Summer is over — realistically, if not literally.
Kids are back in school. If they still write that traditional “What I did over summer vacation” essay — hundreds of Westport boys and girls will recount their weeks at Camp Mahackeno.
They’ve done it for 80 years. The Westport Weston Family YMCA’s camp has grown and evolved quite a bit, since the original Y camp began in 1938, at Doubleday Field (between Saugatuck and Kings Highway Elementary Schools — or, as they were then known, Staples High and Bedford Junior High).
No photos exist from the original camp at Doubleday. This is an early scene from the present Mahackeno site.
That first year 58 boys enjoyed sports, nature study, crafts, songs, storytelling, and swimming at Compo Beach.
In 1942 the Y was offered 32 acres, near the then-new Merritt Parkway.
F.T. Bedford — son of the Y’s founder, Edward T. Bedford — said his family’s trust would pay half the price, provided the town ponied up the other half.
Within a few weeks, Westporters pledged their portion: $10,000.
In 1945 — exactly 80 years ago — the YMCA camp had a home of its own.
An early scene: Pledge of Allegiance.
The next year — at F.T. Bedford’s request — the name was changed to “Mahackeno.” That honored “Mahackemo” (with an “m”), a chief of the Norwalke Indian tribe who in 1639 met Roger Ludlow and traded land between the Saugatuck and Norwalk Rivers — including that very spot — for wampum and other goods.
Generations of boys swung on a rope suspended from the parkway bridge, clambered over (and almost drowned under) a giant World War II-surplus float, and swam, canoed and fished in the river.
Fun on the river.
They played baseball on dusty fields, did arts and crafts in rustic cabins, and slept out in the woods.
There was boxing, too.
Girls joined Camp Mahackeno in 1969,
It expanded over the years. Mahackeno now includes a heated outdoor pool with a splash pad, a dock for canoeing and paddle boating, 2 large slides, a climbing and bouldering wall, laser tag and mini-golf.
Campers also enjoy an archery pavilion, playgrounds, a gaga pit, basketball courts, sports fields, picnic areas, fire pits, wooded trails, and an amphitheater.
This year, over 1,000 youngsters attended Mahackeno. Plenty are 2nd, even 3rd, generation campers.
They were joined by nearly 200 teenage and young adult counselors — many of whom had been campers themselves.
Registration for Camp Mahackeno’s next season begins in January.
Until then, enjoy these photos of the early years.
(Most photos courtesy of Westport Weston Family YMCA archives)
In 1953 — 8 years after the camp opened at Mahackeno — Westport artist Stevan Dohanos drew this Saturday Evening Post cover.
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