Jerry's Letter: Sanborn Revisited

Dear Alums,

Fortunately Laura and Sandy took photos of converting an eroding potato farm 5 miles south of Florissant in 1948 as they transformed it into Big Spring Ranch for Boys. These pictures show the crumbling farmhouse at the foot of the hill, the magnificent New England-style barn and a maze of broken corrals.

They depict determined efforts to build a home that would become the dining room of the growing camp. They carved out a mini heated swimming pool down by the barn and cleaned up the corrals to create an exciting horseback program.

Sometime last winter DAN MILLER (BS 80-87, Staff 88, 90) hatched the idea of a “thenand-now” book to compare photos of the early years of Big Spring and High Trails with contemporary pictures of the summer of 2018 for our 70th anniversary. He recruited his cousin, JIM THARP (BS 91- 96, Staff 98), an accomplished film maker and photographer, to collaborate on the project.

It was also fortunate that Sandy and Laura engaged Jim Bates to photograph camp life during the 50s and 60s. Jim worked for the printer’s union in Colorado Springs and was a nationally known professional photographer. He took photos of a wide variety of camp activities, tent and cabin-side groups, and all-camp and ridge groups. Everything had to be perfect. Many alums will remember how we groaned when we posed while Jim got everything just right. Camp catalogs contained his photos into

the 80s. Jim also hired a plane and took aerial photos over Big Spring and High Trails in the early 60s.

Last summer Jim Tharp filmed shots from the same vantage point as many of the vintage pictures. He used a drone to replicate many of the aerials taken 55 years ago.

The book traces the development of the camps comparing living units, swimming pools, the Lodges, riding programs, Sunday Rocks/vespers, campouts, and more then and now.

My favorite pair of photos is what Sandy called the “Hollywood photos.” (When High Trails opened the in 1962, we had no activities or facilities of the girl’s camp to use for camper recruitment. We had drawings and sketches of a map and a cabin (being built at that time) to use in a brochure, but no photos. Sandy and Laura borrowed some photos from the directors of a camp near Buena Vista – swimming pool, horseback riding, rifle range, etc. – to create a “fake” catalogue until after the first summer.)

Jim Bates took lots of photos that first summer. Sandy and Laura had the idea to pose a group at Humpty Dumpty Rock west of the Lodge to represent all the activities offered to the girls: horseback riding, tennis, swimming, geology, modern dance, hiking, sports, and camping. It was a dramatic tableau! Last summer Jim Tharp and his High Trails helpers created an amazing re-enactment if this iconic scene.

After sorting, comparing, a couple of re-shoots, editing, and laying out, Jim and Dan came up with a memorable volume they named “Sanborn Revisited.” I wrote some text to explain and tell some stories. The original impetus for the book was to offer it in the alum art auction at the Sanborn 70 Reunion last August. Dan arranged for DUNCAN CLARKE, former ranch manager and head wrangler (87-

99) to hand-tool a leather cover. It was a stunning addition to the silent auction resulting in high interest and vigorous bidding. At the end of the auction the winning bid was $300 from YOSHI IN- OUE (BS 63) who had come from Japan for the reunion.

Throughout the fall we have been working to make the volume available for others. Because it began as a fundraiser for the Sandy and Laura Scholarship Endowment, we built in a small percentage to be a donation and priced it at $100, which includes sales tax and postage. If you would like to receive a copy, you can email me and I will mail one to you.

It is fun to page through the book and realize how Sandy’s and Laura’s vision and passion are still alive and well after these seven decades.

Jerry McLain jerry@sanbornwesterncamps.com