Camp Lambec 75th celebration

 The boys and I had the opportunity to visit Camp Lambec on Saturday, which is in northwest Pennsylvania. It's a little over three hours from where we are to there and while we did drive through some rain, camp was absolutely gorgeous. 

This is the camp where I grew up. I went for one week each summer to junior camp, starting in third grade. We'd arrive on Sunday and get picked up Saturday morning. It was never long enough. I always wanted to grow up and work there. It has such a special place in my heart from the friends I've made to the Lake Erie sunsets to the outstanding tuna noodle casserole to the Shenanigans pulled by both fellow campers and staff. It was here that I first really saw adults having fun with each other. I am eternally grateful to the volunteers who would give up a week of vacation to come pour love into gangly, bespectacled youngsters with the bad hair of the late 80's and early 90's. I am so thankful that they lent stability to my first sleepaway camp experience, so much so that when my parents showed up for a midweek visit I realized I hadn't missed them at all. My parents said, "now, don't tell your friend so-and-so, but her mom couldn't make it." I promptly told my friend anyway, and completely understood her vehement, "good, I don't want her here!" 

It was definitely a place of growth and inclusion and yet separation from the everyday being a daughter and sister and opened up so much more. It's hard to explain if camp isn't your thing. There's no way I could pour all those feels into words, and I've tried. I have a wonderful family. But camp proved to be a wonderful extended family. I never had time to miss home because I was so busy investing in the growth I was doing at camp. Of the four women who stood with me at my wedding, three were from camp. Every one of the men on Dada's side had spent at least a week there, and some served multiple summers. Of our family on Dada's side, only one sister in law hasn't worked there out of the three married couples of us.

 Well, I should clarify: here is where I started. Here is where I brought my bestie. Eventually, when we started to grow separately from each other (as every pair has to do, ridiculously painful as it is), she stayed here to work while I changed to the sister camp, Westminster Highlands, which is now parceled and sold off and an entirely other blog post which you could find by using that search bar in the upper left on a PC. Whole different ball of yarn, same connections, fierce love, more Shenanigans. I'm just trying to condense a story because my library computer time is almost up for the day, ack! 

So good news: Camp Lambec celebrated its 75th anniversary (which is why we were there on Saturday) and the Board and the director have some great ideas moving forward to make it more accessible. I see more camp in our future, which is always a good thing. Yay! Talk to me about more details in the near future. I am excited!

The playground has undergone some changes over the years, including the train's colorful paint job versus its more natural stain and the addition of a gaga ball arena. Even though the boys are clearly huge, they shimmied right into spots on the train as soon as we got there. That was the one feature Damon actually remembered about Lambec from previous visits. Iconic, I guess!

The side of the chapel boasted a canvas with a paint by number mural we were encouraged to work on. I can't wait to go back and see the finished product of Jesus with his lambs.

Above, the dining hall where I learned to mop and fell in love with Hobart dishwashers, haha. 

Below, the chimney remnant of Cabin 16 where my brother stayed as a camper and where our friends Jon, Tom, Mike and Jeremy stayed. We may or may not have TPed their bedroom on more than one occassion. It's not there anymore because the fence in the picture hovers at the edge of the cliff and the powers that be didn't want the cabin to start a quick slide down to the beach. Pieces of the cabin were sold as a fundraiser and I got a piece of plank for my brother.

We had an assignment to leave a fun beach rock by the flagpoles before we left. Well, the temptation to find skipping stones outweighed the memento rocks, and then when they got around to choosing those they wanted to keep them all anyway. I honestly couldn't tell you how many Lambec rocks have migrated to my various homes over the years, but it's not a few!

Leave it to my kid to find a rock that looks exactly like a potato. And his shirt reads, "Education is important, but saxophone is importanter," a Salvation Army find from my mother. 

I had planned to hit Peggy Gray's Candies first thing since they opened at 9 and the shindig at camp didn't start until 10:30, but A) we got a later start than I'd hoped and B) it looked pretty packed when we drove by, so I figured it could wait until the end of the day. One of these days when we stay for an extended amount of time, I'm going to let them buy chocolate treats to enjoy. They've outgrown the "let's pick the most gigantic lollipops we can find" stage and enjoyed perusing the wares to find the most unique, won't melt in the car, ridiculous items they could find.

Of course, no Lambec trip would be truly complete without a stop at the White Turkey in Conneaut, Ohio. Why do I never remember how humungous their irresistible root beer floats are? I had to grab three spoons so the boys could help me before it made a mess all over our tray...

And then we made it home in our respective one pieces. It's always hard to leave camp and this time was no exception. This time I had to drive, though, and couldn't blubber halfway home like I did as a camper. My bestie and I would cry pretty much from camp until we stopped at my Grammy and Gramps's house in Conneaut Lake, where she'd feed us and listen to our stories and we'd fall alseep with our heads right on the table. I'm glad Liam has had an opportunity to camp there and I'm very encouraged with the vision I feel the interim director believes in. I feel like good things are coming for camp, and that makes me ridiculously happy. Some of my very best friends in life have participated in Shenanigans with me at this very special place.