Barn Boards and Baling Wire

The old Tabernacle is torn down in the early-1990s. Margaret Blank, whose grandfather was one of the founders of Camp Byron, remembered that, as a child, ‘Our first glimpse of Camp Byron was the Tabernacle, standing tall, with the (shutters) propped open, like arms outstretched to welcome all worshipers to Camp Meeting. Hundreds answered that call faithfully, year after year. There were two Sundays of Camp Meetings, and there were two services each Sunday – one in the morning and another in the afternoon. The building would be packed. Perhaps 50 to 100 more people would be sitting around the open sides in chairs they brought from cars and cottages. The interior … floor was dirt, covered with straw to cut down the dust. I can hear, as if it were yesterday, the rustle of the straw as people took their places. I can hear the rustle of grass as latecomers came to sit outside. I can hear the singing as it resounded across the camp.’