The sun came out and shone on Tim Rose as he strode the lawn at century-old Carnation Farm, now in the final stages of transforming into Camp Korey, a place where seriously ill children can smile and just be kids for a while.

Named for Rose’s son, who died in 2004 at age 18 of bone cancer, Camp Korey at Carnation Farm hopes to open next summer. The shining sun, Rose said, meant Korey was looking down on him as he announced the purchase of Carnation Farm from Nestle USA, which has been using the historic dairy farm as a regional employee training center.

Rose and partner Jim Hebert are taking steps to make Camp Korey a part of actor Paul Newman’s global Hole in the Wall Camps organization.

Newman’s camps pursue the same mission: to provide a place for seriously ill children to be themselves and have fun.

“We have nothing like that in the Northwest, no Hole in the Wall camps,” said Jan Sliger, Korey’s aunt, who lives in North Bend.

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