When I was a Girl Scout, we normally went to camp on "The Island". The Island, being Long Island, where I grew up.
Camp Edie comes to mind, right off the bat.
Then along came the new decade and a new choice. Our GS Council had been given land upstate in the Catskills. We called it Westdale Farm Camp and it was built on a former sheep farm. The road through the area ran right in the middle of our property and they decided to build the formal buildings on the far side of the road and the first year they put up a tent that we called The Marqueé, on the side of the road with the river and the farm.
Things were all in process, so our tents existed, but the 4 camp buildings were not yet built. In spite of that, we had a great time camping in a "Not Quite Ready" Camp.
We made friends, we had great times and we decided to come back the next year.
The difference in year two, was that I was too old to be a camper.
So I applied to be a camp counselor and was accepted. My family brought me up right before camp began and I spent the entire summer away from my family.
I credit this summer with giving me the ability to even think of existing away from my family. It caused me to apply to a college away from home and then eventually move out to Los Angeles. Westdale was the start of it all. I did Session 1 and maybe Session 2 without my sister. Then she arrived and I had someone from my family with me some of the time. Some of my friends, too. But part of the time, there I was with 32 kids to teach how to cook. See, I was the Domestic Executive for Rockledge. Number 10 cans became my best friend. Huge things that held a lot of things like peaches, or tomato sauce.
I remember making peach cobbler once for 37 from that can. I just read that they no longer exist. What a shame. :-)
I was a counselor at Rockledge. Here's what Rockledge looked like.
It matched the other 3 units, Birdsfoot Trefoil, Boughs and Aries.
We had bathrooms, the kitchen and a great room in there. We used the great room for indoor fires and sing alongs. The kids ate on the covered deck area on the sides. It was a great design, multi use all the way. We could even use it for winter camping when we returned to our Girl Scout units at the end of the summer. Most summer camps were just that.
This one allowed much more. :-)
Here is the view out my tent, looking toward our other mountain.
The Catskills are just beautiful here.
I just read that the camp was sold. I am so sorry to hear that.
Great memories of great times.
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Photo number 2 is
Bobbie, Carla and Crawler.
Photo number 3 is me and my
baby brother.
Yes I remember Westdale Farm Camp very well. Boy when you moved out everything, then moved it back, you certainly found a lot of old pictures didn't you!!! Thanks for the memories. :-)
ReplyDeleteActually our friends from Phoenix's son and his wife just camped about 2 or 3 miles from the old camp in Phoneicia, NY and seeing photos of the two of them "swimming" in the river brought back so many memories, that I did a search on Google and found a Facebook page with people who camped with us, back in the day. I scanned a few photos I have here. I have more, but the photos are pretty fuzzy.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, they say that the council sold the land. They split it up into two (what a surprise) parcels. The farm is now owned privately. The camp is still a camp, but they are not sure who owns it. A real shame, I loved camping there.
Thanks for the tour down your memory lane... interesting to see/read.
ReplyDeleteThe camp was sold, you say, but will it remain a camp? Or will the grounds be converted to other use such as housing or corporate development?
I would hope it could remain a camp (or anything closely related) and retain the natural environment.
Ooops! My fault... I did not read the pre-existing comments before making my own. I see you already answered my question.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad at least that it sounds as if the land will remain in its natural state. May not be "your" camp anymore in quite the same way, but it's still much better than an industrial park crammed with corporate offices.
(Again, sorry for the redundant question. I promise I'll pay better attention in class from now on... lol)
This was really fun to read, Angel. My youngest stepdaughter was a camp counselor at a Girl Scout camp in northern Wisconsin for several summers and absolutely loved it. I think it gave her the same sort of idea that it gave you, that "gee, I can be separate from my family and do just fine." As a result, she's had the guts to do a number of really interesting things, like go to New Zealand for 6 months with a work permit and pretty much nothing else. She had a great time.
ReplyDeleteDim Skip: No worries, I would have answered you again. :-)
ReplyDeletePiglet: Girl Scouts was THE BEST thing growing up. I learned Leadership skills and independence. Both big things in my book. New Zealand with nothing but a work permit. Pretty cool!