[SportsandRec] My Camping Experiences

Thu Jan 26 06:38:18 UTC 2023

Good evening again everyone,

	I have had many opportunities to participate in outdoor activities while growing up particularly during the summer and when I was home with my family. My Uncle Bill and his family allowed me to camp with them one evening in 1966. I've lost track of the times I went fresh water and deep sea fishing with family members. On some fishing trips I praised God for the opportunity to be in the great outdoors and at other times I reeled in catches of various fish species. One special occasion was when I caught some hake on a deep sea fishing tripout of Onsit in Massachusetts. The next day mom made some of the most delicious fish chowder I ever tasted.

	My first summer camp experience occurred in 1969. I was enrolled at the Boston Center for Blind Children a place we were glad to see shut down. It has since become a hotel in Jamaica Plane. We spent a week at Grautonwood Christian Camp in Grauton Massachusetts. I and others on that trip felt like we were in Heaven! It was the first time I went into a canoe. I'll give credit to the Grautonwood Staff. They figured out ways for blind campers to participate in many camp activities. They placed balloons on the archery targets and a buzzer near where the targets were. When it was time for a camper to shoot the arrows the buzzer was turned on. If the camper hit the target chances are a balloon would pop so they would know they hit the target. Otherwise the arrows struck a canvas to prevent them from harming other campers and staff. It was a simple matter for a camp staff member to pull the arrows out of the targets and the canvas.

	Some of us were coming into our teens and as such we began to feel a liking for those of the opposite sex. One of my favorite Grautonwood Staff members was the water instructor a girl named Karen. Karenand her sister Barb were both Grautonwood counselors. During our week at Grautonwood we visited a nearby farm. Mind you some of us came there with hate in our hearts and a strong dislike for the Boston Center for Blind Children and how it treated it's students. The farmer invited us to pick corn from his field. I got the idea to pick one for myself and one for Karen. The next evening the Grautonwood kitchen staff cooked our corn. I never found out if Karen got the ear of corn I picked for her but I hope she did and enjoyed it. This incident taught me that despite things that were happening too me and around me I still had the power to love. I believe that that our week at Grautonwood also effected the Boston Center for Blind Children Staff that accompanied us including one lady many of us couldn't stand, but looking back she was doing her best to do the right thing for us. How surprised we wer when we were getting ready for breakfast following the Labor Day weekend that Mrs. Smith said, "It's too bad we had to come back to this zoo!" She was gone a week later. Some of us followed her departure and were placed into better educational settings so they thought. At least we were out of that Hell called the Boston Center for Blind Children.

	During my teen years I was a Boy Scout and participated in several scout camping trips also called campories. For me it was a case of "This is good but it's not enough."We wanted to achieve the high ranks and earn the required merit badges but the plan to help us accomplish this were never executed. Some of these Scouting activities were exactly what the doctor should have ordered to deal with someone with too much time on his hands, a high acheaver deprived of opportunities to unleash his creativity by participating in sports and recreational activities that interested him,  and a severe infatuation with a girl at another school for the blind. It wasn't until the Christmas of 2016 that I was finally able to put her memory to rest thanks to PTSD for so many years.

	During my time at the Oak Hill School for the Blind I participated in their summer camp program at Harkness Memorial State Park commonly referred to by us as Camp Harkness. Harkness was a mixed bag. We had the usual camp activities and went on some interesting field trips. I have fond memories of sleeping out on an area called the knole that was right on the beach. Those waves breaking against the shore could lull one to sleep in a hurry. Some of the most beautiful sunrises could be seen from the nole and along the Harkness beaches.

	Horse back riding was another of my favorite camp activities. We didn't just ride around in a ring. Our instructor had us follow her and her horse in a straight line so we'd know which way to go. We rode in the saddle and on some occasions bare-back even at a trot.

	Since those days Camp Harkness has undergone renovations to comply with the ADA and to make it easier for those with various disabilities to get around.

	Much to his credit unlike the Oak Hill School for the Blind itself that had a shameful record of employing the blind Coach Farina, the camp's Director strongly believed in hiring blind counselors and operated a program for blind C.I.T.s, (Counselors In Training.) During one of our sleep-outs on the nole two of the blind counselors accompanied us. Blind counselors and campers managed the camp-out just fine.

	Where Harkness missed the boat was in their not requiring campers to use their canes when traveling to distant parts of the park for some activities such as to the beach for swimming and some boating actibities, the cove for other boating activities, or to the stables for horse back riding. These areas were located quite a ways from the main camp area where the cabins and the dining room and other buildings were located. If they required that campers use their canes it would have been an opportunity for them to hone their travel skills and to convince them that they can function independently in a wide variety of environments such as out in the woods, on a hike or in camp grounds using well-tuned blindness skills. It would have been great if we could have had weekend camping trips during our years in school along with the chance to participate in other activities blind people were doing back then. It angers me that despite the fact that blind persons were playing golf during those years that our schools for the blind didn't provide opportunities for us to try this game for ourselves. Spending evenings on the driving range after homework was done would have been far better than being stuck in a dorm room being bored out of your mind. I hope this division will launch initiatives around the country to insure that blind children and adults of any age can have the chance to participate in whatever recreational activity or sport that interest them. 

The hour groweth late and I dumped out my heart on this one. Thanks for the refreshing thread concerning outdoor activities. I hope we can keep this discussion going and will see increased recreational opportunities for the blind in the coming years.

Peter Donahue