Kendale Dinner Get-Together.
Sept. 12, 2003

But in a sense, I never really left. Those seven summers left an indelible mark on me. So much so, that some 20 years later, I still routinely had dreams about Kendale and the friends I made there. Short of going to psychotherapy to figure out why, in April, 1998, I decided to put up a Kendale web site. If I was feeling this way, surely there were others who shared my longing to reconnect to a very special time and place.

At first, I put up a very simple home page and guest book, hoping that somebody - anybody, would find it. For the first three months the site was silent. Then, miraculously, a Kendale alumnus found the site on a search engine and wrote in. Then another, and another after that. Before long word had spread, and every day saw new names signing in. I was amazed.

To me, the reunion of September 22, 2001 was a joyous and emotional exclamation point to years of longing for days gone by, and the reconnection to long-lost friends. Having it all take place on the old camp grounds made it all the more special.

As I wandered around the grounds, every corner brought back a flood of incredible memories, some major, some seemingly inconsequential. Seeing my name graffitied on the walls of the bunks ... a rock where I used to sit and read comic books … the lake where I learned to swim … the field where Larry Moak taught me how to swing a bat … 8 weeks of bloody tetherball knuckles … the dining room where chants of "Quiet please - dedicated to ______," echoed in my head … Veal "hockey pucks" that sent me home each summer bigger and taller … The color war plaque that I helped paint and listed me as a camper general … Secret spots where I first kissed a girl and more. I could go on and on and am sure you can, too.

Toward the end of the day, just around "Shower Hour," my counselor, Jeff Rosner and I sat on the steps of our former cabin, Boys Bunk 1. Gazing at the ball field as the sun began its descent behind the trees, I thought to myself, "to me, these are truly sacred grounds." Corny, but true.

There's no doubt that the spirit of Kendale is alive and well. Let's keep it that way with more get-togethers in the years to come. And remember to check in every once and a while to let everyone know what you're up to or to just simply say hello.

Mitch Lemus

Photos of the Kendale 9/22/01 Reunion

Photos by Mitch Lemus

Photos by Evan Kutner

Note: Please do not send your photos to me. Post your photos on any photo sharing site. Then e-mail me the address to the page and I will link to it from here.

"Song for Kendale" by Andy Strauss
(To the tune of "Song for Woody" by Bob Dylan)

I'm up here a hundred miles from home
Walking on land many people have gone
I'm seeing this place of people and things
Where the boys played ball and the girls loved to sing

Hey, Camp Kendale I wrote you this song
'Bout a wonderful place where I lived for so long
Seems after I left those times became torn
But with a help of a few my memories have been sewn

Hey, Camp Kendale, but I know that you know
All the things that I'm saying and the things that you've shown
I'm sing'n this song but I can't thank enough
All the people who helped and the kids who showed up

Here's to Arnie and Lenny an' Mitchell Strauss too
And Tuna and Norm I know that's just a few
Here's to the women and the kids and the men
Who made our camp so special time and time again

We're leaving too soon to go on our way
But I hope that we meet here again someday
This time's been great and it's all been so true
I am so proud to've been spending some great times with you