Ferrum, VA, June 29, 2026 — East Coast Camp returned to the Ferrum College campus during the third week of June with over 600 kids and youth leaders from churches in Appalachia and Florida. Darrell Huffman ’74 and Bonnie Huffman ’75, from Huntington, West Virginia, founded the youth camp in 2012. The couple are celebrating their 50 years of ministry, and 51 years of marriage since they met on the first day of registration when they attended Ferrum College.
The Huffmans have traveled throughout their ministry to help many churches get started, and have guided their summer camp as it grew from under 100 kids to more than 600. In the early years they could all meet in Vaughn Chapel but they outgrew it and now use Swartz Gym. At least fifteen youth groups traveled to the camp this year from six Eastern states.
The Huffmans said that the camp serves “spirit, soul, and body.” They enjoy games, Bible trivia, and services twice a day, with teams competing for points in their activities. The youth leaders who serve in different areas of ministry receive training during the camp as well. Bonnie Huffman said they appreciated the participation of President Mirta Martin and Athletic Director Cleive Adams at their service Wednesday night.
Both of the Huffmans’ children are pastors and attend the East Coast Camp as well, with their six children. One of their grandsons attended Ferrum College for a year and was on the track team before he moved closer to home for medical care. He graduated from Marshall University this year.
Bonnie Mattox Huffman grew up in Union Hall and attended Franklin County High School. At Ferrum College she worked for her religion professor, Dr. Jack Corvin, Sr.; she did housekeeping for him and his wife Betty Corvin to earn $1.25 an hour, a typical wage for a student job in the 1970s. She calls Corvin her spiritual mentor, and while he was a Methodist minister, he officiated at the ceremony in a Baptist church when she married Darrell Huffman. They like to tell about having one of their first kisses on the bridge at Adams Lake. Bonnie’s identical twin sister Brenda Pricer ’75 also attended Ferrum College and met her spouse here.
Coach Hank Norton kept Darrell Huffman busy on the football field, in the championship team of 1974. After three semesters he transferred to East Tennessee State University to study education and history (Ferrum College was just beginning to offer four-year programs), and then attended a Bible school in Oklahoma until 1977. He remembers carrying a banner in the College’s centennial parade when they returned to campus in 2013.
Ferrum College hosts a number of camps and community events during the summer, including sports camps, retreats, and this July, two free camps for high school students interested in building trades. The Monday Music Jams at the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum are free for anyone year-round and the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum’s farm museum is open on Saturdays all summer.
Click here to read more about the Huffmans and their 2023 camp.
Click here for more photographs from the 2026 East Coast Camp.
