Camp Naivelt/Camp Kinderland – what do they represent to me? They have been my home, my heart, my security. With all the times that I moved, and all the places I moved to, Camp was always there. It was my grounding place...

Over the summer, the women organized fundraising teas, each Hill striving to outdo the other. There were corn roasts and campfires, and the Saturday night concert at the Dance Hall. The rare phone calls from the city were announced by loud-speaker from the camp office. We were a close-knit community, where everyone knew who lived in each cottage... I know that Camp Naivelt, with its unique blend of community and freedom, holds a special place in [my son's] memories of childhood and coming of age, as it does in mine.

I first came to Camp in 1936, about one year after it officially opened. I remember my first view of it, and it gave me such a wonderful, wonderful feeling... I have wonderful memories of using the Credit River for swimming. It had been an amusement park, and we still had the rides when we took it over... Merry-go-rounds and things like that... They had canoes which we used on the river. And there was a railroad track running through. We used to walk along the railroad track to the next town to Huttonville which was nice. We would walk down the track to go to the swimming hole which was nice too. Years later, parts of the rides were still there... I was a camper from the time I was 11 years old, and I absolutely loved Camp.

We had visits from the ice man for the ice box, the kosher butcher from the city, a Jewish bakery, and a milk truck providing all the basic food requirements. My father worked in the city during the week and came out on the weekends to camp. Sometimes he would also get a lift to come out on Wednesdays. The rest of the time it was my sisters and my mother. I loved it.

For me, personally, Camp was an integral part of my development. It was a place of excitement, learning, playing, participating. It provided for me a Jewish experience with a broad world outlook. It was a significant element in providing some ingredients with which to formulate opinions about the world around me.

With little experience, and even less financial resources, or to put it more accurately, completely without any means, we, the Jewish Working Women's League, have undertaken the project of a summer camp. No one believed that it was possible, neither our foes, nor our friends who called us dreamers of beautiful fantasies. They didn't believe we could survive for more than one week, and how could we survive without a cent in the treasury and with expenses of $100.00 a week? We faced unheard of obstacles, but our courage kept us moving ahead.