Lisa Allen/staff photo
Tim Rose, co-founder of Camp Korey at Carnation Farm, discusses the project with an interested visitor during last week’s announcement that the facility will become a summer camp for ill children.

Facility to become part of Paul Newman-founded Hole in the Wall Camp system

Tim Rose had a vision.

The Costco vice president had lost his son Korey to bone cancer and was looking for a way to do something positive for sick children and at the same time honor Korey and keep his memory alive.

So last week, at a ceremony at Nestlé Training Center (formerly Carnation Farms), Rose announced that the facility will be the new home of Camp Korey, a camp for children who have terminal illnesses, other ailments and special needs.

“Life was good for Korey at age 16,” Rose told an audience of about 200 at the farm’s former livestock arena on the hillside. “But a sore knee turned out to be bone cancer. He passed away in August of 2004 just after graduating from high school and even in the end, he had such courage and determination; he never gave up. ... This is for Korey and all other children and families that are going through what we went through. Korey will live with us forever here.”

Rose said he discovered the farm during a Costco retreat and told himself, “This is the place.” He approached Nestlé but was told the facility wasn’t for sale.

“Then I told them of my vision and that we would maintain the agricultural heritage of the farm and take care of all the employees, so they finally agreed to sell,” he said.

Rose partnered with Jim Hebert, a local businessman whose adult life has been focused around the outdoors and working with children. Together they founded the not-for-profit Camp Korey at Carnation Farm. Then they took the next step – to become affiliated with the Hole in the Wall Camps that were started by actor Paul Newman almost 20 years ago.

Rose told the audience a video he had seen of the camps while Korey had been sick encouraged him to ask Newman if the new venture could become part of the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps.

Newman, now 82, explained what happened next, describing the request and his subsequent visit to Seattle and the farm, going on to acknowledge all those who contribute their time to the camps and the ailing youngsters. “Fifty-thousand volunteer hours were spent last year at all the camps,” he said.

Among those are counselors, those who tend to the horses and other helpers, he noted.

Lisa Allen/staff photo
Ailing youngsters will find beauty in the farm’s heritage rose garden.

“If I leave a legacy,” Newman said, “it won’t be films or politics, it’s going to be these camps.”

Besides Newman, the event at the farm attracted numerous dignitaries, among them former Governor Gary Locke, King County Executive Ron Sims, various elected officials and business people. Plenty of locals attended as well, including longtime residents, farmers and members of conservation groups.

While the camp will mainly focus on children ages 6-16, there will be other, special programs for those who are older and have other interests, said Rose, who added he expects the camp to be up and running in 2008.

Sims spoke as well, recalling the camp life of his youth, the good times he had and that the “rebirth of this magnificent and extraordinary place will give it life for a couple hundred more years. ... Kids who are very ill will have precious moments where they can hope and dream and the world will be perfect.”

Daniel Kayne, a cancer survivor who attended a Hole in the Wall Camp as a child, sat next to Newman on the podium. He is now a volunteer camp counselor and reflected on his own experience.

“Arriving at camp I found kids who were cheerful, who were playing and horseback riding and soon I was doing those things, too,” he said. “For kids with serious illnesses, laughter is the best medicine. Camp was a joyous experience for me.”

Hebert said the dollar figure for the farm has not yet been ironed out and that “due diligence” has yet to be finished, but “it will be in the millions, plus operating costs which run from $2,500-$3,000 per child, not including airfare. But we don’t turn any child away.”

The nonprofit organization is not financially supported by the Hole in the Wall Camp system but having an association with the camp means sharing of information, practices, training and consulting services and other assistance.

There are now 10 active Hole in the Wall Camps throughout the world that over 100,000 sick kids have attended. Children with cancer, sickle cell anemia, kidney disease, diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses can enjoy the camps free of charge, including airfare for them and their families. Children take part in horseback riding, swimming, arts and crafts, fishing, adventure courses and other activities. They are medically supported by volunteer physicians, nurses and counselors.

The local organization promises to hold onto the agricultural heritage of the historic 818-acre farm, which was founded by E.A. Stuart who initially wanted the farm to be a showplace of breeding dairy stock.

In its early years the farm employed a significant number of Valley residents. It was such a presence that the nearest town, Tolt, changed its name to Carnation to honor the facility. Carnation cows held the world milk production record for 32 consecutive years. For decades, visitors from all over the world came to the farm, now over 100 years old, to view its picturesque setting, purebred cattle and gardens.

In recent years the farm has been owned and operated by Nestlé USA which used it as one of the company’s training centers. The company kept the dairy operation going until about four years ago when it auctioned off the last of the milk cows.

“The new organization will continue the agricultural history of the farm,” said Sims. “We look forward to working with everyone at this beautiful, wonderful place.”