Camp Alvernia

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The former St Francis Monastery building at Camp Alvernia, in 1895.

Historical marker outside Camp Alvernia with a tribute to Vince Lombardi.

Camp Alvernia is a non-profit recreational summer camp in Centerport, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. The camp is located on the east shore of Centerport Harbor, on the Little Neck peninsula. It was founded in 1888 by the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn, who still run the facility now, almost 120 years later.^[1]. Alvernia was the first, and is now the oldest Catholic camp in continuous operation in the United States.

Camp Alvernia is currently a day camp that serves about 600 children ages 4 to 14 from all religious backgrounds, and also continues to serve as a retreat for the Franciscan brothers.^[2] The Camp offers boating and sailing activities, land and field activities, and swimming in two pools, and recently added a visual media program.^[3] Scholarships are also awarded each year to deserving youth.^[4]

In the summer of 2000, Camp Alvernia, in Centerport, New York, developed a course called "Leadership Skills in Community Youth Recreation." The course was based in part on the camp's annual pre-camp orientation program, and participating camp counselors earn college credit.^[5] The Love of Learning Montessori method school moved to the grounds of Camp Alvernia in September 2004.^[6]

Originally built as a summer retreat for Franciscan brothers, the 18-acre facility later became a residential camp for immigrant children from New York City, who slept in tents until cabins were built in the 1930-40's^[7]. It was originally named "Mount Alvernia" after the mountain in Italy where Francis of Assisi is said to have received stigmata. Funding for the camp was raised by redeeming Kirkman Soap wrappers, each having a value of two cents.^[8] At its peak, it comprised the main building and boarding house (Chalmers House) which accommodated as many as sixty guests.^[9]

Camp Alvernia used to be a residential camp, ending sometime during the past 15 years. Boys and girls, ages 5-18, could go for either 3 or 6 week periods of time. (Later changed to 2, 4 or 6 week sessions) Girls traditionally stayed in the dorms, one room for younger girls, one room for older girls. Boys stayed in cabins with names such as Nest, Den, Bayside and Seaside. During the height of Alvernia's popularity, the youngest girls did stay in two of the cabins. At the time of its 100th anniversary, it was run as a simultaneous residential and day camp. Residential students would be awoken by a reville over the campus wide loudspeaker, meet for breakfast, and then break into their day camp groups, as the day campers would be bused in from local Long Island towns. Keeping with the camp's theme and location, the day camp named its various age groups after tribes of the Iroquois nation. The youngest campers were called the Oneidas, followed by the Mohawk, Huron, Cayuoga and the Seneca.

Camp activities included traditional arts and crafts and swimming, but also had full sized basketball courts, tennis courts and playing fields. Its specialty was boating, especially windsurfing. Campers would have boating, led by the famous Brother Louie, and could canoe, kayak, sail or go on the larger sailboats for a ride. There would also be excursions to the local roller skating rink, museums and nearby beaches.