CAMP SKOGLUND’S WILBUR NELSON CELEBRATES 60 YEARS RUNNING A SUMMER CAMP

Soon after the close of WWII Wilbur Nelson, a young Navy veteran from “the Garden State,” entered the New Jersey State Teachers' College. At about the same time he was hired to work for several summers as a counselor at Camp Winnebago in Fayette. He expected to become a teacher but little did he know that owning his own boys’ camp was also in his future.

 

In the years that followed Wilbur spent two weeks to a month of each summer in Maine which gave him ample time to explore and become familiar with the area. “During all the early years of me coming here” related Wilbur “the (original Mowana) camp in West Mount Vernon stood idle. I asked around about it and someone told me to go see Charlene Adams in Readfield; she owned it but I was told it wasn’t for sale” said Wilbur. He found out from Charlene it could be and the two of them struck a deal. He bought the camp in 1956.

 

“It was a small piece of land a little over an acre with 350 feet along the shore. All there was for buildings was a two story house with a walkway down the middle. There were rooms for the kids upstairs, the mess hall was downstairs. That same summer Wilbur bought some abutting land from Ruth and Stanley Hight to increase the size of his camp’s grounds to twenty-eight acres. The expansion provided space for an athletic field and more buildings.

 

During the spring of 1956 Wilbur took the existing structure down and burned it, then he cleared an area and built four 15x15 ft. sleeping cabins that could accommodate six to eight boys each. He put up an A Frame recreation hall which also served as the lodge. Then he named the camp Skoglund which is Norwegian for “Woodland” explained Wilbur. “Both of my parents were born in Norway.”

 

Skoglund opened in 1957 with twenty-five boys in attendance. Enrollment gradually increased to seventy-five and ultimately to one-hundred campers ages 9 to 15. They came from New Jersey, Sweden, Germany, Mexico, Japan and other parts of the U.S. All of the counselors had been campers themselves at one time or another which helped assure smooth operations.

 

Activities included athletics, water games, canoeing and swim meets. Campers also trekked to the Rangeley area and Moosehead Lake for canoe trips; and to the White Mountains and Tumbledown Mountain for hiking and climbing. More locally an annual canoe adventure down “Thirty Mile River” was enjoyed. Each morning the boys were provided with music books and they joined together in song. This author, who once lived a short distance from Skoglund, well remembers hearing their bugle reveille every morning through most of July and August. It was a welcome sound that cast the vision of a group of hearty, smiling boys who were eager to begin their day on the lake.

 

When asked if he had any humorous stories to share Wilbur told about his strategy when the boys got rowdy in their cabins late at night. “We had midnight rides. I loaded them up in the camp truck and drove them out to the Armstrong (Five Seasons) Road and dropped them off. They were ready to sleep by the time they walked back to Skoglund.” The “night walkers” did not know that adult eyes were watching from a distance to make sure they safely returned.

 

“Uncle Will”, as his campers called him, soon gained a reputation as a “second Dad” – for some he was the only Dad they ever knew. Many of the boys worked through problems and gained self-confidence at Skoglund according to Wilbur. One former camper explained that Uncle Will liked the lost cause kids. “He took them under his wing, turned them around and had a big impact.” Another revealed that if it had not been for Wilbur he probably would not be here today. “I was an angry kid. My father had just left… Coming to Skoglund was a make it or break it for me” he said with a quiver in his lip. He made it! One alumnus described his experience as “empowering”. And yet another related that his years there were the happiest in his life and that he still thinks about the camp all the time. In hearing a dozen or so former campers speak about Skoglund and Uncle Will their love and admiration is undeniable! One remarked “He commanded respect and you gave it without question. Wilbur Nelson is the best human being I have ever met”.

 

Nelson is the late comer compared to other camp founders. But unlike most of them who kept up the fast pace of running a kids’ camp for fifteen to twenty years at most, he did it for thirty-three years! Skoglund ceased operating as a boys’ camp in 1990 but Wilbur wasn’t done yet. He and his daughter Rondi converted Skoglund into a family summer resort. “I’m so happy that Rondi is interested” he said “and that it will still go on.” Since they converted to rental cottages many Skoglund alumni return to stay there with their families during the summer. “I can still hear the kids playing on the waterfront” said Wilbur. “I like that.” 

 

Wilbur is still going strong at age ninety-one - six decades after he founded Camp Skoglund for boys. Today he and Rondi run Camp Skoglund for their love of the place and the people who return year after year. These words on their web site convey their sentiments well – “We want to continue sharing our idyllic summer home…”

 

This story is an excerpt from a newly released book “The Founders and Evolution of Summer Resorts and Kids’ Camps on four lakes in Central Maine”, co-authored by Dale Potter-Clark and Charles L. Day, Jr. Copies of the book can be purchased online at http://readfieldmaine.blogspot.com 

(C) 2016 All Rights Reserved by Dale Potter-Clark

This article appeared in Lakes Region Reader August 26, 2016.

Wilbur died peacefully in his sleep Oct. 14, 2016 at his home in Summit, New Jersey soon after Rondi had returned him there from Camp Skoglund after sixty successful seasons. Rest in Peace, Wilbur.