Midland Kiwanis and Camp Neyati’s 1938 founding

The Kiwanis Club of Midland is celebrating its 100th birthday of Midland service in 2021.

It’s a fun story, according to long-time Midland Kiwanis member Jim Ward.

“Camp Neyati was bought with insufficient funds,”  Ward said with a chuckle. “The history is basically this. Local scouting, Kiwanis and Community Center leaders were actively searching for a camp for Midland area youth organizations to utilize. Jackson Michigan YMCA had a 92-acre camp in the southwest corner of Clare County, Michigan, for sale in 1938. This was during the Depression and some property was sold at attractive prices back then. Two Midland Kiwanis members set out to attend the auction and possibly bid on the property. At the auction another bidder arrived on the scene and the Kiwanis members were forced to purchase that day. But they didn’t have the funds. The members wrote out personal checks for the $6,500 amount. Then back in Midland they promptly met with a local bank and borrowed the funds to cover those $6,500.”

Kiwanis historical documents record the bank held the title until the loan was paid off by the Kiwanis Club and the local Midland Welfare Association (precursor to Midland United Way). The property ownership was then transferred to the local nonprofit tax-exempt Midland Community Fund 1941.

The original camp consisted of 92 acres with 2,000 feet of waterfront on Crooked Lake. The property had a kitchen/ dining hall, director’s cabin, staff cabin and  six sleeping cabins. The Kiwanis Club from the beginning went to work improving the property, facilities, waterfront utilization and installed utilities.

“My earliest memory was volunteering as a youngster with my grandfather in the spring when we would help prepare the cabins for the summer use,” Ward said. “I remember the barracks type bunkbeds obtained from the World War II airport (MBS) in the cabins. The great part of Camp Neyati was all the volunteer groups through the years that would come up and work on various maintenance, repairs, improvements and new projects.”

Like Ward, both his father and grandfather were long-time Kiwanis members and enthusiastic, active camp supporters.

Since the 1938 purchase, two significant additions occurred to the camp’s land footprint. In 1955, an individual member of Kiwanis donated two lake lots adjacent to the camp. Then in 1975, an 87-acre farm next to the camp was purchased bringing the retreat to its current 187-acre total.

Along the way, the ownership name changed to the United Way, which has jointly appointed board members along with the Midland Kiwanis Club to the camp’s board of directors with the official name of the Midland Camping Council.

Today, the Midland Kiwanians are still very active with Camp Neyati. Kiwanis members serve on the board of directors, the club donates funds annually, and members get up to the camp to volunteer on a regular basis. In addition, the club’s foundation contributes to major improvement projects and helps subsidize occasional nonprofit organizational usage of the lakefront retreat.

Nestled in thickly wooded 187 acres, with a half mile of shoreline on Crooked Lake near the Michigan town of Lake in Clare County, the camp and all its facilities can be rented by church groups, schools, service groups, scouting groups and other organizations for camps lasting weekends to weeks. Users provide their own leadership, programs, and food. The camp provides the facilities.

Located less than an hour from Midland, Camp Neyati offers a memorable camping experience within a short driving distance. It’s just west of Clare, and is in close proximity to US-10, US-127, and US-131.

“By keeping the camp’s maintenance and operations cost lower we have been able to keep the rental rates reasonable,” said Cheryl Whitman, Midland Kiwanis treasurer and a former Camp board of directors member. “This allows a more diverse user group and accessible to a cross section of incomes. It’s a great organization, well run and happy that Kiwanis has had a long-standing association with Camp Neyati.”

“For many of the families that we take to Camp Neyati, this is their only vacation,” said Renee Young, family services director at West Midland Family Center. “A lot of our families can’t afford even camping. It’s so nice to have a facility that is clean, well-kept and the Neyati staff are so positive. The families as well as us, love all the activities that are offered through the camp such as biking, boating, gaga ball, volleyball, an obstacle course and the lake, to name a few. Taking our families to Neyati allows us to get to know the families in a unique environment.”

“Over our 83 years as a Midland camp, we have had help from Midland Kiwanis Club every year. When volunteers help Camp Neyati, they are helping the thousands of kids, youth and families that might not be able to afford going to camp. It helps us keep the cost down for the non-profit groups that have rented camp for our entire history.

“We are also in the planning stages for a new kitchen/dining hall. Our user groups are bigger than what was built over 50 years ago. While many camps have closed over the years in Michigan, we need to expand to keep up with demand,” stated Drew Talbott, executive director  of Camp Neyati.

Midland Kiwanis and Camp Board Member Brad Bahr added, “I’ve had the pleasure of volunteering there several times over the past several years along with fellow Kiwanians and other caring members of the community. Some of the projects we’ve completed include the construction of a disc golf course, a climbing wall, several new fire pits, and general maintenance of the grounds such as fence maintenance, brush clearing, etc.”

Midland Kiwanis President John Anderson summarized how many members feel, “Camp Neyati is a gem! The Midland Kiwanis is thrilled with our 83 years of involvement and look forward to another 83 of volunteering, contributions and project building. And equally important are all the partnering volunteer organizations including the United Way that help maximize what can be done with the financial resources available. This ensures continued access for everyone in the community so all kids  and families can enjoy a fun summer visit to Camp.”

For more information, visit CampNeyati.org  or MidlandKiwanis.org.

Tom Darger is a member of Midland Kiwanis and an associate broker for Ayre Rhinehart Realtors.