Pictured from left: Cullman County Commissioner Garry Marchman; Cullman County Soil and Water Conservation District (CCSWCD) Supervisor Melba Federer; Cullman County Commissioner Kerry Watson; Cullman County Commission Chairman Kenneth Walker; Sen. Paul Bussman, R- Cullman; Rep. Cory Harbison, R-Good Hope; CCSWCD Chairman Robert Harbison; Rep. Randall Shedd, R-Fairview; CCSWCD Supervisor Edwin Carter; Alabama’s Mountains, Rivers and Valleys Resource Conservation and Development Council Executive Director Mike Roden and CCSWCD Supervisor Charles Hollis.
CULLMAN – On the first day of the Cullman County Soil and Water Conservation District’s (CCSWCD) Annual Conservation Education Teachers Workshop, CCSWCD supervisors invited the Cullman County Commission and Cullman County’s legislative delegation to show appreciation for their support. The event was a celebration of the CCSWCD receiving a $25,000 grant for Camp Meadowbrook, a conservation education facility.
Through Alabama’s Mountains, Rivers and Valleys Resource Conservation and Development Council, the CCSWCD received the grant with the help of Cullman’s legislative delegation. The grant, given through the council’s development program, allowed the CCSWCD to purchase 20 additional acres with trees for Camp Meadowbrook. Most of the original camp trees were destroyed in the April 2011 tornadoes.
Camp Meadowbrook was established in the 1940s by local school teachers Novie and Reese Kilgo, who operated it as a youth camp for many years. In 1986 they gave the camp to the CCSWCD Board. The CCSWCD continued operating it as a conservation education facility until the tornado of 2011 totally destroyed the camp.
With some insurance money and the help of the Cullman County Commission and the Cullman County legislative delegation, a good portion of the facility has been rebuilt and is now back in operation.
The first priority of Camp Meadowbrook is to serve the agricultural interests of Cullman County. The CCSWCD also conducts its Annual Conservation Education Teachers Workshop at the camp, which allows teachers to receive continuing education credits with the theme of conserving our natural resources. With the new facility, the CCSWCD has been able to expand to allow family reunions, church activities, special events and economic development activities.
