Monday, July 6, 2009

Sunday, July 5- The First Assembly, Music Hour, etc

On this date, Sunday, July 5th 1959, the first Assembly of the camp season would have occurred. By this point, there was already a great deal of excited chatter about "Team Break" and "Color War." I didn't know what it was, but I could tell this was a really big deal. Lenore was one of the few camps that divided the entire population into two competitive teams for the entire 8 weeks of camp. These weekly "battles of friendly fighting" formed the backbone of our camping experience. Since "Team Break" had not yet taken place, this was the one time that we all assembled in the Senior Social Hall as a single, undivided group. In order to foster unity, all three sections of the camp marched in singing their "group" songs. The first to march in were the Juniors, singing:
"Strike up the band! Here come the Juniors!
Best in the land, loyal and true
One happy throng, keeping step right along.
Strike up the band! Here come the Juniors!"

Next, the Inters marched in singing (a more mundane melody)
"We are the I-N-T-E-R-S, the Inters of Camp Lenore
In all activities we are the best!
In all the sports we are the leaders of the rest
We are the I-N-T-E-R-S! The Inters of Camp Lenore!
We are the I-N-T-E-R-S! The Inters of Camp Lenore!"

The Seniors then followed, singing their song. Since I was an Inter, I can't recall with 100% certainty what the Seniors melody was. But, I think it was the same melody as the Inters were singing, only the spelling "S-E-N-I-O-R-S" was subsituted. What I also vaguely recall, was that the parts all worked contrapuntally, so that we could sing them simultaneously, and it sounded really cool. By 1964, there were no longer "Junior" and "Inter" designations, so these songs became obsolete.

Sundays were also special because it was one of the two days during the week that we had Music Hour. After Dinner, we would get into our pajamas, grab our blankets and stationery and walk to the music shell on the front lawn of the Lodge. There, a trio of professional musicians (piano, violin and cello) would play classical music for us for an hour. It was like our own, personal Tanglewood. This was another Lenore tradition that stemmed from the founders' commitment to instilling in all of us an appreciation for music within a setting of natural beauty. It was a quiet time where we wrote letters to home, or to friends; read books; or just listened to the music and watched the stars appear.

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