I learned to Swim at Walden Pond Before Thoreau was Cool

How many people can say they learned to swim on Walden Pond? Looking back, I guess I was quite lucky.
The above photo shows where the road was to the parking lot of "Camp Hart," a former day camp, located between Lincoln and Concord. In the late 50s, I attended that camp, right across the road from the Pond, and all the campers had their swimming lessons there. John thought it was interesting that I learned there, and that is how I decided to write about both. Recently, my husband and I drove 40 minutes to my old camp and to check out the area. We don't go often because of the crowds of tourists, so we chose a very overcast day when we knew it would be quiet. There were no original buildings on the private land.

An article in the Boston Globe stated, "The reservation will open for swimmers this year starting May 24." It seems there was a possibility of banning open-water swimming this year. Often, people have their strong opinions about swimming in the well-known Pond. They also have strong thoughts on water, as in drinking water. A little over a year ago, the town of Concord banned the sale of plastic bottles of water! So, when I went into their gift shop, I wasn't surprised to see water, but it was in a square box. I really should go back and take a photo of it. They don't mind you drinking water, just don't want plastic containers thrown around their town.

There is so much I don't remember about the camp. Was it co-ed, I doubt it. How many weeks did I go, no idea. The sad thing is, I don't remember any of the other camper's names. However, I do remember walking around the left side of the Pond to the railroad tracks and picking up bottles, cigarette butts, and other trash. A happier thing was picking raspberries on the property. We never went to Thoreau's now famous hut site.

WALDEN POND STATE RESERVATION

ESTABLISHED 1922

To preserve the Walden of Emerson and

Thoreau. About eighty acres of land were

given the commonwealth by deeds from

Edith E. Forbes et. al. and C. Fay Heywood et. al.

Other purposes of the gift was to allow

the public to enjoy the woods and nature

including bathing, boating, and fishing.

The Middlesex County Commissioners

constitute the reservation Commission

and expenses of care and improvement

are borne by the county.

As we walked down the hill, we saw the same old bathhouse. Now used for staff and lifeguards. Below, there is sand on two sides, however, it wasn't always like that. During the camp, the only beach was in front of the bathhouse.

Yes, it did rain on our parade. Below, you can see how easy it is to get to Thoreau's hut site.

We decided to walk around the Pond, a little over a mile. They have made nice improvements to the walkway, as it used to be very hilly, with rocks and tree roots everywhere.

 The Pond from the opposite side of the Bathhouse.

Plenty of students, having a history lesson. Yes, we had Walden to ourselves, except for a large group of students who surprised us at Thoreau's hut.

"I went to the woods  because

I wished to live deliberately,

to front only the essential

facts of life

and see if I could

not learn what it had to teach

and not, when I came to die,

 discover that I had not lived." Thoreau

(Note: During this time, he walked home, ate there, washed his clothes and met with friends.)

The large stones show the outline of where the hut was, and the smaller ones in the back were where the shed was.

  Raindrops and a few seconds of sunlight changed the color of the water to this lovely shade.

 Near the parking lot is a reconstructed hut, and his wood shed.

The Life of a Girl Scout in Alameda, California and Lexington, Massachusetts

My mother wrote on the back, Barbie Brownie

October 17, 1950

Alameda, California

Years later I'm working on a scout project in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Both of my Scout leaders loved to camp, so my Lexington, MA troop camped often. The above was at my leader's summer home in Rowe, MA (taken in April 1959).

Names on the backs of my photos above: Mrs. Marthe Osborne, Marsha Cameron, Mary Bea Lingane, Jane Connell, Judy Anthony, Ellen Fitzgerald, Nancy Collins, and Sally Warren.

The below photo was taken at a Girl Scout round-up in New Hampshire (Aug. 1960).

I have no memory of my Brownie days, except I received a pin. When I moved from California to Massachusetts, I was in the Lexington Scout group for about 7 years and had the best Scout leaders, only two of whom I remember their names, a Mrs. Anthony and the other (shown above with the cap) was Marthe Osborne. In the early days, we worked on badges, all the normal things each scout did. I especially enjoyed learning to cook Spanish rice and penuche. Our big trip was to New York City, and although I had already been there, this was extra fun because I was with friends and not my parents.

Our troop sold cookies every year, the first price I remember was $.35 a box. My neighbors bought boxes and boxes. The other annual thing we did was to march in the Patriot's Day Parade every April 19th in Lexington. Although it was a two-mile walk, I loved being waved at. Those two things are such nice memories.

Recently (August 2017) I returned to Lexington and drove around my old neighborhood. Here is the house where one of my leaders lived, and where we had many meetings. Thank you, troop leader, Mrs. Anthony. 

5

I continued on in Scouting when I moved to Chelmsford, MA going into my Senior year, and do remember my mother forcing me to wear my uniform to Church one Sunday. During several summers in Lexington, I went to a day camp, Camp Cedar Hill in Waltham, MA to help my mother who was a leader there. Prior to that, I went to two different Girl Scout summer camps, one was Camp Four Winds in Plymouth, MA., and Camp Helen Storrow also in that area, each was a two-week camp. Before these overnight Scout camps, I went to a day camp in Concord, called Camp Hart located at Walden Pond. My boating and swimming lessons were in Walden Pond!

All my experiences with Scout camping helped me get my first job. I clearly remember acting as an "adult" when I went to their headquarters on Joy Street in Boston and applied for a counselor position at Camp Runels in Pelham, New Hampshire for the summer of 1962. I got the job and worked there for 9 weeks for a salary of $400. Nice memories there, met a lot of friends and I grew up a little that summer. Also, remember being on the dock with my transistor radio hearing that Marilyn Monroe had died.

Almost 60 years after working at Camp Runels, I drove through the entrance and took a few photos. Sharing these brought back good memories.

Route 38 in Pelham is on the right.

I took this on the way out and didn't realize I was on private property until I was almost to the lake, then I turned back.

In front and behind my car. It was a beautiful cool morning.

Update of information: Recently, I discovered several entries in my baby book and am sharing them here.

1.  Brownies at age 7-Installation and Troop 120 meeting on Mon. P.M.'s. (Alameda, California)

2.  New Brownie troop - 20 at Mrs. Hamacher's. (Lexington, MA, 1954)  Anybody remember her daughter Susan?