Old Stuff…
I’m not usually the pack-rat type, but there is a bunch of stuff that somehow I saved from that Wawayanda time. Here’s a run-down on most of it.
Well, I’ve got this old box of “stuff”… Treasures of the past, I guess. Some of it actually dates to the time that I was a camper, but most of it is from my staff years. Maybe that summer experience was important to me, important enough so that I kept this stuff for a long time, some of it about 65 years!
Here’s some of it!
Annual Reports
There is the 1953 Annual Report, full of facts and figures, including the names of all the staff and all the campers (two full pages of them!). Also what cities the campers came from, how many of them, what the daily schedule was, all the new equipment that was provided (2 softball mits, 1 volley ball and net, 1 washing machine, etc.), what we need, what the menus were, writings about the actiuvities (waterfront, crystal radios, athletics, woodshop, etc.), cartoons, and the schedule of evening programs and special programs (campfires, movies, talent night, backwards day, Christmas in July, etc.).
1953 Annual Report PDF downlaod, about 10 MB
1954 Annual Report PDF download about 20 MB
1955 Annual Report PDF Downkload about 1.6 MB
1956 Annual Report PDF download about 1 MB
Report: Charles R. Scott
There was also the notice of the death of Charles Scott, camp founder. I was there that day and saw him rushed out of the dinning hall.
You can read it a bit better in the 1954 Annual Report, above.
The 1955 report
… had the same kind of stuff, except that was the first year at the Johnsonburg site. The scene on the cover is not Andover.
Staff Photo, 1956
In addition to the 1956 report, I also have a nice copy of the staff photo for that year.
I’m in the second row, second from the left, and that’s Bob slater next to me. Next row up, just to the left, Art Lockett.
Counselor List, 1956
Photo: Earl and Bea Armstrong
Here’s our leader Earl Amstrong and his wife Bea making up some good eats for a staff meeting.
Banquet Program, 1946
This dates from 1946, when I was a camper! How I managed to keep this for all those years is beyond my humble understanding, but this is the program for the closing ceremonies of camp that year. At the end of each month we had a “big banquet” with entertainment. We decorated the dining hall for the occasion. In the evening we went to the main council ring, back in the woods, and had a campfire program. At the end, we had a torch procession back along the path. Each camper had prepared a stick of wood, carved it, got signatures. A piece of old canvas was wrapped around, tack on, and dipped in kerosine. Walking in single file back along that path in the woods was a mighty impressive thing.
On the back cover the awards were listed. I was only just turned 10 that year, so I guess i didn’t make any great achievements.
Brochure Photo
Below is a photo from one of the brochures. It was probably taken from the top of the water tower. Amazing that I never thought to climb up that tower. Maybe just as well!
Letters from 1954
Here’s an interesting bit of Wawayanda history. It’s a letter which was sent to the staff announcing the sale of the camp. It’s also interesting because it mentions the recovery of (staff, campers?) who had contracted polio. The letter is dated Nov. 1, 1954. (click images to enlarge)
Two Buttons: 1927 and 1951
Fools gold
One of the things about the old iron mines which we used to walk across the road and visit was the minerals we could collect there. Sometimes when I came home from camp, my trunk was very heavy because of the roacks I had collected. Guess i should have been a geologist! Anyway, here’s some fools gold.
Photo: Cabin #4 Group
That’s the kids in my cabin, cabin # 4 in Forest village, has to be ’53?
Looking in the 1953 Annual Report, I see the Jack Purvis listed. He’s standing right in the center of the door.
That’s Stephen Garretson standing at the left edge of the picture. Sorry, that’s all I can recall!
Counsellor Group, Forest Village
Here’s a blast from the past. This was taken at the Andover site. L to R:
Tipton, counselor, tennis coach(?), singer
Myself
“Rugged”, Paul Dimedriatis. Program Director. Long time Wawayanda persona. He was actually my counselor when I was a camper in forest Village, Cabin no. 2
Counselor, don’t remember his name.
Bob Slater. Connselor, forest Village, nature instructor. You can see pictures of him handling snakes on another web site. Friend. Went to Drew University.
The Little Green Songbook
There were plenty of these song books when I was a camper. They had camp songs such as “We’ve been up to Wawayanda..” and others, some very sentimental. There were college songs. There were hymns, so they were used for chapel services.
Here’s a sample page. Sorry, I can’t tell you the tunes that went with all of these, but I do remember a few, such as the Wawayanda Grace which was always sung before meals every day.
Program, Grist Mill Playhouse
Grist Mill Playhouse, Andover, N.J., about a mile from camp.
Some of us may remember going to see a matinee at the Grist Mill. We walked the mile or so to the theater. I recall that before the performance they announced that boys from Camp Wawayanda were there, and we let out a loud cheer!
I recall seeing Joe E. Brown in “Harvey” there!
