CAMP HUAWNI, A Living Memorial to Its Founders: Earl and Retha Adams

Earl and Retha Adams were life long educators and friends of youth. Their living legacy is a vibrant, fun-filled, kid-loving place nestled in the pine trees of East Texas. Earl Adams grew up on a farm in Shelby County, Texas where his dad raised cotton and ran a gin for a living. His mother was a teacher in the small rural school near their home place.

The hillside on which Camp Huawni is located today overlooks bottomland that once was lush white with East Texas cotton. Earl Adams left the farm, earned his formal education degrees from Stephen F. Austin State College (SFA State University) and the University of Texas.

He married Retha Feazell of Nacogdoches in 1929. They moved to Henderson to teach school. Later, Mr. Adams became high school principal, coach, and from 1946 through 1971, was superintendent of schools for the Henderson Independent School District. Mrs. Adams taught elementary grades and middle school Spanish until her retirement in 1976.

In 1965, they made an additional and life changing investment in young people by establishing Camp Huawni. Earl and Retha Adams devoted their energies to its success until their deaths, in 1990 and 1992, respectively. They are buried side by side in the New Prospect Cemetery near Camp Huawni. The “Huawni Running Deer” logo adorns their tombstones, a testament and lasting reminder of their love of children.

Today, the Adams family and Camp Huawni tradition continues. The camp is owned by the sons of its founders. The Mike Adams family and Pat Adams family operate the camp today. They each have come up “through the ranks” as counselors, wranglers, and, since 1970, as directors. They not only have carried on the traditions begun by their parents but also have built on the legacy to make Camp Huawni one of the outstanding summer camps in Texas.

Huawni staff is guided by our three point axiom - "Love the kids, love the kids, love the kids."

The final guiding principle is spiritual enrichment. The natural setting of Huawni affords a pristine environment for a young person to more fully understand his or her unique relationship to the Creator God. This personal inward look at oneself is encouraged so that a person's growth during the few weeks at Huawni is full and complete.