The Gardendale Rotary Club presents a check on Wednesday for more than $17,000 to Cornerstone Ranch. From left is Jake Chemell with Cornerstone; Kenny Clemons with Gardendale Rotary; Rusty Rouse, Jimmy Nation and Josh Nation with Cornerstone; and Martin Uptain with Rotary International District 6860.

At least 70 people showed up on a bitterly cold day Wednesday to celebrate the next phase of a local ministry.

Cornerstone Ranch near Gardendale hosted a check presentation and groundbreaking ceremony for a new picnic pavilion and furnishings.

Funds for the project are being provided by the Gardendale Rotary Club; Rotary member Kenny Clemons presented Cornerstone executive director Rusty Rouse with a check for more than $17,000.

Rouse, who is also one of the ranch’s founders along with Jake Chemell, Josh Nation and Jimmy Nation, said the pavilion is desperately needed.

Last summer, Cornerstone held five camp sessions for a total of about 50 teenagers. At meal times and on rainy days, the bunkhouse is shoulder-to-shoulder with people, he said.

The picnic pavilion will allow people to eat outdoors, which is part of the fun of a summer camp, anyway.

Cornerstone Ranch caters to teenagers ages 13 to 16 who have economic, family, social or emotional difficulties. The camp is free to the teens. Sponsors provide meals and other costs.

Cornerstone spans 1,200 acres on Powder Mill Road west of Gardendale near Brookside.

A typical day at the camp involves fishing, canoeing, mountain bike riding, basketball, archery, camp fires and other outdoor activities. The property includes an 80-acre lake and five smaller ponds.

The founders dreamed about the camp for several years before it came into existence. Acquiring the Dupont property was difficulty; Cornerstone purchased the site on Dec. 31, 2008.

“Last year we were telling people what we wanted to do; this year we’ve been able to tell people what we’ve been doing,” Rouse said. “It’s been an awesome journey this past year to see what has happened with this ranch.”

He said the pavilion will be completed when summer camps start back in 2012.