The men published The Rushmore Reflector from January 1943 through February 1946.  The Rushmore Reminder, a weekly sheet of announcements and news began in May, 1944 when Roy Umble served as educational director.  In 1946 the men told the story of their work at CPS Camp No. 57 in The Voice of Peace, a well illustrated work not unlike a college yearbook.

After a tornado damaged several ranches near the camp in June 1944, forty men donated over one hundred hours of free labor a few evenings later, to clear the highway and remove a destroyed barn, as an act of witnessing to the community.  The grateful rancher commented, “This is the first time in my life I have ever seen a gang of fellows helping someone they didn’t know and would never see again.  Where do you fellows come from anyway?” (from stories collected by Dr. J. Winfield Fretz in MCC central files as reported in Gingerich p. 291).

While few women worked on CPS camp staffs, they performed traditional roles as organizers, healthcare givers, food preparers, dieticians, and other related roles.  As Goossen noted, many were viewed as “surrogate mothers or sisters”. (p. 71)

Marie Lohrenz, a woman in her early forties, performed duties as staff nurse at the camp.  A single Mennonite woman from Minnesota often referred to as “Mom” by the men, she found the work demanding and satisfying.  Marie, known beyond the camp for her nursing skills, even made house calls at no charge.  In an interview with Goossen, she remarked, “Some of the neighbors who lived around the camp weren’t the friendliest to our boys, but they knew where to come when they were sick”.  (p. 82)

John Thut conducted a ten-day summer music institute in 1944 at the camp.

Many camp men worked in leather crafts.  According to one report, in December 1945 the men had made “over $2,000 worth of leather into billfolds, ladies’ purses, belts, and leather goods”. (Gingerich p. 332) 

The camp enjoyed good public relations with the community for the most part.  However, the editor of the Custer County Chronicle wrote several articles on his belief that “internees” were offered too much freedom to leave the grounds.  On the other hand, sympathetic ministerial friends resided in both Hill City and Rapid City where COs found business relations to be congenial. 

Ozzie Goering, recalling his experiences at Hill City nearly sixty years later wrote,

The time in Hill City was most enjoyable to me as I had the opportunity to learn to know many new people, including some non-Mennonites who were an inspiration to me.  I also had time to read, and I read virtually every book in the library and took advantage of the many courses that were taught.  I also decided that if I wanted to receive mail, I would have to write letters; however stamps seemed expensive and we were without pay.  After about a year it was announced that each of the men would receive five dollars a month.  I felt rich. (The Eden Peace Witness: A Collection of Personal Accounts p. 99)