YMCA Camp Belknap Celebrates 100th Anniversary

In 1903 when Camp Belknap first opened its tent flaps, Teddy Roosevelt was President of the United States and the Boston Red Sox were World Champions. One hundred years later, Teddy Roosevelt and the last Red Sox championship are distant memories, but Camp Belknap is still going strong.

The mission of YMCA Camp Belknap is to provide a unique physical and spiritual environment where young men may build strong character, self-esteem, individual maturity and community responsibility. For a century, Belknap has been dedicated to the simple proposition that there will never be a video game made or amusement park built which can compete with the thrill of being a 12 year-old boy on a lake surrounded by his friends in the middle of July.

On Labor Day 2003, Camp Belknap will host a Centennial Weekend Celebration. Hundreds of Belknappers will return to Camp to renew old friendships and to spend a few days and nights under the pines. To help coordinate the celebration, each decade has a committee of former leaders from those years who will be coordinating activities for that group, so everyone will be certain to see plenty of old friends and have plenty to do. Belknappers from all over the country will return for the festivities, including Gary Hirshberg, former camper, leader, current Belknap parent and Board Member (and President and CEO of Stonyfield Farm in Londonderry, NH).

"My ability to lead a business is absolutely a direct result of my Belknap experience," explains Hirshberg. "The camp's mission of helping to mold boys into young men by teaching them the importance of character and community is successful beyond words. It's only a 2-week or 4-week experience for most kids, and yet countless business leaders and professionals have had their value systems shaped and their leadership skills honed through the experience of living and growing with role models only a few years older. Camp Belknap has performed a phenomenal community service over the past 100 years."

Another long-time Belknap parent is Judd Gregg, currently the Senior U.S. Senator from N.H. "Since 1903, generations of boys from across the country have enjoyed the best outdoor activities New Hampshire has to offer in the Lakes Region," Gregg observed. "But what boys learn at Camp Belknap is so much more than simply learning how to sail or identify poison ivy — it provides many boys with their first opportunity to spend a few weeks away from the comforts of home, allowing them to grow as young adults in a new and different environment."

And then there is Dr. Horace Blood, son of a former N.H. Governor, and long-time prominent N.H. philanthropist. "I first attended Camp Belknap in 1931, when I was just 8 years old," reminisced Blood. "I returned to the camp in 1946, and worked there as the camp physician for a summer during my third year of medical school. It was one of the happiest summers of my life!"

During the Centennial weekend, Gene and Caryn Clark, Camp Belknap directors for the last 16 years, plan to gather as many Alumni as possible for a group photograph.

"We hope to have many of our friends and 'family' here with us on Labor Day weekend. We would like to take a photograph to commemorate the occasion that shows as many Belknappers as possible," explained Clark.

"We expect hundreds of Belknappers — I just hope we have a ladder tall enough to get everyone in the shot," quipped his wife, Caryn.

As part of the Centennial, former Junior Division Head and professional author John Grossmann has written a comprehensive history of Belknap, complete with vintage photographs dating back to Belknap's earliest years. John has spent three years interviewing Belknappers, pouring over old letters and sorting through hundreds of yellowed photographs.

In addition to the history, renowned artist Peter Ferber, who specializes in New Hampshire historical prints, was commissioned to do two paintings of classic Belknap scenes. The original watercolors, one of the waterfront and one of a Woodcraft ceremony, will hang in Conlon Lodge, and full color prints are available for all to purchase. The prints and the book will be a welcome addition to the homes of all true Belknappers, and all proceeds from the sale of these collectibles will benefit Camp Belknap.

"This summer, eleven hundred boys will share the same experiences enjoyed by their fathers and grandfathers forty and sixty summers ago," reminisces Boston attorney George Berman, co-chair of the Centennial Committee. "Woodcraft laws drafted by Ernest Thompson Seton in 1908 are still recited, the Chapel Bell is still rung for the Belknappers who died in World War II, and the cry of 'buddy check' still echoes across the bay. That these things all will occur this year for the hundredth summer is remarkable, that these things will all occur again next summer is reassuring." That all these things will still be occurring at the 200th Anniversary of Camp Belknap, during the summer of 2103, is the camp's goal. For additional details on the weekend, Belknappers can find out more by visiting www.campbelknap.org.