Prior to locating the camp in Denison, responsible groups of the community expressed no objection to a camp of conscientious objectors.  However, that did not prevent some in 1942 from concluding the COs were not welcome in town.  The feelings abated as farmers relied on help from the campers in improving the land.  In addition, wives of campers who were employed in homes in Denison did much to build good community relations. 

Alta Schrock served on the camp staff as matron for the first month.  Katie Yoder was the first dietician, Delvin C. Kirchhofer the first educational director, and Willard Baer the first business manager. 

Brig. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey came to the camp on November 1, 1941, visiting with the men and touring the camp. 

Edwin J. Schrag described his experience at Denison, his first CPS assignment. 

The man who was running the CPS camp was looking for someone to manage the books.  Since I had taken a bookkeeping class in high school, I became the bookkeeper.  I was one of few boys there with much education.  There were Amish and Old Mennonites who had very little schooling.  . . . It was while I was in Denison that the December 7 bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred.  Morale got really low at that time because we knew then that we were in for the duration of the war. (The Eden Peace Witness: A Collection of Personal Accounts pp. 134-135)

Two years later when Dr. George A. Buttrick, minister of the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City visited the camp and the town, his message emphasized that in church, differences in status, education, age, and race were not barriers to fellowship.  Further, he shared that he was a conscientious objector and that two of his sons were serving in CPS camps. 

The men published a camp paper beginning October 7, 1941. It was first called Olive Branch, then in June 1942 it was renamed The Olive Twig.  After several years, the paper became The Vanguard and published under that name from October 1944 through May 1946.

Denison offered classes in foreign relief and rehabilitation in preparation for service abroad.  James Clemens taught French and German in that unit while serving at the camp. 

The educational program included informal classes, social activities, the camp monthly publication and worship planning.  Several men served as educational director during the camp’s operation.  One educational director, Roy Umble, after leaving Denison to serve at MCC headquarters in Akron, Pennsylvania, “. . . served as a link between CPS units and Mennonite colleges”. 

MCC had received permission to use the civilian form of USAFI [U.S. Armed Forces] General Educational Development tests.  Scores on these tests enabled some men to receive high school and college credit even without formal education beyond eighth grade.

To satisfy procedures for granting academic credit Paul Bender, Goshen College registrar, and I kept records of all courses taught in mental hospitals and relief training units—foreign languages, work project studies and preparation for relief service. (“Detour. . .Main Highway”: Our CPS Stories pp. 61-63)

In June 1945 David Kope conducted a three-week craft school at Denison.  Men from Denison and three other camps (Colorado Springs, Fort Collins and Hill City) trained to serve as craft leaders.  Edna Quiring taught arts and crafts in the camps beginning in October 1945. Denison men enjoyed making hooked rugs and also made wooden croquet balls. This was in addition to other informally organized hobby and craft activities.  The men organized and participated in many recreational sports activities.

Professor John Thut conducted a ten-day music institute in the summer of 1945. Melvin Gingerich came from Bethel College in Kansas to teach an intensive course which met two hours on Friday and Saturday evenings every other week for a semester. 

Goossen reports that on V-J Day in 1945, three couples from Denison with their five children, pooled their funds for “one large can of baked beans and watermelon and went to a roadside park to celebrate”. (p. 113)