Dear Bruce & Alexandra ( we all used first names back-in-the-day)
After reading the article about your home/Camp Kent, I am writing my first comment ever.
In 63 & 64 I was known as “Ronnie-girl-waterfront”.
(There was also a “Ronnie-boy-waterfront”.) In addition
to teaching swimming, we were color-war leaders. I don’t remember my color, but our theme in 63 was Camp-in-0uter-Space.
Since you are, wittingly or not, keepers of all things Camp Kent, I am sending lyrics to our song.
Sung to Allan Sherman’s “Camp Granada”...
Dear Mom & Daddy
I’m here at camp
The days are hot & sticky
The nights are cold & damp
14 kids in the bunk
And 14 counselors too
It’s a shame that with so many of us
There’s nothing here to do
Except to sleep in the morning
Rest afternoon
Watch the rain falling
Hope camp is over soon
My counselors eat my candy
My bunk mates wear my clothes
There’s swimming & boating everyday
Except nobody goes
But don’t worry Mommy
Don’t worry Dad
This will be the best vacation
YOU have ever had
I’ll be coming home from outer space
As soon as the season’s through
And next summer I’ll spend on earth with you!
In 64 we were the “Purple Octopus”
Sung to a generic dirge.
By the shores of Spectacle Lake
Stands a ruin old
Where ice-cold punch is always warm
Hot water’s always cold.
Dear Camp Kent
Our Camp Kent
Your charms we fail to see.
But like an awesome octopus
Your tentacles hold me.
Enjoy your home/camp. It never looked better.
Ronnie Malasky
[email protected]
12
Perhaps this is better than the property being totally divided up for development.
I spent many summers growing up at Camp Siwanoy, a scout camp in Wingdale, NY. After it was closed by the local Boy Scout council, the 700+ acre property was sold to Paul Tudor Jones (of the Robin Hood Foundation). He demolished most of the buildings and rebuilt a few as luxury cabins. The public is kept out at almost all times. As much as I hate that I can no longer visit the grounds of my youth when I want, I'm glad the actual property is still somewhat recognizable and not covered with new houses.
1
Why do we glorify this kind of privilege? I'm happy for this person, but it is akin to bragging. It is not worthy of an article in the NYT..."hey look what I've got...", Meanwhile, I know that Kent property prices have gone through the roof and once again, locals with generational roots are being forced into a struggle that was not of their own making.
17
I worked at Camp Kent as a music counselor in between my sophomore and junior years. It was my first real exposure to the rural countryside, being a born and bred Brooklyn girl. In the afternoon I was able to go rowing on the lake and pick blueberries, which I would put in a big empty peanut butter container obtained from the kitchen staff. If Frank, my friend the bus driver, happens to read this comment, I'd love to hear from you! It's a beautiful property and if it couldn't continue to succeed as a camp, I'm glad it's in the hands of this charming couple who appreciate and honor its rustic character.
8
In truth, a place like this is a haven for ticks carrying Lyme disease. Many people who live in such places have been treated for Lyme multiple times. Just going outside can awaken traumatic feelings. While, of course, this is an idyll, a balanced piece of journalism would mention the drawbacks of such a setting and such a life.
2
A place that was enjoyed by many people from many places is now under the control of a single family. Why is this being celebrated?
13
@Margaret Yang I didn't think of it as being celebrated as much as exposure to one kind of lifestyle. I did have 2nd thoughts after my post - in that I would certainly celebrate the acquisition of this land by NY State for use as a public park. But that was not going to happen, I can only imagine. I enjoyed learning what happened to Camp Kent and "meeting" this couple who are fortunate enough to have the resources to obtain and enjoy it. Perhaps descendants will deed it to the county or the state, having restored and maintained it. Stranger things have happened.
2
Sounds lovely. But please: Litchfield County is not "wilderness."
9
I love the historic flavor and authenticity of your article. I am from Connecticut, my Father went to Kent School and I have some treasured memories of these wonderful summer camps in New England and the Adirondacks. The summers were idyllic when I was a child. Thank you for the memories is an untroubled time!
2
I was the architect for a new house built on one of the properties cut out of Camp Kent in the eighties.
While it is true that the rotting camp buildings have been saved, and made habitable, the article fails to mention all the large lakeside houses built along the new road cut into the woods around the lake, and calling Kent the “wilds” is sorta like calling AnyHampton undeveloped. Public relations overkill.
It’s nice that the camp is till painted a reddish color.
8
Lovely area, I grew up in nearby Franklin County, Massachusetts. However, it is hard to take this article seriously when the lead-in states “In the Connecticut wilderness”. Wilderness? Using Google Earth, I counted no fewer than 13 houses along the lake shoreline, multiple roads and tennis courts, and even a go-cart track!
3
Connecticut "wilderness"? C'mon. I lived in Litchfield County for 15 years. There are great woods and pastoral scenery. lovely lanes and great hiking and biking. It's closer to the Cotswolds than wilderness. You're never more than a mile or two from a road or a house. The closest wilderness is in the Adirondacks, or perhaps a few remote parts of the Catskills. The article was nice, and a header of "Connecticut woods" would have worked just as well without the hyperbole.
3
see you next summer!
2
"Connecticut wilderness"? More like NYC exurb. Go to the other side of Connecticut river for 'wilderness'. Having gone to camp in BY a pleasant idyl and reminiscence though.
1
A beautiful part of Connecticut, but wilderness? Come on!
2
I'll never visit this place, but I love it from afar and feel better just knowing it exists.
3
...beautiful....the home camp and the two of you !!!
3