Side A: Charles Campbell Gard was born in Hamilton on January 13, 1895. He was the only child of Homer and Lutie Gard. His father, owner and publisher of the Hamilton Journal-News, taught him a love of the newspaper business and a devotion to public service. “Campbell” Gard graduated from Hamilton High School in 1913, attended Amherst College, and completed a one-year journalism course at the University of Wisconsin. After the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, the 22-year-old registered for military service. He saw active duty in Europe and was honorably discharged May 19, 1919. On October 25, 1921, while working at the Journal Publishing Company, 26-year-old Campbell Gard collapsed and died of myocarditis, an often-undetected heart disease, just days before marrying fiancée Helen Raymond. Gard was buried privately at Greenwood Cemetery two days later.
Side B: Camp Campbell Gard, presented to the Hamilton community as a memorial honoring Charles Campbell Gard, opened Monday, June 28, 1926, with 47 boys and 5 camp leaders watching as Lutie Gard raised the American flag. The Gards gifted 30 acres along the Great Miami River to the YMCA for a camp “that would always be available for boys and girls of any age, color or religion.” During its first summer the camp served boys and girls including those with disabilities. Formal dedication ceremonies were held July 1, 1927, after a building program was completed. Dignitaries in attendance included James M. Cox and Charles P. Taft, II. A century later, YMCA Camp Campbell Gard encompasses over 600 acres, annually serves 5,800 individuals, and continues both to serve the Butler County area and to remember Charles Campbell Gard.
