LAKE LURE, N.C. — A summer camp is adjusting its activities as Lake Lure remains closed to the public for storm recovery.

Camp Lurecrest on the edge of the Hickory Nut Gorge welcomes around 1,700 campers every year.

“We are unplugged. Our kids stay in open-air cabins. In a lot of ways they are connected to the same experiences their grandparents were when they came as campers,” Camp Lurecrest Executive Director Daniel Bragdon said. 

The Christian youth residential summer camp and nonprofit incorporates faith.

“This is where they are kind of exploring nature and learning about the Lord, and learning about each other,” Bragdon said. 

Children attend the camp with peers in their age group, making many memories, including some involving Lake Lure. 

“Much of what we do is about community and I think the lake is just a place where you can be connected to each other and then connected to your environment, and it's absolutely beautiful,” Bragdon said. 

Nine months after Helene, the lake is not open to the public, which means the water slide, rope swing, inflatable play structures, floating dock, canoes and tubes at Camp Lurecrest are not in play this summer. 

“We do miss just being on the water,” Bragdon said. 

Historic flooding from Helene devastated the small town and its lake. The lake is at the lowest level it’s ever been at to allow crews to continue removing debris, silt and sedimentation. 

Bragdon said there is still an emotional impact going down to the lake. 

“It's a little bit of survivor's guilt. It’s been hard, but we've seen so many people who have had it much harder,” Bragdon said. 

Helene destroyed a tent for gathering, brought trees down and damaged their dining hall. 

Without significant damage, Camp Lurecrest shifted their focus on giving back. Bragdon said this included helping the National Guard clear roads, assisting in clearing mud out of homes and providing generators and gas to people in need. 

“We had a chance to use our facility to host volunteers, use our resources, while people were hurting initially and respond to the needs,” Bragdon said. 

This summer, they reopened their cabins to campers. Bragdon said this year the attendance is down 6%. 

“There’s not the same kind of tourist and attention to the area for tourism right now. And so we've just had to adjust to having a little bit of a loss of interest and campers attending,” Bragdon said. 

The camp pivoted offering a few new activities, including a giant slip and slide, slip and slide kickball and scooters. 

Camp counselor Brice Fry said children are enjoying them. 

“Being in Lake Lure and not having lake is a little bit tough, but I think the activities that we replace that with, the giant slip and slide and the scooters, they're really fun and very engaging,” Fry said. 

The nonprofit built a new pavilion to gather and play trampoline basketball, repaired its dining hall and cleared most of the trees from its property. 

Bragdon said they used a small portion donations for new activities but most of the contributions went to help people recover. He’s grateful for all the support as his community continues to rebuild. 

“We’ve been really impressed with the way that the larger community of North Carolina has poured into western North Carolina and also just on a national and global basis. Just the kindness that people have shared," Bragdon said.