Hi campers and staff!!! In this summer of Covid 19, we pray your families and loved ones are safe and healthy. We are ALL missing our usual lives, and especially our glorious summers at Camp!

But we do have some good news to share – we can almost hear the Third Bell! The rebuilding of our beloved Berkeley Tuolumne Family Camp broke ground on May 26, 2020! Click here to view the drawings of new Camp Tuolumne. Read about the latest from the City of Berkeley here. In the seven years since the fire, campers and FOBTC tirelessly advocated and organized to bring Camp back, and now it’s happening!

The buildings and utilities will begin construction this summer.  We’re hoping for a next tree planting weekend with the USFS in mid-December (weather permitting). We’re buying trees and growing them already and hosting them at Mountain Sage Nursery in Groveland. We’re working with Camp architects Siegel and Strain on a new shade structure over the playground, and over the green circle of chairs. We’ve polled campers and staff as to what is important to them when we return to camp.

We’re hosting virtual Office Hours once a month in the Green Circle of Chairs (Zoom).. we’re organizing virtual Camp Spirit activities to bring Camp to your home this summer.. BINGO, Campfire, and Table Night.

But we know our work isn’t done unless Camp also feels like Camp again when it opens. We need to make sure the physical space comes alive with the traditions, spirit, and joy that is Camp Tuolumne.

So we’ve begun a new CAMPaign – The Third Bell CAMPaign – to raise support to make your vision for Camp a reality. The Friends have mapped out a 3-year strategic plan that will:

1. 1. Steward nature at Camp to provide beauty, shade, and safety. The fire drastically changed the landscape in and around Camp. We need to plant 10,000 more trees and revegetate 7 acres of riparian habitat, restore the trails around Camp, provide year-round caretaking to nurture our seedlings, and create a summer Nature Center to provide enriching environmental education to campers of all ages.
   2. Re-establish Camp traditions and support staff training, so that all campers feel like they’ve returned to the camp they love, with the songs, activities, art, and traditions they remember.
   3. Support inclusion and diversity of staff and campers, to reflect the values of the BTC community.
   4. Continue to support the rebuild with essential funds, advice, and partnerships with City, state, and federal agencies to enhance the camper experience.

Please check out our Third Bell CAMPaign page, and let us know how you may like to be involved. You can volunteer for our events, support with a contribution, attend our events and let us know your thoughts, and just cheer us on from the sidelines.. whatever works for you.

We look forward to hearing how we can support your love for camp!

Scotty

Executive Director

Friends of Berkeley Tuolumne Camp

Thank you to everyone who tuned in to the Virtual Happy Hour on May 21 to hear all the construction details from Liza McNulty, the City’s manager for the Camp rebuild project.

A big shout-out for the Chat pod! The enthusiasm and questions flooded in from about a hundred campers and staff. Liza, Steve, and Scott shared detailed design plans and fielded questions between sips of their favorite beverages.

Volleyball? Dinner Bell? Where will Arts & Crafts be? Will the Dining Hall overlook the river? What’s the plan for restoring vegetation? How long will the rebuild take? Stone showers? Accessibility? Parking? Where will staff housing be? Will the beaches be restored? They answered them all, and dozens more.

If you missed it, CLICK HERE FOR THE RECORDING. It’s worth the watch—it’s informative, it’s fun, it’s Camp!

We have great news to share! We are very excited to welcome the newest addition to the FOBTC team, Serena Fox!

Serena is on board to help guide the development and fundraising efforts to rebuild and reopen Camp Tuolumne as we move into the next stage of this journey to get back to the river together. Serena and her family are 20-year campers, and she is passionate about camp culture and the special role it played in her kids’ lives growing up. She has worked as a federal lobbyist and grant-writer for environmental organizations, and served two years as Associate Development Director for the Trust for Public Land, where she managed donor cultivation and capital campaigns. As a former content strategist and editorial director for Adobe and Pearson Education, Serena brings an expertise in social media and communications. We are thrilled to have her join our fundraising team!

Feel free to email her at serena@fobtc.com and welcome her to The Friends!

We want to hear from you!

To help us better serve you and the Camp Tuolumne community, we want to hear from you! We launched a 2019 survey to capture your preferences, learn more about you and give you a chance to provide us with feedback.

Please take a moment to fill it out our survey. It will only take a couple of minutes but will provide us with tremendous insight. The FOBTC staff and board will use this information to plan programs for 2020 and when Camp reopens!

Your opinion means so much to us. Please let us know what’s on your mind!

Click here to take the survey online!

Thanks to the generosity of hundreds of campers, we are now at $850,000! Not only are we steps closer to the rebuilding of Camp Tuolumne, but we are closer to our $1 million goal to fund mature trees, shade and restore trails.

This is an incredible time for Camp Tuolumne. Together, we are rebuilding a camp that’s been cherished since the 1920’s so it can be enjoyed for generations to come. Our families will vacation here once again and we will watch our children or grandchildren grow up at Tuolumne.

So for us, the Rebuilding CAMPaign is more than fundraising. It’s about uniting the Tuolumne community. Our goal is to have every camper and former staff member participate in this movement. Whether that’s by making a gift, sharing this story or volunteering with us – we want everyone to be a part of this important moment.

To make a gift, click here.

 

Latest Update on Camp Tuolumne

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We talked with the City of Berkeley’s Capital Improvement Program Manager, Liza McNulty, about the progress that’s been made this summer with the reconstruction of Camp Tuolumne. Here are the latest updates:

• The design phase is 90% complete
• The City remains on track to advertise for construction bids this winter and begin construction in spring 2020
• The City has submitted permit applications to State, Local and Federal agencies
• Repairs on the 16 remaining tent cabins will begin this month, including replacement of fire-damaged elements, flood strengthening foundation retrofits, repairs and painting
• Tree removal work is complete in Sun City and is in progress for areas of Main Camp

In order to make Camp safe for reconstruction and Campers, over 1,900 trees that are dead, burned or hazardous must be removed. The City conducted multiple tree risk assessments over the past 6 years to determine the extent of tree removals required. This work is a necessary first step to the re-birth of Camp. The good news is that as the dead trees are removed we begin to see glimpses of what is to come – native manzanita, oak and pine trees that have sprouted after the fire, all now uncovered, healthy and growing.

The Sun City tree removals and demolition of remnant structures are complete but it required a highly technical and specialized approach to avoid environmental and cultural impacts. The City staff coordinated with USFS and Tribal representatives to ensure this work was carried out with no impacts.

Please note that this is NOT a good time to visit Camp. The road is intermittently closed, and the public is not allowed in the Camp area while trees are being pruned/removed due to safety. 

Looking ahead: The City is anticipating a groundbreaking celebration for the Reconstruction Project in Spring 2020 and they hope to include a volunteer tree planting in areas that will not be impacted by construction. Stay tuned for details!

For more rebuilding updates from the City of Berkeley, visit their website.

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Want to learn more? Have questions for us?

Let’s talk or grab coffee sometime… Contact Marcie or Scott today!