Three platoons of United States Marine Engineers have been spending intense training time at Big Lake Youth Camp this week.

“This is a huge gift to the camp,” says camp director and Youth Ministry director, Les Zollbrecht. “Though they will be here for only a short time this year, they will complete urgent projects that would take months for us to do ourselves.”

The Marines have been working on four areas: mechanical and welding, road repair, framing, and the construction of retaining walls.

The new retaining walls around the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) Welcome Center will improve drainage in that area and will keep water away from the building’s walls. Overall, that will assure a longer life for our PCT Welcome Center.

The Marines also brought equipment with them so they could gravel the road from the camp entrance over the hump and down to the parking lot. In addition, they will be grading and adding better drainage to the boat ramp, and improving drainage throughout the camp.

The framing crew is rebuilding the outdoor stairway for the girl’s restroom building while the mechanical/welding crew are transforming one of the camp’s old buses into a tracked vehicle!

Even though it’s rained during much of their time at Big Lake, the Marines have pushed on, helping to maintain Big Lake as one of the premier youth camps in North America.

Thank you to the United States Marine Engineers!