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Pine Tree at SixtyBy Esther Perne )
This season, the wooded approach to Pine Tree Camp on North Pond in Rome is lined with hand-lettered signs: "We're glad you're here"... "the tradition continues"... "60 years strong." Sixty years is a remarkable anniversary for this beautiful camp, one of very few in the nation that provides a residential and fully accessible camp experience to children and young adults with physical and developmental disabilities. Campers get to enjoy boating and fishing; kayaking and swimming, soccer, archery, baseball and basketball. They get to participate in crafts, drama, cookouts, campfires. They get close to the outdoors, nature, the most beautiful sunsets on North Pond. They make friends — perhaps for the first time ever in their lives — and become ready to take on new challenges. They get to forget they are different; disabilities don't matter. 
Pine Tree Camp came into being in the summer of 1945 when Bath-based Pine Tree Society rented the then l00-acre camp for just $600. The mission of the Pine Tree Society, founded in 1936, is to help people in Maine with disabilities lead richer, more socially connected lives; Pine Tree Camp was a "bold new idea." Seventy-five children with disabilities attended camp that first summer. There were three rustic buildings, not handicapped accessible, and a few paths. There were barriers to mobility, difficulties for smooth programming, and definitely a scarcity of equipment, but the experiment worked. The magic of the lakeside camp experience took hold. A tradition was born; some campers would return well into their adult years. This year, sixty seasons later, five hundred campers will attend Pine Tree Camp; a staff of 80 will oversee them. For Camp Director Harvey Chesley and Assistant Director Dawn Willard their jobs are year-round; there is no down time. 
Dozens of accessible buildings are connected by paved pathways. One cabin can accommodate severe cases where parents must accompany a child to camp. Everywhere that campers go — athletic fields, campfire areas, the waterfront, cabins, infirmary, and spacious dining/meeting hall — is barrier free. Even the new Adam Bailey Nature Trail, which leads to a rustic campsite with accessible outhouses, is surfaced with packed gravel for easy use by wheelchairs and crutches. The even newer fishing pier is completely accessible. The tennis and basketball courts, still in the planning phase, will be, too. As its facilities have been developed, so have Pine Tree Camp's land holdings, which now comprise 250 acres. A ten-year management plan in conjunction with an independent forester and the Kennebec Soil and Water Conservation District is in place for its woodlands. Wildlife habitat is being brought back by opening some former pastureland. And, Pine Tree is working with United States Department of Agriculture grant money to reduce soil erosion and improve the camp road. 
What spans the sixty years most of all is an incredible story of generosity, giving, caring and love. It is the story of fundraisers, of raising buildings, of volunteer property maintenance. It is the story of no applicant's ever being turned away because of an inability to afford the tuition — currently $1,400 — and the assurance that none ever will. It is the reward of sharing, of reaching out and making possible the experience of summer camp that so many able bodied take for granted. The message from Pine Tree at 60 is thank you to all the people — the private donors, businesses, and volunteers — who have made 60 years possible. Thank you for making a difference in the lives of the campers, and in their families. What lies ahead for Pine Tree Camp? The Society's recently re-evaluated goals are to become more socially active, more a part of the community. The new slogan is "Discovering Abilities Together." It's a slogan that makes way for a long and productive future. 
Pine Tree Camp celebrated its 60th Anniversary with an Open House on Saturday, July 23 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Call 443-3341 or visit www.pinetreesociety.org for more information. | ||