Camp Bloomfield

Camp Bloomfield was a 45-acre (180,000 m2) campground in the Santa Monica Mountains near Malibu, California, United States. In 1958, Henry Bloomfield purchased the land, donating its use to the Foundation for the Junior Blind (now Wayfinder Family Services) for a camp for children and youth who are blind, visually impaired or multi-disabled. The largest of its kind in the Western United States, Camp Bloomfield served hundreds of campers and family members free of charge each summer and was accredited by the American Camping Association (ACA). It was destroyed in the Woolsey fire on November 9, 2018.[1]

Camp Bloomfield
SloganWayfinder's Camp Bloomfield provides children and youth who are blind, visually impaired or multi-disabled with a natural and safe environment to develop self-esteem, build independence and fully experience the joys of the great outdoors.
LocationMalibu, California, U.S.
Coordinates34.075448°N 118.925178°W / 34.075448; -118.925178
OwnerWayfinder Family Services
Opened1958
Operating seasonSummer sessions June - August, other activities offered year-round
Websitehttp://www.wayfinderfamily.org/

Activities

Activities at camp include:

  • Archery
  • Beach Trips
  • Campfire Skits and Activities
  • Fishing
  • Group Discussions for Learning
  • High Ropes Course
  • Hiking
  • Horseback Riding
  • Interaction with Animal Life (formerly Nature)
  • Learning to Care for Self and Others
  • Learning About Responsibility and Leadership
  • Overnight Camping in Teepees
  • Playground activities
  • Swimming

Former Activities

Activities that used to be here were:

  • Riflery
  • Jazzercise
  • Photography
  • Diving
  • Singing
  • Arts & Crafts
  • Outdoor Cooking

Camp Directors
  • Norm Kaplan, Founder, 1958 - 1985 [2][3]
  • Mark Lucas

History

Camp Bloomfield was started in 1958 by Norm Kaplan with help from the Seabees and students at Pepperdine University. In consisted of a campfire circle, which was a bunch of wooden benches arranged around a central flame. Tents were in first years of the camp, but cabins - four for Boy's Town and four for Girl's Town - were in place by 1962. The camp offices and the mess hall, called Hanky's Hall, were built and the camp expanded. In 1974, deaf and hearing-impaired students were introduced to the Camp and mingled with the visually impaired students, which was a new experience all around. A song was chosen for this moment: Debbie Boone's "You Light Up My Life." The visually impaired students learned sign language so they could sign the lyrics to the song with the deaf students. Themes were introduced to the camp, as campers got to experience Western days, Hawaiian days, and other themes from various cultures. The diversity of staff reflected this, as many young people came in from around the world to serve as counselors and specialists. Norm would send out invitations calling for young adults to guide the campers around camp.

In 1984 camp scenes for Mask, were filmed here. Campers and staff got a preview of the finished film at Universal Studios in February, 1985.

There were four summer sessions:

  • SPED, for Special Education kids (kids with multiple handicaps and learning disabilities that came with blindness). This session lasted a week.
  • Tigers, for kids in elementary school. This session lasted two weeks.
  • Juniors, for kids in Junior High school. This session lasted three weeks.
  • Seniors, for teens in High school and college. This session lasted three weeks. Those who could, and who wanted to, could join the Summer Work Experience Program and work offsite doing office work during the day, and return to Camp at night.

After the 1980s the camp schedule was changed to include more sessions, and the sessions were reduced to three or four days apiece. Sessions were added for families and for campers who wanted to bring their sighted buddies, and split so that people who could not attend Camp in the early summer got to attend in the late summer, and vice versa.

The organization that owns the camp has changed names over the years. Here's the history of that:

  • Foundation for the Junior Blind, from 1958 to 2006
  • Junior Blind of America, from 2006 to 2018
  • Wayfinder Family Services, from 2018 on.

Demise and Reconstruction
  • Camp Bloomfield was the largest camp serving those who are blind or visually impaired the Western United States.
  • On November 9, 2018, Camp Bloomfield was destroyed in the Woolsey fire that swept down from Oak Park to the Pacific Ocean. At the time, there was discussion of selling off the camp, and that appeared in a CCB article in April 2019,[4] but as of February 1, 2020, it's been announced that it will be rebuilt.

References
  1. "Camp Bloomfield". Wayfinder Family Services.
  2. "Junior Blind of America celebrates 50 years in Malibu". Malibu Times.
  3. "Norman Kaplan; Began Group for Blind Youths". 28 July 1989 – via LA Times.
  4. "Memories of Camp Bloomfield, by Larry Gassman". California Council of the Blind.
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