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HYDE BAY HOME LETTER

VOLUME 39             July 27, 1965                   No. 5

Monday: Cool, partly cloudy, with a good wind Shortly after breakfast the third Susquehanna trip put in the water about a mile below Cooperstown. Included in the trip which was headed by John Mercer. Jack Poreba, Ricky Coupe were John Ford, Ken Earll, Corky Eannace, and Tommy Prior. The rest of the camp took part in all the camp activities. Those with us for the first month began competition for trophies in archery, crafts, and water skiing. After lunch and rest period Alton Davison, John McCay, Jamie Flowers, Jeff Levi, and Peter Black took a group of campers to Nebo for the night. This involved all of the youngest campers. They were taken to the foot of Nebo and then hiked to the summit.

TUESDAY: Sunny and windy. A bit on the chillyside, but we were still able to get in a great deal of sailing. During the morning we installed our new basketball standards and baskets and immediately there was a large gathering on the court. A group of Nebo returnees wished to hike back from Nebo, but because of the shortage of time before lunch had to delay this hike until after the meal. They were taken back to Nebo by car and then hiked back at their own pace. There were five in all: Bill and George Radcliffe, Lee Geiger, Char1ie and Tom Fisher. They made the walk in record time - one hour and forty five minutes. The evening was occupied with “A” league football and “B” league volleyball until movie time at 8:OO p.m. Since both of our ball teams were to play baseball games the following night we moved our movie night up one day. The movie was “Everything’s Ducky” starring Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett.

WEDNESDAY: Cool, fair, and sunny. The first long nature hike left shortly after milk and cookies for a beaver dam about four miles from camp. It was lead by Scott Carlton and Steve Cunningham.  There were twenty campers, some of which were Ray Athey, John Brooks, George He1frioh, and Dyche Kinder. Both baseball teams, totaling thirty eight, departed for Worcester, N.Y. for a dual twilight event. The twelve-and—under fared better than the twelve-and-over, winning 10-8 in a very thrilling game. Ted Mehl did an extremely fine job both at bat and behind the plate. The older team lost 6-1 even though John Ford pitched a two-hit game. The game was marred by many errors. Chooch Tuner had a home run for the lone score.

THURSDAY: Overcast, breezy. The final Junior Life Saving tests were administered to all Junior Life Savers. Those receiving their certificates were: Tim Bennett, John Brooks, Corky Eannace, Mike Fish, Terry Fisher, Frosty Frost, Steve Johnson, Ted Mehl, Sandy Pickett, Bill Radcliffe, Ed Rucker, Frank Saunders, Tim Smith, Stewart Wise, and Pete Spragins. Almost the entire day was occupied by wind—up events for those leaving us at the end of the week. The Junior Archery tournament was won by Jon Sager and Senior Archery by John Brooks. The Senior Water Skiing trophy went to Charlie Fisher and the Junior to Phil Rudd. The trophies for crafts were held over until the end of camp since there were not enough finished projects to warrant a fair competition. The final class was held in the N.Y. State Boating course. After supper the championship game of the “A” league football was held and the

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Thunderbunnies were the champions for the first half.

FRIDAY: Overcast - temperature in the high seventies. This is the day when all the boys that have been with us for the first month depart and the new second month boys arrive. Since this is a confusing period to our younger campers we declared this day as Junior Day. Boys in the six younger tents had first opportunity in all of the camp activities and they certainly made excellent use of this privilege. All of our sailing craft were busy and much excitement prevailed with the reassembling of the Mouldy Coaster - a sled slide from the beach down into the water. Our maintenance man, Phil Breadel, had a long line of prospective sliders waiting for him to put the final parts together. A new sailing vessel was donated by the parents of Peter Stephens. It is called a Rhode Island Dink. We had to wait a day for its maiden voyage because of the lack of proper wind. The evening hours were spent in getting acquainted with our new arrivals.

SATURDAY: Hazy, warm, and clearing in the afternoon. A big day for the sailing department, mainly for the Juniors who were not able to sail the preceding daydue to no wind. Our newcomers were busy with the swimming tests and settling in their tents. After lunch we wasted no time in sending out cur first trip of the second half to Snow Gulch. This included newcomers Tod Galvin, Price Koch, Billy Ebeling, Tod Rudd, Curly MacLeod, and Skipper Hebb. The twelve-and-over jouneyed to Chenango where they properly trounced the opposing team by a large margin. The opponents were no match for our powerful bats. In the evening our program consisted of camp movies of former years taken at varying intervals. This was followed by a short adaptation of “The Interloper,” featuring councilors Ricky Coupe, Josh Shoemaker, and John Schmick. John Diamond and Jeff Levi assisted backstage.

Sunday: clear, sunny. The church service was led by Alton Davison with a message on the power of positive thinking and  the ability of the individual to do a tremendous amount of good. This was followed by our usual Sunday inspection and the rest of the morning was spent with all camp activities except riding. We give our horses a rest on Sunday. After lunch and rest period, when all boys are required to Write a letter home, we held our first all-camp swimming meet. The camp was divided into two groups, both Senior and Junior. John McCay coached one team and Jack Poreba the other. In the “A”s league John McCay’s team won 24-21. The winning team starred Harry Turner, Tod Galvin, and Scotty Supplee. In the “B” league competition Jack Poreba’s team won 26-25. This included swimmers Char1ie Stone, Donald Ross, and Curly MacLeod. Following the swimming races we had our usual Sunday night Supper. Tents # 2 and 10 were the Inspection Winners for the week and took the Sunday night mail to Cooperstown. After store all enjoyed our educational movies.

AN EARLY REMINDER: that our final Barbeque festivities take place on Thursday, August 19 at about 6:00 p.m. It would be wise for you to make or for you to ask us to make reservations for you as soon as your plans are definite (Rathbun’s, next door, is completely filled— no vacancies.) In your plans, we might mention that you may take your Sons with you on Thursday night after the bonfire, which should be about 10:00 p.m., if you so wish. Most of the boys will be going on Friday, August 20 shortly after breakfast at 8:00 a.m. The awards for the various windup events and other trophies are all given at the bonfire after the Barbeque and we would hope that none of you will wish to take your sons with you until after the program. More data wil1 come in the subsequent Homeletters. Please do not leave your reservations until the last minute- you may end up without one.

BILLS: are enclosed. All adjustments will be made on the incidental bill sent out after the close of camp - for both first and second month boys.
A SPECIAL THANK YOU: to all of you who left your sons with us for the first four weeks. We hope they enjoyed their time here, we certainly did.
A WORD OF WELCOME: to the new boys and parents who have just recently joined us. We are looking forward to lots of fun with them all.