10 Jun Camp Michindoh Now Owned by Spring Arbor University

As of June 1, the Michindoh Camp and Conference Center in Hillsdale, Mich., is owned by Spring Arbor University. It comes as a gift from the Merillat Foundation, and is described as the largest gift in the college’s history.

Spring Arbor’s main campus is 35 miles away. The college has conducted a number of classes and programs at the camp over the years, and has supplied students for the summer camping program.

An article in the Hillsdale Daily News explains how this came about, and gives a lot of background. It says that Spring Arbor is the camp’s fifth owner since 2007. Here is how that works:

1. Michindoh Conference originally owned the camp.
2. In the spring of 2007, Gull Lake Ministries, another camping ministry in Michigan, agreed to assume ownership of the camp. But before the deal with completed, they backed out.
3. In the fall of 2007, the Executive Leadership Team took control of the camp.
4. The Executive Leadership Team deeded the camp to the Lenawee Christian Association, the organization created by Orville and Ruth Merillat.
5. Now, the foundation has given the camp to Spring Arbor University.

The Michindoh Camp and Conference Center opened in 1987, replacing the former Michindoh Conference camp called Rothfuss Park, located just down the road. The conference center was built largely through gifts from the Merillat Foundation.