Lew Naylor was a long time camper and champion of Camp Friedenswald. In addition to believing in the importance of Camp in young peoples’ lives, he was also a strong advocate of getting renewable energy at Camp Friedenswald and was instrumental in getting our current compost system up and running. (We use a system he designed for Goshen College.) Lew died in June 2025. The day before he died he spent time in the peaceful woods, watching campers participate in activities and “researching” the effectiveness of Camp’s sound panels in the Dining Hall. Lew shared these reflections in late-May in celebration and remembrance of 75 years of Camp Friedenswald. 

On my first visit to Camp Friedenswald the only thing I recall was tall grass, a forest of mostly honey locust trees, and of course a lake with really cold water. People from Nappanee First Mennonite and from Eighth Street Mennonite walked around the proposed camp site. I would have been maybe 7 or 8 at the time. The following year I arrived as a first-year camper. Most campers arrived by car, but there were eventually kids arriving from Iowa, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania by bus. I was a little bit uneasy the first couple of years, but that wore off by the day after my arrival.

We were assigned cabins with boys from our home church as well as boys we didn’t know well.

Boy’s cabins were located on one end of the camp ground and girl’s cabins at the other end. In between was a sandyrack so staff could deliver wood, cement, shingles and other materials for construction of cabins. Eventually a bath house was constructed. It was a bit of a walk to the bathhouse, and any personal needs after dark were taken care of conveniently a few steps outside the cabin where we could water the weeds.

Meals were prepared in the first boy’s cabin, and served on picnic tables under a tent extended out from the cabin.

To get down to the lake during recreation time, we walked and skidded down a sandy path. The water was cold, freezing I thought, compared to lakes I was familiar with in northern Indiana. The color of the water was a sort of gray. Our play and swimming were not inhibited by either of these conditions.

In time, a dining and gathering hall was constructed. Yutzy Inc. was the contractor. My brother, Stan, needed summer work during college, and worked construction at camp. Occasionally I would go with him to give my mom a break. He was more effective with a hammer, saw, and pouring concrete than me. To keep me out of the way the builders would send me off on a wild goose chase to bring back an item that did not exist.

Singing was an enjoyable inclusion during meals, at morning watch, and camp fire at night. Two musical Hartzler sisters taught us both serious and humorous songs. We are table number 2 where is number 4. And then a series of songs about states: How did Floradie boys, how did Floradie.  The answer came from another table: She died in Misery girls, she died in Misery. What did Mississip boys, what did Mississip?  She sipped her Mintosoda, she sipped her mintasoda.

After meals campers at each table had the responsibility to wash and dry dishes. Each of us was assigned some duty: bringing soapy water in one basin and slightly chlorinated water in another basin. The rest dried the dishes. Table setters responded to the first meal bell – a few minutes before the next meal.

Some of us guys enjoyed singing as a quartet – Russ Gregory, Neil Lehman, Jan Emmert, and me. One year for an unknown reason several boys in our cabin requested a few songs after dark by our quartet as we laid in our bunks.

Roy Henry, John Bohn, Fred (Fritz) Liechty, Ben Sprunger, were the cool camp counselors. Roy led the nature walks. John and Fritz were just really cool. Ben brought a Christian related movie he had been in. And he eventually became the President of Bluffton College. Camp counselors can never be sure where their time at Friedenswald will lead.

At least one year we lined up two by two and walked along the sandy path beside the cabins. Boys were in one line and girls in the other. Maybe were supposed to hold hands. Every so often we would hear a call to switch, dropping back one space and walk with a new partner. This was a fun way to get to know another camper.