AUTHORS KEITH FARGO My ties to the San Diego YMCA started in 1973 when my father, Navy Captain Bill Fargo, decided it would be a good “life experience” for me to spend my last summer before graduating from college as a counselor at Camp Surf. While I pleaded my case that I had other summer plans and was not “camp counselor material,” my father prevailed. My family’s ties to the San Diego YMCA actual started with my sister, Barbara Fargo, who was a summer Counselor at Camp Marston in 1967-1968 and worked in the San Diego YMCA headquarters’ office the following summer. Due to my sister’s positive experiences with the YMCA, my father volunteered to be the Navy representative on the YMCA Camp Committee. My father prevailed again in the fall of 1973 when he strongly encouraged me to apply to the U.S. Navy Officer Candidate School (OCS). Upon graduating from the University of Southern California and completion of OCS in 1974, I was commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Navy Supply Corps. My first assignment was as a Supply Officer on a nuclear submarine. Following that tour, I spent much of my career in submarine related jobs including managing supply operations on ships and shore-based activities that directly supported submarines. The best part of my Naval career was I was able to see the world, including two overseas assignments with a very supportive family that enjoyed the journey. After I retired as a Navy Captain in 2003, I decided it was time for me to give back to the community and honor my father’s legacy. I joined the YMCA Overnight Camp Board in 2006, and was the Board’s chair from 2013-2015. Over the last 50 years, Camp Surf facilities have changed quite a bit, but more importantly, Camp Surf continues to change people’s lives, as it changed mine.
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