100th Anniversary of Owatonna/Ropioa in 2021

Come back to Camp! We will be celebrating the 100-year anniversary of Ropioa/Owatonna’s founding on September 3-6, 2021. We hope that all alumni, family, and friends of Ropioa, Owatonna, and Newfound, too, will Come Back to Camp to help celebrate the first 100 years of Ropioa/Owatonna.

In 1922, Colonel Charles Stanley purchased the property where Owatonna now stands and started a Christian Science camp for boys. He named it Ropioa, which stands for Reflection Of Perfection Is Our Aim. His vision of a challenging and inspiring summer camp for boys is still carried on today. Colonel Stanley directed Ropioa until the early 1940s when it was purchased by John LaMarsh, who ran Ropioa as a non-religiously affiliated camp until 1955. In 1955, Ropioa was repurchased by a group of Christian Science Ropoia alumni, who renamed it Owatonna, the Sioux word for Straight as an Arrow.

Camp has had a lasting effect on all of us, and regardless of where you are in your spiritual journey, we hope you will return to the shores of Long Lake to attend the celebration, enjoy Camp, and connect with friends, old and new. We’ll be sharing more detailed information about the 100-year anniversary in the coming year. One thing we do plan to do is ignite the never-too-latent competition in all of us between the Pequawket Greens, Ogalala Golds, Shawsheen Reds, and Penobscot Blues!

So practice your broom balance, get ready to swim to Cherry Island, warm up your voice to sing “By the Blazing…,” make sure your square corners are sharp, and stay tuned…’til we meet again. Watahataho!