When one makes a left onto Route 35 and pulls down the camp road for the first time, they’re struck by how much infrastructure is nestled in these quiet woods.
Takajo’s founder, Morty Goldman, had an extraordinary vision, and he built a magnificent facility. But over my 50+ years, I’ve had the privilege to walk these grounds countless times in every season.
In the fall, the leaves begin to turn. A crisp, cool chill requires an extra layer. In the winter, camp lies under a blanket of pure, white, untouched snow. The only footprints belong to our devoted facilities managers, who move with pride and purpose, protecting our home through the stillness. Spring brings with it a quiet rebirth. Bare trees begin to bud, and color slowly returns to the landscape. There is hope in every bloom— hope that our community will soon come back to life.
But none of these sights compare to the sounds of summer, when the campus truly awakens.
The sound of Reveille, every morning, wakes us up in unison and brings with it excitement for a new day. The sound of mess call invites everyone to come together for meals as one family to share stories and reflect. From the lake comes the gleeful laughter of boys playing in the water, slipping down the slides. Out on the fields, I hear the whistles on a basketball court that redirect play, the crack of a ball hitting a baseball bat, the smack of a boy’s foot making contact with a soccer ball, the swish of the net as the ball makes it in the goal.
As I walk down Hobby Lane, I hear music blasting from our Radio & Electronics building as our DJs spin tunes, the sounds of hammers and saws in our wood shop as campers build tables for their bunks, the spinning sounds of pottery wheels in ceramics as boys mold clay into budding works of art.
If you close your eyes on a summer day at camp, you can feel it— the passion, the energy, the life that surges through this place. The sounds of summer don’t just fill the air, they charge it.
Each season has its beauty. But in the summer, that beauty is joined by sound. These sounds of joy are what bring this place to life.
