Campers at Columbus?
- Thread starter Sean Barry
- Start date
Sean,
Since you have been posting here I though I would pass this on to you in this thread. There is a video at the below link you may find interesting. If anyone else has been following his personal stories you may find this interesting also. Sean...I hope you enjoy it. I will be deleting it within a week or so.
It is a direct download so as soon as you click, it downloads.
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/islandtee/NearKresson.zip
Guy
Since you have been posting here I though I would pass this on to you in this thread. There is a video at the below link you may find interesting. If anyone else has been following his personal stories you may find this interesting also. Sean...I hope you enjoy it. I will be deleting it within a week or so.
It is a direct download so as soon as you click, it downloads.
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/islandtee/NearKresson.zip
Guy
TeeGate said:
Oh my, this is the month for bygone times to come flooding back. There sure is a lot of vegetation in the parcel now, and traffic is pretty heavy where it was pretty light in 1962 (but they drove fast then too), and a signal? who needs a signal? I can't quite make out the channel where I used to fish but water being water it must be there unless they did an Army Corps thing and realigned the creek. Of course "Masterpiece Crafts" has a website and there they admit that it was originally the Baptist Chapel. Funny how large things look when you're twelve and how small they look in video some 43 years later, but that's the place and I'm shocked that it's still there. I'll have to drop them an e-mail and see if they want to sell it back.
Guy, thanks. That was beyond thoughtful.
Sean
Sean Barry said:
No problem. If I am ever passing that way again I will check out the lake. I also talked to my mom and she said that the son of the man who lived next door still lives nearby there (Marlton Lakes), so if I can find him online I will write to him. He would be around your age or slightly older so he may have some recollections of the church.
Guy
OK, since I'm in a storytelling mood and am besides that somewhat shocked and elated to see that old "family church" is still with us, here is our history with the Kresson Baptist Church.
My family once owned the Baptist Curch in Kresson that now houses the "Masterpiece Crafts" local artisan outlet on route 73 at Kresson Road, across from Kresson Lakes. I'm a little fuzzy (at 55 I guess that's normal) about when my father acquired the building, but it must have been in 1960 or 1961, because I remember going there during the summer after fifth grade (1960-61). My father (Francis Leo Barry, b. 1918 in Orange, NJ) was in the municipal supply business--he sold everything from road signs to street sweeper brooms (big heavy cast iron things), and his customers were local and statewide municipalities. A major source of income was selling and installing one-off street signs--we installed many of the original street signs in the then fledgling development called Cherry Hill (pre-Cherry Hill Mall). He originally had a warehouse in Gibbsboro which was convenient for him because he was a member of the Gibbsboro-based Square Circle Sportsmans Club (which I see still exists) and he liked to practice his archery after work every spring and summer day. The Gibbsboro site proved too small so he went warehouse shopping, and one day he announced that he was going to buy an old church in Marlton. I'm sure there were lots of reasons why he liked the site and the building (he always had an appreciation for antiques and history and especially for historical antiques and buying a 1860's church was perfect for him), but one was that it was truly in the country and he could shoot out back against a hay bale backstop. The building was also much larger than the Gibbsboro warehouse, and I imagine that the mortgage was probably less than the rent in Gibbsboro. At any rate, suddenly we found ourselves the "proud" owners of a very dilapidated old country church (a year or two later he bought an ancient fire truck that he kept alongside the church for awhile, and I guess we were probably the only family in Haddonfield New Jersey that simultaneously owned a church and a fire truck).
We worked on weekends (and my father worked every day) to bring it up to snuff--well I remember walking the rafters with my brothers and sister to clean up pigeon nests, removing weeds by hand, installing shelves inside and out. The pews were already long gone--as a woodworker I think wistfully about the potential those pews might have had, both historically and (if they insisted on junking them) as very well-seasoned hardwood. After a couple of months of steady work the warehouse was ready, and National Supply and Equipment (Frank Barry, prop.) moved into its Marlton location. My father used the extended room in the back as his office, and I remember very clearly coming to work with him during the summer and talking to him in that room (in a Catholic church it would have been the sacristy). We also would sometimes visit on school holidays--my mother would get hoagies at the deli if it was raining (I don't know if they still do but rain and hoagies just seemed to go together) and we'd sit in that little room with the rain pouring down the window, to the sound of the sizzling radiator. I also often fished in the channel cut on the same side of Rte. 73 as the church, over by Braddock Mills Road, the outflow from Kresson Lakes. It was a great place for bullheads and snapping turtles, but I also remember catching eels and I think bass as well. I was a budding naturalist and scientist and I wandered all around looking for small creatures (especially reptiles and amphibians), and I remember that the side roads off Braddock Mills were treasure troves of habitat and wildlife.
When I was a freshman in high school (1964-65) my father woke up one morning in April with a massive, crippling headache and was dead a couple of hours later of a cerebral hemmorhage, at age 46 (he was a WWII vet and is buried in Beverly National Cemetery, Beverly NJ). Unlike my father, my mother was not from New Jersey, she was from southern California, and by that provenance she even then was something of a stranger in a strange land. She was confronting a number of realities, particularly that my father had recently cancelled his life insurance policy, and that she was about to experience widowhood at age 38 with three children age 11-14, no employment history past 1948, and no college to speak of. She decided that we would have a better future in California and so she sold our house in Haddonfield and we left New Jersey on November 23, 1965 (my birthday, also my father's birthday). We settled with my grandmother in southern California, I eventually went north to UC Davis and became a biologist and herpetologist and here I am 41 years later with grown children and grandchildren. My father's business went into foreclosure because of debts he owed to suppliers, and during the summer of 1965 they cleaned out the church and went away with everything but the church itself, which was not considered part of the business. My mother later said that it was a blessing in disguise because even though we lost whatever we might have been able to get for the stock, she would have had to try to sell it in a market that she knew nothing about. She decided to hang on to the church, and indeed she rented it (I believe also to warehouse businesses) until finally she sold it in December 1976. My mother passed away in 1999 at 73.
For our family, the church was much like having a very elderly and very interesting relative always in the house, but someone whose demands were actually much less than than one might assume given that he was OLD and had lots of character. To know that the long lost relative lives and seems still to thrive after so many decades is a source of great satisfaction.
Thanks
Sean Barry
My family once owned the Baptist Curch in Kresson that now houses the "Masterpiece Crafts" local artisan outlet on route 73 at Kresson Road, across from Kresson Lakes. I'm a little fuzzy (at 55 I guess that's normal) about when my father acquired the building, but it must have been in 1960 or 1961, because I remember going there during the summer after fifth grade (1960-61). My father (Francis Leo Barry, b. 1918 in Orange, NJ) was in the municipal supply business--he sold everything from road signs to street sweeper brooms (big heavy cast iron things), and his customers were local and statewide municipalities. A major source of income was selling and installing one-off street signs--we installed many of the original street signs in the then fledgling development called Cherry Hill (pre-Cherry Hill Mall). He originally had a warehouse in Gibbsboro which was convenient for him because he was a member of the Gibbsboro-based Square Circle Sportsmans Club (which I see still exists) and he liked to practice his archery after work every spring and summer day. The Gibbsboro site proved too small so he went warehouse shopping, and one day he announced that he was going to buy an old church in Marlton. I'm sure there were lots of reasons why he liked the site and the building (he always had an appreciation for antiques and history and especially for historical antiques and buying a 1860's church was perfect for him), but one was that it was truly in the country and he could shoot out back against a hay bale backstop. The building was also much larger than the Gibbsboro warehouse, and I imagine that the mortgage was probably less than the rent in Gibbsboro. At any rate, suddenly we found ourselves the "proud" owners of a very dilapidated old country church (a year or two later he bought an ancient fire truck that he kept alongside the church for awhile, and I guess we were probably the only family in Haddonfield New Jersey that simultaneously owned a church and a fire truck).
We worked on weekends (and my father worked every day) to bring it up to snuff--well I remember walking the rafters with my brothers and sister to clean up pigeon nests, removing weeds by hand, installing shelves inside and out. The pews were already long gone--as a woodworker I think wistfully about the potential those pews might have had, both historically and (if they insisted on junking them) as very well-seasoned hardwood. After a couple of months of steady work the warehouse was ready, and National Supply and Equipment (Frank Barry, prop.) moved into its Marlton location. My father used the extended room in the back as his office, and I remember very clearly coming to work with him during the summer and talking to him in that room (in a Catholic church it would have been the sacristy). We also would sometimes visit on school holidays--my mother would get hoagies at the deli if it was raining (I don't know if they still do but rain and hoagies just seemed to go together) and we'd sit in that little room with the rain pouring down the window, to the sound of the sizzling radiator. I also often fished in the channel cut on the same side of Rte. 73 as the church, over by Braddock Mills Road, the outflow from Kresson Lakes. It was a great place for bullheads and snapping turtles, but I also remember catching eels and I think bass as well. I was a budding naturalist and scientist and I wandered all around looking for small creatures (especially reptiles and amphibians), and I remember that the side roads off Braddock Mills were treasure troves of habitat and wildlife.
When I was a freshman in high school (1964-65) my father woke up one morning in April with a massive, crippling headache and was dead a couple of hours later of a cerebral hemmorhage, at age 46 (he was a WWII vet and is buried in Beverly National Cemetery, Beverly NJ). Unlike my father, my mother was not from New Jersey, she was from southern California, and by that provenance she even then was something of a stranger in a strange land. She was confronting a number of realities, particularly that my father had recently cancelled his life insurance policy, and that she was about to experience widowhood at age 38 with three children age 11-14, no employment history past 1948, and no college to speak of. She decided that we would have a better future in California and so she sold our house in Haddonfield and we left New Jersey on November 23, 1965 (my birthday, also my father's birthday). We settled with my grandmother in southern California, I eventually went north to UC Davis and became a biologist and herpetologist and here I am 41 years later with grown children and grandchildren. My father's business went into foreclosure because of debts he owed to suppliers, and during the summer of 1965 they cleaned out the church and went away with everything but the church itself, which was not considered part of the business. My mother later said that it was a blessing in disguise because even though we lost whatever we might have been able to get for the stock, she would have had to try to sell it in a market that she knew nothing about. She decided to hang on to the church, and indeed she rented it (I believe also to warehouse businesses) until finally she sold it in December 1976. My mother passed away in 1999 at 73.
For our family, the church was much like having a very elderly and very interesting relative always in the house, but someone whose demands were actually much less than than one might assume given that he was OLD and had lots of character. To know that the long lost relative lives and seems still to thrive after so many decades is a source of great satisfaction.
Thanks
Sean Barry
Thanks for the info Sean. I will pass it along to my mom who has lived in Marlton since 1955. Along with my brother we all remember what it looked like back in the 60's because we would visit Mike Jarvis next door on occasion. This for me was after you had left.
Did you write Masterpiece Crafts and pass on the info?
And thinking about this has also brought back memories of Mike Jarvis. He would stop in to our house usually around dinner time and talk to us while we ate. He was the first person I ever heard mention the word "computer" that I can remember. He told my dad the future was there and that was in the 60's. He is buried in Locustwood Cemetery in Cherry Hill right near my dad.
I may have another video for you one day. This one I will send directly. It may take a while to get it.
Guy
Did you write Masterpiece Crafts and pass on the info?
And thinking about this has also brought back memories of Mike Jarvis. He would stop in to our house usually around dinner time and talk to us while we ate. He was the first person I ever heard mention the word "computer" that I can remember. He told my dad the future was there and that was in the 60's. He is buried in Locustwood Cemetery in Cherry Hill right near my dad.
I may have another video for you one day. This one I will send directly. It may take a while to get it.
Guy
Just had a chance to read that last story. Fascinating, almost melancholy yet inspiring tales of youth regarding places so close. This is moot but I can only say that am so sorry for the sadnesses of your tale. I couldn't imagine. Thank you so much for writing.
g.
g.
It was a pleasure to find this site this evening. The timing of its start is quite a coincidence.
I was a camper at Camp Columbus, as best as I can remember in 1965 and 1966 (I was 8 my first year and in the cub camp, it was my first sleep away experience.) I'm not sure what happened in '67; by 1968 I was going to scout camp in upstate ny.
I haven't thought about the Camp Columbus for many years. This week I am vacationing with my family in Lavallette and noticed a map in an Ocean County brochure that showed Bamber Lake. Being less than 20 miles away, I convinced my daughter to accompany me to the lake today. The camp buildings are all gone, but the set up of the recreation area is still very camp like and I am certain I was able to point out to my daughter where my cabins were and what I remember of the dining hall, etc. Seeing the "Welcome" photo in this thread tells me my memory is pretty good.
I am a bit younger than Sean, so my memories of the camp do not include the details of the administrators and chaplan. But I echo his thoughts on my first introduction to the wonders of natural and historic New Jersey, as well as the music (I also recall the counsellors singing "My Girl" and "Under the Boardwalk" in pretty good harmony.)
Being an eight year old who was afraid of his shadow, the ghost hunt and ghost tales had the biggest impact on my memory. I remember the counsellors telling us the tale of the Murder at Bamber (which I subsequently read in one of Henry Carlton Beck's books.) I recall there was an old frame building with a wooden porch that I want to say was down near the dam. Stains on the porch were shown to us in the dead of night as the permanent stains left by the murdered man's body. I also recall going for a hike throught the woods that started near the dining hall and ended up at a ruined bridge or railroad tressle where we were shown the place where the murdered man's body was hidden. Does any of this sound familiar, Sean?
Did the Canteen sell anything other than Bonomo Turkish Taffy?
One thing I remember very clearly is the name of one of my cabin mates. Peter Jennings. He would always introduce himself as "without the news" to distinguish himself from another Peter Jennings who was beginning to make a name for himself in network news.
I was a camper at Camp Columbus, as best as I can remember in 1965 and 1966 (I was 8 my first year and in the cub camp, it was my first sleep away experience.) I'm not sure what happened in '67; by 1968 I was going to scout camp in upstate ny.
I haven't thought about the Camp Columbus for many years. This week I am vacationing with my family in Lavallette and noticed a map in an Ocean County brochure that showed Bamber Lake. Being less than 20 miles away, I convinced my daughter to accompany me to the lake today. The camp buildings are all gone, but the set up of the recreation area is still very camp like and I am certain I was able to point out to my daughter where my cabins were and what I remember of the dining hall, etc. Seeing the "Welcome" photo in this thread tells me my memory is pretty good.
I am a bit younger than Sean, so my memories of the camp do not include the details of the administrators and chaplan. But I echo his thoughts on my first introduction to the wonders of natural and historic New Jersey, as well as the music (I also recall the counsellors singing "My Girl" and "Under the Boardwalk" in pretty good harmony.)
Being an eight year old who was afraid of his shadow, the ghost hunt and ghost tales had the biggest impact on my memory. I remember the counsellors telling us the tale of the Murder at Bamber (which I subsequently read in one of Henry Carlton Beck's books.) I recall there was an old frame building with a wooden porch that I want to say was down near the dam. Stains on the porch were shown to us in the dead of night as the permanent stains left by the murdered man's body. I also recall going for a hike throught the woods that started near the dining hall and ended up at a ruined bridge or railroad tressle where we were shown the place where the murdered man's body was hidden. Does any of this sound familiar, Sean?
Did the Canteen sell anything other than Bonomo Turkish Taffy?
One thing I remember very clearly is the name of one of my cabin mates. Peter Jennings. He would always introduce himself as "without the news" to distinguish himself from another Peter Jennings who was beginning to make a name for himself in network news.
Good post Luke! We are swimming in memories. Great stuff! Do either you or Sean remember the canal and small pond that is now dried up? It ran parrallel to the Cooks Branch that entered Bamber Lake. I always wondered what it was for.
Here's an interesting drawing. Can anyone besides Ben and Guy tell me about the details of it? What does it show?
http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10011/normal_cedar_crest2a.JPG
http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10011/normal_cedar_crest2a.JPG
Wow, it looks like this thread has become something of a Camp Columbus reunion, 
that is pretty cool. Interesting thread. I haven't got much to add but wanted to mention that I am following it and find it interesting. Anytime I can hear stories of the pinebarrens, in the decades before I knew it, Hell, decades before I knew anything, I listen/read intently.
Jeff
that is pretty cool. Interesting thread. I haven't got much to add but wanted to mention that I am following it and find it interesting. Anytime I can hear stories of the pinebarrens, in the decades before I knew it, Hell, decades before I knew anything, I listen/read intently.Jeff
intersection of lacey and dover roads. lacey station? also looks like a train in the picture.bobpbx said:
