The history of Camp Sunrise dates back to the year 1925, when Colonel Arch Layman, the newly appointed Divisional Commander, found there was no camp for the Vancouver area and immediately set out to resolve the difficulty. He states “the opportunities for securing a camp were few. I looked over the area, went up the Bay with an agent, but was unable to find anything”.
Captain Fraser Morrison, who was the Divisional Youth People’s Secretary at the time, teamed up with the Colonel and they went to Gibsons, borrowed a boat from the Y.M.C.A., and rowed up and down the shore, sleeping on beaches, until they located the present site. You will realize there would have been no ferry at that time and much of the area would have been sparsely developed if developed at all.
Mr. Gooding (after whom Gooding Hall is named), a contractor, proved to be of great help to the D.H.Q. Team. They travelled together to the camp, stayed in tents,, while they started the first footings for the main building, which is the present Gooding Hall. A “work bee” was organised on the old fashioned basis, with a number of Salvationist carpenters and construction workers from the Vancouver area. Some went up and stayed overnight, while others came the next morning. The main building was practically constructed in one day! The first year of Sunrise, they could do no other than to sleep in tents.
From that day to this, we have developed the excellent facilities we now enjoy so much. There has been a number of local people who have given unstintingly of their time, effort and money to see that the camp is what it is today.
We trust the developments of the future will only help to enhance the lives of the young people for which the camp was brought into being some ninety years ago. May we have a vision as far-reaching as that of Colonel Arch Layman.