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Feature Articles:
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For 50 Years, It’s Been
The Child City’s Getaway
by DARRYL MELLEMA
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Please click on any photograph below to view a larger image.
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> If you drive the 90 minutes west from Mooseheart to Camp Ross, and slowly roll beneath the rustic arch on the gravel drive into the camp, the first thing that strikes you is the quiet--the kind of quiet you only get in the deep woods. You hear birds, and perhaps the rustle of a small animal. But there is no road noise, no airplane noise for the most part; all of suburbia’s racket is gone.
However, one sound remains: the sound of children. It’s been that way for 50 years, and with Moose members’ continued support, it will continue to remain so for decades to come.
It has been 50 years since Harold and Dorothy Ross of nearby Mt. Morris, IL, gave the original 89 acres of what is now Camp Ross to the Moose fraternity, in order to give Mooseheart students somewhere to go camping in summertime.
Many of Mooseheart’s youngsters “don’t get home visits,” Mooseheart outdoor coordinator Darby Beasley said. “Some go home for Christmas, Easter and in the summer, (but) some don’t ‘go home’ at all. This is really their time to get away from camp and to go on vacation.”
Camp Ross has since been enlarged to 150 acres in its wooded, hilly location south of Mt. Morris, roughly 70 miles west of Mooseheart.
As then, Grand North Moose Dudley Weidemeyer wrote in the Moose Docket in 1957, “this property is a dream campsite.”
Weidemeyer noted the various features of the site, including the various animals that could be found there.
“It’s truly a camper’s paradise,” he wrote, “and it is planned that Mooseheart children in groups of 50 to 100 at a time will be given a two-week vacation each year in this natural woodland.”
Camp Ross can now host Mooseheart’s children in all seasons, and with donations and purchases of adjacent parcels, the camp has nearly doubled in size.
“Camp Ross almost has the feel of being in the foothills of Colorado with those tall pine trees,” Mooseheart Executive Director Scott Hart said. “It is in an area that is still largely rural and undeveloped. You don’t get traffic speeding by.”
That solitude makes Camp Ross more than just a great camping area (though it features a swimming pool, tennis/basketball courts, hiking and snowmobile trails, a skatable pond, a stream and areas for Frisbee Golf, archery and other activities).
“It allows our kids to reflect on life and what the future can hold for them,” Hart said. “The peace and quiet is one of the special qualities of Camp Ross.”
Camp Ross also offers a respite from the busy schedules of Mooseheart life.
“I’ll get a call about a student having this problem or that behavior,” Beasley said. “But when they come up here, they are so appreciative that behavior problems at Camp are so rare.”
Days are still just as packed as they are back at Mooseheart--just mostly with physical activity. A typical day starts 8 a.m. and ends well after sunset.
“When they go to bed at night, they’re sound asleep,” Beasley said.
Mooseheart students have a long history of involvement in the upkeep of Camp Ross as well.
“When I was here, we were up here just about every weekend and we’d help with the mowing or other things at camp,” Camp Ross caretaker Rusty Painter said. Painter is a 1982 Mooseheart grad, having spent nearly eight years at the Child City.
Painter lived in Mt. Morris before becoming caretaker, and now sees the Mooseheart children making their seasonal treks to Camp Ross.
“It makes me feel young,” Painter said. “I go to the city to feel the noise, but I like to come back here. There’s a lot of things you don’t forget, especially when you’ve hiked it for years.”
A few cabins, and the dining hall, were winterized in the early 1990s to make Camp Ross a year-round destination for Mooseheart’s children. But no additional major adjustments to the camp are planned.
“The number of acres we have is sufficient for our outdoor program,” Hart said. “The number of buildings we have is right in line with where we want to be. We want to maintain these things so the children have an opportunity to experience the outdoors. Camp Ross today is exactly what we need for the kids.”
The perfection of nature’s quiet has been the hallmark of Camp Ross for a half-century now, as this secluded getaway serenely marks its golden anniversary.
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Camp Ross’ entrance in the 1970s
Summertime has always been the traditional time when Mooseheart students go camping at Camp Ross. Canoeing on one of the camp’s ponds is still popular, as is looking for wildlife such as turtles to net.
The swimming pool was fun in the 1960s (above) and it’s still enjoyable today. Thanks to ongoing support from the Moose Legion, the pool has been modernized to include a new filtration system. But the water is still cool and the fun is still non-stop!
In the mid-1970s (top) as in 2007 (below), hiking Camp Ross’ wooded trails has always been a great way to get exercise and to enjoy nature.
Recent winterizing of Camp Ross’ buildings has made the camp a year-round destination for Mooseheart’s children. When there is enough snow, winter campers get to try out the camp’s snowmobiles.
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The Ross Family’s Generous Gift
In the 1940s and ’50s, Harold Ross (no relation to Past Director General Donald Ross) was a sales executive for the printing firm that printed Moose Magazine--and was a devoted Moose, a member of Mt. Morris Lodge 1551. In 1937 he bought 89 acres of raw property south of town. He built a rustic cabin and planted 18,000 pine, oak, ash, cherry and walnut trees. In 1957, with children grown and gone, he and his wife Dorothy gave the entire property to Mooseheart. By June 1960, thanks to $100,000 invested by the Moose Legion and three years of work by Mooseheart staff and students, the camp was ready for dedication--as part of that year’s International Convention. Nearly 2,000 members made the long trek from Chicago to Mt. Morris.
Involvement by the Moose Legion continues to this day, along with rock-solid support from the Mooseheart Alumni Association.
“The Moose Legion has been a blessing for the kids at Mooseheart and their sanctuary at Camp Ross,” Mooseheart Executive Director Scott Hart said. “Time and again when the Legion has been asked to step up and modernize Camp Ross, they have.”
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In 1957, Harold Ross (1896-1987) made perhaps the single most generous gift an individual has ever given the fraternity. Nine years later the Order elected him its Supreme Governor for 1966-67.
An aerial photo of Camp Ross in its more undeveloped days.
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