In 1918, a young woman named Violet Marsan escaped the summer heat of Boston for a time at Eagle Camp on Lake Champlain.
"This morning it was quite cool, the thermometer registered forty nine but the sun was shining dandy so three other girls and myself walked to South Hero, the village three miles away, and back again. I didn't mind it until the last long mile and we certainly were warmed by the time we got back," she wrote her future husband, Seth Kalberg, on June 19.
Vi also described chilly nights and spectacular sunsets, the lights of Hotel Champlain and Plattsburgh across the lake.
"Last night there was the most wonderful sunset at nine o'clock. The sky was all the beautiful shades of pink; then the dark mountains and then the reflection in the water. I do wish you could have seen it too, Kal. I just have to keep still and hold my breath when I look at it."
BENEVOLENT TYRANT
The U.S. Census revealed some details about Seth and Vi — born in Sweden, he came to the United States in 1888. By 1930, he and Viola were married, with a 4-½-year-old son, Seth. I was unsuccessful finding a descendant of the couple, to whom I would gladly hand over their love letters of long ago.
Though I did find a Facebook page about Eagle Camp, it was a Press-Republican reader who took me deeper into its history.
One day in early March, I received an e-mail from Beth Benson of Saranac Lake, who told me she is a great-great-granddaughter of the founder of Eagle Camp. And then her father, William "Bill" Drury, followed up with a wonderful history of the place.
"My parents managed the camp from 1928 to 1955, so I grew up there, and have been there each summer of my 77 years except for 1956 when Beth was born in Maryland," he said. "I have looked through the old guest registers and find that Viola Marsan of Boston signed the register on June 17, 1918 … she was the only registrant on that day … Unfortunately, I cannot tell you anything more about her."
However, he could share plenty on the camp itself.
In 1890, Eagle Camp was founded by Bill's great-grandfather, George W. Perry (also known as GWP). Vi wrote him, saying he was a former minister and preached on Sundays in a little place he built in the woods, which included an altar made of stones. The spot, Bill said, is called Bryant Temple.
Vi's words seem to say it all: "Mr. Perry gave us a little talk last night and I certainly enjoyed it. He is one of the most interesting men. He doesn't care one bit how he looks though and tells you the price of everything."
Bill seems to agree on that.
"GWP was a benevolent tyrant, and the story of his life is another book in itself," he wrote in an e-mail. "Fortunately, one was written, by my mother's cousin who is presently a spry 101 years old."
Helen Perry Smith wrote the privately published "Holding Fast — The Story of George and Alice Perry" in 1976.
LIKE A WELL-WORN SHOE
Bill asked me to share copies of Vi's letters with him, which I did. In return, he sent me a copy of the booklet he wrote on the centennial of Eagle Camp, proving his claim that "I am probably the most knowledgeable (of the camp's history) of anyone now living."
It is a wonderful journal for anyone who likes to read about this segment of history that surrounds Lake Champlain.
Bill also shared that he had met his late wife, Jane, there in 1946, where she worked as a waitress. The Drurys enjoyed summers at Eagle Camp each year until 2006 when age made it too difficult. Both their children summered there as kids and have now returned as adults. Bill's grandchildren are the sixth generation to camp there.
After Bill had a chance to read the letters, he wrote back, sounding as excited as I was. In one letter, Bill took note, Vi said how dangerous the kerosene lamps were that were provided in the tents.
"Things weren't so different when I was young in the 1930s," he remarked. "And they are still the same in many ways, but as of this year there are no more kerosene lanterns. Too many 'city folk' don't understand them and management is very afraid of fires. We grew up with them in the tents and could always read with them at bedtime, even if Vi couldn't. It must have been a terribly rainy week when she was there."
Bill also surprised me with digital images of hand-colored photos of the camp taken from 4-by-4 lantern slides. He said there are a lot of slides — a collection exists at the Eagle Camp library.
"Eagle Camp! The First Hundred Years," authored by Bill in 1990, closes with these paragraphs that I feel define this saga: "How many other resorts (I guess I'd call it that) are still around after 100 years, doing many of the same things that they did in the beginning? Where else can you find rest hour, time determined by a bugler, no games on Sunday morning, hymn sing, 130 people who all really care about each other and children who will almost certainly come back with their children?
"As Eagle Camp enters its second century, we fervently hope that nothing changes (at least not rapidly). Camp is like an old shoe that one likes to slip into when vacation time rolls around. I, for one, think this old shoe is better than all the great seaside resorts combined."
I couldn't have said it better, Bill, and I'm sure Vi would agree.
E-mail Susan Tobias at:
writertobias@gmail.com
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