by Asa Gallager, Camp Burgess Director

When I was a counselor at Camp Burgess in 1998, we ate all of our meals in Pickett Hall.  It wasn’t until five years later that the new dining hall at Burgess was built, and the old one became something else entirely.  Pickett Hall, named after the man who built it in the first years of our camp, was a rustic and beautiful dining hall.  The air and light came through the windows off the shores of Triangle Pond.  As you can see in this photo from the early 1950’s, everyone sat at long tables with benches, and the beams in the open ceiling made the room feel larger then it was. 

I remember it feeling a bit cramped when I ate there, but I also recall the amazing camp spirit and the feeling of a tight knit community.  We all took pride in our old dining hall.  We also enjoyed stomping on the wooden floor. The noise got so loud it was almost deafening.  I think we all stomped a bit too hard because a few years later the floor started to sag and buckle.  Since then, the “Old Dining Hall”, as I still sometimes call it, has been a space for indoor art and nature classes, a base for Mariner and Pioneer decorating, a meeting and hang out room for staff, a storage area for cool things to build with, and a venue for smaller events and gatherings.   Recently the building has seen its share of repairs and changes.  New walls have been built, new plastic retractable windows were installed, and the beams have been strengthened with supports.  Pickett Hall is a special place at our camp.  Its look and identity has changed many times throughout the years, but it remains a true and unique symbol of the Camp Burgess story.