Camp Helen
By R. Purvis Walker
Avondale Mills owned a stretch of beach property along the Gulf Coast near Panama City Beach, Florida. This paradise included a large, stately log house known as “The Big House,” an efficiency apartment adjacent to the Big House, a lifeguard cabin, an office and storage facility, a house for the Camp Director, a central dining hall to accommodate over 100 people, seven single cabins, and 16 duplex cabins. There also was a central recreation building, a boat house and deck on the bay, and a fishing pier on the beach. In addition, the property provided a volley ball court, horseshoe pits, shuffle board pads, a playground for kids, and a long stretch of white sand beach on the Gulf.How fortunate employees of Avondale were to have such a paradise for vacations at an unbelievably affordable price. The cabins that slept eight people plus meals for one week were available for less than $100.I have probably visited Camp Helen more than anyone outside the Padgett family, who were life-long keepers, employed by Avondale to care for the facilities. I served as a lifeguard for two summers and then visited Camp Helen each spring for many years as part of a group of Textile Fraternity folks from Auburn.Memories of my days at Camp Helen include the many cases of severe sunburn, teaching folks to water ski in the bay, rescuing people stuck under the Bay Bridge in a sailboat, helping those who overturned one of the smaller sailfish boats, providing a free ride on the buggy to the beach, catching fish in the bay and at the pier on the beach, netting shrimp and harvesting oysters from the bay, eating downright delicious meals served by the Camp Crew, playing all sorts of games, singing and strumming a ukulele, and most of all, the weekly change in camp visitors. Every weekend, the folks staying at Camp Helen would return home, giving us one short day to prepare for the next crowd.The Camp Helen property was closed after ownership of Avondale changed, and later the property was donated to the State of Florida and preserved in its natural state as a State Park.
