Rotary Days at Triangle Y Camp

 

 

 

 

Rotary Days Celebration at Triangle Y YMCA Ranch Camp A Success

By Dave Gallaher, Rotary Club of Tucson

 
The Rotary Club of Tucson invited all of the Tucson area Rotary Clubs to participate in a “Rotary Days” celebration with a work project at the Triangle Y YMCA Ranch Camp, located six miles from the town of Oracle on the back side of Mt. Lemmon road.  Six clubs participated, and non Rotarians and families participated also.  More than 75 volunteers (53 Rotarians) showed up Saturday, April 23 to perform painting and masonry and a lot of landscaping. The Ranch staff had never seen such a large group of volunteers. The group worked hard and made a huge impact on getting the Camp ready for their June opening. “We completely underestimated the numbers of volunteers for this project and we are grateful to all those people who worked on Saturday,” according to Dave Gallaher, Rotary Club of Tucson who along with Dave White co-chaired and planned the project.
 
Several Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Tucson and the University Rotaract Club spent the night at camp in the many lodge and cabin facilities that are a part of the Camp. The group cooked a steak dinner and had a nice time watching the full moon light up the desert sky. We got lucky with a slightly cooler day on Saturday and the group of volunteers painted two groups of four cabins and treated vigas and all things wood.  The group also painted the pool bath house facility that was in a sore need of being fixed up. With five weed eaters and 30 landscapers pruning, the place looks great.  
 
SaddleBrooke Sunrise takes the prize for the largest Club contingent followed by the Tucson Sunrise Rotary Club, the Rotary Club of Tucson, and the University Rotaract Club.  Six clubs were represented. 
 
The Ranch has been serving underprivileged kids of southern Arizona since 1948.  More than 80% of the camp attendees are on scholarship and are unable to pay the $450 cost of a week at camp.  You can read about the ongoing fundraising effort weekly in the Arizona Daily Star with their updates on the Arizona Sportsmen’s Send A Kid To Camp Fund. The Ranch sends their many thanks for the help of Rotarians and volunteers on April 23.  Next year’s project is all ready being planned and scheduled and hopefully Rotarians and their friends and families can take over the entire facility.  The facilities are very nice and clean and comfortable and affordable.