Camp Gray is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

summer camp and retreat center located in

Reedsburg, Wisconsin Reedsburg is a city in Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. Located along the Baraboo River, it was founded in 1868, and was named for early settler David C. Reed. The city is surrounded by the Town of Reedsburg. It is part of the Baraboo Mic ...

. It is a

ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, and is accredited by the

American Camp Association The American Camp Association (ACA), formerly known as the American Camping Association, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that serves the United States. It is an association for camp owners, camp professionals and others interested in summer camps and si ...

(ACA). Its mission is to "Camp Gray invites people of all ages to encounter Jesus Christ in all creation, experience a fun and vibrant Catholic community, and be challenged to ever more deeply know, love and serve God and neighbor.". Camp Gray's summer program consists of nine one-week sessions for campers ranging in age from 6-18. Typical camp activities include

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

arts and crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

, and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

. Camp Gray also serves as a retreat center.

History

In 1953,

Monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

Francis Xavier Gray,

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

of St. Joseph Catholic Parish in Baraboo, Wisconsin, established the camp. He bought the original from a local businessman for $400. The original cabins started as ammunition crates from the nearby Badger Army Ammunition Plant. In the early days, Camp Gray was a boys' summer camp, owned by St. Joseph Parish and directed by the parish priest. Summer camp started in 1958 under Fr. Francis Schmidt's direction. Four weeks of summer camp for boys were offered, and the counselors were

diocesan In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

seminarians. In 1968 the Catholic Diocese of Madison,

, incorporated the camp. In 1980, Fr. Larry Bakke's second summer as director, the first summer session for girls was held. In 1984 Camp Gray held its first

co-ed Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

session, and soon after became entirely co-ed. In 1994, Camp Gray hired its first lay director, Jake Czarnik-Neimeyer, who was succeeded in 1997 by Phil DeLong (Czarnik-Neimeyer's Assistant Director from 1994–1996). At the start of 2008, Jeff and Rebecca Hoeben, as co-directors, replaced DeLong.

References

External links

Camp Gray Web Site
{{Coord, 43.542451, -89.811248, display=title

Gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

Catholic Church in Wisconsin Buildings and structures in Sauk County, Wisconsin 1953 establishments in Wisconsin Reedsburg, Wisconsin