All went well, and I was deposited in the care of the camp personnel and Auntie Mona and Uncle Alan left to return to Pine Point but forgot to give me the key to my camp trunks! Now my camp trunks were no ordinary trunks but consisted of two units, one a regular trunk and the other a wooden box that stood on end and provided a small closet and shelf. I do not remember being too concerned, after all I did have the clothes on my back, but apparently, I gave the impression of a very lost and forlorn eight-year-old, for that was the story told. Well, all ended well, Uncle Allen and Auntie Mona remembered the keys before getting back to Pine Point and returned to camp to supply the missing keys.
My counselor that first year was a young man by the name of Ralph Haskell. Handsome, and to me old, although I think he was a college student and I don't believe he was there after that first year.
North Star Camp, East Waterboro Maine, on the shores of Little Ossipee Lake was for me nine summers of great pleasure. Seven years as a camper, one year as a camper/table waiter, and one year as a junior counselor and assistant waterfront director teaching beginners swimming. My first and last years were in tent 12. Campers were housed by age with the youngest in tent 12, and the oldest in tent 1. Tents were actually canvas-sided bunkhouses which accommodated eight or nine including counselor and junior counselor. (See top photo.) In inclement weather the canvas sides were all the way down, but in good weather could be folded up so that the lower bunks were exposed to view. When the weather was real warm we could roll the sides up and tie them to the frame at the top of the support posts and expose the upper bunks. To accommodate the ninth person a cot was put in the center of the floor space.
Camp activities included the usual; swimming at various levels from beginner to life-saving, boating, canoeing, crafts, wildlife, sports during the days on a schedule like classes at school. Two free swim periods, one just before lunch, and the second in the afternoon. Tent and personnel inspection was always after the morning swim period and just prior to lunch and competition was keen between tents as there was a grading scheme on a list of factors. Evenings were divided between council fires and organized programs in the dining hall such as skits or movies. On Sundays weather permitting we had chapel services in a wooded glen, that through the trees the lake was a visible. It was an inspiring place to sing the hymn "For the Beauty of the Earth".
Link: PDF of original page