By Paige Lambert

D

uring the summer months, advertisements for cruises, far away trips and exciting adventures fill every wave of communication. Many families take this opportunity, traveling as far away from home as they can.

Well, some families.

For several hundred area residents, going back to their roots at Camp Ben McCulloch is the greatest vacation of the year.

“I’ve been here since I was two months old, I love it here and I love everyone here and the environment,” Taylor Moore said.

This Hays County resident is a direct descendant of a Confederate veteran.

The camp was established in 1896 when some Confederate veterans wanted to meet and catch up in Driftwood, Charlie Haydon, former Camp Ben board member, said.

In 1903, they bought 35 acres by Onion Creek, and the Camp Ben Reunion became an annual affair. 

Each year the reunion lasted for at least three days. Families pitched tarps to the trees and used iron cots as bedding. Milk cows and chickens filled each camp, and pits were dug to hold ice blocks.

To beat the heat people would swim in the creek and play games like washers and cards, waiting for the big dance that night.

“My mom and grandma said when the band would play Dixie, the old veterans would hoop and holler and dance with everyone,” Haydon said.

As the years went on, some activities changed to match the times. Haydon said he remembers going to the carnival and tent shows as a child. 

“Country kids didn’t get to go to the movies very often,” Haydon said. “They would set up a tent, and they’d play a movie on the sides. For about 10 cents you could go to a picture show.”

The families grew, and the camps became more modernized. Plumbing was installed; tarp overhangs became plastic tents and RVs. 

More recently, a water balloon fight between the main north and south camps has become a tradition. 

Even with modernization, campers still do the same things as previous generations. 

In the same spot Haydon’s great-grand-parents camped, he said his six grandchildren rarely pick up a video game. One even played in the mud.

“We had a big mud puddle in front of our camp, and as soon as his parents were out of sight he headed right for the mud puddle,” Hayden said. “And I just let him play till he was muddy all over.”

The camps stay quiet during the day, many sleeping off a night of dancing and listening to music, like their ancestors did. 

“A lot of people come here and play music, and they’ll stay up ‘till five or six in the morning playing music,” Sheryl Roberts, a descendant of a founding veteran, said. 

Even though many of the camps have families connected to the roots of Camp Ben, new faces come every year and return for the next reunion, Moore said.

“It’s a safe environment, and I have like 20 different dads out here and 20 different moms,” she said. “Even though we aren’t blood related they’re all family.”

Moore said even though she is in college, she plans to keep going to Camp Ben Reunion. She wants to become a member and see that it continues.

 “After Christmas, it’s always a countdown to Camp Ben,” Moore said.

Karen Bishop, of Kyle, said being a member helps carry on the heritage and tradition of the reunion.

For her, the camp holds many life milestones. It’s the place she learned how to drive, met her husband and taught her kids to swim. 

“We have a little wash pot at camp and everyone gets their first official camp wash in that pot,” Bishop said. 

Kids still swim under the big log at Onion Creek, Bishop said, going through another rite of passage of the camp.

Grandparents, teenagers and cousins continued to meander between the camps, picking up a game of cards or playing with the babies who would grow up at Camp Ben. 

Moore walked to the members meeting, preparing to join and help preserve the place she has known all her life.

“It’s (Camp Ben) a tradition of getting together and celebrating our common heritage,” Haydon said.