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Road named for camp founder |
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Written by Andrew Powell
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Friday, 24 July 2009 |
A road that serves the campground at the Sandhill 4-H Conservation Camp is being named after the man that helped establish the facility.
A road that serves the campground at the Sandhill 4-H Conservation Camp is being named after the man that helped establish the facility.
The .4 of a mile campground loop is now officially called Boggs Road, after former McCreary County Extension Agent and 4-H Camp founder William Elmer Boggs. The Fiscal Court made the road name official last week.
“I have always very much respected Mr. Boggs, being one of the thousands of 4-H students he helped throughout the years,” McCreary County Judge-Executive Blaine Phillips said earlier this week. “The efforts he displayed and the personal interest he took in the program, its students and this community are unsurpassed.”
Judge Phillips said the road, which for years has served as a gravel service road around the camp, has also been officially entered into the county road inventory. The court approved that measure last Tuesday along with plans to improve the road with chip-and-seal.
The road not only serves the 40 campsites around the eastern side of the camp, but also serves the community center, a small picnic shelter and playground. The site also host the Blazin’ Bluegrass Festival every September.
Boggs, who passed away in 1995, came to McCreary County as extension agent in 1957. By 1958, Boggs had worked with local 4-H Club leaders, including James Freeman and others, to implement forestry and 4-H programs throughout the county. In 1959, with cooperation and a land-use permit from the U.S. Forest Service, Boggs led efforts to establish the 4-H Conservation Camp on its current site. The facility was the first of its kind in Kentucky and its use as a gathering place for 4-H activities and public recreation has lasted for decades.
A state historical marker at the camp reads:
“Established in 1959, this was the first county 4-H Conservation Camp in Kentucky. Its purpose, teaching youth the appreciation and care of natural resources, is a cooperative program of the U.S. Forest Service, County Board of Education and the U.K. Extension Service. The camp, in the heart of the Daniel Boone National Forest, is used during all seasons.”
This summer marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the camp.
Today, much of the original camp facilities remain at the site and are managed by the McCreary County Fiscal Court through a camp advisory board and the county parks board. The county has spent several thousand dollars during this decade improving facilities at the camp with intentions of not only maintaining a piece of county history, but promoting continued use as well.
“This is one of those truly unique facilities we are lucky to have. A facility like this is meant to be appreciated and used and not sit idle only for display,” Judge Phillips said.
Judge Phillips added he has given thought to hosting a formal dedication ceremony at the site in the coming months to mark the naming of the road and the contributions Boggs made to this community.
For more information on the Sandhill 4-H Conservation Camp and the facilities it offers, please call the camp managers at (606) 376-9333
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