Received this from 1981 White Team Color War Leader and Senior Play star Russ Gewirtz (Conrad Birdie), he couldn't sing, but he looked hot in the spandex! Russ has recently written the hugely successful hollywood blockbuster "Inside Man", which is not about the guy who cleaned the toilets at Swago. Buy a copy when it comes out on DVD! I wonder if the movie has made it to Callicoon?
Saturday Morning: 11:30 am. The Gewirtzes wake up, and Maura asks me if we can get in the car and take a trip out of the city, overnight. Now, i'm a lazy ass, so i don't really feel like it, but then I think, I know how I can make this enjoyable for me, and please her as well."OK, Baby. How about if we take a trip up to my old summer camp? We'll stay in Callicoon, NY. It'll be really nice.""Really?" she says. "That sounds great." So we packed and got in the car and headed up there. First stop, Callicoon, and the Western Hotel, built in 1852. Run by Mr. Joe Naughton since 1970 - A nice fellow. $100 for the night. Walked Callicoon, which hasn't changed. Movie theater still open. Running "The Sentinel", and "Tsotsi". It's hard to imagine citizens of Callicoon going to see Tsotsi, a South African film, subtitled, but who am I to pre-judge? Dinner at the 1906 Restaurant, and an excellent meal from a varied gourmet menu. Filet Mignon, sashimi grade tuna, great wine list. Not that I bother with wine. Woke up today and headed for Swago. And here are the photos to prove it:
First stop, the Cadet bunk (viewed from the road).I sure hope all the Cadets got out before this happened.
This was the volleyball court. Social hall on the right side in the background.
Dave's house, and was this field called the Polo Grounds?
Mess Hall, or what's left of it, seen from the Road.
Rear of the Infirmary, viewed from the road. It's holding up quite nicely, which is fortunate, because the rest of the camp's condition is enough to make you sick.
Squash wall near the Baseball Diamond and the tennis courts. It was nice to see something still bearing the name. Can't believe this thing is still standing.
Canteen is still standing. No sign of the Gonzaleses.
Brody's House across the lake. Nobody home, but still in fine shape.
Blumstein House next door. Sign on the front says "The Blumsteins."That was nice to see.
Drove on to Galilee. This was the General store. Closed. Bummer. Really needed some licorice and fly paper.
On the way out of town, I saw a sign to another town and couldn't resist a visit. Can anyone identify this location? Serious extra credit.
16 comments:
Lake Huntington?
White Lake Water Ski Dock. (I drove the boat one summer.)
err, I mean Lake Huntington, I think,.. all I remember from that summer is the night My Place went out of business.
I remember the water ski lake and that shack. The walls represented Swago/Swatonah's version of the National Enquirer, who was dating who at the time.
Did anyone remember to rescue the infamous "Red Dragon" water ski?
I believe Memory Lane still exists as well as Hawkeye's legend!
Spread the Word! "Camp Swatonah Here I Come" is a group on Facebook! Now everyone can join! Bonnie Turner (now Waldes)
By the way, Bryan is my son! LOL! Bonnie Turner
I guess Lake Huntington also.
My daughter went to camp near Swatonah so on her visiting day, we drove to Swat (about 4 years ago). How sad. The buildings were all but falling down, there were trees growing out of the tennis courts, the grass was waist-high...you couldn't even see the lake from the flagpole. I cried.
Carole Kaplan - '54-'64
Jim Lerman 54-63
Definitely the water ski area at Lake Huntington, my home away from home away from home. What's deceiving is that the driveway is gone (covered with grass). I recall it was gravel, not paved. The bottom of the lake was just as mucky as Swago Lake. That was an incentive for me to get up from the very start. I hated having to walk through that muck.
Anyone remember the hotel on the hill above the lake. I think it closed about 1960. Huntington Lodge or something like that?
I remember racing back to camp at about 80 miles an hour (at least it seemed that way) in about a 1954 Plymouth or Dodge, with a 3-speed column shift. I thought it was the greatest (maybe 13 years old), also thought I was gonna die.
I just visited my neices camp in Maine today for visiting day. My boyfriend of 8 years and I went on the second day which I thought was strange. When I went to Camp Swago we only had visiting day once a summer. We got back to the hotel tonight and I went on line and google searched Swago and saw that Dave died and all these horrible pictures of Swago. I went to the camp for 8 great years and miss those days sooo much. I am very sad to hear that the camp shut down and never re opened. If anyone remembers Gregg Busch that is me.gbusch@fsavings.com
water ski place
ok how do you get to camp from say glen spey or prt jervis???
I know the place. gallilee
looks like the geneneral store in hancock
general store in hancock?
wow..these pictures break my heart
Sad to see the condition of the camp. I was there 1947-1948. I wish I could remember more but I only have very small snippets of memory left. I certainly remember my nature counselor, "Muley".
Peter
Is this site still active?
Worked in Swago's kitchen '74.
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