The History of Roundhouse

The concept of Roundhouse developed in late 1989 or early 1990. At Cheryl Cozort's suggestion, Mark and Teah McWhorter had begun editing a newsletter called "The Home Train," and it was receiving great response. It appeared to fill a void for members of the church who were homeschooling their children. In one of their notes back and forth, Cheryl mentioned to Teah that it would be nice to get people together, even if it was just for a weekend. Before long, Teah had gone to work and located the Chula Vista campsite three miles from her house. Planning Roundhouse had begun!

The first Roundhouse was held on October 11-15, 1990, going from lunch Thursday through breakfast on Monday. In 1993 Roundhouse changed to a Monday through Friday schedule. 1998 saw the schedule expand to a Saturday afternoon through Friday morning schedule. Roundhouse was conducted at the Chula Vista facilities for seven years. October of 1997 was the first year for Roundhouse at the Springville Camp & Conference Center. After seven years at Springville, Roundhouse has begun meeting at Bonclarken in Flat Rock, North Carolina, beginning in 2004, prompting Roundhouse to shift to a Sunday evening through Friday morning schedule.

Roundhouse had been held in October for 14 years. This time of year was chosen because of the availability of the camp and the prices were lower. The change to Bonclarken has made necessary a change to the final week of September. The first year of Roundhouse began with 10 families and 49 people. It was a wonderful time, and immediately plans began for the next year. Teah had volunteer sheets ready to go for the next year!! The first year was truly a "load" on Mark and Teah. From the second year on, the volunteers are what have made Roundhouse what it is (not that Mark and Teah still didn't carry most of the load). Without the help of everyone, Roundhouse couldn't continue!!

The name "Roundhouse" came as a direct connection to "The Home Train," the newsletter published from 1989-1997. A roundhouse is where trains go for repairs and upkeep. The correlation with our event is that family "trains" come to "Roundhouse" to be rejuvenated, supported, and encouraged to continue their work training up their children.

The main goal was to have a "place" where just members of the church could come for the vital support needed from other homeschooling Christians. At the beginning, very few homeschoolers had any Christians in their area actually homeschooling, and support from church brethren was slim to none! The goal of the originators of Roundhouse was to fill that void. Hopefully, Roundhouse has accomplished this, and will continue to do so for many years to come.

Thanks to Cheryl Cozort and Mark McWhorter for their contributions to recording this history.