Saturday, August 22 -Leaving our Marks

With only five days remaining to our summer at Lenore, we were all thinking about the various culminating activities we would be experiencing, as well as what we would be leaving behind for posterity.Today, marked the last Ritual for the season, and a final Senior Play was on the schedule, as well. As mentioned previously, we had "last wills and testaments" for both counselors and campers. We, the generous souls of Bunk 11, left our counselor, Debbie, an "automatic shower", and to Sue, we left "a bag of jacks and a ball." They, on the other hand, were a little more generous and bequeathed us "a giggling machine...for the long, silent winter," as well as "a big warm teddy bear that likes nothing more than to be cuddled." Aww. But, there were other tangible, things that we left to Lenore, that remained at camp. One of those was our bunk plaque. Each bunk spent the last few days of camp designing and decorating a small, square, wooden block that we would paint our names on, and hang on the rafters of our bunk, so all who stayed there in the future could see the names of the previous residents. Not only did this activity satisfy our need to be remembered, but it also was a way to avoid the possibility that campers would carve their names into every piece of wood in the bunk. At some point, the rafters must have become over-crowded, because there generally weren't more than ten plaques hanging at one time in a bunk. I often wondered what happened to the others. Perhaps they were in a room in the Lodge? Or, I used to imagine a huge storage shed somewhere on the property overflowing with hundreds of them. One would certainly make a great sounvenir today.
Another tradition that seemed to have gotten lost after 1960, was something called, "Scroll." The Inter Social Hall was decorated with animal skins on which were written the names of campers dating back, in some cases to Lenore's earliest years. This was clearly some kind of honor. And for at least 44 years, it was an important one. I don't remember if it was continued in some other form after 1960. (Perhaps the inscribing of an honoree's name in a book of some sort?) But, it was still a big deal in 1959, and the editor of the Lenorlog, Lisa Wald had this to say about it:
"...Scroll is a tradition in itself. The few campers attaining this honor are those who, in the eyes of the directors and counselors, have best lived up to the high standards and ideals of Lenore. Perhaps even more a part of Lenore's traditions is an intangible one--- the spirit of Camp Lenore. It is unseen and more often than not, uspoken of, yet it is an integral part of camp...As long as there is a Camp Lenore, we hope that these traditions will remain part of it."

August 21- The Last Team Game & Lenorlog entries

"On the Line, on the line, on the (beat) side of the line
We're cheerin' for the White Team in the rain or the shine!
The White Team in the rain, we love you just the same,
On the line, on the side of the line!
Oh, we are the halo and the glory be
The pride of Lenore and the whole country (A weird lyric, because the stress was off and it came out as LEN-ore)
The pride of Lenore and the whole country,]
Wrapped up into one happy fam-i-ly"
Repeat

This, was one of my favorite songs. Probably because it had hand motions that went with it. And, the funny thing is, after all this time, when I sang it again, all the motions miraclulously came back with the words...
On this day in August of '59, our team captain, Nora Roberts would have been trying to extract every last bit of effort from our team. This was our last opportunity to try and win Color War. The stakes couldn't have been higher... I'm sure that we all tried our hardest, too. After today, Color War would be history for another summer, and all we could do was wait for the Banquet to hear if our efforts had paid off.
In the meantime, other preparations were underway. As a former Lenorlog editor (1965), I can tell you that we would have been busy collecting accounts from our reporters of the various outings for the summer, and getting bunk "sayings", and last will and testaments from both the campers and the counselors. We also would have assembled a list of attributes for "The Perfect Counselor", and the "Perfect Camper", along with letters from the various team captains to their teams. These would usually be a surprise, since the last Lenorlog would often appear at the Final Banquet.
The 1959 Lenorlog had an unusual category called, "Pipe Prophesies," in which counselors were asked to "smoke" from an imaginary pipe and prophesize what their campers and the camp would be like in the future. Some counselors dutifully admitted that they didn't generally smoke pipes. Another, wrote that she "took a drag from a King-sized Kent" to induce a state condusive to prohesizing. Interestingly, entries forecasted anywhere from 10 years to 25 years ahead. The accounts were, of course, cheerfully optimistic: The counselor's entry from Bunk 25 predicted that her camper, Julie Marsh, would be "the first woman president of the U.S.!" How sad and ironic, that by the time most of those predicted dates were reached, Lenore would no longer exist.

Thursday, August 20 Tennis Doubles

(To the Tune of "Blue Moon", and performed with finger snaps)
White Team,(snap, snap...) we sing your praises on high
Of courage strong and true, we'll ere be loyal to you!
White Team, your captain's greatest by far.
Her leadership is supreme! You're really lucky, White Team!
Our sportsmanship is really super.
In volleyball and softball too...
It would be hard to find an equal to match the wonders of you!
White Team, and in conclusion we say,
We're glad we're with you today.
Good luck to you, White Team!
Good luck to you, White Team!
Good luck to you, White Team! (one snap!!)

Though less than a week of camp was left on our calendar, there was still much to do at Lenore. Color War for the Seniors was at a feverish pitch, and today's Tennis Doubles Match demonstrated just how fairly matched the teams were, and how exciting it was to watch. The two team captains were once again pitted against each other, and this was an opportunity for Ronnie Durchlag to exact some payback for her singles defeat...
Diane Lerner, daughter of owner, Zulie Lerner, penned this entry to the '59 Lenorlog:
"Thursday, the 20th of August was the date set for the senior tennis doubles. The skilled finalists were Bobbie Rosenheim and Laurie Jackson for the greens, and Alice Shapiro and Ronnie Durchlag for the White team as their competitors.
The match resembled a tense drama in three sets. Each point was a battle and many of the the games went t deuce.
The first set was won by the White Tea with a score of 8 to 6. The second and third sets were won by the Greens with scores of 806 and 6-4. The officials and spectators agreed that this was one of the most supense-filled and breathtaking doubles match that had been seen in a long time."

Thursday, August 19- Miscellany from the "Mess Hall"

Since I'm writing this entry early in the morning, before breakfast, I thought I'd include some of the other "graces' that we sang each summer. One, in particular, "We Hail This New Morning" was sung during my earlier years at Lenore, and I've forgotten some of the lyrics. (I've enclosed them in parentheses) If anyone out there recalls the missing words, please let me know!) In addition to the graces, and usual camp songs, there were also some humorous songs we sang during our meals, particularly if we were served something special. (ie. Jello)

For Health and Strength (sung in a round):

For Health and Strength and daily bread, ,
We praise they name Oh Lord

Johnny Appleseed :

Oh, the Lord is good to me
And so I thank the Lord!
For giving me the things I need
The sun and the rain and the appleseed
The Lord is good to me!


We Gather Together

We gather together in all kinds of weather
To clasp with a smile the dear hands of our friends!
We gather to meet you, we gather to greet you.
As one to another, our welcome extends


We Hail This New Morning

We hail this new morning, that calls us on* our way
We hail this morning, and sing to greet the day!
Rejoice in our strength, rejoice in our youth
Rejoice in the open skies
Rejoice in the HOPE of the days to come
And each new sunrise.
We hail this new morning that calls us on* our way!
We hail this new morning, and sing to greet the day!
* Thanks to the memory of Nancy Kaye who corrected/supplied the lyrics: I had been incorrectly singing: "that calls the SUN OUR WAY!"

Here are two other songs that we sang- usually during lunch. And who knows how long they had been around by the time we sang them in 1959? My guess is that the "Jello" song was a commercial jingle...

"Oh the big red letters stand for the Jello family
The big red letters stand for the Jello family
Jello pudding, yum, yum, yum!
Jello pudding, yum, yum, yum!
Jello Ta-pioca pudding yessiree!"


No matter how young a prune may be, he's always getting wrinkled
A baby prune is like his dad, but he's not wrinkled quite so bad
We have wrinkles on our face, but prunies have them every place!
No matter how youg a prune may be, he's always getting
Stewed, stewed, stewed!

With the days of camp decidedly winding down, there was more of a sense of urgency to get things done. The weather was generally much chillier. -Definitely, Camp Lenore (CL) sweater days.. We would be learning a host of special songs for the Banquet. (More on this next week) But, according to the calendar, there was another Team Game to play. Go Whities!

Tuesday, August 18- The last Cairn and Final Track Meet

Today's Color War event was another huge one: The Track Meet. This involved just about every kind of running exercise you could imagine: Dashes of all sorts and lengths, long jumps, and the culminating event: a huge relay race, complete with batons.. Running was something I could do pretty well, so this was always one of my favorite events. The day culminated in our last "official" cairn of the summer, since next week would be the Final Campfire. I'm sure that was running through all our minds, as we ate our s'mores. It, of course, would also be an occasion to sing:

Friends, friends, friends
We will always be!
Whether in fair, or in dark stormy weather
Camp Lenore will keep us together
The green and white,
We will always be!
The camp that unites us,
The camp that delights us
We're friends, friends, friends...

In 1959, this next song probaly was reserved for the Final Campfire and Banquet because of its ability to make us all cry. In subsequent years, we sang it more frequently:

Father Time is a crafty man
And he's set in his ways
For we know that we never can
Make him bring back past days!
So, comrades while we are here
Let's be friends firm and true.
We'll have a gay time, a happy play time,
For we all love to play with you.

Monday, August 17- Weather

This date in 1959 was apparently a rainy one. A good downpour would not only put a literal damper on our activities, but it would turn the Lane into a muddy river. Because of the camp's hilly location, we were occasionally on the receiving end of some pretty dramatic summer storms. I remember one huge thunderstorm that occurred during the night, and the thunder was so loud, it frightened us all out of bed. Sleepy counselors and campers all scrambled to get their bunks' flaps over the screens.The lightening flashes were so bright, they lit up everything around us. With every clap of thunder, you could hear a hundred girls scream. I remember burrowing down into my bed as far as I could, just waiting for the storm to pass. The rain storm that occurred on this day, in 1959, was not quite as dramatic. However, it still neccessitated some form of alternate activity. As Lynne Gnaizda reported in the Lenorlog, the Hill went bowling:
"Yippee! Strike!' Such was the sound of mingled voices, shouting as the bowling balls zoomed down the alleys.
On the rainy evening of August 17th, the Hill enjoyed an evening of bowling. Though it was raining, our spirits remained undampened and everyone emerged from the bowling alleys with smiles on their faces.
After two hours of bowling, we went to Friendly's, where we had delicious ice cream cones. All had a most memorable evening, and hope that next summer, we may enjoy a similar activity again."

How easy we were to please: Bowling and ice cream cones!

Sunday, August 16- The Archery Meet

One of the more interesting majors at Lenore was Archery. The Archery range was located safely out of the way from all other activities, across the entrance road, not too far from the lower playing field. We picked up out bows and arrows from the activity shed, and then walked across the road to where ther targets were situated. I liked archery because it didn't require alot of physical strength or great coordination. And, it was refreshingly quiet. You did, however, need to have good eyesight and be able to aim. As with all other sports, there was an Archery event during Color War, and here's how it was reported in 1959 by Liz Seley of Bunk 26.
"Knock arrows...shoot."
It was Sunday, August 16, and the archery meet was under way. From each senior team, five of the best archers were chosen.
In all, a total of 15 ends were shot. The first end from each set was for practice. The archers first shot from forty yards, then from thirty, and finally, from twenty yards. Excellent sportsmanship was shown among the players. Archers and spectators extended congratulations to the high scorere, Laurie Wilson, who shot 340. Members of the green and white teams, directors, and counsellors will agree that this tournament was interesting and memorable." (The) Archers featured were:
Green: Bobbie Rosenheim White: Ellen Karlitz
Sheila Sadin Jo Kramer
Janet Scholder Alice Shapiro
Laurie Wilson Nancy Steel
Laurie Jackson Lisa Wald

In honor of the Native American tradition of the bow and arrow, here's a fitting White Team Song:
By the crystal lake of Ashmere,
Where lives the White Team, the White Team (clap, clap)
Leaders past have led us onward.
Here at Lenore Camp, at Lenore Camp (clap,clap)
Following the standards made, White Team's spirit will never fade.
We'll strive onward to victory
Hail the White Team, the White Team (clap, clap)
Hail the White Team, the White Team (clap, clap)
Hail the White Team, the White Team (clap)