The Cheley Way.

• Author: Graham, Sandy
• Position: Cheley Colorado Camps - Company Profile

Marcia Jorgensen owes her existence to Cheley Colorado Camps.

Hyperbole, you say? Not really.

Here's the story: Jorgensen's parents, Virginia and Bob Stafford, met at the Cheley summer camp in Estes Park at the end of World War II. Virginia was a counselor and Bob drove the Cheley bus. "We probably wouldn't be married without Cheley camps," said Virginia Stafford.

When Marcia and her two siblings came along, they, too, spent summers at Cheley. So did Marcia's three children, Andy, now 19; Lindsay Shropshire, 22; and Liisa, 24. No other Stafford family weddings have come out of Cheley summers, but the clan's camp tradition has been cemented.

"It's just something you want to pass on," Marcia said of Cheley. "The experience is just unbelievable."

Comments like these aren't limited to the second-, third- and fourth-generation campers among the hundreds of kids who hike, climb, ride and raft their way through summers at Cheley The camp, founded by Frank Cheley in 1921, inspires rare enthusiasm and loyalty among newcomers and old-timers. Its secret seems to have something to do with the confidence it builds An its campers. "It given me so much strength," said ex-camper and current counselor Shelby Newley of Frisco. "It definitely empowers children."

And, in an age when corporations or nonprofits run most camps, Cheley (pronounced Chee-lee) is still a family business.

Frank Cheley's grandson, Don, 56, his wife, Carole, and their daughter, Brooke, run Cheley.

"I spent every summer of my life at the camp." Don Cheley said.

After Frank Cheley's death in 1941, son Jack, new Master's degree in hand, inherited a camp in debt. Jack rebuilt it and turned it over to Don in 1969.

Cheley still thrives: As of late March, its waiting lists covered all age groups, except high school boys, where two slots remained.

Many summer camps have singing around the campfire, pulling pranks and scratching mosquito bites, but a good camp offers more. "In reality, what camps are about is youth development," said Don Cheley.

This summer, Littleton's Tim Kelley, 14, and Krista Kelley, 16, will be the final Kelley kids to go to Cheley, where mother Katie, her five siblings, and a bunch of cousins also summered as children. The two oldest Kelleys, Natalie, 22, and Libby, 21, will return as counselors. Katie Kelley praises Cheley. "It just does wonders (for her childrens') morale."

Cheley Colorado Camps is one of 46 Colorado camps accredited by the American Camping Association...