July 2 A day in the Life and a Tour

"Oh Camp of beauty, up in the mountains
A stage with backdrop, of lake and sky.
The moon's a spotlight, the stars are the footlights,
As the world watches silver birches shine.
They see a battle of friendly fighting.
We girls are sportsmen, and each a champ
And when the play ends, the memories linger.
And the stage is our own Lenore camp.

One thing that certainly bears mentioning is just how beautiful a camp Lenore was. Not having too much to compare it to, I was, perhaps, under the misconception that all camps looked like ours. (They of course, did not.) But, even as a naive 10 year-old, I could see this was a pretty nice place to spend eight weeks... My home for the next eight weeks was on "the Campus," a collection of 15 bunks laid out in the shape of an open-sided rectangle: Four bunks on the short end, eight bunks on the long side, and 3 bunks on the opposite end. The campus represented what was probably the oldest and prettiest bunk set up. The long end of it paralleled the Lodge and tennis court, and the whole area was fronted by a heavily gravelled road and a large expanse of grass. The gravel road split between bunks 12 and 14 (No bunk 13). Two large trees (one was the "fruit tree), separated the Campus from the Lane. If you stayed to your left, the road paralleled the six bunks of the Lane. If you veered to the right, the road led you to the Dining Hall. There was a fairly large expanse of less manicured grass that filled the area between the Dining Hall and Lane, and there was also a cairn site here, too. At the base of the Lane, there was another road intersection: To the right, was the Head Counselors' cabin, and the seven bunks on the Hill. (An actual hilly area, where the bunks were built up against.) To the left, was the road to the Valley, (Another six bunks, the last of which was quite literally in the woods.) and the Shower House. If you continued straight on the "main road", it would take you down the heavily wooded, quarter mile walk down to the Lake. Though it was quite a hike, the road was lined with raspberry and blackberry bushes, so at least you knew you wouldn't starve...And there was something almost magical about being in the middle of all that foliage. Years later, in 2004, when we visited the site, I couldn't help but feel an immense sense of sadness and loss at seeing what I knew was one of the lovelier places on the planet completely razed...

So, here it is: the first full day of camp. We woud awake to the first scratches of a record playing reveille. Our trunks and duffles would have been unpacked, and their contents arranged neatly into skinny vertical cubbies. Our modest bunks, usually accomodating six campers, (often including a co-counselor), consisted of a larger front room and smaller backroom with a sink (cold water only!),toilet, and bed for the counselor. Everything, including the floor was painted green. Another recording, "Warning" would let us know we had ten (?) minutes before the final bugle of "Soupee" which got us out the door and headed to the Dining Hall. Before breakfast,-or any meal, we all sang "grace" led by a camper who often had to stand on a chair to be seen:
"Morning has come!
The board is spread.
Thanks be to God who gives us bread."
The younger campers usually ate with their bunks. But, the older campers had weekly rotating seating arrangements.
By that second day, we had learned how to make our beds with hospital corners, and "jelly rolls" at the ends of our metal cots, We were introduced to bunk chores: 1st sweep, 2nd sweep, sink & john, dustpan, porch and grounds, and "free!" Then came the wait for bunk inspection performed by the usually scary head counselor. If we passed, we received a green flag to display on the porch of our bunks. From what I recall, that first full day also included an overview of the different activities, or "majors" in which we could participate. And, there was also that quarter mile walk down to the lake to be grouped for swimming.
In 1959, all 36 bunks in the camp were occupied. (over 200 campers) An enrollment number that was never repeated after that.
According to the Lenorlog for that year, the big activity for Thursday, July 2 was an all-camp campfire.
Campfires, like so many of our other activities, were opportunities for singing. And, in typical Lenore fashion, there were songs that were sung only on these occasions:
"Each campfire lights anew.
The flame of friendship true.
The joys we've had in knowing you
Will last the whole year through.
And as the embers die away,
We wish that we might ever stay.
But since we cannot have our way,
We'll come again some other day..."
(Continue humming melody)