GRAND ISLAND — Sometimes it takes a really long time to make dreams come true.

In the case of a quartet of partners seeking to build a campground on Grand Island, it took about seven years. But the group, connected through their Christian community, persevered through all levels of government until just recently a campground in the woods emerged with a lake and swimming pool, camping sites, and log cabins.

They struggled a bit to find just the right name for their facility.

“We came up with all these names and they were awful,” said Larry Stolzenburg, a former Grand Islander who now lives in Clarence. Somebody mentioned naming the place Branches, due to the two branches of the nearby Niagara River and the branches of the trees that are thick throughout the campground. But, also, as a way to honor their faith.

“Jesus said I am the vine, you are the branches,” Stolzenburg said. “We all thought, yeah, that’s a nice name.”

The idea to build a campground came from a lifelong dream of Don Benoit, a Grand Island resident who one day, just by way of conversation, shared his dream with Elaine Pariso, a fellow church member at Whitehaven Road Baptist Church.

Once her head was filled with his idea, she told him she couldn’t sleep that night, he remembered. Then, he was talking with another friend, Tom McLaughlin, and it turned out Tom’s wife’s father had always wanted to build a campground but died before he could try. So, McLaughlin, former director of the Buffalo City Mission, joined the effort.

The last partner in was Stolzenburg.  

Pariso remembers they were in church one day and their pastor said something like this: “Thirteen million people drive across Grand Island. How are you going to let them know there is a God out there?”

“Larry turned around and gave me the thumbs up,” she recalled with a laugh.

The group purchased 90 acres off Whitehaven Road after learning that it had been owned by a major corporation that didn’t seem to know it owned the land. Then, the front parcels were sold for residential housing and the money paid for all the permits and certificates and research, she said.

When they went to build a lake they were able to engage a mining company who paid them to harvest the rich island soil which was sold to a Niagara Falls area company to be used to cap a waste site. Every door that seemed closed was eventually opened.

“All through the whole process we could just see God’s hand,” Pariso said.

There were, however, many bridges to cross.

Agencies involved in their project included the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the Army Corps of Engineers, the state Historic Preservation office, the Erie County Health Department, the Erie County Sewer Department and the town of Grand Island, she said.

“New York state's not easy,” she added. “It's kind of funny. People said it would take (us) about four years to get through the state. That was not an exaggeration.”

The campground was built as a place for families to gather, according to Benoit.

“One of the country's biggest weaknesses is our families,” he said. “We do so many things we think keep us together that actually keep us apart.”

“The whole idea here is everyone is going to come together, sit back and relax,” he added. “If that's just one thing we can accomplish for God, it’s hopefully to lead by example. Maybe they'll see there's more to life than just running the rat race.”

The dream of building and owning a campground has come true for the four and their families but it is even more than they expected.

“I didn’t expect all the local families coming here and wanting to spend days here,” Benoit said, noting that he has a reservation from an island resident who lives within sight of the campground.

“They come here and they drive down that long driveway and they feel like they went someplace,” he said.

“The dream came true,” he said. “I’m exhausted, but yeah.”