Vol. Ill, No. 2
February , 1977
Camp Nelson: The freeze that froze everything “Well, I guess it froze every line in the valley,” Terry Copp says as he sits in the relative warmth of the Camp Nelson office. He’s talking about the great January freeze. And, even though it’s a month after Camp Nelson went into the deep freeze, the evidence of the cold is still everywhere to be seen and felt. A hundred yards from Terry Copp’s desk, the Kentucky River is bank to bank with pack ice. When the river thaws, Terry says, there will be great danger to the boats moored to the Camp Nelson marina. Other than waiting and watching, little else is going on at Camp Nelson in the middle of the worst winter on record. But thoughts are already turned to Spring and the opening of another year. The grand reopening of Camp Nelson for the season will be April 2 and 3. The festivities will begin with a parade, but that’s just the beginning. The Camp Nelson flea market will fly back into operation, with a new twist: everything will be just $1.00. The Lexington Antique Auto Club will be parked at Camp Nelson that weekend, and the sidewalk artists will roam the grounds sketching caricatures of visitors. That same weekend in April, the Camp Nelson campgrounds will also open for the season. The boat marina will re open with a new ramp big enough to launch houseboats, and the
Camp Nelson waits for Spring
miniature golf course will open on that same weekend. Getting back to nature will be easier than ever this year at Camp Nelson. The popular Primitive Campground will be open again. Although the campsites do feature restrooms and picnic tables, the rest is left up to the camper. A 32foot long pontoon boat makes 4 trips daily from Camp Nelson to the Primitive Campground, and there it deposits campers who really want to “get away from it all.” A new back-to-nature feature this season will be the opening of trails for backpacking in the hills around Camp Nelson. Fireplaces and campsites are already laid out, and the trails are easy to follow.
For those who want to get back-tonature without the effort, Sage will again provide canoe delivery. They will canoe you up the river some 4 or 5 miles, then let you drift back down with the current. With the opening of its new season, Camp Nelson will take another step forward toward its goal of providing increasing employment in the area. It has come a long way from its downand-out position of a few years ago, when it became known as “the town that refused to die”. Now, it is a thriving river community, providing employment for many in Appalachia who would otherwise be idle. CAP is working now to make that increasing employment a reality in the future.
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