A Phone Call at Buck’s Rock in 1982 (or sometime around there)

Last updated on: January 16, 2015 at 4:10 pm by Aliza Worthington

A Phone Call at Buck’s Rock in 1982 (or sometime around there) 2015-01-16T16:10:29-05:00 Aliza Worthington

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

So remember how we used to get phone calls at Buck’s Rock? If we got them, of course. Rachel and I didn’t often, because our parents were at the camp with us, which was awesome for so many reasons, but not so much when it came to mail, care packages and phone calls, but extremely great for when we got sick or an injury or wanted a treat sneaked to us from late night Counselor Snack or, miracle of miracles, a pizza from that place in New Milford or just a hug or someone to cheer you on in the Watermelon League even if you were the worst softball player ever.

“Lauren Grollman, you have a phone call.” The two pay phones were on the side of the Dining Room where we all ate and sat wherever we wanted and waited in line for the cafeteria-style food that was always so good – I mean REALLY good, not just for camp food. And there was always peanut butter and jelly if you didn’t want what was made fresh in the kitchen every day.

There was the microphone in the Dining Room where Lou always made his announcements at mealtimes, but kids could use it too IFANDONLYIF they had a really good reason, like, for example, you were walking by the pay phones and one of them rang and you answered it and it was some parent asking to talk to his kid and you’d tell them to hold and leave the phone dangling and run to the microphone and turn the little black square button to the “ON” position and say into it, “David Grausman, you have a phone call at the Dining Room. David Grausman, you have a phone call at the dining room” and basically your responsibility was fulfilled, but if you were too shy to speak into the microphone there was always another kid or grownup around willing to do it for you.

I never thought about the poor parent on the other end of the phone that was dangling because who knows if David or Lauren heard the announcement because maybe they were all the way out at the farm or in the radio shop with headphones on or somewhere else on the edges of the camp? Some people, like me, were really nice and would hang around the dangling phone for a few minutes and if Lauren or David didn’t come to talk to their parents, I could say, “I’m sorry, they’re not around right now, do you want me to take a message?” and they’d say yes and I’d write it down (sometimes there was a pencil and paper scraps on top of the phones) and pin it on the bulletin board (or did I put it into a cubby hole?) that everyone passed as they headed into the Dining Room for the next meal and they would check and find a phone message from their dad and call him back after dinner. If they had enough quarters, because you had to go to Doris in the office for quarters or if you were lucky the canteen was open and you could get quarters there, too.

On the rare occasions I DID get a phone call from my grandparents or aunt or AMAZINGLY from a friend it would be like I won the lottery and I wouldn’t be sure if they really said my name over the loudspeaker and I’d look around at the people I was with for them to confirm it was indeed my name being announced and they’d look at me and that was enough confirmation for me to take off at a mad pace towards the dining hall past the ping pong tables and the canteen and the Gong and hope to god some prick didn’t hang up the dangling phone before I got to it, but usually it was still dangling when I got there breathless and said, “Hello???”

Photo from 1971 Buck’s Rock Yearbook

Thanks, and kudos to my friend, Jen Maidenberg, for inspiring this type of nostalgia and writing with her lovely blog, And Yadda Yadda.

C. Happiness (Humor/Memories/Random)

Buck's Rock Work Camp

Previous Post

November 6, 2014

Babysitting Training

Next Post

November 10, 2014 An Apology to Street Harrassers

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A. Life (People/Education/Random) B. Liberty (Gender/Politics/Religion) C. Happiness (Humor/Memories/Random) Uncategorized

Select a Month February 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which Christian festival begins with Ash Wednesday and ends at Easter?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Lent Epiphany Advent Pentecost