Fresh Air Camp in South Athol celebrates a century of service

Corey J. Allen

South Athol, Mass. is only 75 miles from Boston, but it might as well be Disney World for the kids and some of the adults who make the annual trip.

Since 1906, the Goodwill Fresh Air Camp has shuttled thousands of kids from impoverished and underprivileged neighborhoods in Boston, Worcester, New Bedford and other Massachusetts communities to rural, middle class South Athol for some time away from the grind and hustle of the city.

On Sunday, July 23rd, the camp celebrated a century of making a difference in the lives of youth and their peers. Campers from the 1940s all the way up to the present trekked back to the old grounds for tours, a celebratory birthday cake and the unveiling of a time capsule from campers buried in the 1950s.

Items in the capsule included unplanted seeds and an oil lamp from 1906, a letter and a vintage flag with 49 stars that flew over the capitol from then-Sen. John F. Kennedy in 1959, a letter from former campers who predicted campers in 2006 would get their meals in “rocket ships” and an original bottle of Morgie’s Beer encased in lead. The drink was produced at the camp before the mineral water supply dried up.

“Coming from the South End of Boston to South Athol was like going from night to day,” said Peter Roach, a former Fresh Air camper and counselor.

“They say the camp will make you feel better, it does,” said Roach. “They say it gives you a vision to do better things, it does.

“We love this place. This is our castle in the sky.”

State Sen. Stephen M. Brewer, D-Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin, presented a proclamation to the camp on behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

“Many months of the year, the buildings are there, but the children are not,” said Brewer, who drives his daughter past the camp once a week to piano lessons.

“There can’t be a better sound ... than the sound of children playing.”

The proclamation, signed by Senate President Robert Travaligni, congratulated the camp on 100 years of operation and wished them well for another century — in Polish.

“Stolate,” he said, which translates from Polish to English as “may you live 100 years, may you live more than 100 years and beyond.”

The proclamation was given to Avery Perry, 25 of Dorchester, who attended the camp as a young man and is now the youth activities coordinator for the camp.

“I had no idea I was going to get the proclamation,” said Perry, who works with Goodwill year round. “This is such a cliché, but I put everything I have into here to keep the tradition alive.”

Perry, along with Janail Robinson, led the campers in the greeting and parting songs for the ceremony in the “Tabernacle.” A pavilion that serves as home for Sunday non-denominational services, the Tabernacle turns into “Hollywood” on Friday nights, as the campers put on plays and shows.

To meet the increasingly rigorous education requirements for Massachusetts, Goodwill has added a library and a technology center to the camp. According to Goodwill president and CEO Joanne Hifferty, the organization still looks forward to making the camp better.

“During the past ten years, we haven’t been thinking just about what the camp is, but what it can be,” said Hifferty. “We’ve added much stronger academic programs so that the kids have the support over the summer that they need to do well during school.”

Sixty-five percent of the camp counselor staff comes from Camp America, a program that imports counselors from Europe, and the remaining 35 percent hail from the same areas as the campers. The mix ensures that campers have counselors who understand where they are coming from, but can also open them up to a more worldly view.

“While this is a world away, we try to focus on the skills [children] need in their everyday life,” said Hifferty.

Conflict resolution, diversity training and leadership skills are focal points of the camp’s non-academic agenda. This year, the camp plans to serve 500 youth ages 8-16, up from an estimated 400 a year ago.

With programs for at-risk youth ceasing throughout the state, Hifferty felt that it was important to open up the doors a little wider this year.

Joining forces with the Horizon for Youth Camp, Hifferty is keeping to the creed of Goodwill and Fresh Air Camp founder Rev. Edgar J. Helms, reserving a place to “take the wee babes” for the summer.

Some of the former campers made their first trip in decades to the camp, bringing feelings of nostalgia.

Cynthia Miranda, originally from Castle Square in the South End, came to the camp when it ran for eight weeks.

She recalled convincing a fellow camper not from Boston to sneak out of their cabin through the window. Their destination was the fairy dell, where the fireflies convened, lighting up the night.

After locking themselves out of the cabin, they went down to the place where the fireflies gathered. Unfortunately, something crawled out of the woods and scared the girl, and she screamed all the way back to the cabin and all the way through the explanation to the counselors.

“None of us had anything,” said Miranda, “but we all had everything. We had each other.”

Miranda even suggested that Goodwill start a summer camp for the adults.

“When I went to camp in 1946, I’d get on the bus crying,” said Gwendolyn Lewis, who attended the camp until 1953. “I wish someone would send me away for eight weeks now,” she added, garnering hoots and hollers from the crowd.

While there were feelings of great joy, some former campers felt there was room for improving the facilities on the site.

Hifferty said that Goodwill is looking to secure funding to improve the playing fields and some of the buildings, but will still keep it a “simple camp,” said Hifferty.

Demetrius Thomas, 13 of Roxbury, stood out sporting a Cat-in-the-Hat inspired cap all day. While roasting marshmallows, Thomas, in his third year at the camp, reflected on what the camp means to him.

“I learned how to swim,” said Thomas. “Sometimes I’m happy about going home, but sometimes I am sad. But I learned respect, manners and learned from people who are from other countries.”

“I am struck by what an impact the camp had on people’s lives,” said Hifferty. “It just makes me that much more committed to making sure that we have the resources so that kids can come to the camp for the next 100 years.”