Silver Maple Camp

Silver Maple Camp Youth Camps | Family Camps | Teen Retreats
http://www.silvermaplecamp.com/ SMC offers camps for both the youth and whole family.

Mailing Address for registrations and donations:
700 North Sixth, Sterling, KS 67579

Silver Maple Camp exists to provide a camping experience where God is seen, His love is felt, and lives are transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. It is committed to strengthening the body of Christ by building up its campers in a Christ-like setting. Youth camps are for kids ages 9 to 18 with positions for

college age and older to help on Staff. Family camp is designed for families of all ages with flexibility in the schedule that allows for each family's needs. In addition to camp sessions, SMC's facilities are available for hosting your personal events, from group retreats to family reunions and weddings. Our mission is to promote the ministry of the church by providing a camp setting that exalts Jesus Christ - a place where people can gather to exercise mind, spirit and body for personal growth through recreation, learning activities, fellowship, Bible study and the worship of our Lord Jesus Christ. From small groups to full congregation outings, SMC can support you in your desire to help your group grow closer to God.

What activities do you remember from your years at Silver Maple?We remember talent shows, scavenger hunts, noodle fights...
08/24/2026

What activities do you remember from your years at Silver Maple?

We remember talent shows, scavenger hunts, noodle fights, softball, lake activities, and plenty of things that probably changed from session to session and decade to decade.

What were the activities you looked forward to every year? Were there games or traditions your session was known for? Did something only happen for a few years and then disappear?

If you can, include the approximate year and session. We’d especially love to hear about activities from the earlier decades that may have been forgotten.

What did you do for fun at Silver Maple?

Early Session had a late night scare with weather this year-2026! So thankful for the STORM SHELTER!
08/20/2026

Early Session had a late night scare with weather this year-2026!
So thankful for the STORM SHELTER!

If you were a camper at Silver Maple, who do you remember as your counselor?Tag them if they’re on Facebook, and include...
08/20/2026

If you were a camper at Silver Maple, who do you remember as your counselor?

Tag them if they’re on Facebook, and include the year or approximate years and session if you remember.

If you were a counselor yourself, tell us what years and sessions you served and who you remember counseling with.

Even approximate dates are helpful. We’re hoping to build a better record of the many counselors who helped make camp what it was.

So…who was your counselor? Let's see if we can list any counselor who was ever at camp!

For our next Silver Maple history post, we want to document the changing history of the lake.The lake has always been on...
08/18/2026

For our next Silver Maple history post, we want to document the changing history of the lake.

The lake has always been one of the centerpieces of camp, but what campers could do there, and what the shoreline looked like, changed quite a bit over the years.

We would love your help putting dates and names to some of these memories:

• The island: When was it first developed for use by campers? What was it used for over the years? Some of us remember singing or devotionals out there — sometimes what felt like the middle of the night.

• At some point, the old wood-timber retaining wall around the lake and island was replaced with the concrete wall that exists today. When did that project happen? Were there other major changes to the island at the same time?

• The swing: Where exactly was it, what years was it there, and does anyone have a photograph of it?

• The floating dock: When was it added? How long was it there? And how many of you remember playing King of the Dock?

• The inflatable alligator: Does anyone else remember the big floating alligator? Our recollection is that it may have lasted only a year or so before the lake trampoline arrived. Who remembers what year that was?

• The lake trampoline: When was it first added, and what other floating toys or water equipment came and went over the years?

We are also trying to understand the history of fishing at Silver Maple.

Many early campers remember fishing in the big lake. At some point, however, the lake was leased to a fish hatchery and campers could no longer fish there. A smaller fishing pond was later established.

Do you remember:

• When fishing in the big lake stopped?
• Who operated the fish hatchery or how that arrangement began?
• When the smaller fishing pond was built?
• Whether there were years when campers had to go offsite to fish?
• What kinds of fish people caught in the early years?

And, of course, we would love to document:

• Swimming areas and docks
• Diving boards
• Lifeguards
• Baptisms in the lake
• Fishing traditions
• Waterfront rules that changed over the years

Please include an approximate year or decade whenever you can. Even “it was there when I came in 1984” or “the concrete wall was already there by 1995” helps us build a timeline.

And keep the old photos coming. We would especially love to find pictures of the island before the concrete wall, the tire swing, floating dock, inflatable alligator, fishing, or the early waterfront.

Help us piece together the history of the lake — and somebody out there has to have a picture of that swing!

For our next piece of Silver Maple history, we want to learn more about the old chapel on the hill.Many generations of c...
08/16/2026

For our next piece of Silver Maple history, we want to learn more about the old chapel on the hill.

Many generations of campers remember that little building, but we have surprisingly little documented about its history.

Can you help us answer some of these questions?

• When was the chapel built?
• Who built it? We assume much of the work was probably done by volunteers and supporting congregations, but we would love to identify the people involved.
• When was it demolished or removed?
• Were there major repairs, additions, or changes made to it over the years?
• The chapel was filled with an assortment of old, mismatched church pews. Does anyone remember where those pews came from? Were they donated by particular congregations?

And, of course, what do you remember happening there?

Classes, devotionals, singing, late-night talks, baptisms, weddings, pranks, important decisions, or just the sound and feel of everyone packed into those old pews—we would like to preserve those memories too.

If you have an old photograph of the chapel, especially one that might help us date changes to the building, please post it in the comments and tell us approximately when it was taken.

When possible, please include an approximate year or decade with your answer. Even “early 1970s” or “I remember it being there in 1965” can help us establish a timeline.

The buildings at Silver Maple have changed a great deal over the years, but places like the old chapel were part of the camp experience for generations. Help us get its story written down before those details are lost.

The response to our Silver Maple history posts has been tremendous, but we know some of the people with the best memorie...
08/14/2026

The response to our Silver Maple history posts has been tremendous, but we know some of the people with the best memories of camp may never see them because they simply aren’t on Facebook.

We would like to begin reaching out to some of those former campers, counselors, directors, cooks, board members, ministers, volunteers, and longtime Silver Maple families the old-fashioned way, with a letter.

If you know someone who was involved with Silver Maple, especially during the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, or 1980s, and they are not active on Facebook, please send the Silver Maple Camp page a private message with:

• Their name
• Mailing address
• Approximate years they were involved with camp
• Their role, if you know it — camper, counselor, director, cook, board member, minister, volunteer, etc.
• Your connection to them, if helpful

Please do not post anyone’s home address publicly in the comments. Send that information to us by private message only.

We plan to mail these folks a personal letter inviting them to share their memories, names, dates, photographs, and other pieces of Silver Maple history.

We are especially interested in people who may remember the camp’s earliest years or who have old photographs, brochures, registration forms, newsletters, programs, board records, or family papers tucked away somewhere.

There are people who helped build Silver Maple whose stories may never have made it into a set of minutes or a Facebook post. We would like to find them while we still can.

Who should we send a letter to?

The response to our first history post was incredible. You helped us fill in much of Silver Maple Camp’s director histor...
08/11/2026

The response to our first history post was incredible. You helped us fill in much of Silver Maple Camp’s director history going all the way back to the 1950s.

Now we want to document some of the people who may not show up nearly as often in board minutes, but who made camp possible every summer: the cooks and kitchen crews.

If you remember who was cooking when you attended or worked at Silver Maple, please help us put some years to their names.

If possible, comment with, Approximate year, Session, Head cook or cooks you remember, Other kitchen helpers, Church or town they were from and Meal or food tradition you especially remember:

Even “mid-1980s, Third Session” is useful if you don't remember an exact year.

A few names have already surfaced in our research: Ruth Jones, Eunice Reiboldt, Enid Brown, Elizabeth Obrecht, Alice Beatty, Eleanor Peterson, Tammy Poland, Liz Sullivan, Jerrine Bonham, LeAnn Hodson, Brenda Graham, Pam Turner and others.

We especially want to know when they served, who followed whom, and whether they cooked one particular session or all three. Please correct our list, fill in missing names, and tag anyone who worked in the kitchen or whose parents or grandparents did.

Old kitchen photos, camp programs, menus, or pictures of the old mess hall are welcome too.

Those cooks fed a lot of hungry campers over the last 70+ years. It's time we got their part of the Silver Maple story written down.

08/09/2026

Upcoming retreats!!!
Hope to see you!
SMC Ladies Retreat-September 25-27
SMC Men’s Retreat-October 11-13
SMC Teen Retreat-November 13-15
Check out on our web site for details and registration.

https://silvermaplecamp.org/

08/09/2026

Endless hours of mowing, lawn care, tree trimming, and general maintenance!!! No way to thank all involved but a big shout out to Ryan Kucharo and crew, Tom Turner and helpers and especially Ted Maple.

Every year beautiful flowers appear at SMC!!! What a wonderful addition to our campus…thank you David and Kim Gustafson!
08/09/2026

Every year beautiful flowers appear at SMC!!! What a wonderful addition to our campus…thank you David and Kim Gustafson!

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4817 SE 100 Street
Kingman, KS
67068

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