Founded in 1885 by Sumner F. Dudley, Camp Dudley YMCA is the oldest continually running boys camp in the United States. It is located in Westport, New York, on the shores of Lake Champlain.[1] In 1993, it was included within the Camp Dudley Road Historic District when listed on the listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[2]
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Sumner Dudley, long active in both the New York and New Jersey YMCA movements, was asked in 1884 to take "young honor YMCA members" camping. In 1885, he took seven boys for a week’s encampment at Orange Lake, N. J. The next year Dudley moved the site to Twin Islands, Lake Wawayanda, N.J. Ultimately, the camp settled on Lake Champlain, N.Y., in 1908. Dudley referred to the first camp as Camp Baldhead[1], and later the Boys' Camping Society (B.C.S.). After Dudley’s death in 1897, the camp was renamed Camp Dudley.
Campers are assigned camp numbers in ascending order based on when they first attended Camp. The first camp number (No. 1) was assigned George Peck in 1903. Since then, over 20,000 campers, leaders, and staff have each been given a unique, identifying number. At alumni gatherings, there is often a competition to see who in attendance has the lowest (or oldest) camp number.
No longer officially operated by the YMCA, Camp Dudley still affiliates itself with the group in name. It draws from the YMCA's own tenets of mind, body, and spirit. Though non-denominational, the camp espouses "Christian values" in its teachings and programs, not least of which is its motto, "The Other Fellow First".
Thanks to a strong and financially supportive alumni base, the camp offers scholarships to those in financial need.
In the summer of 2006 Camp Dudley acquired a sister camp in Colchester, Vermont called Camp Dudley at Kiniya, after purchasing the former Camp Kiniya from the Williams family. A driving force in this expansion was for the daughters of Camp Dudley alumni to have a place to learn the same ethics and values that their sons could learn at Camp Dudley.
One of the unique characteristics of Dudley is the loyalty and support of its alumni. For most campers, their relationship with Dudley does not end with the close of the camping season but continues throughout their lives. Many former campers return as Leaders, and alumni and parents contribute to Dudley through their financial support. All friends of Dudley are invited to attend the alumni gatherings, as well as the August CDA Reunion at Camp. Between 35 and 40 alumni gatherings are held during the year throughout the country and around the world on the Dudley "Reunion Trail". 2009 was Camp Dudley's 125th summer.
In 2006 Camp Dudley officially acquired Camp Kiniya to expand its rich camping tradition to girls. Camp Kiniya was founded in 1919 by Helen Van Buren and lies on the Vermont shores of Lake Champlain, in Colchester. Traditions at Camp Kiniya include the Kiwi Day, where the entire camp celebrates campers and staffers who have attended for four years or more. Camp Dudley at Kiniya has grown into a balanced blend of both camps, including traditions from each original camp.
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