Camp Becket
Encyclopedia
Camp Becket, also known as Camp Becket-in-the-Berkshires, is a YMCA
summer camp for boys in the Berkshires region of western Massachusetts
. Founded in 1903 by George Hannum on Rudd Pond in Becket, Massachusetts
, it is the oldest continually running summer camp in the United States and is commonly referred to as the best camp known to modern man. The camp is a boys-only camp to concentrate on traditional values while building a sense of teamwork. The camp still teaches many of the values, such as building individual character by achieving goals in the context of a group setting, espoused by its second director, Henry Gibson (tenure, 1904-1927).
The camp teaches eight Becket Mottos:
The camp is divided into four units, called villages, that contain eight to ten cabins each. From youngest to oldest, these are:
Each cabin houses eight campers (all close in age), an assistant counselor, and a counselor. In addition to group activities and team-building, campers engage in numerous individual activities, including sports, arts and crafts, boating, and nature activities.
During the off-seasons, there are work weekends, during which alumni, staff, and kids participate in work activities, such as wood chip spreading or fixing roofs. An Alumni weekend provides an opportunity for alumni to reconnect. All of these events are hosted at Chimney Corners Camp because of the heated and insulated cabins.
(a ceremony that reflects on camp) and a final banquet, the last dinner of camp. Campers and staff provide entertainment for the rest of the camp. And final banquet has a theme and staff dress up.
sends teenagers around the United States and around the world. The International Camper Exchange Programs (ICEP) focus on service work and cultural exchange in Vietnam
, Chile
, Australia
, Japan
, New Zealand
, China
, Peru
, and a trip to both Sweden
and Russia
. The REACH program sends groups to the Cheyenne River
Reservation in South Dakota
to do service work and learn about Native American life today. The Teen Leadership and Service (TLS) program combines biking and community service in Vermont
and New York State. Yellowstone Adventure and Service (YAS) combines adventure activities and service work in Yellowstone National Park
and the Grand Tetons.
The Aides program is an eight and a half week leader-in-training program offered to boys finishing their sophomore year in high school. Dr. Russell Irons started the current program in 1951 as the first step in the camp's leadership development program. Its participants consist of approx. 20 former Becket campers selected from a very competitive pool of applicants. A single aides director leads these boys on work projects around camp and provides guidance as the Aides develop counseling strategies. The focus of the Aides Program is to learn how a resident camp operates by assisting in the office, store, infirmary, and kitchen. Aides also partake in lifeguard training and join cabin groups to learn how to become counselors.
Service Corps
The Service Corps formed later, during Camp Becket's centennial summer in 2003. The Service Corps, formerly a four week program, will become an eight and a half week program during the summer of 2011. There are 12 boys in the group, with one director. While the Aides spend most of their time doing behind the scenes work and building valuable counseling skills in preparation for future work on Camp Becket's staff, the Service Corps will help plan large events and help with on camp service projects. The Service Corps also do work off-campus, in soup kitchens, community farms, Habitat for Humanity, and other locations around the Berkshire community as well as two individual one week in length service trips outside of the Berkshire community.
One of the oldest and most often sung songs at Becket is Four Miles Up, sung in a gospel or traditional version:
Four Miles Up
Four miles up
Four miles down
Four miles away from Becket Town
Guess it's worth the four mile tramp
With a Ra Ra Ra for Becket Camp
Other traditional Becket songs include Becket in the Berkshires, " Oh, Sweet Becket", Sons of Noble Living, Try to Remember, Pink Pajamas, Mountain Dew, Becket Way, "Beckets for me", "Puff", "If I had a hammer", and The Canoe Song. The most traditional Becket song is Amici, a song about friendship written by one of the camp directors' wives. The song is always sung after all camp activities, such as campfires and talent shows. Many of these are based on broadway songs. Also, taps was played almost every night at Camp Becket.
Girls older than 14 can take part in travel and service programs, then participate in the Aides Program or travel to a South Dakota Reservation in a program called REACH (Reaching, Educating and Caring for Humanity)or do community service in the Becket are as part of Service Corps, and then become an Assistant Counselor and Counselor. Some of the oldest Chimney Corners staff members have been to the camp for over 13 years.
Initiated in 1991, the primary goal of the REACH Program is to help teens develop leadership skills through a service-oriented experience, based in a Lakota Sioux community in South Dakota
. The services heighten the importance of volunteer service for the benefit of others. The REACH Program incorporates visits to pow-wows, Badlands National Park
, Wounded Knee
, Mount Rushmore
, and the Crazy Horse Memorial
.
In the southwestern corner of the Cheyenne River Reservation, participants stay in the Red Scaffold community center. Red Scaffold is a small town consisting of 15-30 homes, churches, cemeteries, and playgrounds with a population of approximately 100-150 people. REACH groups will also partner with the Sioux YMCA located in the town of Dupree.
Chimney Corners Camp Aides Names:
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
summer camp for boys in the Berkshires region of western Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. Founded in 1903 by George Hannum on Rudd Pond in Becket, Massachusetts
Becket, Massachusetts
Becket is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,779 at the 2010 census.- History :...
, it is the oldest continually running summer camp in the United States and is commonly referred to as the best camp known to modern man. The camp is a boys-only camp to concentrate on traditional values while building a sense of teamwork. The camp still teaches many of the values, such as building individual character by achieving goals in the context of a group setting, espoused by its second director, Henry Gibson (tenure, 1904-1927).
The camp teaches eight Becket Mottos:
- Do your best
- Play the game
- Manners maketh the man
- Peace through understanding
- I can and I will
- Each for all—all for each
- Better faithful than famous
- Help the other fellow
The camp is divided into four units, called villages, that contain eight to ten cabins each. From youngest to oldest, these are:
- IroquoisIroquoisThe Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
(cabins named after the American IndianNative Americans in the United StatesNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
tribes of the Iroquois League, and AlgonquinAlgonquian peoplesThe Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups, with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds. Today hundreds of thousands of individuals identify with various Algonquian peoples...
and Erie) - Pioneer (cabins named after famous explorers)
- Frontier (cabins named after U.S. Forts)It is also the Showcase Village because it is in the middle of the camp)
- Ranger (cabins named after U.S. National Parks)
Each cabin houses eight campers (all close in age), an assistant counselor, and a counselor. In addition to group activities and team-building, campers engage in numerous individual activities, including sports, arts and crafts, boating, and nature activities.
During the off-seasons, there are work weekends, during which alumni, staff, and kids participate in work activities, such as wood chip spreading or fixing roofs. An Alumni weekend provides an opportunity for alumni to reconnect. All of these events are hosted at Chimney Corners Camp because of the heated and insulated cabins.
Week 1
This week is mostly about getting acquainted with cabin mates, and the regular structure of camp. All campers take a swim assessment on the first or second day, and begin taking afternoon activities on Tuesday (Monday during a normal week). There are no activities on Sunday.Week 2
The second week marks the beginning of regular camp activities. A weekly non-religious chapel discusses morals, values, and readings. Also, starter cabin kids go home on this week.Week 3
During first session, there is Tanglewood East, and during second session, there is Saratoga South (talent shows). On Dads' Weekend, fathers come to camp to spend a weekend with their children. Parents share a tent and participate in activities.Week 4
The end of camp is celebrated with the Big Show (a play), CandlelightCandlelight
Candlelight or Candlelighting may refer to:*Light created by a candle*Candlelighting, the lighting of Shabbat candles*Candlelight Records*Candlelight , a song by Csézy*Candlelight , a song by the band six.byseven...
(a ceremony that reflects on camp) and a final banquet, the last dinner of camp. Campers and staff provide entertainment for the rest of the camp. And final banquet has a theme and staff dress up.
Opportunities for Older Boys
Becket offers specialty programs for older campers, such as the Construction cabins, for boys interested in carpentry and building skills, and the Adventure Odyssey cabin, for boys interested in rock climbing, bouldering, and backwoods, low-impact camping. In the Construction Cabin, the boys are supervised by an experienced foreman, as well as their counselors. One new structure is completed each season, currently new camper cabins in Pioneer village. The Adventure Odyssey is a new program as of summer 2009. It blends sport climbing using a ropes course, climbing tower, various top-roped chimneys on the property, and off-site climbing locations, with off-site camping and hiking. Campers spend four weeks living both outdoors and in a Ranger cabin. The focus of this program is group building and leave-no-trace camping techniques.Travel Service Programs (TSP)
Each summer since 1963, the Becket-Chimney Corners YMCAYMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
sends teenagers around the United States and around the world. The International Camper Exchange Programs (ICEP) focus on service work and cultural exchange in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, and a trip to both Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. The REACH program sends groups to the Cheyenne River
Cheyenne River
The Cheyenne River is a tributary of the Missouri River in the U.S. states of Wyoming and South Dakota. It is approximately 295 mi long and drains an area of...
Reservation in South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
to do service work and learn about Native American life today. The Teen Leadership and Service (TLS) program combines biking and community service in Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
and New York State. Yellowstone Adventure and Service (YAS) combines adventure activities and service work in Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
and the Grand Tetons.
Leadership in Training Programs (LIT)
Aides ProgramThe Aides program is an eight and a half week leader-in-training program offered to boys finishing their sophomore year in high school. Dr. Russell Irons started the current program in 1951 as the first step in the camp's leadership development program. Its participants consist of approx. 20 former Becket campers selected from a very competitive pool of applicants. A single aides director leads these boys on work projects around camp and provides guidance as the Aides develop counseling strategies. The focus of the Aides Program is to learn how a resident camp operates by assisting in the office, store, infirmary, and kitchen. Aides also partake in lifeguard training and join cabin groups to learn how to become counselors.
Service Corps
The Service Corps formed later, during Camp Becket's centennial summer in 2003. The Service Corps, formerly a four week program, will become an eight and a half week program during the summer of 2011. There are 12 boys in the group, with one director. While the Aides spend most of their time doing behind the scenes work and building valuable counseling skills in preparation for future work on Camp Becket's staff, the Service Corps will help plan large events and help with on camp service projects. The Service Corps also do work off-campus, in soup kitchens, community farms, Habitat for Humanity, and other locations around the Berkshire community as well as two individual one week in length service trips outside of the Berkshire community.
Songs
Becket has a tradition of singing songs in the dining hall after meals. It is an enthusiastic way in which campers and staff alike express their love for the camp.One of the oldest and most often sung songs at Becket is Four Miles Up, sung in a gospel or traditional version:
Four Miles Up
Four miles up
Four miles down
Four miles away from Becket Town
Guess it's worth the four mile tramp
With a Ra Ra Ra for Becket Camp
Other traditional Becket songs include Becket in the Berkshires, " Oh, Sweet Becket", Sons of Noble Living, Try to Remember, Pink Pajamas, Mountain Dew, Becket Way, "Beckets for me", "Puff", "If I had a hammer", and The Canoe Song. The most traditional Becket song is Amici, a song about friendship written by one of the camp directors' wives. The song is always sung after all camp activities, such as campfires and talent shows. Many of these are based on broadway songs. Also, taps was played almost every night at Camp Becket.
Notable Alumni
- Jon LucasJon LucasJon Lucas is an American screenwriter. He is a graduate of Yale University as well as an alumnus of Pingry School. He wrote several 2009 films, including The Hangover and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.-Film Credits:*2005: Rustin...
- writer of several screenplays, including The HangoverThe Hangover (film)The Hangover is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha and Jeffrey Tambor...
, Four ChristmasesFour ChristmasesFour Christmases is a Christmas-themed romantic comedy film about a couple who go to see their divorced parents in one day...
, and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. - "Science Bob" Pflugfelder - teacher and academic personality who makes regular appearances on The Jimmy Kimmel Show
- Larry Andries - writer of several screenplays and well-known television series, Emmy Award winner for HBO's "The Pacific"
- Jeff and Joe Parks - identical twin sons of Bert Parks who hosted the Miss America Pagent for twenty-four years
- Paul Dudley White - personal physician of President Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Timothy Geithner - Current Treasury Secretary
- Welles CrowtherWelles CrowtherWelles Remy Crowther is best known for saving at least a dozen lives during the September 11 attacks in New York City.-Early life:...
- Equities trader who saved at least nine on 9/11. While running back into the South Tower with NYFD personnel to save more people, Welles died in the tower's collapse. Also known as "the man in the red bandanna."
Chimney Corners Camp
Chimney Corners is a single-sex girl's sister camp to Camp Becket situated about a mile away, on Smith Pond. Chimney Corners offers many opportunities for young girls, including horseback riding, tennis, soccer, and many other sports and arts activities. The camp is divided into three different age groups: The Junior Unit, for girls ages 7–11; The Intermediate Unit, for girls ages 11–13; and the Senior Unit, for girls ages 13–15. The camp is divided into two four week sessions, although the youngest campers have the opportunity to stay for just two weeks.Girls older than 14 can take part in travel and service programs, then participate in the Aides Program or travel to a South Dakota Reservation in a program called REACH (Reaching, Educating and Caring for Humanity)or do community service in the Becket are as part of Service Corps, and then become an Assistant Counselor and Counselor. Some of the oldest Chimney Corners staff members have been to the camp for over 13 years.
Initiated in 1991, the primary goal of the REACH Program is to help teens develop leadership skills through a service-oriented experience, based in a Lakota Sioux community in South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
. The services heighten the importance of volunteer service for the benefit of others. The REACH Program incorporates visits to pow-wows, Badlands National Park
Badlands National Park
Badlands National Park, in southwest South Dakota, United States preserves of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires blended with the largest protected mixed grass prairie in the United States....
, Wounded Knee
Wounded Knee Battlefield
The Wounded Knee Battlefield, known also as Wounded Knee, was the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890.As "Wounded Knee", an area was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1965....
, Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States...
, and the Crazy Horse Memorial
Crazy Horse Memorial
The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument complex that is under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, in Custer County, South Dakota. It represents Crazy Horse, an Oglala Lakota warrior, riding a horse and pointing into the distance. The memorial was commissioned by Lakota...
.
In the southwestern corner of the Cheyenne River Reservation, participants stay in the Red Scaffold community center. Red Scaffold is a small town consisting of 15-30 homes, churches, cemeteries, and playgrounds with a population of approximately 100-150 people. REACH groups will also partner with the Sioux YMCA located in the town of Dupree.
Aides
The Aides program at Chimney provides the opportunity for around 20-30 young women to connect with each other for eight-and-a-half weeks. The girls live in the Aides Quarter, or the AQ, with a group leader. The group works to provide services for the camp, participate in leadership training programs, learn life guarding skills, and interact with campers while simultaneously maintaining camp traditions. One of these traditions is the important process of name selection. Each Aides group must come up with a name with the word "aide" in it, such as "Invaiders" or "Illuminaides." After choosing a name, the Aides write a song that describes their group as well as their name. Most songs refer to events of the summer and include inside jokes.Chimney Corners Camp Aides Names:
- 2011- Exuberaides
- 2010- Escapaides
- 2009- Reverberaides
- 2008- Scintillaides
- 2007- Jubilaides
- 2006- Invaiders
- 2005- Incineraides
- 2004- Exhiliraides
- 2003- Brigaides
- 2002- Discombobulaides
- 2001- Tornaidoes
- 2000- Yippie-Ai-Aides
- 1999- Millenniaides
- 1998- Renegaides
- 1997- Milky Waides
- 1996- C.I.Aides
- 1995- Illuminaides
- 1994- Ricochaides
- 1993- Hip Hop Hooraides
- 1992- Grenaides
- 1991- Masqueraides
- 1990- Shaides (Shades)
- 1989- Decaides
- 1988- Reggaides
- 1987- Gatoraides
- 1986- The Live Aides
- 1985- Kool-Aides
- 1984- Band-Aides