Charlie Taylor’s recent ode to Camp Mahackeno reminded readers of the long-time summer institution in the woods off Wilton Road.
The Westport Weston Family YMCA has run programs there for over 70 years. (The original name — “Camp Bedford” — was quickly replaced)
Director Emily Regan is — like so many Mahackeno predecessors — hands-on, creative, and kid-oriented.
Some things have changed over the decades. Girls long ago joined boys; there are now 360 youngsters, during each 1-week session. (Spots fill up as soon as online registration begins.)
A pool and waterslide provide aquatic options; no one swims in the Saugatuck River anymore, and the huge “Moby Dick” Navy surplus life raft is long gone.
There’s a climbing wall. Bicyclists train for a triathlon.
But some things never change: arts and crafts. Archery.
And — it wouldn’t be camp without them — s’mores.
Take a peek below at Camp Mahackeno, 2023-style. If you have your own memories, click “Comments” below.
Staff breakfast.
(All photos courtesy of Westport Weston Family YMCA)
Camp M!!! What a wonderful evolution. Thanks Dan!
Wow, it looks like an amazing bunch of things going on there these days..They’ve got one of those water park splash zones now?! What a great summer life for the community’s kids! I’m sad to hear there isn’t swimming in the Saugatuck River anymore, but based on those beautiful pictures of river scenes, they surely still make use of it, so that’s great. Also, I only recently found out that was the body of water we swam in there, way back when I had gone there…I had no idea! 🙂
I remember the canoes that we paddled on the river; there was a dam/waterfall downstream which I feared I would go over. Field trips to West Point and the Bronx Zoo. The ancient school busses Mr. Lockwood transported us in with the school bus markings taped over. The wooden platforms with tents that each small group–with an assigned counselor, met in at the start of each day. Being stuck in the clubhouse when it rained as the counselors scrambled for things to keep us busy–I recall there only being two buildings.. And yes swimming in the river. Maybe it would have been more fun with girls, though at age 7 it probably didn’t matter much, and we did have female counselors to get crushes on. But for me this was all back in 1956 when I was between 2nd and 3rd grade at Greens Farms School (2nd grade was in Greens Farms Church due to overcrowding) , had a 25-cent allowance, the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn, Elvis was about to release “Hound Dog” (not that my parents ever listened to it so I never heard it) and the adjacent Merritt Parkway was the only divided interstate highway in town.