Together Again: Valley building trades grads reunite with teacher to complete project
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
SILVER LAKE -ÊAfter graduation, students and teachers may never cross paths again.
Other times, their lives may become joined like the interlocking logs of a cabin.
Such is the case of Tippecanoe Valley building trades teacher Ken Murphy and 19 of his former students.
Saturday, beginning at 8 a.m., Murphy and his students from the last 20 years will work together to build a 20-foot by 24-foot building for Camp C.O. Mollenhour, Silver Lake. They plan to have it completed in one day.
"It's going to be a kind of laboring, reunion day," Murphy, Camp C.O. Mollenhour president, said.
He said the camp began rebuilding cabins last year, one per year. "We're starting to update, upgrade the camp. Some of our cabins are in pretty bad shape," he said.
For this year's cabin, Murphy decided to see if some of his former students would volunteer their time to build the cabin. He started making calls. Twenty of them accepted initially, though one had to back out later.
"They were excited and (said they) would like to get together and help out," Murphy said, describing the students' reactions when he called them.
For Murphy, it'll mean more than having volunteers build four walls for the camp cabin. He said it's also an excuse to see his former students again.
"I'll see if they listen as well as when they were in class," he said. His former students live in the area and several of them have building backgrounds.
"I've been doing this (building trades) for 23 years. I've got a pretty good supply of Murphy-trained help out there," he said.
The concrete pad is already poured. One of the camp's conservation officers on the camp board poured the slab last week.
"If this works out and everyone enjoys it, we may just make it an annual thing," Murphy said.
If the weather is too bad Saturday, the event will be rescheduled to Oct. 23.
Camp C.O. Mollenhour is on CR 600W, south of Yellow Creek Lake, three miles west of Silver Lake. If anyone is interested in the camp, the camp's mailing address is P.O. Box 1366, Warsaw, IN 46581.
The camp offers youth, ages 10 to 15, an experience in outdoor fun, responsibility and safety. The camp's staff of volunteers includes Indiana Department of Natural Resources conservation officers, IHEA and 4-H instructors. For boys and girls, the camp offers programs in hunter's education, muzzleloading, rifle, shotgun and archery skills. Facets of nature and conservation are also taught.
"Our camp's all about educating good people," Murphy said. "If we don't hang on to a few places like the conservation camp, I'm afraid a few of them may miss out on the conservation training. It seems to be slipping away." [[In-content Ad]]
SILVER LAKE -ÊAfter graduation, students and teachers may never cross paths again.
Other times, their lives may become joined like the interlocking logs of a cabin.
Such is the case of Tippecanoe Valley building trades teacher Ken Murphy and 19 of his former students.
Saturday, beginning at 8 a.m., Murphy and his students from the last 20 years will work together to build a 20-foot by 24-foot building for Camp C.O. Mollenhour, Silver Lake. They plan to have it completed in one day.
"It's going to be a kind of laboring, reunion day," Murphy, Camp C.O. Mollenhour president, said.
He said the camp began rebuilding cabins last year, one per year. "We're starting to update, upgrade the camp. Some of our cabins are in pretty bad shape," he said.
For this year's cabin, Murphy decided to see if some of his former students would volunteer their time to build the cabin. He started making calls. Twenty of them accepted initially, though one had to back out later.
"They were excited and (said they) would like to get together and help out," Murphy said, describing the students' reactions when he called them.
For Murphy, it'll mean more than having volunteers build four walls for the camp cabin. He said it's also an excuse to see his former students again.
"I'll see if they listen as well as when they were in class," he said. His former students live in the area and several of them have building backgrounds.
"I've been doing this (building trades) for 23 years. I've got a pretty good supply of Murphy-trained help out there," he said.
The concrete pad is already poured. One of the camp's conservation officers on the camp board poured the slab last week.
"If this works out and everyone enjoys it, we may just make it an annual thing," Murphy said.
If the weather is too bad Saturday, the event will be rescheduled to Oct. 23.
Camp C.O. Mollenhour is on CR 600W, south of Yellow Creek Lake, three miles west of Silver Lake. If anyone is interested in the camp, the camp's mailing address is P.O. Box 1366, Warsaw, IN 46581.
The camp offers youth, ages 10 to 15, an experience in outdoor fun, responsibility and safety. The camp's staff of volunteers includes Indiana Department of Natural Resources conservation officers, IHEA and 4-H instructors. For boys and girls, the camp offers programs in hunter's education, muzzleloading, rifle, shotgun and archery skills. Facets of nature and conservation are also taught.
"Our camp's all about educating good people," Murphy said. "If we don't hang on to a few places like the conservation camp, I'm afraid a few of them may miss out on the conservation training. It seems to be slipping away." [[In-content Ad]]