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They say that olfactory memories are the strongest kind of memory - that a smell can trigger a memory better than anything else. That’s certainly true of the perfume A bought yesterday, because as soon as I smelled it I was reminded of the Girl Scout camp I attended for several years as a kid.
I was tickled to find that Camp Conowingo has a website now, with photos and tiny movie clips. There is even a picture of the chimney, which was the source of ghost stories when I was a camper. Reportedly a woman who lived in the house during the Civil War had fled when troops were approaching, and she stuffed her baby up into the chimney. The soldiers subsequently lit a fire in the fireplace and…well, it was a rather gruesome story! We insisted that we could still hear the baby wailing, because the chimney was all that remained of the home. The pictures of the dining hall show that it hasn’t changed a bit since I was there! The movie clips are pretty bad; they look like they were taken by a cell phone.
The images of the creek and lake were surprising, though - I could have sworn the lake was much bigger, and the creek was an uncrossable river! I haven’t thought about Camp Conowingo in a long time - that was a fun trip down memory lane.
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Hi,its been a long time since i thought of camp conowingo in fact about 14 summers ago when i was only 21 years old.Since that i am married with 2 beautiful children and an extremely terrific husband.I often think about the friends i met especially a very good friend called christine cook aka/kazie!we lost contact about 9/10 years ago,and im sort of hoping that some out there will know her [it was the summer of 1991]The summer that changed my life for ever!!!!I just spent the last half hour going through the camp conowingo web page,and my oh my it hasnt changed that much [i stayed in whispering glen]I was also in charge of arts and crafts that year,which was a blast!it was also the year of the “click” only over 21s were aloud out!And we made the most off it when we did.Well ive got to go lets hope someone will remember me and try to get in touch.Ill never forget my life changing experience in camp conowingo 91.
I don’t know for sure, but the name Christine Cook does sound familiar to me. And I would have been there right around 1991 probably. It’s not an unusual name, though, so it could very well be somebody else. Good luck with finding her!
I was just reminiscing about Camp Conowingo, typed in a search and came up w/your blog…thanks for the reference to the website…it looks exactly the same as I remember it (but then I did go there for at least 5 years…let’s see maybe about 1979 - 85 or so?!) but what happened to Bell Manor? Did that part of the property get sold or something?
Also I see a Cricket on the Blogroll…she isn’t the Cricket who was a counselor there way back when, eh? I doubt it…I think I might be too old for you gals. Anyways, thanks for helping bring back the memories for me. I remember one of my best friends who came back year after year was a Dawne Deaver…if anyone has heard of her, it might be fun to get back in touch. Thanks!
Definitely a different Cricket, I’m afraid, my friend is from Indiana - but I’d forgotten that counselors didn’t always use their real names, so thanks for that, Shannon!
Dawne Deaver, if you should come across this, leave a comment and I’ll make sure Shannon gets it!
Hello, I was driving to work yesterday when a hot dog commercial came on the radio. They were singing a jingle to the tune of a song we use to sing at Conowingo Camps back in the late 70’s and early 80’s. The song was Rise and Shine and Give God Your Glory Glory. This of course got me thinking alot about my camp days which lead me to the internet and to this site. I went to the camp web site and enjoyed looking at all the pictures. The Chimney Trail side of camp seems pretty much the same except for all the trees that were cut down between the camp road (where the chimney is) and the stables. The Shadowbrook side of camp has changed alot since I was there (1976-1982 as a camper and 1983-1987 as a counselor). All the camping units on the Shadowbrook side use to have platform tents. Fallen Timber is the only camp site that looks like it hasn’t changed. Trailing Pines looked the most different to me because of all the trees they cut down. I’m glad to see they finally got a new pool. They were talking about needing to replace it back when I was there. I noticed on a separate web site that Bell Manor was closed in 2000 to under go renovations. It didn’t say when it would be reopened. It would be really neat if after it reopened they would have a reunion there for all the staff that had ever worked at the camp. There was reunion like that back in 1985 (the weekend after post camp) and it was alot of fun. Speaking of reunions … in my search for Conowingo Camp info I came across the web site: http://www.summercampreunion.com
You can register for free and add your name to the camp for the years you were there and also see who else has registered. For a fee you can gain the ability to email other members on the site. Right now there’s not many people registered for Conowingo Camps so it’s probably best to pick the free option until you see someone there you want to email. Thanks for letting me blog and take care.
Aussie, is that you asking about me? Funny what things you discover when you google yourself. I was surprised to find out somebody’s looking for me! Would love to catch up!
Hey. I googled Bell Manor, looking for some of the stories about it and came up with this post. My name’s Jackie. I might sound reall young for saying this, but I was a camper at Conowingo from 1997-2005, and am now interning there.
To add just a few things to the comments above me, quite a bit has changed but nothing drastic. All the platform tents were torn down except for at Fallen Timber and Lafeyette (which isnt used anymore bc of the haunted rumors). The Dining Hall is now air conditioned with new walls and doors after the hurricane about a year and a half pretty much ripped through it. (The site hasn’t been updated in a couple years). The Trailing Pines shelter now looks more like the Staff House, and well… the pool is of course new. And the camper shower house is new. The old shower house now belongs to the staff… and a black snake who has lived there for a few years now.
Theres probably more…
But back to my original inquiry: Anyone know any of the stories about Bell Manor? I know a few, but not in great detail. 
I am a girl scout and Camp Conowingo is the best place ever! I have met really cool friends there over the past summers… ohh nd you really can here the babys cry in the wind well when it blows…
Hello!
I think I was there 85 and 86…Mud puddlers and the make up one. I remember Cricket and Winkle… My old best friend went with me Cori Johnson…I wish I could find her. I was telling my husband about camp days and it is nice to know it is still there. Time really flies!
“Some call it fun but some just call it madness…”
Trying this a second time….I was there, can’t remember what years, though I’m sure I could find them somewhere in a storage chest. According to the patches on my JR sash (tacked up next to my State Fair winners ribbons) I stayed at Chimney Trail. Now, I can vaguely remember that being over where the horses were, but I was also there for swimming camp where I actually managed to learn how to dive (thank you counselors!!). At Horse camp, I had Chesapony, one of the Assateague/Chincoteague ponies and man did she have a bony back!! Thumper and BJ tried their best, but I flat out refused to try and make her gallop in that little ring.
I never heard the stories about the chimeny, but I did hear about Black Aggie at Bell Manor - allegedly a former slave who was nurse to the homeowners’ children. If I’m remembering correctly, she killed the children and was burned to death. According to my rather vague memories (forced out of mind because I have a *very* active imagination, even at 35 yrs old!!), you can call her in a mirror with the light of a candle - she is supposed to appear and was said to make the claim that the caller would be the next to go…..again, this is over 20 years ago that I am trying to pull this from. Anybody else have any recollecitons??