s two islands on the north side of the lake.

All of the islands on Big Bass Lake can be found in our Categories on the sidebar. And that even includes Sunken Island which is just east of the two islands pictured here. That underwater island is between the two islands here and the channel between Big and Little Bass Lake. Last December I did a multi-part series on Turtle Island featuring pictures around and on that island.

Its twin, Four Winds Island, can also be found in Categories and features many pictures of the remains of Camp Martin Johnson.  Also check out Grandma’s Hat Island, Haunted Island, The Big Island, and Sunken Island.  Of the latter one in a few days I will have a great shot of that submerged isle.  You also might want to check out the Category about The Big Bass Lake Channel for some excellent photographs. 

The Talking Feet of Camp Martin Johnson

Thank heavens my master took off those hot sneakers. I literally choke to death in there. Ah? Fresh air! I wonder what those other six tootsies think about their masters’ tennis shoes? At least I get a little airing out in this tent although it also is a bit musty in here. Great! My master is putting on his swimming trunks and that means one last time in Big Bass Lake this summer. He’s heading back to Chicago tomorrow as camp will be closing down.

Wow that cool grass feels good. Yes, these great steps that lead down to the waterfront are so cool they make me feel like a new foot again. I won’t be seeing them again for awhile. Oh, yes, going up, but down? Not until next summer. That sand feels so good. I often wonder why my master brushes that off after swimming?

Even better! Oh that is refreshing! That first run in to the lake and now I am totally submerged and feeling better by the minute. Us feet take a pounding in the event that you did not know. We’re hard to reach to clean so these times in the lake feel really good.

You know, to tell the whole truth, I heard this is the last summer at this camp. From now on when I get to go into water it will either be at Lake Michigan by Chicago or in some hard bottom pool. It’s just not the same as Big Bass Lake. I’ve been coming here three straight years and each time, for some reason, I seem to be getting bigger. I’m sure glad that my master keeps getting new shoes or else I think I’d be squeezed to death in those sneakers of his.

Well, I’m out and for the last time. Yes, up those stairs too for the last time. You know, some day, after this camp closes for good, I’ll be back here again. I will not be de-feet-ed!

Camp Martin Johnson Infirmiry

This could well be considered a “sick” topic for the majority of us but just how good was the Camp Martin Johnson infirmary? For the answer to that question I leave the table open to former counselors and kids alike as I never attended this camp and only walked through it once with the Marion Boys Club.

Of the two camps I was a part of as a counselor I could speak better of the infirmary of the Union League Boys Club camp than of the one at Camp Mishawaka which was far smaller. I was in both once and found the former much more sanitary than the latter. However the bedside manner of the Mishawaka nurse far exceeded the one at ULBC Camp.

So how about a poll of these three facilities as to which was best and that will also determine which kids of each camp read this site most. Kind of sneaky way to find out, eh?

Does Camp Mishawaka Offer Off-Season Programming?

I know that before Camp Martin Johnson on Big Bass Lake closed in the late 1970′s that it offered off-season camping to area schools and perhaps even to its Chicago YMCA base because members of that camp have spoken of winter type experiences at the Ward Hills Ski Area.  They purchased that facility in the early 1970′s and area schools made use of those facilities in the off-season.  In like manner, the Union League Boys Club offered off-season activities with its camp in Salem, Wisconsin, that my club in Hoffman states used monthly. 

So the question begs as to whether Camp Mishawaka of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, opens its camp to area schools for off-season programming?  Due to the harsh winters there I would think not but then Camp Martin Johnson did retain a winter program and it too was in a cold weather state.  Mishawaka did have fireplaces and electricity in Belding Camp for the younger members but I don’t believe those cabins were winterized. 

Still perhaps Camp Mishawaka offers a spring or fall program to area schools>  In this day, it would seem more than feasible to have a camp open in the seasons preceding and following summer camp just to get the maximum benefit out of their facilities.  Does Camp Mishawaka offer any off-season programming?  Let us know by way of a  comment.  Also let us know what kind of programs they offer. 

Status: What Has Happened to the Camp Martin Johnson Heritage Museum in Irons?

Last November, the Camp Martin Johnson Heritage Museum in Irons, Michigan, earned their tax-exempt status but when I recently tried to locate its previous Internet location it seemingly has disappeared.  The museum now resides in Heritage Park in Irons and I would like to know its present status?

Ever since the camp ceased operations in the late 1970′s it has been besieged with various problems.  Just after it was sold looters descended on the camp property on Big Bass Lake stealing what they could.  That the camp was sold in the first place was the true beginning of its downward plunge.  The visions of Martin Johnson for his beloved land was now in ruins.  He wanted children to enjoy his land and now only rich home owners do from the Heritage Bay Development Company.

Once Martin Johnson’s house was moved to Irons it established some hours for touring the facility.  Another downside is that the gravesite remains at Big Bass Lake unmarked.  It should be moved to the site of the house in Irons where it can be properly maintained. 

Yet, now, with the Internet site gone, what has become of the Museum idea?  Last year I spoke with Tom Curtin Sr., who had developed that website, but this morning I learned that he passed away last June.  Now with the driving force behind that museum no longer with us, what will become of its fate?  I also found a website asking for donations to maintain the museum but none was forthcoming.

However, where the vision of Martin Johnson really lives is in the hearts and minds of the campers and staff that went there as children.  Yet even that will one day run its course.  But, here, at Big Bass Lake and Beyond, the vision of Martin Johnson will remain both in the category (on sidebar) of Camp Martin Johnson but also on the man himself found in a page at the top of our website. 

As for the status of the museum itself, if you know anything about what is happening there, leave us a comment.

Are Friendships Soon Forgotten?

What kind of impact have any of us had on former relationships that we had at either camp or through youth organizations?  I must confess that I am greatly impressed in how memories are closely shared with former campers and staff from Camp Martin Johnson which closed in the late 1970′s on Big Bass Lake.  That camp still holds reunions and the friendships that were made at camp still last!  I suppose it depends on the impact each of us puts on those relationships that determines an enduring equation. 

I recently posted about Camp Mishawaka and included the name of one of my campers, Joshua DeCarl.  He had googled his name and found this website and remembered me.  He spoke of some fears he had at camp and  never even knew about them even though he was in my cabin group. Yet Joshua chose to contact me via this website with a comment.  He invested that time to regain a friendship that had endured for only a month when we were both at Mishawaka. 

Yet even childhood friends are soon forgotten.  I’ve gone through a dozen or so Facebook pages of former kids that I have worked with at various Boys Clubs of America and was astonished to learn how few friends have continued with them through their adult years!  Their friendship pages have rarely contained buddies that I saw them with in their early days.  Some friends have stood the test of time but they are few and far in between.

I’ve often wondered how some of the kids I worked with are doing now in adulthood?  What kind of impact did I have on them?  Now, I am still good friends with a fellow counselor I met at Union League Camp by the name of Gordon Payne yet our third tent counselor, Bob, each of us have never heard from sence save for a lone comment here with no return address.

It seems that so many friendships begin fleeting over the years.  Of course, new friends are met and forged.  But how many “Joshua’s” are still out there today that once knew me?  Or knew some of the other boys that I hav referred to on this website?

Are the majority of our early friendships forged for only that one time period?  When I waved good-bee to former campers was the forever?  And, what about the friendships in your life?  How lasting have they been?  Leave us a comment and let us know.

The Ladies of CMJ

When young ladies were added to the rolls of campers at Camp Martin Johnson how did this change the complexion of camp?  I know for a time the ladies were housed on the facilities at Four Winds Island possibly as a means of segregation.  How did the mixing of the sexes go initially at the camp?  Were activities co-educational? 

Leave us a few comments as to your takes on this issue.  How closely were the staff trained in regard to handling the issues of older teens during this transformational process?  And, what year did girls first begin attending the camp?  Were dances part of the camp program at that time?  All good questions and now I am ready for some answers.  The floor is open!

The Camp Martin Johnson “Monsters”

Now, by monsters, I am not referring to the children of Camp Martin Johnson, but those things that came out of the woods or lake, or even, in one case, the Lakeview Cemetary.

I want to personally thank all the CMJ campers who sent me in stories about their favorite resident monster at their camp on Big Bass Lake. Campers and staff remember Harold the Swamp Monster, The Claw, Harry Ape, Raccoon Man, Baby Bender, and Redeye. As to the latter he was a disfigured madman whose facial features were distorted by sulfuric acid and he had just escaped from the Baldwin Mental Hospital. Others remembered someone called Stumpy. There were a lot of spooky goings on also at the Lakeview Cemetary.

And how about this Baby Bender storyline? Supposedly Irons was hit by a plague and the doctor was quick to bury anyone with symptoms. Baby Bender was placed in the coffin prematurely and when they opened the coffin for the funeral they saw scratches on the inside (the fact that a baby’s nails probably couldn’t scratch the coffin lid never seem to dawn on a group of scared 10 year olds!).

In ’72 Jimmy Gleason invented Harold the Swamp Monster, who supposedly lived in the swamp between The Attic (them Porte’s residence) and Frontier Village. We even had a Hunt for Harold, an all-camp event, where each village had to go into the swamp and find their designated Harold. it was not a well thought out event! All of the staff spent the evening tearing off leaches and there was mud throughout the dining hall. Smores were definately out of the picture that night.

Who was the supposed escapee from the Sauble Mental Hospital? It seemed there were a lot of mental hospitals in them thar woods! Again my thanks to all the people that sent me there thoughts about the monsters and ghouls around Camp Martin Johnson.

A Scent of Yesteryear Remains at Camp Martin Johnson

Four Winds Island on Big Bass Lake largely retains the charm of what Camp Martin Johnson used to be as all its former buildings are to this day intact albeit privately owned.  The mainland camp is nearly all but forgotten except for the tennis and basketball courts that you see here.  It causes me to wonder if they are maintained by some sort of homeowner’s association?

And how often are they used by the Heritage Bay residents?  If those homeowner’s have children then the faint sounds of children’s laughter can still be found at the forme camp site.  Another thing remaining at camp is the now unmarked grave of Martin Johnson. 

When former campers and staff return to their former camp, I wonder what thoughts fill their heads?  Can they make out what used to be there?  Or have the waterfront, dining hall, campfire circles, and the like drifted away through the years?  Let us know what remains of camp in your memories.

Fading Memory of a Vision

Under this boulder are the remains of a man of faith known as Martin Johnson who gave his life to build a camp for youngsters to enjoy into perpetuity.  Yet in the late 1970’s the YMCA of Chicago betrayed that man’s trust by selling his dream to the Heritage Bay Development which turned his vision into a housing complex.  Even the boulder which marks Johnson’s gravesite has lost its plague that marks this location as his final resting place.

 His house has moved to Irons, Michigan, and is now a museum honoring his life.  Very little remains of the former camp with the lone exception of Four Winds Island whose present owner has retained all the former camp buildings as they once were up to and including the graffiti.

 One of our readers, after reading our Martin Johnson History page (found at the top of our website) noted that she was surprised to learn of the faith of this man as a believer in Jesus Christ.  His faith carried him through the hard years that built up his property that would later be transformed into a summer camp for boys and girls.

One has to wonder why the YMCA of Chicago did not first do everything possible to seek out new owners of another YMCA in Michigan or a Michigan Boys Clubs of America organization that could benefit by owning Camp Martin Johnson.  The Chicago TMCA had complained that Michigan property taxes were too high and that it became too expensive to renovate camp buildings. 

Then why not use tent platforms instead of cabins to save money?  The only real camp facilities necessary were restrooms and a dining hall.  I know by personal experience that across the lake from Camp Mishawaka in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, was a girls survival camp that needed no fancy accommodations.  What could have been saved through building renovations could have been used for property taxes to retain Johnson’s vision. Another idea was to have sold off some of the camp property around Bluegill Lake while retaining the main camp land on Big and Little Bass Lakes.  There were many possible ways to save the vision of Martin Johnson that were largely ignored and because of that the memory of the camp fades with each passing generation. 

Yet here at Big Bass Lake and Beyond that vision will be maintained through articles about the camp where countless generations will know what went on there and also about the man whose shaped that property. 

Maybe one of those homeowners will again take the courage to place a plague on that boulder which marks Martin Johnson’s final resting place to honor the man and his dream.  Maybe?