ERBC Through the Decades: the 1980s
Some photos chronicling the construction of the Diller fieldhouse in 1988-1990.
The 1980s were a decade of continued growth for Echo Ranch; as more facilities were built and added, the camp began to more and more resemble how it looks today. Some new summer camp features were constructed in the 80s, such as the team building course and the zipline (although its safety measures were not exactly what they are today). The Diller Fieldhouse, which contains camp’s gym, game room, and craft room, was also built at the end of the decade (with most of the work happening in 1988, an extremely rainy summer, it’s impressive that it was accomplished at all). The Wilderness program, then known as Sourdough Camp, also began in the late 80s.
With this growth in facilities came growth in camper numbers, which reached an average of nearly 700 kids per summer. Many of Echo Ranch’s camper cabins were constructed in these years to accommodate the increasing registrations. The programming for summer camps was also taken to another level, with many activities that endure to this day – Carnival for the young kids, Quiz Quest, and an end-of-week Banquet for Senior High camp – introduced by program directors Keith and Julie Wilcke.
A camp advertisement brochure, circa 1980.
The 80s also hold a few personal stories at Echo Ranch, stories tinged with loss but also saturated with God’s grace and provision. One such story began with the arrival of Dean and Alice Diller to camp. Dean and Alice had first come to Juneau in the 1970s to help build a local church, and from there they were introduced to Echo Ranch and served a couple brief stints as volunteers. That led to them coming to serve as summer staff for a few years, until the Lord prompted them to take their ministry full-time. Upon joining Gospel Missionary Union (today known as Avant Ministries) in 1983, they joined Echo Ranch’s full-time staff. Don Callison was still camp director at the time, but the very next year after Dean and Alice joined GMU, Don Callison passed the position of camp director onto Dean.
In 1986, a friend named Lew Love offered to fly Dean to Haines in his plane so Dean could speak at a church there. But disaster struck when, 500 feet up, the plane’s engine failed and they nosedived to the ground. Lew, tragically, was killed on impact; Dean, miraculously, was recovered from the wreckage with multiple broken bones and dislocations but no life-threatening injuries. The grief and shock of the accident was deep, but by God’s grace, Dean was able to continue his duties as camp director uninterrupted. It was months before Dean’s injuries were all healed, but thanks to a four-wheeler than Dean was constantly mounted on, he was able to get around camp unimpeded as he recovered.
Another story from the 80s of sorrow mingled with mercy is the history of Echo Ranch’s iconic landing craft, the Blondina. As the operations of camp grew, the difficulties caused by camp’s location at the end of Echo Cove mounted; many vehicles or fragile items couldn’t handle the bumpy trip around the cove, and even those that could had limited windows of time each day when tide was low. Dean identified the need for a large boat that could be used as a transporter, one that could carry entire vehicles across the water. Before long, Dean set his sights on an old landing craft for sale that had been used in World War II. However, when Dean showed it to friend of camp Phil Teal, Phil said the craft was too rusted and old to last very long. Instead, he offered that he and his partner could build Echo Ranch a landing craft from scratch. They got to work based on Dean’s requests, and completed the craft while staying entirely within their original projected budget.
Leo Warkentin with his daughter Judy at the launching of the Blondina.
As the finishing touches were being put on the landing craft in early 1990, Blondina Warkentin, who had managed camp’s registrations and served as bookkeeper for 15 years, was losing her battle with cancer. Sadly, it became clear that Blondina would probably not see another summer at Echo Ranch. But as the boat was being finished, Dean and the builders were able to ask Blondina and her husband, Leo, permission to name the boat after her, and she agreed. Blondina passed away in April 1990, and the Blondina was officially launched just weeks later in June. Blondina Warkentin’s legacy lives on today through the Blondina, which is still used nearly daily throughout the camp season to transport people, vehicles, and more between camp and the end of the road.
This story is a great example of how in the midst of all the things and features – the Blondina, the zipline, and so on – that camp gained throughout the decade, the heartbeat of Echo Ranch, what kept it growing and thriving over the years, was the people that God provided to serve here, who gave of their time and resources to help shape it for the future. Our ministry continues to this day thanks to their efforts, and we hope that by God’s grace, future generations will look back at our work today in the same light.