In the 50’s, I was one of the “lucky” kids to be able to go to day camp. This was, according to my mother, a privilege given to a few kids, and most of my friends in the neighborhood never had the opportunity. Translate that to their parents wouldn’t spend or didn’t have the money to send them. The proof of this was shown to me when I came home each day on the camp bus, there would be a small crowd of kids waiting for me.Who knows if my mother was telling the truth or just trying to get me to get on the bus? But for a number of years I went to day camp.
Real campers never went to day camp; it was a non-dirty, non-threatening babysitting service, which was great fun. Whatever camp I attended, we had fun. There was always swimming and arts and crafts and stories and weird food. I guess that pampered Jewish kids went to day camp.
There were two camps I remember most of all, Sightseeing Day Camp in Ellicott City, MD, and the camp at Har Sinai Temple, in Baltimore, although my actual drowning experience must have been at the YMHA Camp in Baltimore.
Sightseeing Day Camp was run by Dave Davidson, who was probably the owner and knew my parents prior to my going there. As I piece it all together in my head, his daughter Dorna (DeeDee) was in Nursery School with me; the Greenwood Nursery School in Baltimore. The fact that I can remember all this stuff even scares me.
Dave was a guidance councilor in the city schools and must have owned the camp as a summer income.
I can’t remember how many weeks it lasted, as I am in charge of an art camp now, we sell it one week at a time, and parents choose. A few have even done the whole nine weeks, but we always hope for a week or two attendance. I may have gone for a number or weeks each year but I can’t remember.
People were allowed to bring a friend to camp, if they made arrangements, for a day, as if your cousin was in from Altoona or something. There probably was a one day charge, but it didn’t happen that often. One day, Dennis, one of our neighborhood kids was in as a guest. He may have been a guest of my childhood friend Alan, but I’m not quite sure. It was 60 years ago! (I am leaving out his last name as he may still be alive and I don’t want to embarrass him or get sued!)
It was lunch time, and as we waited, the rolls and butter were passed around the table. We were learning manners as well, I guess. The butter was on a plate by itself, with a butter knife. The rolls were already around and we waited for the butter. As it went from kid to kid it fell upon Dennis to take his butter and pass it on.
Dennis took the butter plate, put the butter on his plate, and put the communal butter knife in his mouth and sucked of the remaining, butter while 20 kids watched!
What can I say! I bet he never did that again!
This is a shot in the dark. I went to Sightseeing Day Camp around 1950 and have always wondered where in Ellicott City it had been located. There is no trace of it today, of course. Searching the internet for information about the camp, I came across Arthur's post about summers in the 1950's and his mention of the camp. I wonder if he knows where Sightseeing was located. Also, I had a friend at that camp named Elliott Greenblatt. Any relation?
ReplyDeleteAlan, I have no idea where it was either. So much has changed there that I am sure it's been paved over and is a highway by now. Elliott however, lives in Randallstown and is in the phone book I believe.
DeleteSightseeing Day Camp was located on New Cut Road in Ellicott City and the directors were Bill Eisner and Bernie Rosenthal, known affectionately by the kids as Uncle Bill and Uncle Bernie. I do not know who Dave Davidson but I remember they had a couple of assistants who worked at running the camp, namely Aunt Ruthie Fader and Uncle Bernie Resnick.
ReplyDeleteThe sight that used to be Sightseeing Day Camp later became Camp Jimmy, Inc., a camp for mentally challenged children. Then, after that, it briefly became Rock Hill Swim Club. After that, lost track of the place, as I lived in the Woodlawn section of Baltimore County. But I attended Sightseeing Day Camp for four consecutive summers, 1955 to 1958.
ReplyDeleteBernie Rosenthal was my uncle. I spent many summers in Balto, and went to Sightseeing Day Camp in late '50s/early '60s. My sister did the same at Blue Cloud which was the overnight component of the camp up the hill. Loved the pool there, and the dining hall with its creamsicle-stocked freezer, bug juice, and day trips to town in Ellicott City over the swaying foot bridge spanning a stream. Bill Eisner and Bernie were educators who also co-owned a "How to Study" venture. Good memories!
ReplyDeleteYes, I was only five years old when I began attending the camp in 1955. It was Sightseeing Day Camp and later Blue Cloud Resident Camp, each of the camps operating autonomously. But I remember that Sightseeing's colors were blue and white. I don't remember Blue Cloud's colors but I do remember the Sightseeing signature song that we were taught: "Sightseeing, Sightseeing let your banners fly. Let the blue and let the white float up into the sky, rah, rah, rah. Let the beauty of our camp days linger in our heart. Gather up your treasures here before we part." Oh, yes memories to last us a lifetime. Uncle Bill and Uncle Bernie always made it a mission to personally visit the home of each camper each year, shortly before camp was scheduled to start. This was a special feature of Sightseeing that none of the other day camps did, the personal home visit that meant so much to us. And on that home visit, they always gave us our special official camp badges to wear, badges that said Sightseeing Day Camp. I miss Uncle Bill and Uncle Bernie today. In October, I'll turn 70 but I remember them and Sightseeing Camp as if it were yesterday.
ReplyDeleteWhat a joy it is to discover this site containing so many memories of Sightseeing Camp. Thank you all for sharing your camp stories. I attended the camp for three summers in the early 1960s and loved every minute. I, too, have the camp song playing in my head every year as the mid-summer sun beats down on Maryland and I reach for something cold to quench my thirst. Nothing, though, can compare to camp "bug juice" when your seven years old! I remember Uncle Bernie and Uncle Bill with fondness. Some of my other precious recollections include: Grape popsicles at the end of the day, swimming, and assembling fantastic creations in the Arts and Craft building. Whenever I had the opportunity, I would dash out of the building to enjoy the frigid spring water that continuously discharged from a pipe exiting the side of the hill. When you were young, it made your teeth chatter even when it was 90 degrees outside. I recall spending countless hours catching crayfish and salamanders in the stream that ran between the road and the multicolored stalls where each group of campers waited to catch their bus home. And then there were the nature walks up the winding gravel road to the top of the hill. It was on one such occasion that our counselor had all the boys sit in a circle as he recited the scariest ghost stories any of us had ever heard. We were all terrified, and in an instant jumped up and ran like frightened gazelles down the hill and back to the safety and familiarity of the camp buildings. Other less harrowing nature walks would conclude at the top of another forested bluff on the grounds of the camp. This hill featured a grand dirt sluice that ran down the hill and between large tree roots for probably 100 yards. It was created by the backsides of countless boys over many summers, each of whom found nirvana frolicking in the mud beyond the judgmental eyes of their mothers. The highlight of my three summers at Sightseeing had to be winning the annual blueberry pie eating contest held on the outdoor stage adjacent to the recreation building and dining hall. The mud slide was fun, but consuming an entire pie in seconds was simply delicious. Never has a triumph tasted so sweet! I don’t recall my mother ever getting the stains out of my tee-shirt. A small price to pay for victory that’s lasted a lifetime! Every time I visit Ellicott City I drive by the old campgrounds. As recently as three years ago, the wooden buildings were still standing, though badly deteriorated. Someone appears to live on the property. The cinder block arts and crafts building has fared much better. And yes, spring water still flows from the old pipe that gave us all a chill. Getting to the camp is simple. If you are heading down main street towards the Tiber River, make a right at the old B&O train station and head up the winding road about half-a-mile to the camp. The entrance will be on your right side. You can’t miss it. The grounds look pretty much the same, though without the laughter and antics of scores of campers. As an aside, in the early 1970s I had the opportunity to return to Ellicott City to participate in the excavation and restoration of the old train station. If you enjoy railroad history, make sure to visit the station when you are next in town. It was built in 1830 and marked the first terminus of the B&O Railroad. Model railroad enthusiasts have constructed an exhibit depicting the 7-mile journey from the Mt. Clare station in Baltimore to Ellicott City. This was the stretch of track where Peter Cooper’s steam locomotive, the legendary “Tom Thumb,” raced a horse and carriage and lost when a band that drove a pulley slipped from its drum. It has been a pleasure sharing these precious recollections with all of my camper friends. Please keep the memories coming. And if anyone has photos from their days at Sightseeing, it would be a thrill to see them and relive those magical summers once again.
ReplyDeleteWarmly,
Randy
Rand H. Fishbein
fishnet@pipeline.com
October 1, 2019
“... when you get back to the city and smoke, you’ll wish you were back again” Smoke?
DeleteWe sang a lot of songs on the bus going to and from camp every day. Does anyone remember this one: "With a step that is steady and strong, Camp Sightseeing goes marching alo-o-ng. True to the colors we bear. The blue and the white so fair. In bonds of true fellowship, hip, hip, that the days and the years cannot sever. United in friendship we stand. We're friends of Sightseeing Home Camp forever." Golden memories of fun and innocent times, a far cry from the corrupt world of today.
ReplyDeleteWe learned and sang a lot of songs on the bus going to and from camp each day. Here's one you may remember: "With a step that is steady and strong. Camp Sightseeing goes marching alo-o-ng. True to the colors we bear. The blue and the white so fair. In bonds of true fellowship, hip, hip, that the days and the years cannot sever. United in friendship we stand. We're friends of Sightseeing Home Camp forever." Or how about this little ditty: "Around the corner, and under a tree. A smiling camper once said to me, 'Oh! Camping is the game, Sightseeing is the name, and when we get back to the city of smoke we'll wish we were there again.'"(Repeat entire verse). Or how about: "I am a hayseed. My hair is seaweed. And my ears are made of leather and they flop in windy weather. Gosh, oh hemlock. I'm strong as a pine knot. (Girls) 'We're the girls from camp! (Boys) We're the boys from camp!' And we're all from Sightseeing Camp." Surely you all can think of a few more. We learned and sang so many of them on the camp buses.
ReplyDeleteI remember Color War. The spring water which tasted so good. The movie theater and chickens on Main Street and another song. Around the corner and under a tree, a smiling camper once said to me. Hey. Camping is the game, sightseeing is the name and when we get back to the city of hope we wish we were back again.
ReplyDeleteI went for several years in the middle to late fifties. Larry Dobres. Remember the haunted house up the hill?
ReplyDeleteI don’t remember the haunted house, but I remember the sheep, that made me break out in hives!
ReplyDeleteIdnational! Check out the lyrics I wrote above for that song, 'Around the Corner.' And I can tell you without a doubt, those lyrics of mine are the correct ones. It's 'When we get back to the city of smoke, we'll wish we were there again." I still have contact with the Rosenthal family and was able to check that out. Does anybody on here know Uncle Bernie's wife Bunny?
ReplyDelete