By Blair Baumgartner
InkFreeNews
SYRACUSE — Al Campbell was born in Richmond and from K-12th grade, lived in eight different towns. His father was in the army and was an educator.
Al Campbell has a deep-rooted love for the lakes and the local community. Photo by Blair Baumgartner.
“I lived in a log cabin in Brown County in first grade and it’s still there. It’s been gentrified. When I lived in it, there was an outhouse and we took baths in a tub outside of the house. I lived in Warsaw from fifth through ninth grade.
My best friend’s grandfather owned a home on Lake Wawasee and I started visiting the lake. When I was coming to visit, the fish hatchery really was a fish hatchery,” said Campbell.
Campbell attended both Indiana and Purdue and then served as a Marine during the Korean War, where he was wounded by the Chinese and received a Purple Heart.
He then spent his entire career with Procter & Gamble, which was recruiting members of the military at that time. He spent 25 years in international business, living and traveling overseas, starting up new businesses.
In 1970, Campbell and his late wife Dottie, started renting different places on Lake Wawasee during the summer months.
“My late wife Dottie had many friends from Indianapolis around Lake Wawasee. In 1980, we bought this cottage and enlarged it. We put in a couple extra bedrooms. I was involved early on with different organizations. I was on the board of the Wawasee Property Owners Association.
“I was at a board meeting in the early 1990s when a doctor from Fort Wayne, Dr. Irmscher, came to the board and said, ‘This is a picture of what the lake looks like in the spring in front of my cottage and we’ve got to find a way to stop this.’ There was a lot of mud coming in from Dillon Creek down through Enchanted Hills. And that sparked the start of the Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation,” he said.
“In the group that heard her talk were people like McNagny, a lawyer from Fort Wayne, and Dave Culp, a naturalist from Huntington. A group of us got together and said, ‘We have to find a way to protect the water in this lake,’” said Campbell.
“I’ve been active in WACF for many years. In 1995, Dave Culp, who had been the waterfront director at the Pioneer Trail Scout Camp along these 10 lakes, said, ‘Al, I’m going to take you on a canoe trip that will be a good educational trip and encourage people to support WACF.’
“We started that in 1995. I was soon joined by Marilyn and Dan Berkey. We’ve just completed our 27th year of what we call, ‘10-lake canoe trips.’ We’ve had between 3,500 and 4,000 people on this canoe trip. We find that when people see the need in this conservancy, they start to support it.
“I’ve lived most of my life outside of Indiana, but I consider myself 100% Hoosier because I was born here, raised here and went to college here, so I’m a Hoosier,” he said.
“I’ve been blessed. The property owners awarded me the Chief Award. The Wawasee Conservancy awarded me their Volunteer Award.
“The WACF has a large education effort led by Pam Schumm. Our canoe trip education — going down Turkey Creek, which provides 43% of the water into this lake — is just one of many parts of WACF’s education program.
“The conservancy has been a driving force for good. The dam and dike conservancy is very key, because maintaining the water level of this lake is vital. The property owners association has been terrific throughout the years, along with the WACF, and now the dam and dike conservancy — all three cooperate and work to maintain the quality of natural life and life around the lake.”
“This has been a family-oriented property. I have 12 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. All have come to the lake at one time or another,” he said.
The Potawatomi Club was established in 1880 and used to be located next to Campbell’s current residence. The Potawatomi were a tribe of Indians indigenous to this area.
One hundred years later, in 1980, Campbell purchased his residence next to where the club was located. The property where the club was located was once owned by John Terrell Vawter, who used to live right down the road.
“There’s no doubt Eli Lilly and his friends took stag fishing vacations here and so forth. There’s quite a lot of history around here,” said Campbell.