This summer marked a milestone for Camp Hi-Sierra, a rustic former logging camp east of Sonora that has provided outdoor adventures for more than 55,000 Scouts from Santa Clara County over the decades.
The Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council of Scouting America, which purchased 100 acres of the property from owner Ed Jenness for the kingly sum of $10 in 1949, marked the occasion with a reunion event in June and the ribbon-cutting of a new rifle range in July.
“This is our 75th anniversary here at Hi-Sierra which has been very exciting,” Camp Director Bruce Lee said, noting that more than 200 people attended the anniversary event, including staff from the 1950s through the ’80s. “It was really cool to see what these young Scouts who were staffing here in those years are doing today.”
The camp has evolved with the times, which is admittedly a very Silicon Valley thing. The Scouts — both boys and girls nowadays — sleep in old Army-green canvas tents, gather around campfires and swim in the icy cold water of the Tuolumne River, but they also learn to make pottery, design games, weld metal and repel down a 50-foot climbing tower.
A four-year program, the Saga of Hi-Sierra, encourages return trips as Scouts — and adult leaders — achieve awards for taking part in conservation and camp maintenance programs, as well as learning new skills and, well, showering now and then. If you’re wondering, I don’t have lifelong memories of Camp Hi-Sierra myself, but I went up for a week both this July and last summer with my son’s troop.
Michael Wilson, deputy scout executive with the Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council, said the camp began a transformation about a decade ago thanks to successful fundraising efforts to replace old buildings and add new ones.
“We’ve taken to heart that our camp was ‘lovingly consumed,’ as Phil Boyce from the Valley Foundation would say, and we’ve tried to take a small bite of that every year,” Wilson said. “Every year, we’re doing something new.”
That’s included a new dining hall, staff cabins, the climbing tower, an archery range and the new rifle range.
In July, Council Scout Executive Eric Tarbox was joined by donors Pepper Snyder and Gary Robinson, along with board members Mark Lazzarini and Todd Trekell, to dedicate the new rifle range, which had been heavily damaged by heavy snowfall. A “cowboy action” shooting range that was named after Snyder, the Sprig Electric founder who was the honoree at the council’s Distinguished Citizen Party held at Levi’s Stadium.
The rifle range itself has been named for Campbell native John Stephenson, who has been the range instructor since 1981. Stephenson, who was visibly moved by seeing his name on the new facility, says he first shot a firearm at Camp Hi-Sierra when he was a Scout in 1971 and takes his responsibility with shooting sports very seriously.
“The most important thing we teach up here is safety,” he said. “I don’t care if they can name the parts of a gun, if they remember those safety rules the rest of their lives, we’ve been a success in this program.”
And the camp’s evolution isn’t over yet. An new observatory was under construction this summer and families got their first look at it during a Labor Day weekend camp.
“It’s been a very busy year of getting things done,” Lee said.
SACRED HEART AT 60: Sacred Heart Community Service will be celebrating its 60 years of providing a social safety net for San Jose’s neediest residents at a gala event Sept. 28 at the Corinthian Event Center in downtown San Jose.
Sacred Heart’s roots go back to 1964 and a woman named Louise Benson, who began making meals at her West San Jose home for the hungry and later started collecting items like baby clothes and furniture to give those in need. (Benson, who died in 1986, also founded Martha’s Kitchen to provide hot meals). It became a full-fledged nonprofit in 1972, found a home at Sacred Heart Church on Willow Street in 1984 and moved into its current headquarters at First and Alma streets in San Jose in 1998.
The agency provides services to more than 60,000 people a year, and Executive Director Poncho Guevara told me this week that like many other social services agencies in the valley, Sacred Heart has seen demand for its services skyrocket since the pandemic while donations and federal funding (tied to COVID-19) has been decreasing the last couple years.
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The anniversary gala will include performances by poet Mighty Mike McGee, singer Amy D and the San Jose Jazz Youth Orchestra. Purchase tickets at bit.ly/SHCSLegacy.
NEW FACE ON CAMPUS: Evergreen Valley College in San Jose held a reception Monday to welcome Vinicio J. López as the community college’s ninth president. López, a first-generation college student who attended community college himself, most recently served as vice president of instruction at Skyline College in San Bruno.
BRING ON THE BEER: It’s September, which means it’s time for Oktoberfest celebrations in the South Bay and elsewhere, and Gordon Biersch founder Dan Gordon is adding a little New Orleans flavor to this year’s traditionally German celebration at the San Jose brewery Sept. 28.
That means the food will include po’ boys and jambalaya (from Poor House Bistro) along with German sausages and Bavarian pretzels, and the entertainment will include music from the Creole Bells, Mike Rinta and the Left Coast Syncopaters. Of course, there’ll still be the traditional stein-holding competitions and lederhosen modeling.
Admission to the event is free — the beer and food aren’t — to the celebration, which runs from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. at he brewery at 375 E. Taylor St. in Japantown.
