From Jean Mann, Guilderland, NY:

I had to laugh at Mort Schlein's story in November's Readers Forum. What a good joke! Unfortunately, I don't think a camp would try to pull off one like that today.

I also attended Camp Wapanacki for three summers as a teenager and six weeklong sessions as an adult. By the time I arrived, we had bunkbeds with mattresses and sheets, although I always used my sleeping bag.

I run into people all the time at ACB state and national conventions who spent summers at Wapanacki, and most of us loved it. Some of our happiest memories are times we spent there, hiking into town, climbing Mount Mansfield, sleeping out under the stars, boating, singing, cooking over an open fire.

When I was there, the camp was divided into two Indian tribes, the Algonquins and the Iroquois. We had tribal competitions and cabin competitions, with winners announced at the banquet on the last night. I always hated to go home.

The adult sessions were like going to a resort for a week. The staff members were there to assist us in whatever we wanted to do. I thought of those weeks as my retreats away from work and my everyday obligations and responsibilities.

Alas, Camp Wapanacki was sold to the Girl Scouts in the early 1990's. I just learned that it's still called Camp Wapanacki, although I'm sure it's changed a great deal since we were there.