Legacy Leader: Fourth generation camp Director Page Lemel at the stables, where the equestrian program has been a popular mainstay.
Good Times: Many of the offerings at Keystone Camp are similar to the ones enjoyed by campers like those shown here in the 1920s, while recent decades have brought a new assortment of more modern activities like zip-lining and yoga.
A catalog from the 1950s
Some traditions, like the daily raising and lowering of the flag, never change at Keystone. Another tradition that remains is the evening ritual of having milk and cookies before singing Taps to close the day.
Tight-knit Team: Lemel, her brother, Bradley, and parents, Sue and Bill Ives, circa 1974. Her father moved them to the camp in 1966. He later served as Transylvania County commissioner and a State House representative.
Many girls return year after year, and some are following in the footsteps of their mothers and grandmothers, who also attended.
Life at camp, including the songs and games that fill free time, is not so different today as it was in the early 1960s
Beat the Heat: During Keystone’s early days, campers cooled down in the lake. In 1958 a second lake was built specifically for canoeing.
All in the Family: Just as Lemel was raised on the camp property, so were her three children: Hannah (above) and twin brother Sam (both 16), and Catherine (19), who’s in college in New York City.
