Tuesday January 9, 2001

11:15 a.m.: Gunner and I arrived...Noticed big foot prints, so we walked around. Discovered it was Dave Watkins working on Mom and Dad's cottage. We chatted for awhile. He and Gunner got acquainted. While talking we noticed large birds on the ice on the river. One flew toward the bank- it was an eagle. First time I'd seen eagles on this river. A red tailed hawk was also flying about.

2:30 p.m. Gunner and I took our walk around then had to head home. Phoebe's room is ready for paint on Thursday.

Saturday December 30, 2001

9 a.m.: Nick and I came down in the truck to meet Lee [Watkins]. The 1 really decent snowstorm of the season is beginning. Lee showed us the little heater under our cottage and the heater under the pump house. That's quite something. We discussed some changes to the cottage and I asked some questions. We were also shown the generator set up.

6 p.m.: Gunner and I walked the grounds. Getting cold, all quiet.

Wednesday December 27, 2001

1 p.m.: We assumed possession of the caretaker cottage key. Drove down through the grounds and spent one hour cleaning the cottage - just the beginning!! We are very excited!

Logs

This next part of the blog will be excerpts from the logs my mother kept during the years we lived at camp as the caretakers. Keep in mind that "I" is my mom, not me.

Mental Map

For those who have never been to Camp Bethel, or even for those who haven't been there in while, I would like to provide a mental image for you all, kind of like a map in your head.

As you drive or walk off the swing bridge leading from Moodus to Haddam, CT, there will be a road on your right. Camp Bethel Road to be exact. At 124 Camp Bethel Road is Camp Bethel with the wooden front gate standing open in the summer months and being locked after the last family goes home for the winter. Pull in through the gate and there will be a dirt road with hemlocks lining the sides. Be careful though and watch our for kids of all ages! On the left there will be a clearing where several RV's can park, several buildings where campers can stay, a volleyball net, and two buildings used for kid's bible study. Then there is a "y" in the road. You can choose to go right, past a pool, mini golf set and basket ball court. Or you can go left, down to the point of "Carl's Park". A well manicured green with shrubs and a wooden fence to keep animals and little kids out. Carl could be seen mowing, raking, and pruning just about everyday on that small swatch of fluffy grass.

At the point of Carl's Park is another "y". Going left will take you down a little back road past a parking lot, behind the chapel and down between a row of cottages. This part of the road system is a dead end in the part of camp known as the "north grounds". If there were a brave driver, he or she could continue into the woods on an old logging path. Back to the point of Carl's Park, going right will take you down what may be considered the main road of camp, or the loop road. It goes down the side of Carl's Park, past the dining hall, Memorial hall, Bethel hall, the Helping Hand building, and then a string of cottages starts at the top of a small hill. This road doesn't end; it goes through the row of cottages called the "south grounds" and curves back around to the area with the pool and basketball court.

Across from the dining hall is a very short road that leads to a dead end past the "caretaker's cottage", where the current caretaker of the grounds and buildings lives, to a covered pavilion called the "preacher's stand". This is where the adults have bible studies in the summer, they can listen to the speaker and if they want, turn their head to the left to look out over Fairview park and the CT River beyond.

Some of the other buildings on camp are the Nurse's building for when camp groups rent the other buildings that hold twelve to fourteen beds (bunks). These buildings are clustered around the recreation areas and are named after trees: beech, maple, oak, birch, pine and so on.

Cleansing the Ivy

Looking over the crudely made blue fence I saw a tangle of green ivy and tiger lilies that had been growing untamed on the sloped embankment for far too long. It seemed as if the two plant species had become one. Bored and energetic I decided that it would be much nicer to look at if the plants were untangled and made separate. I walked across the dirt road and down a small hill to the shop where all the tools and lawnmowers are stored for ground and building maintenance. I grabbed a rake, and a pair of clippers.

The embankment I began to conquer is behind the pump house, one of the favorite places for kids and adults alike during the summer. Ice cream and candy are sold there during the warm serene evenings. Often you have to walk through a crowd of family and friends to ask for a seventy five cent strawberry shortcake or a dollar ice cream cookie sandwich. The smell of the tiger lilies and a fresh breeze coming off the river made the pump house a supreme place to hang out and look at the river through the trees while visiting with folks.

I spent a good four hours attacking those plants. In the end I managed to untangle the trailing ivy so that it hung in long rows like green hair, and raked all the dead leaves that had been mulching the soul for several seasons. In retrospect I wonder if maybe I was trying to make order of my life; separating high school from home life, religion from something else, while trying at the same time to get rid of frustrated energy. The weather was getting colder, making it easy to stay inside where it was warm and cabin fever could strike.

When I was done, my dirty hands put the tools away and I went to get mom to show her what I had done. She was very impressed, making me at the time burst with pride. Every time I walked by the pump house I would check the area I had cleared, looking for invasive weeds that might make the clean soil look unorganized. Next time I go to camp the pump house is sure to be on my list of destinations for visiting people, and I will probably look over the rough blue fence to see what has assaulted the ivy's habitat.

Gunner

When I was eight years old, my parents bought a four year old rottweiler. When we went to pick the dog up, the owner let me hold the leash. The rotty never tried to pull me or runaway; he was the gentlest animal my young being had ever come into contact with. Gunner was trained by his owner to be extremely obedient, he would sit, lie down, and stay for however long you told him too. He let me dress him up in a wedding veil one time and would gently wrestle with me. You were also able to walk him with no leash and he would never leave your side.

When we moved to camp it was undetermined whether we could keep Gunner or not. The caretaker's cottage was a very narrow building, rectangular in shape. It was painted a sage green, making it look like a huge celery stick. The president of camp at that time did allow us to keep Gunner and for that my parents and I were very thankful. My mother had always had a dog and I had never lived without one that I could remember. Soon Gunner changed the stereotypical mean reputation of rottweilers world wide for the people at camp. He became the unofficial mascot of camp and everyone loved him.

The ongoing joke at camp is that it takes two hours to get from destination A to destination B. It's true. In this case when walking with Gunner both young and old campers alike would stop and visit with Gunner. He loved it. His people skills, whatever they were before he came to us, were multiplied tenfold during his years at camp with us.

When we first moved to camp and nobody knew Gunner yet, one of the camp members met him in an unorthodox way. It was the fall season and nobody was staying at camp. Wayne Poglitsch was fixing something under a sink in a cottage and he left the front door open. Next thing you know, Wayne turns around and sees a one hundred and fifteen pound rottweiler sitting right behind him, staring. Wayne recalls later "I didn't know what to do, where he cam from or who the dog belonged to. But man he scared me bad!" Wayne and Gunner became very good friends after they met each other officially.

Another time, our old pastor Dave Watkins, was working in a trench in the same season. He and Gunner had known each other for a while now and I think Dave was one of Gunner's favorite people. Dave happened to leave the shovel by his truck when Gunner came by to say hi. Dave told Gunner to get the shovel for him not expecting anything to come of it. Next thing Dave knows Gunner is dragging the shovel over to him!

There are very many fond memories of Gunner and the life he shared with us. To make it short and sweet the day Gunner died it rained and a beautiful rainbow appeared over the CT River. There are many pictures of this famous rainbow, unfortunately the one shown here is a different one.