Hunter Wilson/DailyNews Jordyn Scalf, 10, of Ekron shoots baskets Friday with Tony Cary, director of finance of the Center for Courageous Kids, at the center’s opening day in Scottsville.

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SCOTTSVILLE — Smiling kids dotted the landscape during the inaugural day for the Center for Courageous Kids.

Their parents were positively jubilant while being shown the heated swimming pool, arts and crafts facility, full-size gym, a stable with 12 horses and a “family fun center” that includes a bowling alley.

“We have searched for years to find a camp for Nicholas but we would have had to travel too far,” said Bill Haley of Madisonville about his 15-year old son.

The 168-acre facility on Burnley Road is clearly no ordinary camp - and this weekend, Nicholas will join 24 other youths who suffer from spina bifida and two who have cerebral palsy (along with the families who care for them) to enjoy a weekend family retreat.

In fact, the center will host children with various crippling disabilities or life-threatening illnesses throughout the year, with weekend family retreats occurring during the school year and weeklong summer camps for kids ages 7-15.

Roger Murtie, executive director for the camp, said he plans to draw campers from families in Kentucky and Tennessee.

“This is an opportunity for our campers to feel like they’re normal for a week,” said Murtie, who previously directed a similar medical camp in Florida with his wife, Stormi.

The Murties came to Scottsville in 2004 to begin work on making the Center for Courageous Kids a reality, with ground broken on the facility in November 2005.

The center is sponsored in large part by the Elizabeth Turner Campbell Foundation.

Campbell - daughter of the late Cal Turner Sr., who founded the Dollar General Corporation - provided the initial financial backing for the camp through a $20 million contribution by her foundation. Her generosity and sympathy with the camp’s mission stems from a personal battle, in which she lost a son after a 17-year battle with cancer.

“She hasn’t done this to benefit herself, she’s done this to benefit the moms and dads who are facing the same challenges she had to face for years,” Murtie said.

The camp has no TVs or computers on site, enabling campers and families to focus on real human bonding. A medical center staffed with fully trained personnel is on site to help tend to the camper’s medical needs.

Subsequent weekends and weeklong summer sessions will be devoted to children suffering from such illnesses as epilepsy, juvenile arthritis, sickle cell anemia and cancer, among others.

This opening weekend has a Mardi Gras theme, with beads adorning camper’s necks and an extensive staff of volunteers and counselors brimming with enthusiasm - some of those volunteers have come from as far away as Canada.

While the Campbell Foundation’s gift helped breathe life into the camp, subsequent donations have been rolling into the camp from 25 states, according to Murtie. The gifts are essential to keeping the camp functioning, since its operating costs are met strictly through donations.

“There are only five other camps in the nation of this caliber, and it does take the generosity of individuals, corporations and foundations to keep us operating,” Murtie said.

If initial impressions are any indication, the camp will continue thriving.

“This is the only camp we can actually consider letting Travis come to,” said Donna Bailey of Louisville.

Travis, 11, suffers from spina bifida that confines him to a wheelchair.

“For weeks he has been talking about this and when we finally pulled up, he was like, ‘I can’t believe we made it,’ ” Bailey said.

Individual and group tours can be arranged for people who are interested in learning about the camp.

— For more information about The Center for Courageous Kids, call 618-2900 or visit www.courageouskids.org.