The Epi(b)log

"Father Time is a crafty man" indeed...I started this project to commemorate what I thought was a strange confluence of timing: two 50 year anniveraries relating to my summers at Camp Lenore. I knew I wanted to put something in writing. Somewhere. Prior to July 1, 2009, I had never even been to a blog before. But, then prior to July 1, 1959, I had never been to Camp Lenore before, either...As it turned out, each were new experiences that proved to be transformative.
In what was one of a series of coincidences, Ray Smith, a former waterfront counselor, contacted me through Facebook with the news that he (the only guy in an all-girls camp) had started a Camp Lenore group. What fun to reconnect with former campers and swap stories! Clearly, this was a touchstone. The fact that there was so much joy and excitement in our reminiscences encouraged me to take the plunge into the blogosphere.
So, here I was, committed to writing what had existed mostly in memory. And, after 50 years, memory isn't always reliable. Enter the "Lenorlog." Sometime after 1967, I was ambitious and nostalgic enough to make a scrapbook of my Lenore years, which included photos, memorabilia and ten Lenorlogs.
Those camper-edited journals offerd an amazing window into our lives at Lenore during a much simpler time. Each entry I read, evoked a new memory. Each name conjured up a picture of a girl's face, frozen in time. Like the lyric of "The Ashgrove": "The friends of my childhood, again are before me..."
Then there were the faces of friends in my photos: A picture of my bunkmate, Nancy Katzman, from 1964, her hair wrapped in gigantic rollers (No flat irons for us!) Or, from 1967, a shot of an adorable red-head, Lianne Weiss from Bunk1, the youngest camper that year. She would be 48 now!
This has been quite the trip down our memory Lane (Campus, Hill and Valley, too!). And I hope that it can continue. (Don't forget the Reunion!) Thanks to all who commented and/or followed this, and especially to the inimitable Nancy Kaye for filling in my memory lapses.
It has been 92 summers since Camp Lenore first opened its gates. I can think of no better way to close them than with the words of the woman who started it all: Mrs. Spec.
..."We felt and believed that camp was a wonderful opportunity for exposing our children to the beauty, not the names, of trees and stars, to good music, to good, interesting dramatics, to music and poetry. But most important, we felt that camp provided the opportunity to live together, to be concerned about those with whom you lived, to be understanding and sympathetic, to be aware of how others feel, to realize that to have a friend, you must be a friend....We meet frequently former campers who tell us of the influence Camp Lenore has had on their lives, due to the belief and conviction of the Directors that every one has some ability, some quality to give her a feeling of security, of being of value, and it was our task to discover it and bring it out..."

Camp Lenore may now just be a group on Facebook. But, I believe all of us, (whether writing or reading about it) are the legacy of those convictions.

So, here's to coincidences, and anniversaries,,,(Believe it or not, today happens to be my wedding anniversary, too!)
But, most of all, Here's to thee, Oh Camp Lenore!