|
 March
5, 1989
82 A Kevin Court
Lakehurst, N.J. 08733
Dear Folks,
The enclosed material is self- explanatory. Your article brought back so
many pleasant memories of Camp Cheerful that I just had to sit Down and
add a few more comments about the place.
My son also sent me the enclosure regarding the Jules Verne story. I can
remember lying in my bunk at night and. having the Fire Island Light
beacon shine through the cabin about every ten seconds. I could also see
the Fire Island Light Ship beacon shine as an ocean swell would lift the
ship over the horizon.
Sometimes it seems like this all occurred only yesterday but was was fifty
years ago.
May your organization be well and continually thrive.
Sincerely yours,
John J. Benzing
CAMP CHEERFUL
I was very excited to read your article on Camp Cheerful on Fire Island.
My son is in a number of your organizations and sent me the article. I
too, would like to join. My mother's in-law had a cottage on Oak Beach
looking at Fire Island and we spent many happy hours there.
I am writing to tell you a bit more about Camp Cheerful. I was a counselor
there from 1934 through 1938 when the hurricane wiped it out. The
snapshots were taken then and are about fifty years old.
The camp was run by the New York Rotary Club and entirely funded by them.
Judge Knoepple who had a summer home at Ocean Beach was president of the
camp management board. He and several Rotarians would visit us from time
to time to see how things were going. At the beginning of its life the
camp was not well accepted by the islanders since the nation had had an
epidemic of Polio and some of our children had been victims. There was the
thought then of possible transmission. The fear faded out and the camp was
finally well accepted. Polio victims made up only part of the camp body.
We had amputees, spinal cases, some Spastic
paralysis and the like. The camp took eighty boys at a time and they were
all from financially strapped homes.
We could only accommodate boys who could get around on
their own even if by the use of crutches or a cane. Mr. W. Miller was my
first director and he was followed Mr. Martin Liebling to the end. Both
men were educators. The counselor staff was made up of young college men
from different parts of the states who showed a willingness to serve the
handicapped. They were most carefully screened by a Rotarian committee.
Many of us were on our college teams.
There was a full time nurse and a separate cabin was set
up as an infirmary with four beds and the necessary medical
equipment. The campers medical histories came with them. We prided
ourselves that we never had to keep a boy overnight. The infirmary did
come into use once when the lifeguards from the State Park brought two
young men to our camp who had been badly burned trying to light a gasoline
stove. Our medic gave them First Aid and they were later taken to Bay
Shore Hospital by the Coast Guard. We had a full time doctor each summer
doing his Intern~ ship. If there was anything of a serious nature we
called on the Saltaire doctor
The dining hall had a well-equipped kitchen with all the necessary dishes
and so on and held the entire camp at one sitting. The meals were provided
by a chef and his two helpers and there were no complaints. We also had a
"handy man", Bill Meninger by name who could fix anything. The camp broke
up only about two weeks before the storm and Bill stayed on to seal up the
camp. He had no way to get off the island as the storm grew worse and
finally lashed himself to oar totem pole. The Coast Guard finally rescued
him and he was taken to Bay Shore Hospital suffering from submersion and
sandpapering from the flying sand. Thankfully he lived to tell his story.
The Camp consisted of ten sturdy cabins with windows and screens. The
cabins stood on stilts. Boardwalks led to all areas of the camp. We also
had a cabin set up for Arts and Crafts where the boys could try out their
handiwork. There was directors cabin and lavatory and gang shower · The
East end and West end of the each had one of the lavatories. Each cabin
had eight boys and one counselor. There were two dressers in each cabin to
hold whatever small possessions each by brought. Some came only with the
clothes on their back. We had a "ditty" bag from which we could provide a
bathing suit or such. Campers came for a two week stay. If a boy was
making extraordinary progress with his physical condition the doctor and
nurse would get together and and we would hold him for another stay.
Considering their problems the kids were great. In my four years there I
never any griping. I had some apprehension in my first year when my very
first group arrived. The ferry that brought them to the State Park dock
had an open upper deck. I could see the crutches sticking up and then we
started the quarter mile walk to the camp. It took some time but they all
got there. Then the first night when one of my boys calmly detached his
artificial leg and leaned against the cot. I also had a very bright
Spastic Paralysis case and you know how disorganized their movements are.
I soon learned to give him a half glass of milk at a time or to put his
spaghetti in a cup. The kids helped each other and many times a tablemate
would cut his food.
We made several trips to the lighthouse but could only take those who
could navigate the beach even though using crutches. I clearly remember
one of those boys leaving his crutches at the base and going up and down
those spiral steps on his backside. Of course though his legs were like
pipe-stems his arms and shoulders were over developed. I think it took a
lot of determination. The spirit to overcome a handicap was there
I made up the program. Besides two ocean swims a day we had softball,
crutch and regular races, ring-toss over a net and horse-shoes. Wrestling
took place in the Recreation Hall which was large enough to accommodate
all and in which we had several mats. The Hall also had a pool table,
movie projector, and library. There was a good fireplace at one end.
On occasion when the weather was calm we would take a dozen boys out for a
sail on the bay in our old navy ship to shore motor boat. It was built of
solid oak——slow but sure. It was never seen again after the hurricane.
The cooks had one night a week off and that is when we counselors prepared
the evening meal. "Sahara Special" nite we called it. Peanut butter and
jelly and American cheese sandwiches and lemonade to wash it down. The
entire camp would walk west a short distance from camp where there was a
natural bowl formed by dunes. I was interested in Indian lore at the time
and several counselors and myself had built what we thought passed for an
Indian village out of driftwood and burlap. A huge pole had drifted up on
the beach one day and we carved it and painted it to be a Totem pole. It
took all the counselors and half the campers to set it up in a hole we had
dug. That was the pole Bill lashed himself to during the hurricane. At
those picnics a few of us would dress up in improvised Indian costumes and
dance around the camp fire. Ghost stories would be told. A good time was
had by all and after singing "Taps" it was back to camp for a good rest.
I spent four of the happiest summers of my life among those " so-called"
handicapped kids. Whenever I think of them I count my blessings.
I could go on and on but I better quit now. I became a N.Y.C. high school
Health and Physical Education teacher and coached some in track and
football. I retired after 40 years and am now seventy five years young and
live with my wife in a retirement village in New Jersey.
The aftermath of the hurricane The Rotary Club sent three of us to the
camp to see what could be salvaged. It broke our hearts to see the
wreckage. I found the roof of my cabin about a quarter mile away. I knew
it was mine because the number four was still attached. The recreation
hall was gone except. for the chimney and that was half gone. The dining
hall was tilted almost at right angles and dishes and pots and pans all
over the place. Our three level cesspool with walls about a foot thick had
been gouged out of the sand and broken in pieces.
But there was one miracle——cabin number one at the west end of camp stood
intact——not a pane of glass broken. It had no more protection than any
other building. Maybe it didn't want Camp Cheerful to die. The camp was
never rebuilt-—insurance problems and so on,
I have often wondered how all the kids and counselors have made out in the
ensuing years.
I have so enjoyed putting this story together——it took me back a long
time.
Courtesy: Walter and Bea Thornberg |
