University of Virginia Library

Holiday Trails Opens Paths For Disabled

By BEVERLY DOWELL

"We wanted to make sure
that these kids had a real
feeling of being camping all the
time because they have spent
most of their lives in homes
and institutions," said John
Palmer, an architecture student
who has been working on
a project for Camp Holiday
Trails.

Next summer Camp Holiday
Trails, a camp for children with
asthma, cystic fibrosis,
diabetes, cardiac disorders and
other medical problems, will
open after three years of
planning and work by members
of the University community
and Charlottesville residents.

Assoc. Pediatrics Prof.
Elsa Paulsen "is doing
everything" according to
George Gilliam, Charlottesville
lawyer and president of the
non-profit Camp Holiday Trails
corporation.

Dr. Paulsen, who is the wife
of Law School Dean Monrad
Paulsen, has interested several
schools and departments of the
University in the project
including the Music Dept., the
Education School, the Speech
and Hearing Center, the
Children's Rehabilitation
Center, the Drama Dept., the
Sociology Dept., the
Engineering School and the
Medical School.

Mrs. Edgar F. Shannon Jr.,
Assoc. Prof. of Architecture
Edward Lay, Ron Adams of
the Children's Rehabilitation
Center, Dr. Robert Selden and
Asst. Prof. of Education Don
are University-related members
of the Board of Directors.

Students of the Engineering
and Architecture Schools have
just completed a project
designing plans for the camp,
to be located near
Charlottesville between Routes
29 and 64 on state route 702.

Mr. Lay, Coordinator of
Architects for Community
Involvement, supervised the
work of nine architecture
students who worked on the
designs for the camp in
connection with a Community
Involvement class. Mr. Lay
emphasized their efforts
explaining the students'
contribution was worth about
$5,000.

Civil Engineering Prof.
Henry Kinnier aided 28
engineering students in solving
such problems as water and
sewage disposal.

The students presented their
completed models and detailed
plans for enlarging a pond to
the Board of Directors,
University members and
Charlottesville residents at a
tea last Tuesday afternoon in
the Architecture School.

The four models submitted
varied, but all the students
used space and color to make
an attractive and usable camp
for medically disabled children.

One of the models included
skylights in the air-conditioned
villages to give the children a
feeling of camping even though
they must sleep indoors for

medical reasons. Other ideas
included a Green in the center
of the camp for meetings and
free play, and a multi-purpose
dining hall for recreational
activities.

Someone mentioned
hand railings to me, said Gus
Ardura, one of the model
designers, "which can be added
on, but there are probably lots
of realistic points that we
haven't thought of."

"Mainly we tried to make a
pleasant environment for
children," he said. The
students did talk with
physicians about the medical
problems, Mr. Ardura
explained, "But we would have
liked to learn a lot more about
them."

The year-round camp will
have room for approximately
80 children between the ages
of 6 and 14.

Dr. Paulsen explained that
the camp will include 15 and
16 year old
counselors -in-training and 17
and 18 year old junior
counselors.

College and medical
students, sociologists, and
teachers will be senior
counselors.

The camp is designed for
three areas: to help the kids, to
help the people involved such
as parents and teachers, and to
train people, all in a pleasant
environment," Dr. Paulsen
said.

Representatives from several
departments at the University
have attended the Camp
Holiday Trails meetings and
contributed ideas, according to
Dr. Paulsen.

"They are going to figure
out what they want to do for
the camp," she said.

Other plans that have been
discussed for the camp include
a children's theater and a choir.
Dr. Paulsen added that Assoc.
Music Prof. Donald Loach has
suggested having the children
write their own songs as part of
the camp's activities.

"The camp will be a real
sociological experiment," Dr.
Paulsen remarked, "because we
will have to figure out what
types of children can live
together because of medical
problems. It should attract lots
of interest from sociologists."

During the next several
months, the Board of Directors
will be studying the design
models, selecting the final
design and having working
drawings made, according to
Mr. Gilliam.

Although many camps have
been set up for diabetic and
asthmatic children, Mr. Gilliam
said, "I believe this will be the
first time anyone has tried to
put them all together."

"There will be a state-wide
fund raising campaign in the
fall," Mr. Gilliam added.

University service fraternity
Alpha Phi Omega has
volunteered to help raise funds
for the camp. Former APO
service chairman Mike
Crossley said the fraternity also
plans to help with work in
clearing trails around the camp.

Camp Holiday Trails has
already received "several
thousand dollars from people
who heard about it and just
sent the money," Mr. Gilliam
explained.

The land for the camp was
offered by Mr. and Mrs. David
N. Goodwin. The site is the
"old family place" of Mr.
Goodwin, a Charlottesville
businessman, who said, "My
grandfather raised his family
there. When we heard about
the camp we thought our land
would be the ideal place for
it."

The city of Charlottesville
will allow the camp to use the
area around the adjoining
reservoir for nature and hiking
trails.

Most of the camp will be
built in the first of three stages.
Mr. Lay estimates this stage
will cost $300,000.

Stage two will include
adding another village for
campers, and stage three will
be the addition of a recreation
hall designed for plays and
other activities.

After a state-wide tour, the
design models will be on
exhibition in store windows of
the Charlottesville area.