I wrote this in 2004 for a nonfiction writing class.
***Dedication***
The following is dedicated to all the girls whose hearts
are filled with Wawenock love, whose minds are filled
with Wawenock memories, and whose bodies are filled with
Wawenock spirit. May the fire
live on forever.
Up in the attic looking through pictures of memories I thought I had lost. My mind starts to wander back to my camp days and all that I held so dear. Warm summer breezes, late night whispers with friends, crashing of waves on the beach, singing in the dining hall, I just close my eyes and I can be there, Camp Wawenock. My summer home for nine years, an all girls camp on Sebago Lake in Maine.
As an eight year old I began my journey through life as a Wawenock girl. I heaved my back pack and tennis racket onto my shoulders and jetted off the plane in nervous excitement. Summer after summer the anticipation of getting off the plane in Portland, Maine never changed. There was always someone there to greet me, and after a few years I began to recognize the faces, usually greeted by Ron and his big hugs.
Arriving summer after summer my nervous excitement turned to pure giddyness, and I could not wait to start making more memories with all of my camp friends. Friends who in the beginning taught me about cutting my own hair, friendship bracelets, and do-rags, and who as we got older taught me of nothing books, fashion, shaving my legs, boys, and music. These girls came from all over the world, each with different backgrounds, but when we arrived back at camp to start another summer, our lives in civilization were put to the side. It didn’t matter how much money our families had, or if we had the coolest new thing. All that mattered was that for the next seven weeks we had each other.
Camp Wawenock is a place like no other. It takes prima donnas from around the world and drops them in cabins with no electricity or bathrooms, wearing matching blue uniforms. Materialistic items no longer matter, as all campers turn in headphones, CD’s, Gameboy’s, and money until camp is over. A person looking from the outside might wonder why girls beg their parents year after year to go back to a place where the bathroom is called dewdrop, but that all lies in the wonderful secret of Wawenock, its spirit. Wawenock spirit never dies, it lasts with any girl that has ever been enthralled by it for a lifetime. There is a camp song we sing called “Wawenock Spirit” which embodies all of the camp Wawenock spirit.
“Wawenock spirit
never dies, them girls gonna rise again.
Hit ‘em in the head,
knock ‘em in the eye, them girls gonna rise again.
I know it know it,
indeed I know it sister, I know it WHOA! Them girls gonna rise again.
Wawenock born and
Wawenock bred and when I die I’m Wawenock dead.
So RAH! for Wawenock
RAH! for Wawenock
RAH! for Wawenock
RAH! RAH! RAH!”
The most powerful line in that song is, “Wawenock born and Wawenock bred and when I die I’m Wawenock dead.” After thinking about that particular line I realized, it is so true. Once a Wawenock girl, always a Wawenock girl. No one can ever take that special bond away, and no one can have that special bond without having experienced at least one summer of camp Wawenock fun. A person is changed whether they want to be or not after a summer at Camp Wawenock. Many girls come away being more open minded, more positive, and more confident in themselves. Camp Wawenock has helped in the process of raising many girls into the powerful women they are in today’s society, and continue to do so.
The best part of Camp Wawenock is its ability to create a camp family with 112 campers, and 50 staff members. It does this through the wide variety of activities offered, which help each girl strive to greater heights, including, ceramics, tennis, horse back riding, sailing, swimming, archery, and music and drama. Most of these activities are activities campers would not have the opportunity to learn in their everyday lives, and allow the campers to try new things successfully or unsuccessfully in a safe and comfortable atmosphere. There is also a friendly competitiveness thrown into it all, which keeps the campers on their toes. Sunday morning breakfasts are usually a very intense time as the two tribes search for a clue, to signify the upcoming tribal meet. During this time a Wawenock girl realizes how important the colors orange and blue can be. Even if your tribe does not win the clue, everyone is still supportive of each other. No one puts anyone else down, and everyone wants everyone else to succeed. Wednesday night campfires are a time for individual recognition. A camper may have jumped in the water off the stone pier for the first time, or received her 12th award in archery, and the whole camp will feel just as good for the individual as she feels for herself. All the campers are proud of everyone else’s accomplishments.
Waking up to reveille at 7:00am and going to bed at 9:00pm to taps is how every Wawenock day starts and ends. In the middle of those two bugles anything could happen. A camper could go on a scavenger hunt during outdoor living skills, sail in a regatta, play tennis against the boys camp, be in a play, shoot a rifle, go to the Super, or see June Gray one of the directors in her yellow rain coat. At Camp Wawenock each day is a surprise!
Camp Wawenock will always have a special place in my heart. From its hills I gathered courage, from its water pride, from its rocks inspiration, and from its glowing sunsets contentment. All of these attributes have helped to make me the person I am today. They are with me from day to day, and help to guide me in all of my decisions no matter where I may be. Camp Wawenock…Reveille, laughter and song, Sebago lying still and blue as the sky it reflects, the rhythmic dip of paddles, rest hour, letters home, the music of wind in the pines, a flaming sun dropping into a lake of fire, the whispered goodnight of a friend, taps, peace, contentment…
***Some lines come from Camp Wawenock Songs or www.campwawenock.com***
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