If you were around camp this summer you know that I was on my way to my third child. He’s here now, and this is his story.
A short history of our camp furniture
Sometimes the most unexpected things come full circle. This was brought home to me recently when a camp alum sent me an article about an old motel — the Penn-Daw — that was located near to where I grew up in Alexandria. The story got me reminiscing because it was the the Penn-Daw motel from where we […]
Veterans Day remembrance: Cooper Dawson
I wanted to put this blog post out earlier this week, on Veterans Day itself, but was still awaiting some details about my grandfather — S. Cooper Dawson, Jr. (known as Cooper and as the first Dawson family member to own and run Camp Alleghany), and so, while it’s a little bit after the fact, I hope […]
The Upstart Program at Alleghany, Part Two
In part one of this blog post, I talked about the responsibilities that come with being an Upstart at Alleghany, and the leadership training undertaken by the girls to prepare them for this. What I didn’t talk about, though, was the fun side of being an Upstart, and that’s because I felt like I needed […]
April 1986 Rattler: Future shock
The year 2016 must’ve seemed like an exotic future date to the young campers of 1986. After all, it was 30 years away and in the next century — I mean millennia — to boot! I got a real kick out of reading a story written by a young camper — Cathy Canaga — from […]
Helping kids become better citizens through summer camp
“The organized summer camp is the most important step in education, in the broadest sense, that America is giving the world,” said Harvard University President Charles W. Eliot, over seventy years ago. On this basis we have developed the philosophy of summer camping in which we strongly believe, based on the theory that a democracy […]
Prune juice and P.I.
I’ve been remembering Cooper’s beginning-of-term Assembly speeches, which marked my summers as faithfully and predictably as a lighthouse beacon, but a darn sight funnier. Most of us who made it past 4-year Figaro Flip Flop initiation could recite this speech from memory, imitating but never duplicating the voice. Regrettably, I’ll never do the humor justice: […]
The simple life
One of the many reasons I fell in love with Camp Alleghany is its simplicity. I still revel in the small things at camp, particularly the sounds. I just love the Katydids at night, and that big bull frog down in the river who ribbits most of the night. I relish the lonely train whistle […]
