About Crossroads for Kids
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Crossroads for Kids designs and delivers summer camping and year round programs that promote the emotional well being of children, while providing stable and positive relationships in a diverse and natural setting. Through innovative social, recreational and educational programs, we empower youth at risk to achieve success regardless of their environment. Working in collaboration with communities and with commitment to excellence, we will be a leading advocate for children's issues.
The Beginning
The history of Boys' and Girls' Camps originated with the ideas for the Boys' Clubs of Boston Executive Director, Arthur Taylor Burger in 1936. When he came to Boston, he found that due to the lack of camps in the Boston area, that very few children of the large membership of the Boys' Clubs of Boston ever had the opportunity to attend camp. After making a careful study of the whole situation, Mr. Burger arranged a meeting with Mr. Sinclair Weeks, a member of the Boys' Clubs of Boston's Board of Directors. Sinclair Weeks also felt strongly that something should be done about it and suggested that Arthur Burger talk the idea through with Mr. Ralph Hornblower, Mr. Frederic Cameron Church, Jr., Mr. Forrester A. Clark, and others. From these meetings, the foundations were laid to start a camping organization.
Where it all came from…
Mr. Arthur Burger came to the conclusion that none of the camps that he had seen presented a comprehensive program to meet the needs of youth in camping in large enough numbers to have a real effect upon the youth of any community. A plan was developed for what was needed in a single camping organization. Two kinds of camps needed to be developed. One was for the first time beginner camper who would have short stay and become acclimated to outdoor life away from home. The primary emphasis would be on self-reliance, obedience to natural laws, the learning of courtesy, the development of constructive recreation, and the ability to take care of oneself in the open. Also, this type of camp might be used for fresh air purposes to meet the needs of undernourished youngsters who needed to develop regular eating and sleeping habits.
The second type of camp needed was one for those youngsters who had attended the primary experience. The emphasis would be on the surroundings and facilities in which activities would be geared to further development of self-reliance and to develop good citizenship habits.
Special facilities were needed in order to meet the two camp objectives. First, the development of a central stockade which would be fashioned after the protective unit of the early American colonists. It would have everything needed to sustain a group living in the wilderness. The second camp was the development of the outpost idea—living the life of our hearty adventurers and explorers, who represented the Daniel Boones' and Lewis and Clarkes' of our nation.
The third camp would be that of a ranch with its bunkhouses, corrals, harness room, blacksmith shop and the likes, to give our young Americans the benefit of the traditions that developed our Western Plain states.
It was thought that if all these phases were implemented that this type of camping organization could achieve many advantages. A child would be given the opportunity to develop character at his most impressionable age. He would be able to absorb the background of the pioneering age of his American ancestors. He would develop an appreciation of ideas that we hold most dear in this country's traditions, by actually living, as far as possible, in the same type of surroundings and having the same type of activities, sports, duties and responsibilities of our ancestors. In the meantime, Mr. Burger investigated the possibilities of a proper location for a camp. Mr. Gilbert Eaton wrote about the selection of the Keene Estate:
“On the morning of June 17th, 1936, Mr. Burger suggested that I go down and look over several pieces of property suitable for a Boys' Camps. Among this property was a piece of land known as the Keene Estate. After going down and looking the property over, it was decided that here the dream of the boys at the Boys' Clubs of Boston, for a real summer camp could be realized. Within easy commuting distance to and from Boston, it had most of the fundamental camp qualifications necessary for a real Boy's Camp.”
The property was thoroughly examined to make sure that the lake was suitable for swimming. Samples of the bottom of the lake proved to be excellent blue-gray gravel. The pond was full of aquatic vegetation commonly called eel grass. The pond was prepared for dredging the following spring by draining the water. It was decided that the swimming area should be at the dam end of the pond.
Shortly after this, a committee was formed through the efforts of Arthur Burger. The original members were Arthur Burger, Henry Hixon Meyer, Ralph Hornblower, Charles E. Mason, Jr., Joseph T. Walker, Jr., Lloyd D. Brace, and Sinclair Weeks. The first president was Mr. Lloyd D. Brace. In December of 1936, the organization was incorporated under the Laws of Massachusetts and named, The Boys' Camps, Inc.
The land for the camp was purchased in February of 1937 with funds for the purchase contributed by Mr. Daniel Wing, in memorial to her husband who had recently died. Mr. Wing had been a member of the Board of Overseers of the Boys' Clubs of Boston for many years. Many of Wing's friends also contributed to the project and this started the development of the first camp.
During this period, both the Charlestown and Roxbury Boys' Clubs were full of camp talk. Staff members were interested and were taking boys down on Sundays to see where the camp would be. Many of the staff and boys were disillusioned after taking one look at the property, not having the necessary experience or imagination to visualize what constituted a potential piece of camping property. Mr. Gilbert Eaton reported: “However, during the winter, the spark turned into a blaze and by the early spring, many of the boys were interested not only in going down to see the camp, but had made the suggestions to the various staff members that they have a real part in the pioneering work of our camp by participating on weekends, in clearing the brush, and doing other necessary pioneering work on the property.”
The only facilities on the Keene Estate were the farmhouse and the barn, both of which were not in very good condition. Eaton describes how that first winter was in 1937 at Camp. Around the first of March, Mr. and Mrs. Lee Jamison of Maine were engaged as caretakers of the camp. They took up residence in the farm building. During the winter, alternations were made on the old farmhouse. None of the rooms were really finished suitably for the housing of human beings at that time of year, but the Jamisons entered into their work with the spirit that really set the pace for many of the workers, both paid and volunteer, who helped in the construction of the farmhouse and the waterfront. Their duties, among other, were to do the cooking necessary for the feeding of the hungry weekenders that came down, eager to help, and this they did well. There was always a plentiful supply of good, clean wholesome food.
Mrs. Jamison, being of the motherly type, took an interest in these boys, although it was hard for both her and Mr. Jamison to visualize boys who had never seen cows or a large barn. The peculiar questions they were asked, at times, proved most humorous. These boys were to enjoy many happy evenings around the fire in the old farmhouse where stories of nature, animals, and the old Keene Estate, a former meeting place of the Indians in this particular district, greatly interested the boys, and the Staff members.
It was found that across the street from the farmhouse was the place where the Indians used to grind their corn in the fall, which necessarily meant a long explanation to the boys as to how they planted their corn, how they ground it and what they did with it after it was ground. When nine o'clock came, the fire was getting low, and the boys were getting sleepy-eyed, they journeyed up to bed. Each boy had individual cots, sheets and blankets, probably for the first time.
At 6 a.m. the call for them to arise was not music to their ears, as many of these boys had been used to staying up until midnight and sleeping on Saturday mornings until 9 or 10 am. But most of them entered into the spirit of the thing with a zest.
We started at the dam end of the pond and as a project, it was decided to take out all of the wood from the roots, and bushes. Mr. Burger came down every weekend, and with his usual imagination, enthusiasm, and optimism, the land around the pond and around the farmhouse became to look as though it was being prepared for something.
After the first three or four weekends, the real workers were on the job and these boys put in a good eight-hour day on Saturdays and after church on Sunday morning was free time to enjoy nature at its best. Much progress was made along the water front and soon the contract had been let for the excavation of that part of the pond bottom to be used as a swimming pool. Soon after this, contracts were let for the building of the dining hall and the cabins. Previous to the letting of these contracts, and the starting of work, the boys had very little idea as to what form the Camp was going to take. But the minute that the steam shovel and graders got on the job, and the carpenters started to build, then they realized that their dreams were about to come true. To them, it was something that really was a dream. The idea of getting into the country to enjoy the fresh air was something that very few ever thought would come to them in their day.
Caddie Camps –1937
During this time the Boys' Clubs were faced with many problems in Boston connected with gangs of older boys. It was thought that a camping program for older boys would help to channel their energies in a more positive direction. Through the interest of Mr. Albert Rockwood, a cooperative plan was worked out with the Oyster Harbors Colony Club at Oysterville on Cape Cod. The boys would be trained to be caddies earning their own spending money and largely paying for their own camp expenses. The Oyster Harbors Caddie Camp came into being on May 15, 1937. The camp was designed to our specifications but built by and remained the property of the Oyster Harbor Country Club. Between 80 and 100 boys were continually in attendance, working at the Harbor's Golf course as caddies and enjoying camp programs in their free time. In 1938 at the suggestion of Mr. Edwin Webster, the Bald Peak Caddie Camp was organized in Melvin Village, New Hampshire, near Lake Winnepesauke. The Eastward Ho Caddie Camp in Chatham on the Cape and the Bretton Woods Caddie Camp in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, both followed in 1945.
First Camp Wing Summer
Session 1937
By the Spring of 1937 through movies and talks given by Arthur Burger and the various staff members, practically every club member was familiar with Camp Wing. The buildings and the dam began to take shape and interest was at a peak from staff, boys, and parents. During this time, there was much anxiety and many changes in building plans. After much heartache, and a lot of headache, and through much pessimism, the camp was ready to open on June 27th, 1937. At 11 a.m. on the first day, two buses filled with boys from the Charlestown and Roxbury Districts arrived on the campgrounds. The following is an account by Gilbert Eaton of what happened during the first camp session ever at Camp Wing: “The first few days there was no water. At the dining hall, water had to be carried from the farmhouse. No toilet facilities were available, and we took to work digging a latrine in the back woods and a plumber was engaged to fixing modern equipment. The campers did not realize that they were being inconvenienced and I doubt very much if any of them ever noticed the fact that half of the mess hall was completed, with only part of a roof. We were blessed by the weatherman, for we had good weather. Had it rained, it would have been too bad. Boys served the meals and volunteered in the kitchen and for several days we went without a full staff, but this made no difference to us.”
Here, compliments should go to the staff the older members of the Charlestown Club who were on the Staff at the time, for the wonderful cooperation they showed in helping prepare that Camp for their younger brothers and fellow workers.
With a staff of twelve, consisting of:
Gilbert D. Eaton, Manager
H. Belmont Gould, Assistant Manager
Filmore Sanford, Director of Social Activities
Jack Stanford, in charge of athletics
Lee Jamison, in charge of cooking, nature study and handicraft work
This constituted the Senior Council and paid staff. The Junior Counselors were Archie Connolly, Will Sands, Jake Murphy, Bill Carr, Eggo Harrington, Dick Luttington and Gordon Blum. With this able, willing, and enthusiastic group of workers, a real camping program was undertaken. And may it be said here, that a program has never been met with more enthusiasm than this one did from the campers.
Considering the fact that of this first group of 55 campers, 47 of them had never been away from home before and had never been to any camp, we had very little homesickness.
During the first session the campers participated in the Duxbury Tercentenary (300th) Anniversary Parade on the morning of the 5th of July, and received a second place prize for the best marching outfit. The Wing marching unit was lead by the band from the Bunker Hill Charlestown Boys' Clubhouse.
A typical day incorporated a one-hour period of inspection in the morning, fishing, nature hikes, boating, swimming in the afternoon and storytelling and campfires in the evenings. The highlight of the first session was an overnight hike held at the Duxbury Beach and then watching the fourth of July fireworks at Duxbury Center.
New campers arrived every two weeks. The first week there were 55 campers, the second another 55, the third had 70, the fourth had 102 and the fifth had 124. After dinner on Sunday was visiting day for parents and family members. It was the first time most of the parents had ever seen a Boys' Camp in operation and invariably, they were pleased beyond words to see their son with a nice tan body and enjoying himself. The first camp season closed on the Sunday before Labor Day. After dinner, 124 campers with their baggage piled into 3 buses were homeward bound.
The Way We Were
At the beginning of World War II, there was a rapid expansion of Boys' Camps, Inc. under the leadership of Arthur Burger. In September of 1937, the very first session of the Evergreen Camp (winter camp) began at Camp Wing. The construction of the Duxbury Stockade was started in January of 1938. The Boys' Clubs of Boston operated Camp Wheaten Byers for girls at Waltham, Massachusetts in 1938. The Boys' Camp, Inc. started Camp Hackmatack, South Lyndeboro New Hampshire for girls for one year in 1940. The Sherwood Forest Camp for girls followed the Hackmatack Camp. The Sherwood Forest Camp was located in Alton, New Hampshire for one year in 1941.
The Duxbury Stockade
The stockade was built by French-Canadian builders brought in from Maine. They used a log building technique without using nails, an art almost forgotten today. After 1938 when construction of the stockade was started, there was interest from the boys of Boston to start using the facility. In 1939, the Stockade was opened with two units. The Duxbury Stockade was officially dedicated in memory of William Leonard Benedict on October 19th, 1940. The following eulogy was given by Dr. Smith-Peterson:
“All of us here have read in our history books of the hardships endured by the first settlers in Plymouth; how a hundred men, women and children landed from the little ship, Mayflower on a wintry December day three hundred and twenty years ago; how they built log houses and a fort which they also used as a church and how that first terrible winter half of their number died of exposure, insufficient food and disease.
“We read all that, but it is hard for us too visualize what that first settlement looked like. That is why this Duxbury Stockade, which we are dedicating today, is such a help to us. On a small scale it is a picture of that first Plymouth Stockade. The first settlers needed protection from the Indians and the wolves. During the daytime, the men worked in the cornfields or went fishing or dug clams, but after dark everyone went inside, the gates were closed and they were safe.
“Above all, the boys and girls were supposed to stay inside. Let me tell you of one small boy who disobeyed orders. His name was Thomas Clarke and he was an ancestor of mine. One day, he wandered away into the woods, when no one was looking and was captured by some Indians.
“Most of the neighboring Indians were friendly to the Plymouth settlers, but by bad luck these happened to be some of King Philip's tribe and they did a terrible thing to little Tom. Instead of killing him outright, they scalped him and let him go. Dazed and crying bitterly, a search party finally found him. He would undoubtedly have died had it not been for the skill of the Plymouth physician, good Dr. Warren. Dr. Warren cut out a round piece from a silver porringer, hammered it out very thin and bandaged it on the spot of the little boy's skull. That saved his life. The skin grew over the edges of the silver plate and the boy lived to be an old man. Everyone called him “Silverheaded Tom Clarke.” This was the first instance in America of what the medical profession called trepanning.
“Just to live to grow up in those days was an achievement. People had to work hard to survive. They had to help their neighbors. They had to cooperate. They valued their liberties because they were risking everything in order to be free. Life was simple and life was hard, but it produced character. People had to develop straight backs and strong muscles, but they also had to think straight, do their duty and serve the community.
“So we come to the reasons why Mrs. Benedict has so generously built this Duxbury Stockade in memory of Mr. Benedict.
“First, it is to bring vividly to your minds the conditions under which the pioneers had to live. Secondly, it is to help create respect for the character of those early settlers, a type of character that has set its mark upon American Civilization. Thirdly, it is to perpetuate the example and influence of Mr. Benedict's life. You boys never knew him, and yet in a sense you do know him for the things taught here; the ideals of honor and truth and right living that are exemplified here are the things he stood for all his life. He was modest, friendly and scrupulously honorable.
“May this Duxbury Stockade serve to typify the fine qualities he manifested, and may his influence continue as generations of boys live and work and play within these walls.”
As the Duxbury Stockade was built for American boys in memory of William Leonard Benedict, it is appropriate that a brief summary of his life should be included in the record.
He was born in 1860, a son of the late William Gardner Benedict and Frances Otis Wheeler Benedict. He was a brilliant student and law was to have been his chosen profession, but sudden near-sightedness developed to such an alarming extent that blindness was for a time feared. Consequently his ambitions were necessarily abandoned and after two years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he entered the firm of Kidder Peabody & Company. Though a business career was far from congenial, he later became the Senior Partner of the New York house, having gone to New York for the purpose of opening an office which had not before existed there.
In 1908 he was decorated by the Emperor of Japan with the Fourth Degree Order of the Sacred Treasure, and in 1919 was honored by King Victor Emmanuel of Italy who conferred the Chevalier Order of the Crown.
After nearly fifty years in the business world he retired to enjoy the opportunity to travel, which more leisure afforded. Before returning, however, he found time to take advanced courses at Columbia University in higher mathematics, which particularly interested him, also in languages. Thus he was enabled to continue, to some extent, his fondness for study.
He was a former Director in the Seaman's Bank for Savings of New York, the Perkins Institute and Massachusetts School for the Blind of Boston, the Boys' Clubs of New York and a former member of the New York Hospital. He was a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants, the St. Nicholas Society, the Society of Colonial Wars, the sons of the Revolution, the Pilgrim Society, the New England Historical and Genealogical, Bostonian and Japan Societies. His clubs included the Century, the Metropolitan and Down Town of New York and the Union of Boston.
His summer home was in Duxbury where he was a member and former Commodore of the Duxbury Yacht Club.
More Camps to Follow
With the tremendous growth of the Boys' Camps, Inc. and the drain of qualified young men to be camp counselors because of World War II, the camps began to develop serious problems. It was at this time in 1943, that Richard Gavone started as Pioneer Village Section Director. Mr. Burger had went through so many Camp Directors that the list of former Camp Directors became known as the Hamburg Club. At this time, Arthur Burger was the Executive Director of both Boys' Camps, Inc. and the Boys' Clubs of Boston. The task was inefficient and too consuming for a total commitment to the camping organization. In the end the Boys' Camp program was slighted.
At this time Mr. Burger heard of an up and coming Youth Director and veteran of World War II by the name of Bernard Alexander, who was formerly the Director of the Madison Square Garden Boys' Club of New York. In 1945, Bernard Alexander was hired as the Associate Executive Director of Boys' Camps Inc.
Camp Mitton
In 1941, Mr. George Mitton offered to give his Duck Hunting Camp in Brewster, MA, on the Cape, to Boys' Camps Inc. At the beginning of the century, the area around the Cape near Brewster was a prime duck hunting area. Mr. George Mitton was a prominent Boston businessman. He loved to hunt ducks, which was a popular past time during the 20's and 30's. The popular issue over hunting ducks at the time was using live decoys which had their wings clipped to prevent their flying away. The government, along with the Society Against Cruelty to Animals put pressure on hunters to prohibit the use of live decoys. As a result, the Mitton lodge was no longer used for hunting purposes. In 1942, 45 acres of the George Mitton property became the second major property of Boys' Camps Inc. With the assistance of the Godfrey Hyams Trust, which supplied the funds to develop the site, it was possible for 35 boys to experience the Outpost Camp. The first Camp Mitton Director was Stanley Krunzna. Camp Mitton was only for boys 12 to 16 yrs. old with previous camp experience. The finest leadership was selected and the boys were given an opportunity to formulate their own programs and a democratic organization system was developed to select and control daily activities.
Many major developments took place at Camp Mitton during 1947, among these were the new dining hall given by Horace O. Bright in memory of his father and mother. The hall came to be known as the Bright Memorial Hall. New dormitory type cabins were built with the assistance of the Godfrey Hyams trust that same year. The Bemis Nature Museum was also completed in 1947. The lodge was renovated to include an infirmary and office, and a single and one saddleback cabin were built in 1951. The Arthur G. Mitton Craft shop was built in 1954. It contained a craft shop, counselors' lounge and laundry.
Camp Mitton remained a boys camp until 1980 when it finally converted to co-ed camping operating for five sessions.
Camp Lapham
In 1942, Raymond W. Lapham contributed the funds necessary for the purchase of 125 acres for Girls' Camp in memory of his father, Henry G. Lapham and his mother Rebecca L. Lapham. The two previous girls summer camp experience took place on leased land in New Hampshire. If anything was ever true it certainly was that there is nothing like having “your own” camp.
Louise Deyman, a young lady of with many years experience in camping in the Midwest was the first Camp Lapham Director. All the campers came from the Bunker Hill Girls' Club of Boston. Two hundred and twenty-one (221) different girls between 10-16 yrs. old attended camp that first season.
The Forbes Waterfront and swimming areas was called one of the finest swimming areas in the state at the time. The other facilities featured a two-story wood frame farmhouse that was built in 1890. In 1943 through a generous contribution from Miss Katherine Winthrop a new cabin facility was built to house an additional 32 girls. In 1947 the camp was supplied with an artesian well that brought in an unfailing supply of water. Many projects took place at Camp Lapham in 1950. There were new cabins, a recreation building, a shower-bath house and a laundry room. Improvements were made through grants from Mr. Raymond Lapham. The Hyams foundation was also a key contributor at Camp Lapham. From the start they contributed many dollars for the construction of new cabins and the infirmary. In 1966 the Lapham dining hall was dedicated in memory of Sandra Countway. This was followed by the new administrative building with year round quarters for the caretaker and for winter activities in 1967. In 1977, the new swimming pool was built in memory of Trustee Weston Howland. Camp Lapham remained a girls camp until 1975 when it was converted to a co-ed camp serving 60 boys and 80 girls.
The Period of Growth
The period following World War II was one of continued growth in facility expansion and fundraising. Under the direction of the second Executive Director, Bernard Alexander, the organization was able to come to grips with the rapid growth of the camp in the early years and to better accommodate, house and manage the growing camp movement.
The Caddie Camp idea was in its heyday. There was the Bretton Woods Caddie Camp, the Eastward Ho Camp, the Bald Peak Caddie Camp, and the Oyster Harbor Caddie Camp. There was a need to get teenagers away from the influences of gangs and the Golf Country Club members were anxious to help these boys to get new direction in their lives while also giving boys a chance to earn some extra money. The combination of these two factors made the climate perfect for expanding Caddie Camps. The future of this program would decline with continued rising costs, management conflicts, and the increased use of golf carts
The idea of camp for boys soon expanded to meeting the needs for girls, even though girls programs were always mentioned in the early development and planning. In 1945, the name Boy's Camp, Inc. was officially changed to Boys' and Girls' Camps, Inc. It would take another 30 years before co-ed camping became a reality. A number of facility adaptations occurred. These included building cabins, provisions for hot water, winterization of buildings, construction of camp infirmaries, modernization of kitchens and sanitary facility and adjustment to outdoor education. Other modifications included radical changes such as building swimming pools to replace natural bodies of water.
Over the years, there were also changes in program expectations. Fishing, swimming, hiking, sand-lot ball games and campfire programs, did not require much in the way of equipment. With the new times, well laid out baseball diamonds were necessary. Nature and animal study museums were built. Carefully developed waterfront areas were essential. Included in addition to rowboats and canoes were sailing craft and paddleboats for the boating program. All-weather Pavilion facilities with stages and equipment for drama productions were necessary.
As the camps moved into this period of growth, there were many high-priced capital improvement projects under way, the result of changing expectations, requirements of the government, and the desire to accommodate increasing numbers of campers. There is no record of the countless hours given by thousand of unknown individuals, each of whom did a small part to build Boys' and Girls' Camps. When these small parts are combined, they become thousands of hours of volunteer service and thousands of dollars in contributions. These unsung heroes from all parts of our community are an integral part of our heritage.
Many counselors and older boys took weekend trips before and after the camp season to build permanent cabins, paint, clear brush, and generally keep camp in good shape. At the same time, they enjoyed a rich fellowship and a feeling of accomplishment that could not be equaled.
Also important was assistance from government bodies of all kinds. Assistance came from agricultural extensions agents, public health officials, surplus commodities workers of the Department of Agriculture, school lunch officials, local Police and Fire departments, the Army, Seabees, and the Marine Corps Reserve.
Loyal Trustees
All of the camps are named after generous individuals who gave property, large sums of money, or both. Nearly every building or structure is named for a great benefactor. Contributions from leaders of industry and civic minded individuals and groups has been the key to development. Every crisis period of the camps has been met with determined resourcefulness and generosity from the Trustees to raise the necessary funds to see the work for children continue. Records don't always reflect this dedication and support, but without it, the camps would not be here today.
Changing Times
It was the imaginative leadership of Executive Directors Arthur Burger, Bernard Alexander, Jack Crandell, and Richard Gavone that took Boys' and Girls' Camps from its beginnings to the great organization it became. Through creative adaptations, Boys' and Girls' Camps, Inc. (now Crossroads for Kids) has continued as an effective tool for meeting the needs of Boston's youth. These adjustments to changing times have stimulated continued growth and given close to 2,000 youth a year the opportunity to experience a summer to remember.
The Boys' and Girls' Camps went through many crises, such as the truck accident of 1969, which resulted in the injury of many campers. It survived the decline of the Caddie Camps. There were many periods of serious staff shortages. The camps survived the disillusionment of the Vietnam era and the hippie/drug cultures. Boys' and Girls' Camps survived many years of deficit operations during the years of economic depression. Although some thought that rising costs would result in the eventual selling of our main properties, this has never happened. Through all of this adversity, today the camps involve more people than during what most people felt was its heyday-—he 1950's. It is a strong multi-faceted organization that is certain to grow and succeed far into the future.
The camps changed their constituency to reflect changing times by going coed in the late 1970's and early 1980's. The two week camp sessions were changed to a 10 day session and the ages of the campers admitted was altered to permit younger campers. For a while, programs for older girl cameras became less effective until a decision was made to concentrate on girl campers up to the age of 11. Today, Crossroads for Kids serves a coed population of campers from 7-16.
The long-standing program of having campers provide off-season work projects was discontinued in the 1980's because of lack of adequate leadership.
The increased use of international camp counselors changed the makeup of the summer camp staff and provided a more multi-cultural environment for all.
The challenges of the future called for new approaches to meeting changing social concerns and new needs. The effort involved in the writing down of this history will help us to celebrate the past. It will also challenge us to plan for future generations.
Where We Are Today
Crossroads for Kids is proud to offer educational, enriching, creative and unique programming at Camp Wing, Camp Mitton and Camp Lapham each summer. To find out more about our current programs, explore the links in the menu.
Please check back for our most recent newsletter.
Main Office:
119 Myrtle Street
Duxbury, MA 02332Take Route 93 South to Route 3 South, you will be on Route 3 for about 30 miles. Take Exit 11 (Route 14). At the bottom of the exit ramp, turn left onto Route 14. Follow Route 14 for 1.3 miles until the road forks (just after Fire Station & the Ashdod Animal Hospital). At the fork, bear right onto Union Street for .5 miles to Keene Street. Turn Right on Keene; continue for .7 miles, Camp Wing will be at the end of the road, on the left #742. To get to the administrative offices please follow Keene Street to the end (.1 mile), take a left onto Myrtle Street; follow for .2 mile to third driveway on left. There will be a large boulder with the Crossroads logo.
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