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YMCA

CAMP DEBOER

a bright new future
for a historic camp

valerie coulman

kevin doss - apex video tours

id and Karen DeBoer have
always had close ties to Lake
of the Woods, going all the way
Sback to their own Senior Skip
days in high school. Over the years,
days spent swimming, boating, and
skiing at the lake became regular time
at a cabin as their family grew.

So in 2012, when they learned that
what had been a long-time Girl Scouts
campground at Lake of the Woods was
going to be sold, it didn’t take them
long to realize they wanted to be part
of what happened there. “We bought
it,” says Karen DeBoer, laughing, “and
then had to decide what to do with it.”
Ultimately, they knew they wanted it to
serve Southern Oregonians of all ages.

“The project actually began 6 years
ago,” recalls Lisa Molnar, then CEO of
the Ashland Family YMCA, “when Sid
called me and proposed that he donate
the camp and some money to rebuild
it.” DeBoers have served on many
local boards, including the Ashland
Family YMCA, and after several con-
versations with Molnar and the board,
DeBoers gave the camp to the YMCA,
along with a substantial portion of the
funds that would be necessary to ren-
ovate and maintain the re-envisioned
facility.

“We wouldn’t have tackled a project
of this size without the DeBoers,”
Molnar admits. The camp had fallen

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