September 15, 2007

Former counsellor and swimming instructor at GSWC, Mrs. Catherine G. Blanton of Valdosta, described her Camp experiences in the mid-1940s:

“Miss [Marge] Carter liked me because I could swim.  She had been several summers to Camp Glenrochie as a counsellor, and she got me to teach swimming.  I thought it would be an exciting thing to do in the summer and give me an opportunity to try other types of activities.  I took the train with one of the other counsellors to Virginia.  I was nervous because I did not know what was expected of me at camp.  I brought my own linens and stayed in the tents with the campers.  They paid me hardly anything.  I was lifeguard in charge of all these little girls.  I took eight girls at a time and taught them to swim.  We didn’t have any problem and they all minded.  The girls wore full swim suits and bathing caps.  Dr. Reade was the big shot at camp.

   One summer, my sister Sarah got married while I was at camp and I missed her wedding.  Another summer, one of my closest friends Doris Hewitt was to be married to Roger Budd and I missed her wedding.  Both times, my mother wouldn’t let me come home because she told me I had committed to working at camp for the entire summer.”