Benji says:

Last question first: No, our parents paid just to get us out of the house!
Went to many different camps: BSA camp, 7 summers. Jesuit Summer Camp, 1 summer. Rode horses.
Boy Scout summer camps were generally a week long, but since I lived in a town right next to the lake where the camp was, I spent additional time there every summer, helping out. The Jesuits had us for six weeks.
Most fun? A week on the waterfront, earning my Boy Scout Lifequard qualification. Since then, I’ve been qualified by the Red Cross and the Navy in Lifesaving and advanced first aid, but the Boy Scout Lifeguard was the hardest one I’ve ever earned. Our instructor – and our ‘victim’ – was 6″2″, 225 lbs, and played middle liinebacker for an NFL team. Most of us probably weighed about 150.

jonds says:

Nope

Baw says:

I only got to go once with the girl scouts and it sucked. We seemed to spend the whole week taking turns cooking and cleaning and I don’t remember many activities.

SlyKitty says:

Afraid not, born and raised on a farm, but getting away from all that work as a kid sounds like it would have been fun.

austin c says:

lots of camping trips and trips to ranches with girl scouts,which i was in till age 18 or 19.yes,there were horses.i had horses at home,too.never lived near an amusement park,but visited hershey chocolate town and disneyland with my troop.we went all over-from upstate new york,to wyoming.a very active troop.yes,we worked all winter long doing bake sales and so on to earn money for these ambitious summer trips.our leader was dynamic and took us everywhere!trips lasted about 2 weeks,the wyoming trips,longer.never was homesick-too much to see and do,plus my mom was an assistant and my mom and brother usually came with us.

oldman says:

I went to Boy scout camp for a week, a couple of times. It was fun but was also a joke to kids like us, raised in the country. We had our own horses to ride and things to do.

Jim's Brother says:

We used to die just waiting for summer camp to get started so we could get out of the house. With mom hollering at Jim and Dad all the time, it’s no wonder we looked forward to splitting the family up and go our separate ways to separate camps. Mom went to a fat farm. Dad always went to a Dude Ranch. Jim went to Boy Scout Camp. I was supposed to go to Boy Scout Camp, too. But, I always got off the bus and Jim just told the camp counselors that I went home. He knew better than to rat me out. But, I learned to make big money gambling and such. It was better than being home with the nutsoids.

Suzianne says:

As a member of the 4-H Club, I attended Camp Shawanasee near the Kankakee State Park in Illinois every summer for many years. We did not have horses at camp, but we had a creek in which we could swim, nature programs, crafts, games and probably the best camp food in the country.

Each county sent 4-H members to camp for one week each summer and the cost was very reasonable. I was never homesick or anxious to leave camp. It was a wonderful vacation for campers and the folks at home, too.

keeprockin says:

From about 10yrs – 13yrs I went regularly to Church lads Brigade summer camp on a farm. being middle 1950’s,it was still run on military lines. On arrival,we filled our own palliasse (mattress filled with straw) from stable.Wakened with Reveille on the bugle,cookhouse door;lights out. Every moring our kit was layed out for inspection and the bell tent was rolled at the bottom,then we paraded,spud peeling and meals in a kids version of a military mess. After all the to-do,we were free to do as we pleased until we were due back on camp site.They were usually held just a mile or so from a holiday resort,so the fairground was the main attraction.
It was usually a week and it cost a few quid to go,Ithink my Mam,along with other parents sent a few pence each week to Brigade Captain until required amount was reached. They gave us spending money,can’t remember how much,maybe a couple of quid for the week,money was hard come by in those days,but most youngsters were in the same boat.
Funnily enough,it was brilliant.

OverRuled23 says:

Went to summer camp for a month.

Everything we did was fun: cookouts, hikes, crafts, swimming, passing the deep water test, canoeing, fishing, nature study, star-gazing.

Sad to leave, because it was in the country and I hated the city with its’ noise, crowds, pollution, no space.

An after-school center, aka referring agency, sent me on a donation. I’m eternally grateful because camping showed me that there’s life outside the city.