"It's not who you are, what you are or how much money you have, but what you have in your heart that counts," Dr. Dave McClusky said on Wednesday, Aug. 10, at the American Cancer Society's Camp Rainbow Gold's annual VIP Day.
McClusky began the summer camp outing for children diagnosed with cancer 23 years ago after a patient of his gave him the gift of vision.
"I had a patient, a young boy. I mentioned to him that I was going to help at Boy Scout Camp. He said 'I sure wish I could go to camp like other kids.' Here a kid was telling me what my mission was, what my dream would be," he said.
At the time, McClusky, a general surgeon in Twin Falls, was volunteering for the American Cancer Society. He asked them about starting a camp, which he did at Paradise Point in McCall. However, he was told that the ACS could not support the camp, that he'd have to raise the money himself, each year. There were 15 kids the first year. By the time 50 kids were enrolled they were over the limit and needed a new locale.
"We went looking and found this," McClusky said, looking around him at Cathedral Pines, north of Ketchum, where the camp is now ensconced on the banks of the Big Wood River. "It's hard to find a better place than this."
Which is not to say they will not be looking. The camp's board of directors would like to buy its own camp for year-round availability. Cathedral Pines is a Baptist camp and is rented out to various groups over the course of the summer. Since Hailey restaurateurs Rob and Kris Cronin joined the board of directors and McClusky talked the Idaho Legislature out of $63,000, the camp's endowment has grown. The Share Your Heart Ball, held in March each year in Sun Valley, is now the primary benefactor of the camp. This year's take, $200,000, was presented on Wednesday. An equal amount made from the ball went to the Idaho Make-A-Wish Foundation.
"There are 75 kids at the camp this week, 10 percent of whom are very ill, a few dangerously so," Camp Director Rob Cronin said.
On hand at all hours is a full-time medical staff, headed by oncology nurse Nick Sandmeyer, from Mountain States Tumor Institute in Boise.
Some kids arrive with their own "handlers," people they are comfortable with helping them at all hours. Some children are in wheelchairs, many are bald as a side effect of treatments, and some have tubes hooked up for medication.
One camper was already sent home because she was too ill from her chemotherapy treatment. She was picked up by an ambulance on Tuesday night. Ian Somerhalder, of the TV show "Lost," was visiting at the time and slow-danced with her in the parking lot as the ambulance pulled in, Cronin said.
"The ambulance guys were looking around and I said 'no, it's not the patient lying down (you're here for) the one dancing,'" Sandmeyer laughed.
The campers spend the week fishing at Penny Lake, mountain biking, horseback riding at Sagebrush Arena in Hailey, attending tennis camp at Sun Valley Resort, and participating in drama camp with the Company of Fools.
In between events, there are pillow fights, ghost stories, light-stick wars, tricks played upon other cabins, joke telling, singing, a rowdy laugh-filled talent show, and especially sharing. Camp always starts with a ceremony to honor campers who have died over the past year.
There is a belief that when rainbows appear it's the lost campers watching over the others. McClusky said he's witnessed 14 rainbows over the years while at camp.
"Every year I get calls from former campers who say, 'Tell them all hi, tell them my heart is there.'" McClusky said.
"I don't think you can come here and not feel that way. They have taught me the greatest lessons in life," McClusky said, as his eyes welled up with tears. "I had a friend, Josh, who was a camper for four years. One year he said, 'Dr. Dave, this is my last year. And it's going to be the best,' and it was. When he got on that bus to leave I knew I'd never see him again. So, I said 'I need something to remember you by,' and he said, 'What about our friendship?' He's right here in my heart.
"We wouldn't be here without the Cronins. It's their energy and the love they have."
The care of the counselors is remarkable as well. Many of them are survivors and were campers first.
"The beautiful thing is the way the counselors understand what the little kids are going through," McClusky said. "It's love made visible."
During the talent show at Camp Rainbow Gold, kids sing their favorite song that ends in everyone standing and yelling, "Boom." Photo by David N. Seelig
