Summer camps in the Lakes region

[Coolbreeze]

I went to Belknap in the 80s and the whole experience is considered to be my "happy place". You know, the place you take yourself back to when everything else currently happening sucks!
I hope my kids get the opportunity to try it when they get older. It was a time of my life that was really wonderful. Yes, it keeps me coming back to the lake!
ApS your story of the picture and now owning the land in the back is great, congratulations to you-

[winnisummergal]

Camp Bernadette in the late 70's early 80's for me. Great memories.

[Greene's Basin Girl]

I always wanted to go to camp. When I was growing up I use to read the Nancy & Sluggo comic books. Nancy went to camp and she had so much fun. When I would ask to go to camp my mother would always answer by saying we have our own camp on Lake Winnipesaukee. We always spent our entire summers on the lake so I couldn't argue with her, but I still feel that I missed something by not going to camp.

[Pineedles]

Originally Posted by Green's Basin Girl

I always wanted to go to camp. When I was growing up I use to read the Nancy & Sluggo comic books. Nancy went to camp and she had so much fun. When I would ask to go to camp my mother would always answer by saying we have our own camp on Lake Winnipesaukee. We always spent our entire summers on the lake so I couldn't argue with her, but I still feel that I missed something by not going to camp.

Exactly opposite for me GBG. I was up all summer at our cottage and couldn't understand why I was sent to Belknap for 2 weeks. I did have fun, but too many rules and regs. for an independent cuss like me.

[Pine Island Guy]

Originally Posted by Pineedles

I was up all summer at our cottage and couldn't understand why I was sent to Belknap for 2 weeks

Pine - I wondered they same thing growing up... now I'm assuming it was so my parents could get a break for a month from me and my brothers and enjoy the lake themselves!!

-PIG

[camp guy]

I can speak directly to this point. My family owned and operated camp Wyanoke in Winter Harbor until 1975.

So, the question is: I live on the Lake for the summer, why do I have to go to summer camp?

The answer is because at the camp you get many more experiences than you do living at home. Sure, water is water, and you can swim when at home, but can you take Junior Life Saving classes, Senior Life Saving Classes, Small Boat Operator classes, etc., etc. Okay, you have a reasonable large lot, but can you find 17 other people your age to play baseball with, can you find 3 others to play tennis doubles with, do you have a sailboat, several sailboats so you can have races, canoes, rowboats, etc., etc. On a rainy day do you have a crafts shop to work in, do you have the ability to watch a movie on a regular basis, who is leading and teaching you about mountain climbing, etc., etc. What about the activities you might be exposed to such as horseback riding, wrestling, boxing, gymnastics, track, archery, riflery, campcraft skills, edtc., etc.

When you live at home do you have the opportunity (!) to make your own bed, clean up after yourself and others, eat a table with 7 or 8 other men and boys and talk about the activities of the day, events happening around the country and world. At home, are you exposed to people from other lands and cultures?

The is no question that spending the summer at the Lake can be a lot of fun, but, there is also no question that being at a summer camp provides exposure to a lot of activities not normally available to someone living at home.

It is not for me to tell you which to do (although I am understandably prejudiced toward summer camp), and in a perfect world you might ought to do both.

[BroadHopper]

Well said Camp-Guy.

My parent lives in Laconia but weekends in Gilford on the lake. This was before the bypass and roads were back roads. Seems like it took forever to get to the camp!
I went to Y-Day camp during the week when I was not in school. For a week or two every summer, I would go to 4-H camp at Bear Brook State Park. It was wicked cool going to another lake! The last summer I was too old for summer camp yet too young for a summer job. I CIT for the YMCA camp in Exeter NH. Hanging out with the older counselors, believe me I was not at my best behavior!

Back in the days it was great to see all the old camps around the lake. Now I see 'gaudy' mcmansions.

[znh]

This is a great article on the 'Best Summer Camps in the US'

When first reading this I was pleasantly surprised to see how many were in a little state like New Hampshire.

http://www.topeducationdegrees.org/5...ps-in-the-u-s/


I went to camp many years as a kid, it was absolutely the best time. It's great my kids have so much time on the lake during the summer but I really want them to experience everything 'camp' can bring them and hopefully bring them that much more joy and closer to the lake. In a couple of years when they are a little older we will certainly be sending them away to some local Winni camps for a week or two.

[Bernie Girl]

As you can tell from my name I'm a Bernadette girl. I went to camp for 8 weeks every summer throughout the 60s into the early 70s. I could not get enough of camp and was sad for weeks after leaving at the end of the summer. My years at camp definitely influenced my love for the state of NH and the lakes region. My first summer I met one of my best friends to this day, I was 7 and she was 6. We both have homes on Winnie and can still be heard belting out a good camp song when the spirit moves us!

[Pineedles]

Originally Posted by camp guy

I can speak directly to this point. My family owned and operated camp Wyanoke in Winter Harbor until 1975.

So, the question is: I live on the Lake for the summer, why do I have to go to summer camp?

The answer is because at the camp you get many more experiences than you do living at home. Sure, water is water, and you can swim when at home, but can you take Junior Life Saving classes, Senior Life Saving Classes, Small Boat Operator classes, etc., etc. Okay, you have a reasonable large lot, but can you find 17 other people your age to play baseball with, can you find 3 others to play tennis doubles with, do you have a sailboat, several sailboats so you can have races, canoes, rowboats, etc., etc. On a rainy day do you have a crafts shop to work in, do you have the ability to watch a movie on a regular basis, who is leading and teaching you about mountain climbing, etc., etc. What about the activities you might be exposed to such as horseback riding, wrestling, boxing, gymnastics, track, archery, riflery, campcraft skills, edtc., etc.

When you live at home do you have the opportunity (!) to make your own bed, clean up after yourself and others, eat a table with 7 or 8 other men and boys and talk about the activities of the day, events happening around the country and world. At home, are you exposed to people from other lands and cultures?

The is no question that spending the summer at the Lake can be a lot of fun, but, there is also no question that being at a summer camp provides exposure to a lot of activities not normally available to someone living at home.

It is not for me to tell you which to do (although I am understandably prejudiced toward summer camp), and in a perfect world you might ought to do both.

camp guy, I did say I had fun at camp but, here is my reasoning for preferring to stay at our camp. And PIG, I think you're right, time off as parents are needed sometimes.

Swimming:
I've been swimming since before I could crawl. And I went to YMCA in the winter months and earned Jr. and Senior lifesaving certificates. My problem was the "buddy check" system that the camp employed. Every few minutes the lifeguards would blow their whistles and whomever you were assigned to as a buddy had to clasp hands above the water till all swimmers were accounted for. I understand why they did it but on several occasions I was swimming underwater, didn't hear the whistle and therefore missed the "buddy check". Twice in a row and I had to sit on the dock for several minutes as a punishment. Eventually was banned from the water for a complete day.

Boating:
Been operating a motorboat, sailboat, kayak, and canoe, etc. since slightly after I learned to walk.

Sports and outdoor activities:
No, back at the cottage we didn't play baseball but with nearly a dozen cousins around we did play some hairy games of kick-the-can. But on a positive note the archery classes, rifle range, nature identification walks were definitely the high points about summer camp.

Mess hall:
At the cottage we kids usually ate together at an outdoor circular table with a huge lazy-susan in the middle which when spun at a certain velocity could land a dish of pork and bean directly into my cousins lap. At camp, all I remember is being dared to eat a whole stick of butter and spending the next day in the scollege (Camp Belknap's word for outhouse).

There is no denying that summer camp can be a fun, learning experience for all kids. And even today I occasionally send Belknap a contribution, so although the swimming experience wasn't pleasant I do credit Camp Belknap with my love of shooting and archery.

[WakeboardMom]

Originally Posted by Green's Basin Girl

I always wanted to go to camp. When I was growing up I use to read the Nancy & Sluggo comic books. Nancy went to camp and she had so much fun. When I would ask to go to camp my mother would always answer by saying we have our own camp on Lake Winnipesaukee. We always spent our entire summers on the lake so I couldn't argue with her, but I still feel that I missed something by not going to camp.

Me too! That's why I sent my kids to camp. We had the place on the lake, but I couldn't be there with them all summer, we only had weekends. I thought two weeks at Y camp would be good for all of us.

For several years my boys spent two weeks of each summer at Camp Lawrence and thoroughly enjoyed it. My daughter went to Pleasant Valley Camp in Tuftonboro for two weeks each summer for several years as well.

They all have great memories. For us, two weeks at camp was just the right amount of time. My oldest son lives in Maryland and has two young boys of his own. His siblings think it would be awesome if their nephews went to camp on Lake Winnipesaukee!

[HomeWood]

My family ended up with a house on Winnipesaukee partially due to my dad and his brothers going to camp Belknap regularly. Then it was decided that buying a house made sense and my grandparents thought years into the future that it would be a great retirement house and it sure was. They purchased it circa 1960 and in January 2014, it was sold because extended family can be very greedy when it comes to cashing in on estates. I will miss boat rides over to camp Belknap with my dad just so he can take a quick peek at the camp for fun. The search for another lake house up there continues for us.

[Donzi Minx]

Camp Idlewild on Cow Island, man aqua planing behind the Riot, sailing, general swim, cabins on rainy nights, and home made ice cream just an outstanding experience for a snot nosed kid, whose family had a cottage in West Alton, on the lake just down from the Wise Owl. First saw barefoot water skiing (on the flat bottomed Jack Purcels) and thought I could master that...was I wrong. Bless the Roy's many great memories for me.

[chipj29]

I spent a couple weeks at Camp Lawrence in the mid-70's, and my sister went to Nokomis twice I think in the mid-70's.
Just the other day she and I were cleaning out my Mom's condo (she recently moved to assisted living) and came across some letters from both of us from the respective camps. I am amazed that she saved those for all these years.

[Merrymeeting]

Our boys went to Belknap for several years. Our daughter ended up at Camp Huckins on Ossipee for many years, several as a camper, and many more as a counselor.

All of them have very fond memories of their time at camp, despite always having a lakeside home to return to.

As for why mom and dad sent them to camp? The reasons have been stated earlier. I had attended/worked at Bald Peak Caddy Camp in my teens and it remains one of my "happy places" decades later.

Reason two: also stated earlier... it was a very nice vacation for mom and dad

[SAMIAM]

Originally Posted by Donzi Minx

Camp Idlewild on Cow Island, man aqua planing behind the Riot, sailing, general swim, cabins on rainy nights, and home made ice cream just an outstanding experience for a snot nosed kid, whose family had a cottage in West Alton, on the lake just down from the Wise Owl. First saw barefoot water skiing (on the flat bottomed Jack Purcels) and thought I could master that...was I wrong. Bless the Roy's many great memories for me.

I'm an Idlewild alumni also....lived in Red Fox lodge.......
loved the riot and the riot jr. Learned to sail there. The Roys were a wonderful family who brought the camping experience and a love for the lake to many generations of kids.

[Grant]

How about this... My grandfather and his brothers went to Wyanoke in the 1920-1928 timeframe. That led my grandfather to buy a place on the Lake in 1945.

My brother, my cousin, my two sons & I all went to and worked at Belknap...probably for a combined 38-40 years. My daughters went to Camp Huckins in Freedom for a combined ~22 years...from the age of 8 to (in one case) 22.

I guess you could say we were heavily invested in the whole YMCA camp thing in the region. Some of the best days of all of our lives.