Camp Merrie-Woode
A Place of Rarest Beauty…the Final Piece

Nestled at the end of a winding road, along the shoreline of a glistening lake, besides a magnificent waterfall, and beneath a towering granite-faced mountain sits Camp Merrie-Woode, a camp that has touched the lives of young girls for over eight decades. When Dammie Day founded Merrie-Woode in 1919, she could not have foreseen the challenge it would face seventy years later with development knocking on camp's gates threatening to forever disrupt this "place of rarest beauty."

In recent years, the Cashiers-Highlands area has become a destination for many, and as such, has experienced profound growth. Consequently, Merrie-Woode found its tranquility in jeopardy of being forever disturbed by encroaching development. Having recognized this imminent threat, the Board of Trustees determined to work diligently to expand and protect Merrie-Woode's beautiful setting.

Since launching this effort ten years ago, the Foundation has acquired 33 acres adjacent to the camp's stables and across from the Chapel, the 17-acre Inn Site property, two lots atop Old Bald and a lot along the camp road where the new gates are located. As a result of Merrie-Woode's alumnae and friends who have given so generously to the Place of Rarest Beauty and Inn Site Campaigns, the acquisitions were made possible.

Yet the final piece remained…a 100-acre tract located on the east side of Lake Fairfield extending from the camp gate on the Lake Trail to the dam and over the top of Little Bald. It proved to be more challenging to obtain.

We are blessed that the sounds of Merrie-Woode are forever preserved along with the expansive green blanket of hemlocks, oaks, laurels, dogwoods, pines and rhododendrons. Merrie-Woode is a place unlike any other. Please help us ensure that it remains that way.

Through an intensive negotiating process, the Merrie-Woode Foundation finally acquired this tract of land on June 22, 2005. The property was placed under contract in January 2005 to a developer who had plans to build 60-80 condominiums along the lake. Through a careful negotiating process, the Board of Trustees purchased the land from the prospective developer for $5,160,000 thus saving it from high-density development.

Funds given over the past decade to the "Place of Rarest Beauty" campaign, and from other sources, enabled the Foundation to make a down payment of $2.5 million on the property and thus ensure that this land will always be a part of Merrie-Woode. And we ask you, the Merrie-Woode family, to accept this challenge and commit to giving it your very best.

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