Dance New England

Camp & Rental Reports

Parameters of Rental Search:

We currently pay around $25,000 for 450 people (200 in cabins) for a 14-16 day camp before Labor Day. We have been looking for a site that can handle about 350-400 people for about 2 weeks or a site that can handle 600 for 7-9 days.

 

The Searchers:

Connecticut: Jim Cowles (1996) & Paul Freundlich fairtrd@CONNIX.COM (1997)

 

Maine: Bill McCarthy wrmcfs@AOL.COM (1996 & 1997)

 

Massachusetts: Kevin Benjamin kbenj@SHORE.NET & Bill McAvinney BMcAvinney@aol.com (both in 1996) & Bill Bassett BBassett@SIEBEL.COM, Sylvia Brallier SPIRITXTC@AOL.COM, Lori Rowan, ALisa Starkweather Alisastar@AOL.COM ( all in 1997)

 

New Hampshire: Bill McCarthy wrmcfs@AOL.COM (1996 & 1997)

 

New York: Anne Moss adm6558@IS4.NYU.EDU (1996 & 1997)

 

Vermont: Naomi Lindenfeld naomilin@SOVER.NET (1996) & Michael Beattie evernow@CONNRIVER.NET (1997)

Their Reports:

Jim Cowles (Connecticut 1996):

The files on the various sites are not available. I recall going on a YWCA camp in Torrington, CT with Paul F. and discussing the potentials around the Great Barrington Site.

 

Paul Freundlich (Connecticut 1997):

Nothing looked possible except for Camp Get Away. They hire staff (adult teachers, kitchen & childcare staff) for the summer. Their big weekend is Labor Day. They couldn't rent to us before Labor Day, let go of all their staff and then call the staff back for Labor Day weekend. Paul F. is waiting for a call from them last week in April 1998. He thinks their is a possibility that they might offer a deal that will work for us.

 

Bill McCarthy (Maine & New Hampshire & general coordinator of search '96 & '97):

Unfortunately, I fear that any search will be dificult for the following, interdependent, reasons and assumptions.

1. In our present configuration we need a site that can sleep 300 in cabins with availablity for two weeks before Labor Day
2. One of the two main concerns about Mataponi is that the waterfront is not private for nudity. It was only after we dropped the requirement of a nude waterfront that Mataponi was even considered.
3. the combination of these two requirements lead into circular problems. Any place big enough to handle us will almost assuredly be
   • on a less private lake and/or
   • be luxurious and expensive in order to support itself in it's regular season and/or
   • have ownership with more control issues than we ever encountered at Omni (at its worse) or even at Mataponi (which in the end had fewer control issues)

We did a fairly extensive search last time (1996-97) (as you are well aware) of New England and Eastern New York with the first two necessities in place and literally turned up nothing appropriate. The search entailed people calling all appropriate sites from the ACA (American Camping Association) directory. A follow up was going to be started about calling private boarding schools but never got very far. (see more history)

 

Bill McAvinney (Massachusetts 1996):

Covered 17 camps in 1996. Of these, the most interesting were YMCA Camp Hi Rock and Danbee. I stopped pursuing when Omni came through. Camp High-Rock is beautiful and secluded. The town of Mount Washington limits the camp to 400 campers. The kitchen is too small for us and they weren't available for 1996. But they might be available in future years. (1998 update - Hi Rock doesn't have enough suitable dance spaces for us.) I don't remember why Danbee was a problem. It might be the semi public waterfront. Maybe they were not getting back to me. Maybe they decided that they did not want to rent. I just don't remember other than Omni came through so everything was dropped.

 

Sylvia Brallier (Massachusetts 1997):

Covered 19 camps (4-H CAMP FARLEY through Camp Cedar Hill). Of these 1/2 were too small, 1/4 were not available and the others either had inappropriate settings or were too expensive.

 

Anne Moss (New York & Western Massachusetts 1996 and New York 1997):

During the 1996 & 1997 search, Anne delegated much of the phoning and visiting to Paul Marienthal, Matt Weinburd and Cheryl Luft. They used the "Guide to Accredited Camps". No one has been able to locate their recorded notes from the extensive search. But they all remember that not one camp was large enough for DNE and, at the same time, available in August. See below for the Camp Kinderland report. Another camp, which I did not follow through on, was described to me by Sarah Buermann (617) 524-0685. Camp Hochelaga in South Hero, Vermont has a waterfront more private than Mataponi but less private than Omni (nudity is possible). It has large canvas tents mounted on wooden platforms, each sleeping 5 or 8 people. These tents would have to be rented as well. There may not be any cabins.

 

Naomi Lindenfeld (Vermont 1996):

I did get some names out of that guide and made some phone calls, but unfortunately, I didn't take notes since the places I called were unsuitable. Mostly because they were too small. What I recall doing was that I called the director of Camp Wapanacki and I spoke with the woman about all the camps on Lake Fairlee. They were all too small. I also spoke with my friend, Molly Stoner, who is the director of Camp Waubanong. She didn't have any suggestions for me since all the camps she knew of were too small.

When I looked through the listing that you sent, it was confirmed again that the largest one listed there has 275 campers. That one is called Farnsworth and I may have spoken with that woman but I don't have a clear memory of doing that.

 

Michael Beattie (Vermont 1997):

My memory of those calls is a little sketchy. But I called every camp on the list that seemed like it might be big enough for us. I found the names of one or two camps not on the list, and the director of an alternate camping organization (not the list you supplied me). She had nothing in our size range, either. Also several camps in NY state.

I talked to the Girl Scout camp coordinator about camps they have in VT and NH close to the VT border, but either nothing suited us or nothing was available.

The general story kept repeating: the camps were all too small: capacity 200-250 max; and their schedules ran into the third week of August. Several expressed interest in DNE, but were unwilling or unable to make adjustments on their end to make it work.

I got a feeling that maybe in the Adirondacks there might be something suitable, but never followed up too far. Mataponi was found by then. However, the Adirondacks are even colder than VT, so we'd need an earlier time slot if we ever went there.

Specific Camp reports:

Becket Chimney Corners,YMCA/Becket in the Berkshires, MA:

Two camps in one, one larger than the other. Plenty of Cabins and dorms, Lots of Dance spaces, Large kitchen /dining room, Lodge. Private lake, nude ok, available and interested. Way out of our price range. - Sylvia Brallier '97

 

Runs through 8/17. Has dining capacity for 400 to 500. Each camp has 420 cabins. Gibson 300 seat, Art Center has hardwood floor, dining hall. Separate private lakes. - Bill McAvinney '96

 

Talked about renting all of one and some of the other. Ran into $$$$ issue and having to share a lot. Also available only one week. - Bill McCarthy '97

 

Camp Cody, Ossipee NH:

Camp Cody in Ossipee NH was interested. I visited, they were adequate in size and had nice facilities, but were close to a road and had frontage on a very large lake, although they did not care about the nudity and like at Maine Teen, they owned enough frontage to discourage prosecution under nudity in public charges. Encountered difficulty in our controlling the kitchen. At that time it looked like a possibility until we checked the math and figured they were expecting 10 times what he could pay. - Bill McCarthy '96

 

Camp Danbee, MA:

Can handle 350-400. Jay Toporoff (201) 402-0606 is contact. Cooking Ok. Dining Ok. Septic Ok. Cabins - similar to Omni. Tents - field spaces are available 260 acres total. Spaces - dance studio, gymnastic center, several other buildings. Waterfront - semi-public - Bill McAvinney '96

 

Camp Kinderland, MA:

9/97 Chris Stoney put us on to this site in the Berkshires. Sounds like Omni but perhaps smaller. owner and I talked at length, trying to go down next weekend. However, Owner was not convinced we could fit on the site and is not yet sure if new dining hall being planned will be ready. Sounds like it is of borderline size even with the new hall, but I will follow through if reps would like me to. 4/98 - correction on Kinderland; one more contact, hall didn't look like it was happening. Sounded too small from both me and the owner. Dropped. - Bill McCarthy '98

 

On September 3, 1997, Anne Moss phoned one of the members of the Board of Trustees of Camp Kinderland, Alice Schechter, regarding a possible mid-September visit to their site in Western Mass. (Her off-season Brooklyn number is (718) 643-0771). According to Christopher Stoney, the camp was formerly called Spruce Hill. The address is 1543 Colebrook River Rd, Tollard, MA. Their phone number during camping season is (413) 258-4463 or (413) 258-4809. I noticed that Tollard is near Exit 68 on Rt 84 - between Winsted, CT, Westfield, MA and Great Barrington, MA. (Someone suggested taking Rt 8 North and Rt. 57 East.) From phone conversations: The camp is located on 360 acres and has 20-30 buildings. 1) There's a brand new Dining Hall (see update 4/98 from Bill McCarthy above. This new Dining Hall never happened.) which seats 300 and has a great floor and 3600 sq feet. 2) There's an older dining hall of 2000 sq. ft. (about the size of the dining hall at Mataponi), which could serve as a large dance space, though it has 8 posts and a painted wooden floor which may be uneven in spots. 3) There are 5 or 6 other class spaces about the size of the Social Hall at Mataponi. 4) A stage is available in a barn (dimensions: 30 X 50 feet plus stage). All in all, there are about the same number of cabins as at Omni - with bunk space (hot water showers in every cabin) for 200 if the above-mentioned class spaces were used as sleeping cabins. 5) There is a great deal of tenting space. 6) There's a nice infirmary. 7) Childcare would be at Matti's House. 8) Drum Circle near the waterfront. 9) Basketball courts, a soccer field, a handball court. Beautiful murals and artwork done by the children to the theme of social justice adorn the camp. 10)The septic system may be borderline, portapotties would be necessary. 11) The waterfront is the biggest plus, due to beauty, space, and PRIVACY. There are gardens and a great lawn near it. There's a standard H-shaped dock and the lake has a sandy bottom, but there's little sand on the beach. The whole lake is surrounded by and owned by the camp. 12) Parking would be possible at the old landfill across the street. the biggest problem I see with this camp, without having seen it, is the small number of sleeping cabins. And I don't know anything about the kitchen but the camp was apparently available from August 15-Labor Day in 1997 and could be in 1998. Anne Moss 1998

 

Camp xxxxx, Waterford, ME:

Also talked at length with owner of Camp xxxxx (ME) on recommend of Ed Trenner. Camp looked beautiful. Would have been excellent set up, lots of dance spaces, open spaces, living, etc. but three main concerns 1) no private waterfront 2) owners wanted big bucks 3) sounded like they had heavy investment in facility and rep and would have had major control issues with us being there. They asked us to remove their name from our page because they did not want parents to come by this site! Carolyn has the name if you ever have a question about it. It is on Lake Sebago about 45 minutes from Portland Airport.

Camp Wekeela, ME:

Camp Weekeela in Canton, Maine: near Lewiston. Norupa sat next to owner on plane. Has beds for 450, seats 300 in dining hall, more private lake than Mataponi. No big dance space and perhaps not enough smaller spaces. Owner talked of renting floors and tents to get us there. I asked her what she expected to get for pay, she came back with $60,000. I then told her we were significantly less than 1/2 that at Mataponi . This slowed her down. Talked to Jay Stager about the site and owners. He recommended avoiding them, especially husband. Sounds like it is not the place for us. - Bill McCarthy '98

 

Camp Wing, MA:

Runs through August 24th. Dining - 2-300. Spaces - 1 dining hall, 200 seating Rec hall, 1 covered pavilion cement floor. - Bill McAvinney '96

Was ready to go look, but only one week, no nudity and iffy sleeping space. Primarily a day camp. - Bill McCarthy '97

Geneva Point, NH:

Geneva Point in Center Harbor, NH-Lake Winnapasaki. The Geneva Point facility is beautiful, very large, had no interest in us using the kitchen, very pricy as a result, very public on the waterfront, and very Christian (witha capital C) in philosophy. - Bill McCarthy '98

 

Mah-Kee-Nac, MA:

Not interested in renting - referred us to Danbee. Dining -300. Septic - 600. Cabins - 1-12,1-16 showers, 36-12person bunks,1-28 w shower, +senior staff cabins. Spaces - indoor gym facility-regulation sized basketball, indoor theatre w wood floor, indoor game room-former gym. Waterfront - heated pool, on Stockbridge Bowl - Bill McAvinney '96

 

Wicousuta, NH:

This was a good phone call/bad site. The camp was on a main road, had no privacy, looked ugly and you had to walk through a fairly conservative Jewish camp across the road to get to the waterfront. After calling this info into the Nov. rep meeting it was decide to return to Omni and the search was generally suspended.

 

Wind in the Pines, MA:

Only after Labor Day. Cabins - 1 for 25 all else is tenting - Bill McAvinney '96

 

YMCA Camp Hi Rock, MA:

Not available for summer 1996 - possibly 1997. Dining - 500-550 concrete floor. Septic - 400 limit with town. Cabins - 450-500 spaces. Spaces - hardwood floor bldg seats 250, columns in middle, lodge - houses 65 separate dining for 65 - 2 camps no dancing - low ceiling -community room in infirmary 30*45. 1000 acres at top of mountain, private lake. Adjoins state forest . Waterfront - private and beautiful. - Bill McAvinney '96

Last modified: Oct 3, 2000