Look What I Found!

Do you ever go into your parent’s attic and look for old family memorabilia? Do you ever find boxes of old photos of the way that things used to look? Vintage clothing that was worn by your great grandmother? Or maybe you discover a piece of furniture that you would like to take and use for your own home. These are the types of things that I am finding in the winter office at Shibley.

As most of you know we move from our summer office down in junior camp to our winter office in the Manor house when the weather turns cold. This house has lots of rooms and nooks and crannies. Over the years, the rooms and house itself has been used for different purposes. It’s been used as a summer residence for staff and mainly as a storage space for t-shirts, activity equipment, sample arts and crafts projects, signs from previous summers’ productions and lots of old camp photos.

These items have accumulated over many years and it appears that very little was ever thrown away. Some people might look at this and think nothing of it (or run the other way)… but not me…. I investigate these rooms and see history, inspiration and supplies!!  There is a treasure trove of things to use at camp, show off to alumni and hang around the manor house.  I love taking a walk down memory lane to discover items that tell stories of Shibley’s past.

The old camp photos are the best. By the look of the clothing, lots of these pictures were taken in the 1970’s and 80’s. The pictures show bunks that are red and white. The campers’ t-shirts are blue and white and staff didn’t even wear a staff shirt! There are pictures of activities like the hay jump (where kids literally jump in a pile of hay) and the “golden gate bridge” which was an original playground for junior campers where the junior adventure course now sits. There are signs for a nature trail that started up in senior camp and winded its way down into junior camp. I even found pictures of staff that are still here!!

So many things were different. So much has changed over the 91 summers that Shibley has been around. And while the bunks and logo might look different than they did in the 1930’s and some of the activities may have changed, there is one thing that will always remain. Shibley is a magical place where everlasting friendships are made.