CAMP GRAY HISTORY
It all started with a simple dream way back in 1953.
Monsignor Francis Xavier Gray, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Baraboo, WI, dreamed of a “place where youths would be free and away from the temptations of the streets; where they could enjoy nature and become acquainted with it firsthand. . . a place where they could commune, under supervision, with their Creator and away from paths so frequently leading to delinquency.”
After personally scouting many potential sites, Monsignor Gray became enamored with an unoccupied, uncultivated, 100-acre wooded tract west of Highway 12, about 8 miles northwest of Baraboo.
To experience the growth of Camp Gray over the past many, many decades, keep scrolling! We’re always on the hunt for more information about the history of this great place. Please email us if you have any Camp Gray historical information or artifacts that you’d like to share! Thanks!
January 2008
Jeff & Rebecca Hoeben
Jeff & Rebecca Hoeben (formerly Rebecca Andraska) were hired in the fall of 2007 to take over for DeLong as Camp Gray’s Co-Directors beginning January 1, 2008. Rebecca was a long time camper and summer staffer, who had been serving as the Program Director at Camp since the fall of 2006. Jeff had previously served as a part of Camp’s year-round retreat team. They both had numerous experiences working at other camps, and both had served in varying roles at Camp Gray before their call-up to Directors.
June 2011
The Cassidy Games Are Born!
In the 11th year of the third millennium, an event of legendary proportions was born, and summers at Camp Gray haven’t been the same since. All of Camp Gray is split into two teams, the Red Team and the Blue Team. Points are tallied throughout, and it all culminates with the epic Lake Jake Relay Race.
June 2012
More Splash…
By 2012, the swimming pool built in the late 80s was tired, and our Summer Camp program had outgrown the relatively small rectangular body of water. A fundraising initiative was launched, and within weeks, more than $200,000 were raised to build a beautiful, state-of-the-art swimming pool with not one, not two, but three basketball hoops!