Fond memories of Summer Camp

Seeking Hobbes

Seeking Hobbes

Recycles dryer sheets
Joined
Apr 1, 2011
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103
Recently while sorting through an old trunk, I came across a banner from my old summer camp. Wow, did the memories flood back.

For three summers in the early to mid 70's my folks packed me off to the bus station; for a 9 hour trip to New Hampshire. I was sent to an all-boys summer camp called Camp Idlewild (the same camp that my father & his father attended as children). It was located on Cow island in lake Winnipesaukee.

I first l attended the camp at 10 years old and after the initial shock of leaving home dissipated, I remember those 8 weeks (for three consecutive summers) being magical. (I'm sure they were also magical for my parents!) :dance:

The camp closed after the 1975 season... honestly, I don't know how a camp like that could ever operate today. It's a shame, really... whether it was my age or naiveté, I miss those summers and youthful innocence.

Any other campers out there:confused:

BTW: For anyone interested... here's a website that celebrates that wonderful camp... The Camp Idlewild Alumni Home Page
 

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Camp Yonahlassee, North Carolina

My uncle, Eric "De" DeGroat, was partner and director at Camp Yonahlassee in Boone, North Carolina, until he died in 1976. Many wonderful memories there and for family reunions at the end of season when the camp closed.
The site is now a private resort development with homes/condos and has retained a few of the original camp facilities. Great summer memories.
"Hold on to 16 as long as you can!"
 
What great memories!

I went to summer camp once but got thrown out. Totally unjustifiable reasons. But I did work in summer camp for 3 summers.
 
Yes, I went to a camp called Aloha Hive on the shores of a lake in Vermont all summer for two years when I was 10 and 11. I flew there with my brother the first year, since he was going to the equivalent boys' camp, and alone the second year. I loved it. My favorite activity was the canoe, but I also loved archery and basketmaking and climbing local (small) mountains, and so much else. We put on a Gilbert and Sullivan musical each summer (The Mikado, and Iolanthe). The food was great, my fellow campers were outstanding, I loved living in a cabin right near the woods and being able to go for walks and pick berries or just enjoy nature, and the counselors were OK for grownups. :LOL:
 
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Interesting to see how the other half spent their summer vacations. My 'summer camp' experience involved an army surplus cot and a tarp thrown over the clothesline in the back yard...
 
REWahoo said:
Interesting to see how the other half spent their summer vacations. My 'summer camp' experience involved an army surplus cot and a tarp thrown over the clothesline in the back yard...
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Hey, that's fun too... :) We did that from time to time. The reason I was sent off to camp, was that my parents wanted some time away from the kids, to travel alone. So, to them summer camp was sort of a babysitting thing, I suppose. I would have rather been with them, but summer camp was a great second choice.
 
I never went to summer camp my parents really could not afford to send me . I would look at all the brochures for St.Theresa little flower camp and be so envious of my friend ( The town Doctor's daughter ) who did go while the rest of us made do with swimming lessons and day camp . When I had children I sent them to great camps until finally my daughter said " Mom you can not relive your childhood through me ".
 
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Wow, I am astounded by the envy some seem to feel regarding summer camp. I would have LOVED to go to something local near my home, so that I could be with my family and friends. Guess it's a case of "different strokes for different folks"! I felt a little abandoned, being sent off on a plane by myself to a bunch of strangers a thousand miles away at barely ten years old. But once I was there, and got to know people, I felt better about it.

When my daughter was that age, I sent her to a free municipal summer day camp. She got to do a lot, enough to keep them busy and happy all day doing camp type stuff. She just couldn't spend the night.

Remember those watch fobs that you make by weaving long, flat, multicolor plastic strips? That was so cool. :D If only there was a real USE for those things.... :LOL:
 
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Here's the summer camp I went to YMCA Camp Flaming Arrow - Home Page - YMCA of Greater San Antonio, mid 60's. Don't remember much but it was fun. I remember making lanyards, lots of swimming, cabins and being required to write home every day. And getting a few letters from home - pretty silly in retrospect, kids probably just text today if anything. I also learned about mildew...

The only humorous story I remember, I was fishing (not catching mind you) along a river and fell in fully clothed - over my head deep. Not knowing any better at about age 9, I Immediately went back to the cabin to put on dry clothes and stuffed my wet jeans, t-shirt, etc. in a corner and left them there for the rest of the week. Can you say extreme mildew? Can you say stupefied Mom when they came to pick me up?
 
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I pretended I went to the camp in the Hayley Mills's version of Parent Trap.

The camps described above look like they were so much fun!
 
Midpack said:
Here's the summer camp I went to YMCA Camp Flaming Arrow - Home Page - YMCA of Greater San Antonio, mid 60's. Don't remember much but it was fun. I remember lanyards, lots of swimming and the cabins. The only humorous story I remember, I was fishing (not catching mind you) along a river and fell in fully clothed. Not knowing any better at about age 9, I went back to the cabin and stuffed my wet jeans, t-shirt, etc. in a corner and left them there for the rest of the week. Can you say mildew? Can you say stupefied Mom?
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Yes, lanyards! That's what those were called. I loved making them. :D Oh, and BestWifeEver, I wonder if they sell the plastic stuff for making lanyards at Michael's. If so, we could buy some. I could make one and reminisce, and you could make one and enjoy a really fun summer camp activity. :D Now if only we could think of something to do with them once we finished. :LOL:
 
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W2R said:
Wow, I am astounded by the envy some seem to feel regarding summer camp.
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Nothing more than the [-]money[/-] grass is greener syndrome. I was also envious of my friends whose parents belonged to the country club and spent their summers playing golf or at the CC pool. Being poor when your friends aren't really sucks, especially when you are a kid.
 
I went to day camp at the park - I loved it. One time I had too many dixie cups - and had a stomachache for the rest of the day! My brother & I used to pick black berries and sell them door to door (daily), in order to pay the entrance to the public swimming pool. After I was 12 years old, I spent summers making money babysitting and cleaning for a motel nearby. To tell the truth, I did envy the kids that were on vacation, or got to go to a real camp-out summer camp.

I didn't realize the value of developing a work ethic until much, much later.
 
Bestwifeever said:
I pretended I went to the camp in the Hayley Mills's version of Parent Trap.

The camps described above look like they were so much fun!
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OMG, I'd forgotten Hayley Mills. She'd be 66 now, man am I old, but she'll always look like this to me...
lens8420001_1260062842pollyanna.jpg
 
REWahoo said:
Nothing more than the [-]money[/-] grass is greener syndrome. I was also envious of my friends whose parents belonged to the country club and spent their summers playing golf or at the CC pool. Being poor when your friends aren't really sucks, especially when you are a kid.
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I felt sorry for a lot of the kids at my summer camp. It seemed to me that a significant number went to boarding schools during the year, and were sent to camp all summer so they seldom if ever saw their parents, home, or family. I felt so lucky that I had a home and family to return to after the summer and my heart ached for those who didn't.
 
Lots of church camp for me as a kid. Attended and then worked for two years as an early teen. Lots of good memories. Met my first "true love" there when I was 14. Got in trouble for staying out after curfew. Need I say more?
 
Was just thinking about summer camp earlier this week. I went to a girl scout camp that was very similar to the one in The Parent Trap. My parents could only afford one week/year, but at age 12, I got a job washing dishes at the camp, which meant I got to go for free for the entire summer. Did that for a few years -- loved it!

And, how fun that your camp, Seeking Hobbes, was on Lake Winnipesaukee. What About Bob? is one of my favorite movies, and a significant portion of the movie takes place there.
 
W2R said:
I felt sorry for a lot of the kids at my summer camp. It seemed to me that a significant number went to boarding schools during the year, and were sent to camp all summer so they seldom if ever saw their parents, home, or family. I felt so lucky that I had a home and family to return to after the summer and my heart ached for those who didn't.
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Come to think of it, being with Grandma & Grandpa...I wouldn't trade it for the world. One summer (11 years old) we traveled with them in their trailer throughout Oregon and California. Both my twin brother and I consider that summer the best of our entire childhood. We pretended we were gypsies.
 
W2R said:
I felt a little abandoned, being sent off on a plane by myself to a bunch of strangers a thousand miles away at barely ten years old. But once I was there, and got to know people, I felt better about it.
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Same here! At 10, I didn't really have a grasp of the cost, nor did I have an appreciation for my ability to go. I only knew that I was put on a bus with a bunch of strange kids... collecting more kids periodically... all the way to NH.

It was pretty traumatic, really. (At least if I was put on a plane... the adventure of a flight would have distracted me.) Nine hours on a bus gives a kid plenty of time to worry.

Like you though, I settled in... learned to adjust to new people & environments and, eventually, hated to leave when the time came. Oh, and I also learned not to slurp my cereal at breakfast - when a counselor smacked me on the top of the head with a serving spoon. I swear I saw stars!

Remember those watch fobs that you make by weaving long, flat, multicolor plastic strips? That was so cool. :D If only there was a real USE for those things.... :LOL:
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Yep... I earned my crafts badge with one of those silly things!
 
Marathoner said:
And, how fun that your camp, Seeking Hobbes, was on Lake Winnipesaukee. What About Bob? is one of my favorite movies, and a significant portion of the movie takes place there.
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You know? I've never seen that movie & I heard that it was filmed on Lake Winnipesaukee. I'll have to check it out. BTW, the lake was beautiful... crystal clear and perfect. In fact, I don't remember ever taking a shower... we were constantly in the water.
 
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