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Dewittville, New York
Established: 1898
Camp
Details
In the summer of 1898, a group of boys and leaders
from the Jamestown YMCA experienced the first
season of YMCA camping in the area. During Onyahsa’s
first half-century, the program expanded under
the direction of Roy Wagner (1924 – 1946).
Among his campers was a child who attended Onyahsa
on a scholarship in 1932, Spiro Bello. After service
in WWII, Spiro returned to Jamestown, where he
became the camp chairman, and thereafter its director.
Under Spiro’s leadership (1962 –
1984), Onyahsa acquired property and physical
improvements were made. Program changes such as
family, handicapped youth, and coeducational camping
were added. Like Wagner, Bello had a lasting impression
on the children he guided.
One of Spiro’s many “kids,”
Jon O'Brian took the helm in 1987. He began at
Onyahsa as a child. Under his leadership, the
camp has come to serve children from a wide variety
of cultural backgrounds and with various abilities.
Today, recent major renovations will enable Onyahsa
to continue to fulfill its mission into the next
century: To foster the Spiritual, Mental, and
Physical well being of Camp Participants of diverse
backgrounds and abilities within a nurturing outdoor
environment, while creating a meaningful sense
of Community among them.
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