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In 1968 Cathy Outzen Grant began her relationship with Touch of Nature as a camp counselor for Camp Little Giant. Thirty-five years later, the camp and the center are still a permanent part of her life.
The three summers she spent living, playing and bonding under the trees and on the beach of Touch of Nature ultimately stayed with her through the years. She is no longer a counselor, but she cannot escape the magic that captured her soul many years ago.
Touch of Nature celebrated its 50th anniversary on Saturday as Grant joined a group of 70 counselors, campers, staff and family that came together to celebrate the past half-century of the facility.
Touch of Nature Environmental Center - formerly known as Little Grassy Camp - is nationally recognized as a model field site for research and experimental learning for thousands of University faculty members and students while serving thousands of children and adults living in the region and around the country.
In 1952, SIUC began operating Little Grassy Camp as the first University-affiliated residential camping program in the United States for persons with physical or cognitive disabilities.
Friends of Touch of Nature coordinated the reunion that brought staff and campers of the past 50 years together Saturday. Friends of Touch of Nature is a not-for-profit, unincorporated organization committed to the improvement and enrichment of Touch of Nature Environmental Center.
Grant serves on the Friends of Touch of Nature Board and was also a counselor at Camp Little Giant from 1968 to 1970. Camp Little Giant is the main summer program at Touch of Nature for people with various disabilities.
Grant recalled her experience as a staff member and why the program is still important to her. She said the friendships that she made and the experiences that she had made Touch of Nature a permanent part of her life.
The reunion began with swimming and pontoon boat rides on Little Grassy Lake. After the daytime activities ended, the reunion dinner with the campers began. Instead of tablecloths and fancy food, the dinner was served at the camp's eating lodge. The menu consisted of camp food, just how the staff remembered.
The reunion brought together some of the camp's oldest participants. One of the attendees was 91-year-old Naomi Mannering, one of the first camp nurses.
Another attendee, Helen Davis,62, of Murphysboro, who attended the camp in the early 1950s, got a chance to reconnect with old friends and counselors at the place where she spent her summers a half-century ago.
Tom Pauley has been a camper for more than 30 years; he attended the reunion and even showed off his talents when he sang an impromptu song with the band.
The reunion featured a "couples wall" with pictures of people who had met each other at Touch of Nature and have since married. The celebration carried on into the night as the group moved from the dinning hall to a campfire.
People came from as far as New Mexico and Minnesota to be a part of the festivities at Touch of Nature. The reunion allowed past counselors to meet and interact with new staff.
"It was good for the old staff to see that the passion and dedication is still here in the new staff," Grant said.
Many people who worked for the camp went on to work with special populations or with the environment.
"Touch of Nature has employed so many socially responsible people," Grant said. " The staff is able to accept and appreciate the differences among people."
Touch of Nature grew out of the vision of Dr. Delyte W. Morris, former president of Southern Illinois University. His dream of an off-campus outdoor laboratory for higher learning and service was created with the help of Dr. William H. Freeburg.
Freeburg was the first person in the U.S. to earn a doctorate in outdoor education. With lobbying efforts SIUC acquired 300 acres of land on the edge of Little Grassy Lake, and operation of Little Grassy Camp began.
Throughout the years Little Grassy Camp evolved into Touch of Nature Environmental Center, which has expanded its services by offering a total of five program areas including therapeutic recreation, environmental education, outdoor adventure, spectrum wilderness and conference and banquet services. Together these programs serve more than 20,000 participants annually.
While all the programs collectively make up Touch of Nature, Grant said that Camp Little Giant is the heart and soul of the center. Camp Little Giant offers one-week and two-week residential summer camping programs for persons with various abilities and disabilities from 8 to 80 years of age.
Camp Little Giant receives endowments and donations from the Friends of Touch of Nature and a grant from the Christopher Reeves Paralysis Foundation. These donations help to cover camp costs for campers who otherwise could not attend, said David Gename, director of the facility.
Corporate sponsors such as Southern Illinois Hospital Corporation, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Midwest Medical Supply and Southern Illinois Surgical Appliance partially underwrite camper fees for Camp Little Giant. According to Gename, this is the first year of corporate support.
Touch of Nature has served thousands during the past 50 years, making itself into a living, loving, welcoming and accepting environment that calls back its campers and staff year after year.
The camp is described as a life-changing experience for those who get close enough to touch it.
"The camp affects the lives of so many people, not just the campers and counselors," Grant said. "But also the thousands of family members, maintenance and groundskeepers and volunteers have all been affiliated with the camp."
