I’m excited that I Remember Fishing with Dad is now being sold at the little store at Cama Beach on Camano Island.
Cama Beach resort was built on a deserted logging camp. It was opened on May 19, 1934 by LeRoy Stradley as a fishing resort. His daughter Muriel Risk and her husband took over management of the resort in 1938.
By 1984 the “Finest Saltwater Resort on the Coast” was the last of 5 salmon fishing resorts that had been located on Camano that remained open. I remember dad driving me down the long road that wound through the large Douglas Firs down to Cama and meeting her.
But most of what I remember about Cama is fishing for salmon. Dad and I used to fish for salmon in front of Cama beach in the 1970 and 1980s.
Cama remained open until 1989. Muriel passed away in 1990. An era of Camano Island history ended.
What happened next is a beautiful story, well told by Val Shroeder in her book Exploring Camano Island. The short story is that Muriel’s family worked with Washington State Parks to turn the beautiful property into a WA State Park. In 1994 Cama also became one of the homes of the Washington Center for Wooden Boats.
Cama officially opened to the public on June 21, 2008.
That summer (July 2008) Jenny and our kids, my brother Jed and his wife Renae, Renae’s parents and her niece, my sister April and her husband Roger and her kids spent a day of our summer vacation visited the newly re-opened Cama Beach resort.
We toured the quaint little cottages that look at on Saratoga Passage.
We enjoyed watching the woodworkers at the Center for Wooden boats and admiring the boats.
But most of the time we lounged around on the beach. It was a sunny day, a lazy magical Camano day at the beach. We skipped rocks. Took some pictures. Laid in the warm sand.
We did what so many families had done decades before and would do for decades to come!
Last February I was able to bring a team of leaders from the church I pastor in Redmond for an overnight retreat at Cama. We had a wonderful time together, feasting at the Cama Beach cafe and enjoying a late night bonfire on the beach.
I’m so glad that Cama Beach Resort is once again a thriving resort on Camano and a magical place for families to get away. I’m delighted to have I Remember Fishing with Dad at the little store and Cama Beach and I want to give a special shout out to Peg Boley who gave me the opportunity share my book there!