Published: July 15, 2008 01:48 am            

SCOUTING: Windy Meadows camp gets new Hearthstone Lodge

CAMBRIA — CAMBRIA — Windy Meadows, a camping spot for Girl Scouts for more than 50 years, opened a new Hearthstone Lodge on Monday.

Girls and women had fond memories of the “temporary” building that lasted 40 years, but the old lodge became unsafe, so groundbreaking for the new Hearthstone took place.

Ribbon-cutting ceremonies at the camp on Cambria road drew dignitaries, visionaries and a bunch of day-campers who are ready to use the new facility.

Valerie Smith, 17, a camp counselor and veteran camper, will miss the old lodge. “There are so many memories in that lodge,” the Starpoint student said. “We would have cookouts outside and overnights inside. We played games all night and worked on badges with all my friends. It was great.

“There were so many memories in the old lodge, but the new one will add many more.”

Isabella Cruz, 8; Madison Dunn, 8; and Casey Jordan, 10, got the right to unveil the new sign and gave the new building their approval.

“I think it’s really pretty,” said Jordan, who lives in Wilson. “It looks a lot different than what is was. It had a lot of memories in it from when I was younger.”

That also goes for Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte, D-Lewiston, a regular camper when she was a kid. “I have fond memories of the old lodge,” she said.

The memories don’t go back that far for state Sen. George Maziarz, R-Newfane. He was invited to the camp two years ago and given a tour. “It bordered on dangerous, really, and kids were staying overnight here.”

Kathy Dewey, the camping services director, was the visionary who was responsible for following through with the project.

“It came at just the right time,” Maziarz said. “Dollars came available through child obesity programs. It was a Department of Health grant ... It’s beautiful, clearly an improvement over the last time I was here.”

The Niagara Council got $250,000 through the Grigg-Lewis Foundation and $310,000 through Maziarz and DelMonte.

William “Ben” May, the executive secretary of the foundation, said, “This is a gift that is tangible. The gift really did something.”

Dewey, who will become the outdoor resource manager with recently merged Girl Scouts of Western New York, has been employed by the scouts for 20 years. “The old lodge became in such disarray and it was too costly to modernize it,” the former Girl Scout said. “It was more cost-effective building a new building with code changes and make it as safe as we possibly could.”

Fran Isaacs, the former Niagara CEO, credited Dewey with starting and finishing the project. “ I couldn’t have imagined it in my wildest dreams,” she said. “Give credit to Kathy. She was the visionary and stuck with it. She had a vision.”

Woodworking from Windy Meadows trees was done by Paul Dewey. He installed wainscoting and built wood furniture.

Area fire departments used the old lodge as a training site and burned it down with a controlled burn. The firefighters were also able to stage rescue drills.

The new lodge will be used for weekend camping, Scout troops, community groups, church groups, youth groups and college retreats. The Red Hat Ladies have already booked the building for a retreat.

Dewey expects the building to be used every weekend during the winter program. There are 50 girls at camp the first week, and 99 are expected next week. The new lodge has sleeping capacity for 50 and a kitchen, locker room facilities, storage room and fire sprinklers.

“This building is amazing,” said Judy Penzotti, who is on the board of directors. “It is a dream come true, something we’ve needed for a long time. We just didn’t have the funding to make it possible. We have some great guardian angels who took care of us.”

Contact reporter Bill Wolcott 439-9222, ext. 6246.

        

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