Tuesday, July 6, 2004

Summer Camp In July and August, millions of American kids go off to summer camp. I remember that ritual well, at places like Camp Seymour near Decatur, and Camp Widjiwagan on Lake Springfield, where my sisters sailed and swam with fellow Girl Scouts. Camp is one of those experiences that help families prepare for the day when children leave home. For me, Camp Seymour was a break from delivering papers and weeding the garden. I got a chance to enlarge my circle of friends, learn the wizardry of making boondoggle, and go on a fabled snipe hunt, which turned out to be a big joke on me and other greenhorns. Fifty years ago, camp was a simple experience: sleep in a cabin, eat pancakes at the lodge, go swimming and canoeing. Camp was a character-building experience, though few said so. Today many parents see the camp experience as another project designed to enhance college admission. They spend thousands of dollars sending children to remote and exotic locations. To learn more about the trend, see this story in today's Washington Post. To relive those lazy, hazy days of summer, see Grade School Pictures, especially shots of Dubois and Hazel Dell children. If you have some camp memories to share, please click on the Comment link below. 10:17:13 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2004 William Howarth. Last update: 8/11/04; 10:19:38 PM.