CHAPTER 1

Over the past Labor Day weekend (1996) I got to thinking about where I'd be if I were a kid. Off course we'd all be at camp for the end of the summer festivities. Camp was a place on Fresh Pond in Manomet, MA., where we'd spend our summers swimming, fishing, boating - if we were lucky enough to know someone with a boat, or Chet would take us for a ride in his canoe, movies on Friday nights and the ever popular Saturday Night Dance. Labor Day marked the official end of the Camping Season and the weekend was filled with activities for everyone. But before we reminisce, let's take a trip through the summer that proceeded Labor Day.

Our camp was owned originally by Evelyn Damon Bowser. (Note: Aunty Ev passed away in May of 2004 at the age of 101). She was the oldest sister of Ma, Marjorie Damon Kelley. The camp was a temporary structure with a canvas roof. The "rooms" were separated by curtains. We had a kitchen and 2 bedrooms. Some folks had a kitchen and one big bedroom. We had a stove that ran off bottled gas, a sink with cold water only and an icebox. On our way to camp we always stopped at the "Ice House" for a fifty-cent piece of Ice. The Iceman would carve us a chunk of ice and Dad would put it in the car with his ice tongs. One of us would get to ride the last 6 minute segment to camp with our feet on the block of ice.

The campsite was on Fresh Pond in the Manomet section of Plymouth. Each camper had their own campsite and kept the same site each year. We were fortunate that our camp was right on the waterfront. From our spacious kitchen we could see the pond, hear the early morning boaters, and hear the first splash of the day from the raft - which I never could swim out to. I did get out to the raft once in my camping career. I was lucky enough to get to go fishing with Chet one day. He was one of the two all time fisherman from Fresh Pond. His partner in bait was Charlie Hughes. But on my turn to fish with Chet we canoed out to the raft area where Chet sometimes had luck finding fish under the raft. Apparently the fish got wise to this ploy and weren't hanging out under the raft this particular day. We fished several parts of the pond that day and didn't have much luck until we were on our way back to shore and decided to make one more stop in the middle of the pond. It was there that I caught a 10" pickerel. They are ugly fish but fried in garlic and butter they are the best things to come out of a fry pan. More fishing stories later. For now, we'll continue with our trip through the summer.

Memorial Day marked the official opening of camp. It was this weekend folks could start assembling their camp. It was usually a day of watching rental trucks roll in with the things of summer and groups of people assembling one camp at a time. Each camp was set on a wooden platform that remained at the site through the winter. The camp was bolted together and topped with a canvas roof. During windstorms the canvas would lift and billow if it wasn't secured properly and during rainstorms the rain beating on the canvas could be deafening at times. At first, we had kerosene lanterns to light up our darkness but in 1963 graduated to electricity. The only form of entertainment we could bring was a radio and that was for news and weather only. We didn't have a television. At the time I thought that was pretty barbaric as a lot of other folks had televisions, but looking back if we had television I doubt we would have spent as much time at the beach or fishing or even playing outside.

The campground itself was accessible from two ways. One was in from Bartlett Road. This brought us by the Cranberry Bogs and along the back road by Fisherman's Landing. Sometimes just for the heck of it we came in that way. We also passed a Chicken Farm owned by Mr.and Mrs. Bentley. When they cut back on the chickens they rented their coops and other buildings to campers as storage space for the winter. It was very convenient. Some of the campers saw the ad for space posted at the store and went over to look at the facilities. We weren't at camp at the time so the others thought Ma and Dad would want a space also so they signed us up. The last time we went to pick up our camp stuff to bring home after the campground closed, Dad rented a U-haul truck and took Shawn, Michael Kelley and myself. We loaded up the truck and took it all home. Most of it stayed in the yard and then Grandma Kelley's yard until it deteriorated to the point of no return. The canvas has since been traded for a space heater for Dads porch. Some of the dishes and other kitchen stuff made its way to Grantham and the rest is scattered around the house.

The main entrance was off the Main Road at the Brown Bear Motel. It was a dirt road that passed by summer cottages and came to the entrance at the camp store. This entrance was open during the week. On weekends this entrance was closed and cars had to use the other entrance at the parking lot. There was a charge for non-camp residents: $1.00 per day. Campers had a sticker which allowed them into the campground. Only one car was allowed to park at each campsite.

Speaking of the camp store, it was neat little shop. It had the basic necessities: milk, bread, comic books, penny candy, ice cream, tonic, snacks, - the good thongs in life. The store was run by the summer groundkeeper, who had a small cottage near the store. Each summer one or two of the teenagers in the campground would get to work in the store. That was one job I always wanted. The store had a wooden floor and screen door. There were freezers for the ice cream and refrigeration for the milk and tonic. The candy counter was a big glass case with shelves filled with stuff dentists dreams are made of. Sugar, sugar and more sugar. The store was always warm and stuffy and smelled of penny candy. On real hot days the candy in the glass case would reach the point of melting - almost. The liquid filled wax things would almost bend in two. The only cool place in the store was the milk cooler and ice cream case and sometimes that was questionable.

The campgrounds were pine tree filled and had gravel roads. The only asphalt in the place were the tar fingers that were spread around the entrance at the store. And in the summer those things were hot!

The "facilities" were two privies. One was located down by us and the other was up on the hill. There were about ten toilets and two sinks inside the building. Outside the front door was a giant laundry type sink. There was no need for showers as most folks went swimming everyday. This was a twenty-four hour facility that was only closed once a day when being cleaned. At those times we'd walk up to the privy on the hill. For the most part the privies were kept pretty clean except when Woody was the groundskeeper. The place was a mess and most of the time a lot of toilets were out of order. The only time I ever saw that guy out around the campground, he was sitting and resting. He never opened the store on time in the morning and often closed the store early at night. I think he was lazy. The first campground superintendent I remember was Mr. Rogers. He kept the place neat, clean and orderly. The bathrooms were always clean and functioned properly.

Beside the privy near us was the dump. It was a fenced in area with a million trash barrels. Every night after supper one kid from each camp could be seen carrying their basket to the dump to be emptied. Garbage in one container, trash in the other. I found that there were no good treasures discarded at the dump. No bike frames, car parts or furniture. How depressing, a dump in the neighborhood and no good trash. The trash and garbage were picked up once a week. By the end of the week the flies had a convention center.

Another feature was the recreation hall. The "rec hall", as it was commonly called was the social epicenter on Friday and Saturday nights. Occasionally, if the weather were rainy the hall would be open for the kids during the day.

Outside the front doors was a concrete pad. This was the only impermeable surface in the campgrounds. Friday night was movie night. Movies were shown on a screen on the side of the building. After dinner and after trash detail, campers would bring their lawn chairs and snacks and assemble in the movie area. At dusk the movies would begin. We'd see a few cartoons - the old black and whites, then see several short films. I remember seeing "Shane", "Danny Boy" and every Laurel and Hardy short ever made. I don't remember the movies being rained out. At the end of the season a full-length feature film would be shown. We got a nickel a day to spend at the store and usually would do our shopping after lunch, except on Fridays we'd save our nickel and get snacks for the movies. One time I decided to make a cheese ball for my movie snack. I took a package of orange cheese, mushed it all into a ball and put it in a paper bag with salt and pepper. After eating that I threw up the worst looking orange mess I've ever created. Mostly our snacks were potato chips or popcorn and soda. Some kids would bring their dinner with them and eat while watching the movie of the week.

Saturday night was a two-fold evening. First, after dinner folks would assemble at the pond for their "Saturday night bath". Even though most folks went swimming on a daily basis Saturday night was reserved for a scrubbing and a shampooing. Participants brought ivory soap and Prell shampoo in the plastic bottle. Why those two specific items? Because they floated.

Saturday night was also dance night. 7:00 to 9:00 P.M. was for kids 12 and under. We did all the latest dances: bunny hop, Mexican hat dance, hokey pokey, limbo, twist, an early 60's version of slam dancing (see that kid crossing the floor? stick your foot out and watch him fall) and several other creations I've forgotten names of. Music was provided by 45's played on a standard record player. Volunteers served as DJs and would spin the stacks of wax for several hours. I remember Dad being a volunteer DJ a few times at the kid's dance. Moms and Dads would often stand at the door and observe theirs kids social graces or lack of social graces and walk away shaking their heads thinking "That's not my kid." Or would stand at the door and watch the kid who tripped over everything dance up a storm and not fall once. It was a fun evening. The rec hall had a wooden splintery floor and wooden splintery benches around the outside wall. After a little dancing their always seemed to be a small almost insignificant dust storm churned up that didn't settle down until long after the dancing stopped.

I guess the place to be on Saturday night was at the dance from 9:00 until midnight. That was when the teenagers and adults took to the floor and let it all hang out. I'd be home in bed but could hear the music blare into the night. They always sounded like they were having a good time. Every Saturday night there'd a drawing at the dance. About 10:30 the music would stop and they'd give away prizes. During the week volunteers would go through the campgrounds selling raffle tickets. They gave away such items as beach towels, beach bags, lawn chairs, rakes, steak knives and place mats, paper back books, etc., etc. Ma and Dad won a few things from the drawings.

One summer we were fortunate enough to have a band at the Saturday night dance. I don't remember the name but it was a group of teenagers playing the campground circuit. They were pretty good as I recall. They played all the current top songs of the summer. It was a nice change from the records.

After a ruckus Saturday night came Sunday morning and time for church. The local Catholic Church was Saint Boneventures. Dad would take us each Sunday morning to the mass at 8:00 or 9:00. Then we'd stop at the store for a paper and sometimes donuts then go home. Ma would make breakfast which we ate in our bathing suits because that's what we lived in most of the time. If Dad happened to be working on Sunday sometimes we'd go to mass with Charlie Hughes. Several times Eddie and I walked to Church. We'd cut through private beach which was a sacrilege and walk up the main road. It wasn't a bad walk except for the day I walked to church in my brand new school shoes. In those days it was a Sunday Blue Law that all new shoes must be broken in carefully and gradually before full time use. Well, on this particular Sunday I took my new shoes for a long walk and by the time I got to church my feet were so blistered I had to take my shoes off and walk home barefoot. Not a pleasant Sunday walk to or from church.

Another way of getting to church was to wait by the camp store. Folks driving to church would pick up as many as they could and bring them back after.

Another point of interest at camp was Indian reservation. It was a pine grove that is the burial ground for a local tribe. Many years ago their were a lot of grave stones but they have all disappeared but one. It is a giant boulder. (If House Rock in Weymouth were as big as a house then the rock in Indian Reservation would be Snoopy's DogHouse size Rock) Since it is a pretty big stone we theorize it must be the chiefs stone. About 5 years ago I visited Fresh Pond and the stone has been fenced in with a chain link fence.

For fishing type of folks, there was fisherman's landing. When I was their 5 years ago I noticed the sign still tacked to a tree. I've to get back their and get that sign. This is located at the opposite end of the beach from our campsite. It was basically a boat launch. But Couldn't call it Boat Launch Landing could we? It was in a remote area adjacent to woods and their weren't any camp sites at that end. It wasn't a good place to be alone. I didn't get to fish at Fisherman's Landing very often. The other place to fish was the fish pier, which was to the right of our camp. It was a "L" shaped pier that extended about 15-20 feet out into the water. The fish pier separated the swimming area from the fishing and boating area. After supper and after trash detail, the fish pier was a popular place to be. It was at this time of day or early evening that the fish seemed to come alive. They'd be jumping all over the pond. I fished mostly with bread. I'd get a slice of bread and roll a piece into a small ball and put on the hook. The fish seemed to like that a lot. Sometimes I got a slice of bacon to use as bait. Except for the pickerel, I only ever caught sunfish and perch. Once I did snag a turtle. I did catch a hornpout at Cranberry Pond but that is another story from another time.

I did manage to get hooked at the fish pier one day. I was about 4 or 5 years old and was on the fish pier in my bathing suit. I don't remember why I was there but I may have just come back from a boat ride. There were several guys on the pier fishing. One guy, in trying to cast his line, brought his pole back over his shoulder. The lure he was using which was a red devil hooked the skirt part of my bathing suit. I was trying to walk in the opposite direction and he couldn't understand why he couldn't cast his line. Something was tugging at my bathing suit but I didn't know what. Finally he realized he had caught my bathing suit. He undid the hook and threw me back, as I was underage or something.

Sometimes after supper if the pier got crowded some wise guy would announce that its fishing for guys only and all the girls had to leave. Being the only girl on the fish pier I decided I'd have to show them who could stay and should leave. More than once I dropped my fishing pole and took exception to boy's only rule. After a while the boys decided I could stay and fish. They realized I could beat the daylights out of anyone in the campground. And if they valued their lives - not to mention their fishing equipment - they wouldn't bother me.

For the most part though, Fresh Pond had decent fishing. Chet and Charlie Hughes were great fishing buddies and would go fishing Saturday and Sunday mornings about 5:00 - 6:00 A.M. They'd come in about 9:00 and most of the time they'd bring in quite a haul. Chet had a wooden canoe with Indian Designs on the side. He had a small motor but it was mostly paddle power to get around. I've never seen a canoe like it since. They used minnows for bait that they'd catch first thing in the morning. Minnows are teeny tiny fish that swim in schools along the shore or very shallow water. When the water is quiet they are around but when the boaters and swimmers take to the pond, they'd hide. The way to catch them was to sneak up on them with a minnow net. With the net in the water, slowly sneak up on them and scoop them up in the net as they swim in all directions as once. One of my prized possessions from my childhood is the minnow net Chet gave me when he got a new one. It has wooden floats and is hanging out in Dads back porch. I remember using it a few times to catch minnows for fishing. I used to fish a lot until Ma actually made clean the fish I caught. Now, I do my fishing at the "Fish Market" restaurant on East Broadway in South Boston.

Want to read more? Chapter Two – Chapter Three – Chapter Four – Chapter Five Or head back to the Beginning.

Did you camp at Fresh Pond? Blast me an Email! I’d love to hear from you!!

(Last revised 10 March 2007)