A pretty homogenous
group consisting of Italians from the Bronx (and maybe some others, but they
converted) that were part of “send city kids into the woods" projects were
staying at camps on a lake up near Bear Mountain.
By swimming or boating
across that lake, they discovered a wonderfully enchanted land. First they brought dates to this land for picnics, and
over time those picnics rapidly progressed through sleep overs in tents, to platforms and finally hand
built cabins allowing them to spend more time Up the Lake.
The relationships of the dating couples also
grew…into families.
Large, loving, loud families
For the next four to
five generations, the descendants of that original group, (plus some very
special friends who might as well be family) had a continuous series of crazy
story and lifelong bond generating adventures every summer in, on and around those cabins and that Lake.
And now, after more than ninety years, it’s over.