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THE SAD TRUTH

 

 

The following photos were taken April 5 & 6, 2002
click the image to enlarge

 

Well there's good news and bad news. Mel Kohn & I just returned from a 600 mile weekend jaunt from NY to Wolfeboro to see first hand what has taken place up at camp. The good news is Lake Winnipesaukee is as beautiful as ever, Wolfeboro looks EXACTLY the same...although the names of some of the stores and business have changed and a good portion of the camp still looks the same. The bad news is...a larger portion of it is UNRECOGNIZABLE!!! More trees have been taken down then in the tropical rainforest...it looks like loggers came in and cleared the place out! But fortunately there are still enough little things left to evoke memories and even a few voices of days gone by!

 

Wolfeboro
A dad and his boys out for some early morning fishing

 
Wolfeboro
Pretty soon this place should be hopping!
     

Wolfeboro

Some things just don't change...I'm still waiting for the package from home....

  Wolfeboro

Former home to Bailey's Dockside
     
Mmmmmmmm They Smell Good!!

The blueberry muffins are almost ready to come out of the oven!!!
  Not Wolfeboro!!

But still a tasty memory for many!!!

 


 

We left NY Friday afternoon April 5th, on our journey north to NH. There was excitement in the air but with some trepidation. We were not sure if we were making a mistake by going to the camp to see what it looked like now, because we still could remember vividly what it was like those many summers ago. Upon reaching Portsmouth, NH and getting onto The Spaulding Turnpike things began to get more familiar, except for the fact that Pease Air Force Base is now a big industrial park and there were huge shopping centers all along the highway, many of the other sites were still there. As we traveled on we reached Route 11 and again except for lots more construction along the road much of it looked very familiar, eerily familiar as if we were going back in time. We made our way onto Route 28 and took that until we reached that famous left turn...Roberts Cove Road. Now we knew we were close to home...the world may have changed dramatically in the last years, especially the last few months but there was nothing better than to make that turn and see that familiar site of the Lin-Joy Cottages. The only thing missing there were the guests frolicking in that roadside swimming pool. As we ventured further we came to Roberts Cove which was still filled with ice although 98% of the rest of Lake Winnipesaukee was ice free. [This picture is from 1999]

We continued by Roberts Cove and passed the former site of Camp DeWitt until we reached the top of Roberts Cove Rd and the turn off for camp...we traveled a few hundred feet looking for the tell-tale change in the road to dirt and ruts...but it never came...only paved roadway...wide and spacious. The surrounding trees and land looked the same but the dirt road was conspicuously missing!

[This picture was taken in 1999 - but looks exactly the same today!!!]As we traveled down the road toward camp a little further things looked eerily familiar but it was hard to identify specifics because so much of what we all have come to recognize as the road to camp had been changed...but then there it was exactly as it has been for decades...The sign that was familiar to anyone that has ever driven the road to camp but especially for those that used to run, the old Aiken Mile...by the way you can't do that run anymore, most of the paths through the back are either gone or overgrown!

The following photos were taken the weekend of April 5th (unless noted) and can be enlarged by clicking on them!!!

[New house at the corner of lower camp bunk line and the beach...click on this image to enlarge!]As we went passed the Aiken cutoff we came to the area of the road that went by the beach (in the past you had to look very hard through the trees to see the beach but not anymore) and this is what now blocks our view...this house sits on the corner of the lower camp bunk line and the beach. A very nice house with as [View of the beach behind the house...click on this image to enlarge!]you will see later...a GREAT view of the lake and yes that is "The Beach" beyond those trees.

So we travel only a few hundred feet further and sitting just off the road is this house...located closer to the road than to the bunk line or the lake...but obviously this house too has a great view of the lake!!! We continue our journey toward the camp (towards you in the picture on the right) and there to our right with a chain across it is the back road that once lead to the office and Arts & Crafts. It is now heavily overgrown in there but you can still see the ruts in the dirt made by 55 years of travel.

We stay on the road up toward the A-field and see the first recognizable signs of camp...the basketball courts and tennis courts...the rims, posts and fences are all rusted but they are still intact. Across from there on the other side of [Home on location of old volleyball and basket ball courts - this photo taken in 1999]the road is a huge pile of construction debris and just beyond that on the left where the volleyball courts once stood is a house...I believe it was one of the first homes built on the grounds since it appeared in pictures taken back in 1999 (see photo to the left)! We now reach a new fork in what was once the camp road...to the right will take us down passed the A-field and tennis courts to the circle but to the left is a road traveling down the old third base line out into the middle of the A-field. Since there is a gate across the the old road we decide to drive out into the middle of the A-field...still being maintained and manicured (I believe by Irving Roberts). To the left we see a familiar but decaying site...the site of many a basketball and hockey game...now unfortunately a backboard is missing from one side and the other is so severely rusted it looks like they are ready to come down! Speaking of coming down...the benches to the right are already coming down!!

We park out on the A-field on what looks like it should be the location of someone's driveway and take in the sites...except for the fact that now to our left on what used to be the upper camp bunk line, the campfire area, the rec hall, the circle, Chief's/Peter's office, the dining room, the kitchen, the canteen and the infirmary there stands two homes, things look exactly the same.

As we look back towards the tennis courts and turn our gaze slightly to the right...there sitting alone under the cover of the pine tress just as it did 10 years ago and probably some 55 years before that...were the bleachers. Strangely missing from that picture was "The Old Doc" overseeing a 15 year old baseball game against Belknap or Dewitt.


[The bleachers - 2002][Circle - circa 1994]Well from the bleachers we decided to take the walk that we dreaded the entire drive from New York to New Hampshire. As we came over the top of the little crest in the road...this was the devastating site we saw!!! Nothing but lake...no trees no camp buildings, just old memories of what used to be (see picture above to the right)...we stood there motionless for what seemed like an eternity, trying our hardest to remember exactly where everything once stood, but because so many of the landmarks and trees have been remov [The circle - 2002]ed it was very difficult. It felt like someone had kicked us in the stomach. As we walked towards what used to be the circle we took in the entire landscape: (click the shot below to soak in the total effect)


[The circle, rec hall, bunk I, Peter's quarters, dining room, kitchen, informary]

The house to the left "The Mansion"...as it is being called by those that live on Lake Winnipesaukee, starts at about the former location of Bunk C and goes to the former location of Bunk H and then all the way to the top of the hill overlooking the lake. The house in front of you begins at about where the steps to the porch were and extends to the right down past where the infirmary once stood.

As we stood there gawking at this site we hoped and prayed we would find something...some last vestige of camp...a pair of dirty underwear, and old almanac, a tennis ball, the flag I never got in the rush...but much to our[The showers - 2002] chagrin the ONLY thing that we could find still standing in this area from camp was a structure that many a camper never knew existed.....the showers!!! I was not sure about this but Mel assures me that is what is in the picture to the right.

Being somewhat disappointed in not finding anything other than the shower house we decided to venture a little closer to "The Mansion" . Upon closer inspection this is what we saw. The two structures coming toward you on the right and the left, appear to be garages. The owner of this home owns the New Hampshire Speedway so that may explain enough room for what appears to be 16 cars. All along the roofline as you can see are chimneys, lots of chimney, which means lots of fireplaces. They will be needed in the winter when that wind comes whipping up off the icy lake! (Click the panoramic below for larger view)

[Panoramic shot of

The view from the rocks >>>

 

The view from the bunk line.
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[Upper bunk line - circa 1994]

 

 

 

 

The view from Bunk A circa 1994 >>>

 


[View down the upper bunk line from area of bunk A]

 

 

The view from bunk A today
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[Back of the house]

 

Another perspective on the back of this house! >>>