Back to being young

August

Here it is again, August, a month of hot sultry days that are the real part of summer. A lot of the farm work is done for a while. The hay has been made, the wheat has been cut and threshed and the oats may still be standing in the shock or by now it has been threshed. It is time to go to camp.

From the time I was 10 years old until I was 15 I went to 4-H camp, for one week, at camp Cornplanter, in McKean County during the first or second week of August. The site was originally Dunkle Corners Civilian Conservation Corps Camp No. ANF-11, which operated in 1935-1936, and then it was run by the YMCA from 1939-1958.

The camp was a pretty rustic place that consisted of 8 residence cabins, a large dining hall, swimming pool and several special service buildings. The cabins were just boards tacked to a frame. The windows had no glass, just screens and the toilets and showers were 50 yards down a path below the cabins. The showers and wash basins had only cold water. Every morning we had to take a cold shower. Each cabin had a center hall with a room where the councilors, really Assistant County Agents, stayed. The rooms on either side had 12 iron cots with web springs and a 3" mattress. The dining hall, swimming pool, and ball field were about 300 yards from the cabins.

Each cabin had kids from different counties in northwestern Pennsylvania. We all had assigned chores to maintain the camp and at the dining hall. One day we set the table, the next we served the food, the next we washed dishes and the next we helped get the meal ready. We would peal potatoes, cut cabbage and clean the kitchen.

One good thing about the camp was the everyone had to learn how to swim or at least try to learn. I had never been in a swimming pool or even tried to swim in a creek or river when I was 10 so it was a big deal for me. I remember struggling for a long time to make it across the pool and the first time I had to jump in the deep end was really scary. But I did learn a lot that first summer.

I think today a major fuss might be made by the parents about the dress code at the pool. Because it was an all male camp, except for the cooks in the dining hall, none of the boys wore swimming suits. At the pool we all went natural and it seemed like it was a normal thing to do at the time. Anyhow that was just part of camp and it was ok.

Besides learning to swim, we spent a lot of time playing baseball and doing craft projects and every night we would have a big campfire, roast hot dogs, play campfire games and tell stories.
That was a great time.