Girl Scouts - Fox Valley Council Camp Dean History 1947-Present
| 1947 | *September, gift of 40 acres of wooded land from Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Dean. |
| 1948 | *Portable shed built and well dug. |
| *Oak Grove unit house (donated by Elmer Dean) and tent unit built. Rebuilt in | |
| September,1963. | |
| 1949 | *Purchase of the roadway and square turn area from Benjamin Davis. |
| *Construction of car bridge by Burlington crew. Repaired in 1955 and rebuilt in 1962. | |
| Minor damage in 1996 flood. Burlington locomotive bell donated for calling to meals. | |
| 1950 | *Cherry Hollow unit house built by Aurora Exchange Club. Rebuilt in May, 1963. |
| *Incinerator built by Frank Siegmund. Removed in 1986. | |
| *Flag pole installed in front of Dean Lodge, donated by L.S. Stephens. | |
| 1951 | *November, Dean Lodge, started construction. Caretakers quarters in the lodge. |
| 1954 | *Caretaker's house and garage were constructed from profits from the cookie sale. |
| *September, construction of shower house. Enlarged in October 1957. | |
| 1955 | *Greene Bridge donated and constructed by Barber-Greene Company. |
| *Pool built. | |
| 1956 | *Campfire Bowl, built by District Bee Dads. 1957 Light was installed in bowl area. |
| *Benches replaced in 1993. Peace pole added in 1996. |
|
| *Seat around "Singing Tree" donated by Lloyd Markel. | |
| *November, purchase of 28 additional acres from Clark. | |
| 1957 | *October, Handy House built. Pump house and tent storage added in 1968. |
| *Pool relined because of leaks. Propane heater added in 1970. | |
| 1958 | *May, Pine Tree unit built. |
| 1959 | *Purchase of canoes for trips; Trailer built by L.T. Wright. |
| 1960 | *Day camp trailer built by East Aurora High School shop. Contributed by Aurora |
| Kiwanis. | |
| 1962 | *April staff house built. Enlarged in 1968 and named Harriet Baker. March 1997 Harriet |
| Baker was heavily damaged in the flood of 1996 and was taken down. | |
| 1964 | *Moved Cherry Hollow unit house, constructed by Exchange Club, behind portable for |
| equipment storage. | |
| 1965 | *January, purchase of 15 additional acres from Burrus. |
| *May, purchase 10 bicycles | |
| 1966 | *June, Digging the pond. |
| *September, purchase of 39 acres from Cyril Matter. | |
| 1967 | *Totem pole made by Cadette troop 330. Pole fell down in 1992. |
| 1969 | *August, Whispering Oaks construction, Dedicated in 1970. |
| 1970 | *Flag pole dedicated at Whispering Oaks; donated by St. Charles Neighborhood. |
| *November, Flasher Lights installed at Burlington tracks at Granart and Dugan roads. | |
| *Three Day camp pavilions built near Whispering Oaks. Winds destroyed them in 1986. | |
| 1979 | *July 2nd, four acres purchased from Davis family for future ranger's residence. |
| 1985 | *Plans began for the construction of a new ranger's residence at Matter Lane and the |
| entrance to camp. | |
| 1986 | *Construction began on ranger's residence, by contractor James Sweeney. |
| *Plans began for remodeling of Dean Lodge by Lindstrom Company. | |
| 1987 | *March, new ranger's residence was completed. |
| *May, Dean Lodge remodeling was completed. | |
| 1989 | *March, Pool and shower house were completely renovated. |
| 1990 | *April, Clivus Multrum latrines were constructed in Cherry Hollow, Oak Grove and |
| Pine Tree. Old style pit latrines were removed. | |
| *December, work shed constructed behind ranger's residence, includes access road on | |
| south side of ranger's residence. | |
| 1991 | *June, Day camp trailer built by West Aurora High School shop. |
| 1995 | *Whispering Oaks Lodge, bathroom remodeled, shower added and handicapped |
| accessibility made available. Septic field enlarged. | |
| 1996 | *Long Range plans to replace Red Bridge as well other improvements to camp are |
| submitted to the board of directors. | |
| *July, over 17 inches of rain fell in a 24 hour period, leaving much flood damage. The | |
| Greene bridge was washed several yards down Welch Creek and ruined. | |
| Harriet Baker lodge had 3 1/2 to 4 feet of water and sustained heavy damage to the | |
| walls, ceiling, floors, appliances, and heating system. Two staff tents floated down | |
| stream and were demolished. The road to Whispering Oaks had substantial damage | |
| that required 9 semi loads of rock to refill the hole in the road. The Red Bridge held | |
| but lost the guard rails. Temporary rails were installed until construction of the new | |
| bridge began in late summer of 1997 | |
| 1996 | *December, two new day camp trailers were purchased from Wackerline Implements in |
| Sandwich. | |
| 1997 | *March, Harriet Baker Lodge is dismantled and removed due to flood damage. |
| *June new roof put on Deal Lodge and Whispering Oaks | |
| *August 15th Camp Dean is closed down for the purpose of rebuilding the Red | |
| and Green bridges. | |
| *December 14, 1997 Bridges dedicated. Dedication led by troops from Allen School. | |
| 1998 | *January Railroad gates and lights put up at Dugan and Route 30. |
| *April Renovate ceiling and floor in Foxes Den. | |
| *May resurface all roads. Oil and chip. Enlarged parking lot. Paint the pool. | |
| *July 2 new composting latrines installed by the lake. | |
| *November Whispering Oaks stained. | |
| *November Carpet and new tile in Ranger residence. | |
| 1999 | *March North and west boundary fenced installed. |
| 2000 | *March purchase of 37.2 acres from the Anderson Estate. |
| *June NICOR employees perform "Nicor's Volunteer Day in the Community". These hard working people stained 8 buildings for us in about 3 hours. | |
| *July Arthur Andersen interns Service Day. Built new quiet area, stain around windows, clean a barn, paint storage shed, install water dams on paths, cleaned cabins and reworked fire scar areas. | |
| *March to October the area fire departments used the house on the new property for fire drills and practice. This was a multi-community effort to help with training of new fire fighters. In October the house was burned to the ground. | |
| *September Camp Planners hired to redesign/improve camp facilities. | |
| 2001 | *September stop lights installed at Dugan Rd. and RT. 30. |
| 2002 | *March rededicate Handy House cabin to White Tail Lodge with money donated by The Best Foundation. |
| *June Troop 251 blazed a new trail .5 miles long. | |
| *September Council event headed by Lynda McMahon developed .8 mile trail. | |
| 2003 | *April 40 acre field prescribe burn. Also donating was Fermi-Lab. Lots of volunteers! |
| *May Begin Prairie restoration. 5 acres donated by IDNR and Pheasants Forever - McHenry County Chapter. | |
| *Sept. New road constructed. 7.9 acre storm water detention area and a sledding hill. | |
| 2004 | *Memorial Bench in honor of Marie "Chips" Demartely was installed by the pond |
| *Plans were began on a new unit of Yurts on the west side of the camp. | |
| 2005 | * Dean Lodge front sidewalk installed, logs repaired and windows replaced |
| * Purchased new gas stove and convection oven for commercial kitchen. | |
| * August Memorial for Donna "Buzz" Hale Kosowski | |
| * Installed new windows and doors on Dean Lodge | |
| * Installed new windows in Foxes Den | |
| 2006 | * Received grant for partial flood plain restoration and small seep area from US Fish & Wildlife. |