By Lynne Stanwood-Leadbeater, Chief Volunteer Officer
This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. On July 21, 1969, I was a 6-year old camper in the Cherokee Village at Matollionequay. All my friends and I cared about was winning cabin inspection and getting a buddy for general swim; national news headlines were not exactly a priority to us. But on that night, a few hours after taps, our counselors woke us up and told us to bring our pillows with us into the staff cabin. The staff cabin had electricity and a television! Little did we know at the time that our counselors were giving us an opportunity to have a lifetime memory.
They could have let us sleep through it, and we may have been none the wiser, but they did wake us up. We all sat there on the floor of that cabin, looking up at that tiny black and white TV watching Neil Armstrong take his first steps on the moon. The cabin was silent as we heard Armstrong’s voice coming out of the little television speaker with his famous words, “One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” I found out later that the older campers were taken to the dining hall to watch the moon landing. And my parents, who worked at Ockanickon at the time, brought their campers to Pomona Lodge to watch. I’d like to thank those counselors and other staff who had the presence of mind and the sense of responsibility to let us experience one of the pinnacles of modern American history. When people ask me where I was during the moon landing, I will always proudly say “Matollionequay!” There are so many ways that children bond and are influenced by their camp experiences. Associating camp with historic events is one of those ways!
As the years went by, and I continued at camp, I experienced several other historic events through the eyes of camp: the resignation of President Richard Nixon, the marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and Mary Lou Retton winning gold medal at the 1984 Olympics to name a few. I feel connected to so many people because of the common experiences we shared at camp, including historic events. At YMCA of the Pines, we strive to provide meaningful, impactful experiences for all of our campers and have been for more than 112 years, and sharing and bonding over historic events certainly fits that bill!
