Boy's Camps on the Cape

Perhaps, I was too young at age 7 to enjoy an overnight camp. I have to say the food sucked in the 1950's but then again I had great food at home [ my mother is still a great cook ] and was not used to being fed gruel... ;-) The food was Dickensian...
The pool was great. Did you ever have Sunday night gatherings - maybe a sing-a-long in the clubhouse behind the pool? We did a little sailing on Ells Pond but not much more.
Sad to see that the camp is now a housing development.

I mentioned this string of posts to my older brother, who was at the camp in late '50s, and re sailing, he said that: "I remember that when I was at Wampy the counselors talked about a few years earlier when they used to do overnight sailboat cruises down Buzzards Bay, stopping at other camps to visit. "
By the time I went there in the '60s, the sailing was limited to going out in the pond there in little boats, altho I remember once going out on a much larger sail boat on Buzzards Bay.

We never went boating out in Buzzard's Bay but only on the inlet behind the salt-water pool I believe. It might have been called ells creek or pond. That was in 1954. I do remember trying to learn to row on those boats as well.

Allan: I remember you well and have the same memories of Camp Wampanoag. I learned a lot from those experiences. I am currently living in Los Angeles but stiil have a property in Boxford, Mass . I went back to the Camp some years ago and it was sold as development property and if I had known I might have bought some. Remember the Fencing?? Foils and swords?? Push-ups if you said it wrong??

Who else have you found? Peter Miller? Bob Korn? Mike Coombs? Schermer, the fake out king.

Regards John Nourse [email protected]

I was lucky enough to attend Camp from 64-66 when I was 9,10 & 11 with my two brothers. My uncle was Mr. Pattison, the fellow who ran the camp for awhile, who unfortunately passed away a couple years back, as did one of my brothers. I have many good memories from the camp. I heard that they went to break up the salt-water pool and had to give up on it as it was too well made, so they just filled it in. I stopped by there back in the early 70's just as it was being changed into a housing development. There were still nails in the tree where I nailed in a "air riflery" sign as I recall. The clam bakes were the best! Never have I tasted better lobsters, steamers and corn on the cob. Remember the totem pole and the tee pee near the air raid siren? Good times for sure.

Some memories of mine of Camp Wampanoag:

- The "Kybo" (the latrine behind the junior cabins)
- Mr. Rutchman
- The war games with the "Wampas" and the "Noags" - we attached a washcloth to a string and put it in our pockets, and would put it over our shoulder for a pass into enemy territory. The milk jugs filled with water that we had to pour from one to the other to earn points. The little basement window you'd jump through to the matress in the cellar to pop up through a trap door into the enemy HQ room to score more points, to move some something from one side of a fireplace to another inside the HQ, and the highest point score accomplishment was to find a little flag in the library books, as I recall.
- The cranberry bogs behind the camp
- The Outpost I & II, Outpost II being that little camp on that fresh water lake - we'd actually camp out in tents.
- Morning Physical Inspection: (yuk!) have to spread your butt cheeks to your counselor (that always seemed a little weird)
- The periodic skinny dips after dinner in the pool
- The "Tech" sailboats (12'?) were better than the Cape Cod dingies (?) which were smaller and had blunt prows
- Sailing in Cape Cod bay in larger 24" or so sailboats from time to time
- A mean-tempered horse named "Jose"
- Sunday prayer in the woods behind the air riflery range or up behind the HQ building
- Clean laundry would be returned wrapped in blue paper which could be fashioned into small pup tents!
- 4-square platforms - awesome game, fun for hours!
- VW bus for small trips, like to Provincetown to the ocean, or to the Gray Gables store for treats
- Edaville railroad & train museum: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edaville_Railroad
- During meals, if someone stood between the small lunch room and the main dining area, that meant they had to make an announcement
- Taps was played at night up on the hill with the tents and also down below near the administrative area; it was eerie or haunting to hear them in stereo or slightly out of sync

And I also almost forgot the "Scarlet Skimmer" power boat for waterskiing!

Hey, John & Stuart -
I'm very enthused that you guys responded!!! I'm going to dig up some of the photos from the albums they used to give us at the end of the summer.
I'm on facebook (Allan Tow). I also found Dana Tower on facebook and he remembers!

My email is: [email protected]

I don't know about you "old timers" from the 50's, but in the 60's, Wampy was awesome. I went there from 1960-1969, going from being in the youngest Junior cabin at age 7 to being a counselor for Junior's in the same cabin at age 16. I was the archery counselor at low tide and a sailing counselor at high tide.

I don't remember one way or the other about the food. But I frequently think back on all the happy times I had there, 40 years later.

For those that simply need to know, it was 35 points for a "bucket", 50 points for saying umpire in the ping-pong room (and freeing all the captives), 300 points for the "blocks" above the fireplace and a full 500 points for the red flag in the library. I got to be "Midway" for the last two years I was a camper there. The war games were the greatest!

It was a sailing camp, but with at least as much an emphasis on swimming. I went from there to sail intercollegiate at the Naval Academy. Still have a Hobie 18 with a spinnaker (much faster than the "cape codders", "tech's" or the Rhodes 18's and possibly faster than the "scarlet skimmer'), a Hunter 17, and a 22' whaler. Then I drove submarines. So Wampy was the start of my love of the water. Besides sailing and swimming, I learned riflery, archery, fencing, tennis, woodworking, nature, canoeing, and waterskiing

I did talk to Mr. Pat before he died, but really blew it by not seeing him in time. He retired out in Orleans, one town over from where I have a summer house. He was an incredible man.

If anyone knows where Stuart Pattison or Sam Lowry may be, please let me know. So many others who I'd love to hear from, too. I think I could name 50+ names without any trouble.

I do have some of the annual yearbooks, but not too many other pictures.

I did stop by there a few years ago. Layout has changed quite a bit, but you can pretty much figure out what used to be there. Even though I was 16 when I left, it is much, much smaller than I remember it. The hill area is tiny. I met the guy who owned the Assembly House and tried to fill him in with the history there. He left all of it standing, but obviously did major refurbishments.

So, as they say from between the dining halls.... "Who's going to win the war games????"

Paul Brandon

Hi...I remember it well I even went as a camper for a few years before they threw me out...I gather I kept beating the other kids my age in various things like swimming or whatever but I don't remember all that...but that was before your time...my dad was Bill Mulliken and I am Susie Mulliken...I'm sure you have heard from my brother Bill as he sent me the link...At the time you were there I was a counselor for many years teaching horse back riding at a camp in Rochester MA ,Camp Snipatuit...great wonderful carefree years. I was married to Peter Crone but I am not sure if he was a counselor there at that time or not? Where do you live now? I've gone back a few times but always feel sad as it (of course) has changed so much with houses etc...this is progress LOL........bye for now susie

just found this...we live in one of the original houses of the camp. We have some memorabilia,,,song books, rosters, even a record with the songs.
i can be contacted at [email protected]
K Mathews

Thank you for posting, K. Mathews! Is there any way you can digitize your possessions so us ex-campers might be able to re-live our childhoods? Which house are you in? That's some lovely property for sure... I remember hearing that the pool was so well made that when they tried to demolish it, it was too much work, so they just filled it in.

Here are some pics of pics from our family photo album for your viewing enjoyment of Camp Wampanoag back in 1965

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16940842@N04/sets/72157622917319914/

zebra14
Great old photos of Camp Wampanoag.
I went there in the summer of 1954 and although your pictures were taken in 1965 much remained the same. The pool [ a salt water pool as I remember] looks just as I remember it as does the club house building or HQ building behind it. Even the Junior cabins were I stayed [ I was 7] jogged my memory.
Please email me if you have more photos or information. I believe only the dining hall remains today and that building is for sale. Too bad.
Thanks again,
PJ Y - [email protected]

Thanks - that's it on the pics I have. If anyone else has some, it would be great if they could post them.

I visited the site back in the 70's and the only buildings that remained were the main building sans the big dining hall and the crafts building. All others were gone. There are pics on various Realtor sites that show the main building without the dining hall.

So, you went to the camp in the 60's.
I think I was too young at 7 to really enjoy it plus our junior cabin had a camp counselor named Morrison who was really nasty to us. He was only 18 or 19 I think and he harassed all of us every day and night. I believe the camp fired him before the end of our stay but he took a lot of the fun out of the camp. Do remember a counselor who wore a pith helmet and took us on nature tours in the area. Believe he might have been Australian. He was a nice guy as I remember. Was he there when you attended Wamp?
By the way, do you live in the area? I live on the South Shore.

I live on Long Island now... I don't remember a fellow with a pith helmet, sorry. I was there from 64-66, as I recall. Some very fond memories, and some not so fond. Like getting a big fishing hook through my index finger when we tried our luck over in the Cape Cod Canal near the RR bridge.

I just found this info as I went looking for info on the camp. I come from the other side... I now live in a home that was built on the old camp site and I'm searching for info on the history of the area and find the discussion facinating.

Contrary to some of the concerns, the area is still beautiful, though not a camp, the sailing, fishing, and rowing are all still making an impact on youngsters lives.

Thanks for all of your stories, they've added to our families enjoyment and perspective of the place. We have a small salt water pond on our property that I'm told is the remnants of that swimming pool!

Pictures are great...

thanks
-Tom

Hi Tom - I heard that the camp pool was so well built that attempts to demolish it failed, so it was just covered over. If it's been made into a pond, that is a wonderful use of the old structure! Thanks for sharing & glad you enjoyed the pics.