BARB BIERMAN BATIE

It has been just over a week since another massive wildfire hit Nebraska. This time it was in our beloved Sandhills and swept through our National Forest destroying the Nebraska State 4-H Camp and on through 19,000 acres of Sandhills grazing lands.

Sadly, it also claimed another life, that of Purdum Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Mike Moody. He is the third volunteer firefighter in Nebraska to die this year fighting wildfires spurred by the extreme drought.

I have so many friends and acquaintances in that area of Nebraska, and it is just heartbreaking to see the devastation and know they all grieve.

Rest assured there are thousands who have been to the forest, the 4-H Camp and that area who are mourning with you.

I first became aware of the fire last Sunday afternoon as photos and videos started popping up on Facebook taken by drivers and passengers in cars passing by the forest on Highway 2. One look at one particular video made my heart sink as I knew without a doubt that the 4-H Camp was gone before anyone made it official.

Years of going to the camp for a myriad of camps, retreats and conferences flashed through my mind as I recognized that the fiercest flames were passing directly through the cabins and lodge area.

Later that evening a 4-H friend from that area shared an email with the news that the camp indeed was gone and by the next morning the State 4-H Office and Nebraska State 4-H Camp staff confirmed the loss.

My first trip to Halsey was in 1975 to attend 4-H Conservation Camp. It was an enriching experience spending nights in bunk beds, traipsing to the common showers (one for girls and one for boys), group meals at the lodge and all the outdoor activities that a camp in a National Forest could offer.

We went canoeing on the Middle Loup and as a novice canoer I had failed to tie my tennis shoes together on a crossbeam.

When the ritual dunking occurred at our stopping point, my shoes went floating on downstream.

Thankfully I had packed another pair of shoes for hiking, so I wasn’t shoeless – once we got back to camp. Evening campfires and singing were a tradition but were interrupted one night when severe thunderstorms rolled through. In fact, we all got to experience two hours in the camp tornado shelter when a confirmed tornado was sighted mere miles from the camp. The shelter was below the staff cabin, which was the lone building at the camp to survive last week’s fire.

Thanks to my participation in the International 4-H Youth Exchange (IFYE) program five years later I got to spend a weekend at Halsey nearly every fall for almost 20 years. IFYE alums and their families, host families and inbound IFYEs gathered for business and to enjoy the beauty of the forest and the Nebraska Sandhills. A treasured photo memory is of my two daughters with the daughters of my IFYE friend all snuggled together in a tent at one of those gatherings.

My last overnight experience at the camp was for our 2011 Nebraska Press Women’s fall conference. A favorite outing that weekend was a hike to the Scott Lookout Tower, which now is a skeleton of twisted metal.

There are many more memories of attending birthdays, anniversaries and graduation receptions at the 4-H camp lodge. Those flow through the hearts and minds of many this week.

While it is too soon to know what comes next my hope is that some type of facility will rise from the ashes. The camp and lodge filled so many needs for the area residents, as well as those of us who traveled to soak in and savor the peace and quiet of the forest and Sandhills.

We all left a piece of our hearts at Halsey.