Over its 24 years of operation, with grassroots participation from many
businesses, individuals, and grantors, Camp Prime Time has greatly improved
the pre-existing cabins. Volunteers have built boardwalks to provide wheelchair
access to restrooms, created and installed a water filtration system to
ensure safe and accessible drinking water, installed a new septic system,
constructed fire hydrants throughout camp, and, most recently, built two
new cabins with wheelchair accessibility and self-contained restrooms.
Each year efforts are made to improve the camping program. This ensures
that families are able to build a network of support, and focus on quality
time together, while watching their children engage in activities that
otherwise would not be readily available.
Some
of the upcoming projects are listed below. If you are interested in more
information (or to participate in a project), please contact the Prime
Time office. Also, be sure to visit this page again in the future for
new pictures and updates on how the projects are progressing.
Lodge Improvement
The Main Lodge is a very functional old building that is in need of some
major improvements. Plans are currently being developed, agency approvals
are in progress, and funds are being raised to make the lodge more useable,
while retaining its historic characteristics. The work will add handicapped
accessible restrooms, strengthen the roof structure to resist snow loads,
enlarge the playroom, and provide sleeping space for the volunteer staff.
A Letter from our Founders regarding the Lodge Capital Fund Campaign
Dear Friends of Prime Time,
We all share in the confusion that seems to surround us daily, from the effects of an unstable and
bizarre world economy to the impacts that it has
on our homes and places of business. Prime Time
is no different; we also are feeling the impacts of
the world and local economies. Yet, we as an organization will not lose sight of our mission to
provide a “setting” for individuals and their families to experience the beauty of the mountains.
While many challenges face us, there is also an air
of excitement surrounding Camp Prime Time.
The camp has operated every summer since 1986.
In that time, we have seen a great deal of change at
camp that reflects the needs of our campers and
the mission of our organization. As this newsletter
goes to print, Prime Time
is embarking on a new
construction project to
help meet the desires expressed by our campers
and to fill the needs
deemed necessary by the
Board of Directors. It is our intent, with the help of
all our friends, to make improvements to the lodge
that will provide accessible restrooms, more playroom space, a caretaker’s residence, and sleeping
space for our volunteers. Any of you who have
been at camp on weekends know how much these
improvements will benefit the campers and volunteers. With all the improvements that we have
made to the camp, it has come to the point where
we need an onsite caretaker to protect our assets
and provide routine maintenance. Even with a
caretaker, we will still need all of our dedicated
volunteers to run the camp, skilled craftsmen, and
the rest of us who are there to help in any way we
can. The need for volunteers will never change.
The lodge improvements will include an accessible addition to the east of the existing playroom. It
will significantly enlarge the playroom and have
ADA compliant restrooms. We are also including
an ADA accessible second story above the north
end of the lodge that will provide sleeping space
for the volunteers and a caretaker residence. Our
design includes a heating and ventilation system
that will allow the lodge to be used during inclement weather, even mid-winter. We have recently
completed the steps to gain approval from the
State Historical Preservation Office and the US
Forest Service. We now have their support to
move forward. KDF Architecture and Structure
Engineering in Yakima have been working hard on
the project to complete the design work. We are
nearly ready to make application for the building
permits required by Yakima County.
Over the years, there has been a tremendous
amount of support from our campers, volunteers,
and benefactors. We cannot find the words to express the gratitude felt by everyone who has been
afforded the opportunity to
use the camp, work at
camp, or see how their financial support has been
put to use by the organization. We have amassed
hundreds of thousands of
dollars in improvements
and countless hours of volunteer labor to create the
beautiful camp we have today. This expansion will
lead us into the future, allowing us to grow as the
numbers of our campers continues to grow. This
year alone we have 5 new groups of campers that
will be coming to camp for their first experience at
Camp Prime Time. This lodge expansion project
will assist us in meeting the future needs of Prime
Time.
We expect the lodge improvements to cost in the
neighborhood of $1 million. The exciting part is
that we have been provided State of Washington
funding of $400,000 to apply to the project.
“We will not lose sight of our mission
to provide a “setting” for individuals
and their families to experience the
beauty of the mountains.” That is a significant portion of the
money we need for the project! We
have spent some of those monies already and are working to use the balance of those funds in this fiscal year.
Prime Time is asking you, our campers, volunteers, and our donors, to help
us in raising the balance of funds
needed for completing the project. As
we move forward with our fundraising
campaign, we hope to be able to contact as many of our friends as
possible. If you have an interest in assisting us in this project, we invite you to call our office today and discuss your interests. We invite
you to share our vision with your family and friends so they do not
miss this opportunity to support a cause that is so close to you. Should
we somehow miss making a direct appeal to you, please do not hesitate to contact the office at any time and make a pledge. Camp Prime
Time has been built one dollar at a time. Today more than ever before,
your gift no matter how large or small is a treasured sign of your enthusiasm for Prime Time.
Please join us and come together as part of the Prime Time family to
make this lodge improvement project a resounding success.
Sincerely,
David P. and Ralph M. Berthon
May 2009
Spring Work Parties at Camp
Each Spring we schedule work camps for volunteers to come up to Camp Prime Time and help us get the camp ready for the summer camp season. If you want to help Camp Prime Time's mission, but can't volunteer a whole weekend during the summer, here's your chance! come and participate in one of the weekend work parties before camp starts. Many hands make the work easier.
2010 Work party dates - TBA
Plan to bring your own tools, brooms, shovels, rakes, work gloves, anything you think you might need to get a job done. We'll provide lunch and plenty of work!
Call (509) 248-2854 or email the office today if you can help and let us know when you can be there.
Universally Accessible Treehouse
Construction
is finished for an accessible treehouse at camp. With over
800 campers enjoying Camp Prime Time each summer, an approximately 500
sq. ft. covered gazebo style treehouse, that can be used by our special
campers, enhances their experience, making the memories even more
special. Dedication for the treehouse was on July 29, 2008.
View pictures of the building and dedication of the treehouse
Boat Dock Replacement
To make our boating program more accessible to our campers, Prime Time
has reconstructed the boat dock at Clear Lake. This
work will benefit both our campers and the general public. The project
was coordinated with the US Forest Service, the Bureau of Reclamation,
and Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. Construction was completed in spring of 2007.
