Chester Heights Campmeeting gets helping hand from Methodist youth

The youthful energy that filled the air at Chester Heights Campmeeting on Saturday was a stark contrast to the pall of helplessness that has hung over the historic site in the wake of two arson fires in the past six months.

Every April, the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church organizes a small army of volunteers to visit the historic site for some hands-on fellowship. But this year, the devastation of the recent fires made the annual spruce-up campaign an even more welcomed breath of fresh air.

This is healing, and shows that there are people who want to help, said a grateful Chester Heights Campmeeting Board President Pat Smith.

Chester Heights Campmeeting was established by the Methodist-Episcopal Church of Philadelphia in 1872, with most of the 65 summer cottages on the 31-acre site being built around 1900.

Many of the cottages have now fallen into disrepair, but the locale was placed on the National Historical Register in 2000, and is one of about 30 campmeetings still in existence in Pennsylvania today.

The recent efforts of 11 cottage owners, who painstakingly rehabbed their summer cabins back to attractive structures, were recognized through a 2011 Heritage Commission Award from Delaware County Council. Sadly, one of those restored cottages was burned to the ground during the Feb. 18 fire that claimed a total of 10 buildings.

But the sense of loss at Chester Heights Campmeeting goes beyond the cottage owners. Many of the 75 volunteers who turned out last weekend (a new record for team size) had visited the Campmeeting before, and grief over the fires was universal.

Many of these willing workers would have liked to have started removing the charred debris that still clutters the central area of the Campmeeting. The dozen structures lost in the two fires are still being treated as a crime scene, however, so the volunteers could not go near the blackened rubble.

On April 21, less than a week after electricity had been restored to the Campmeeting, there was no shortage of work to be found elsewhere, as several cottages were in desperate need of TLC.

Dividing into 12 work teams, the eager workers spread out amongst the clustered cottages. Projects included landscaping, power-washing the open-air youth temple, removing or repairing dilapidated porches and roofs, applying fresh paint to exterior walls, and tearing down a two-story cottage that was beyond repair. Continued...

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Chester Heights Campmeeting gets helping hand from Methodist youth