From the Princeton Weeklyn Bulletin, February 24, 1997
Blairstown looks like $1.6 million
Campaign finances new buildings, renovations, programs for year-round operation serving 4,000 annually
By Sally Freedman
The Princeton-Blairstown Center is open to program participants again after a short month of downtime between mid-December and mid-January.
Once only a summer camp, Blairstown now operates year-round, hosting nearly 4,000 young people and adults during the fall, winter and spring, in addition to 450 campers each summer, on its 275 acres near the Delaware Water Gap. Among the many people who use the center are members of nonprofit social service agencies, public and independent school groups, churches and community organizations--as well as Princeton student groups affiliated with Outdoor Action, the Student Volunteers Council, the International Center, Freshman Summer Orientation, sports teams, religious groups and others.
"The focus of the Blairstown Center," says director Hendricks Davis, "is on small-group work in a program of outdoor adventure-based experiential education. We tailor the program to the goals of the groups that come to us, but we aren't a conference center for rent to organizations for their own programs."
The "vast majority" of those who come to Blairstown, Davis says, are young people between the ages of seven and 18. Approximately 450 a year come from Princeton, the rest from a wide variety of organizations, especially in the urban areas of Trenton, Newark and New York City.
"Blairstown is unique in many ways," notes Davis, "but it's also part of a growing field of outdoor experiential education used by institutions that want to make a difference in the lives of at-risk young people."
300 contributors
Though Blairstown is affiliated with the University, it is an independent nonprofit organization that must raise its own funds. This season is the first in which campers and other user groups will benefit fully from the results of a three-year fundraising campaign that raised $1.6 million--$1.35 million in building funds and $250,000 in program endowment--from 300 contributors.
The centerpiece of the capital campaign is a new dining hall and program facility, Egner Lodge, dedicated in 1995. The lodge was named for Carl Egner '10, a longtime supporter of Blairstown whose will established the cornerstone Carl and Helen Egner Memorial Endowment in the late 1970s. In 1996 the porch of this facility, which looks out on Bass Lake, was dedicated to Frederick "Bud" Redpath '39, chair of the capital campaign, who died in May 1996.
A plaque and picture in the main hall recognize the fundamental contributions of Francis Broderick '43, who, as student director in 1946, led the effort to include the first African American youngsters in the Blairstown program. An endowed fund, the Francis Broderick '43 Education Fund was established as part of the campaign, to be used for educational projects, resources and materials for the center.
The other major new buildings are the Ivory and Harold Watters Maintenance Shop, dedicated in 1995, and McAlpin Infirmary, dedicated in 1996. The maintenance shop, required by the increased demands of year-round operation, was named for master craftsmen Ivory Watters, who was hired in 1930 as superintendent and built the Headquarters and all the original cabins, and his son Harold, who became plant manager when his father died in 1960. The infirmary is named in honor of David McAlpin, Class of 1885, whose four children established the original camp infirmary in 1937. His grandson, David McAlpin '50, was responsible for raising funds from family members to create the new enlarged, modernized and winterized McAlpin Infirmary.
The capital campaign also provided funds for modernizing and winterizing the Hannah and Fred Fox '39 Cabin, the Class of 1941 Cabin and the Princeton Club of Philadelphia Cabin, all dedicated in October 1996. All 10 of Blairstown's cabins are now available for year-round use.
Stewardship over 88 years
In addition to building funds, the campaign raised $250,000 in endowment funds for various programs, including counselorships and camperships, which provide money for salaries and followup activities involving designated counselors and campers. While one counselorship was endowed by a grant from the Good Samaritan Foundation and another by the Çleveland Dodge Foundation (recognizing Cleveland Dodge Rea '36), the others were established by private contributions in honor of individuals involved with Blairstown: William Roberts '30, Kay and Ev Pinneo '48, Charlotte and John Danielson '58 (who currently serves as the center's development director), and the classes of 1918 and 1960.
"That kind of stewardship over 88 years is what has allowed Blairstown to be the kind of cutting-edge social service organization it is," observes Davis. "It is essential to the survival of nonprofits in today's world."
Blairstown's overall endowment of approximately $8 million provides about one-third of the annual operating budget of $900,000, according to Davis. Another third is covered by fees. "The only government funding we get," Davis notes, "is a little for campers' meals through the state Summer Food Service Program, the same program that provides subsidized school lunches during the year. That helps keep our summer fees down to $22 per camper per day."
The remainder of the operating budget must be raised each year, through private, corporate and foundation contributions and a variety of fundraising events, such as the Festival of Trees at Christmas and, this year, a golf tournament to be held in the spring.