by Jessie Williams, Camp Hayward Director

First Time Camper

When I was twelve, my parents asked me if I wanted to go to overnight camp. My grandmother had been to the Quincy Y and had seen a brochure for Camp Burgess & Hayward. I was easily sold, so my nine-year old sister and I were registered for session 4.

I was moved into Cabin Lee. I had the bottom bunk on the right side of the cabin. I was too nervous to sleep on the top bunk. My counselors were Lorna and Sarah. They tucked me into bed every night. A lot of the girls in my cabin had been to camp before, so they taught me songs and how to get to my interest groups.  I took landsports and synchronized swimming.

In retrospect, I should have packed more. I borrowed a lot of shirts from my cabin mates. We were going to play a game where everyone was on either the red team or the blue team. It was called Mariners & Pioneers. Cabin Lee was on the Pioneers and I did not have one red clothing item.  I wore a gray shirt with pink trim and just painted my whole face red.

The last day everyone ran around writing down addresses of their new friends. When my parents loaded us into the car, my sister and I sang all the way home. I don’t know if the car ride was as fun for them.