Back to Camp Kokosing
Kay oh, Kay Oh, Ess eye en gee, Kay Oh, Kay oh! ess eye en gee. That was our song long, long ago when each summer I boarded a bus in Brooklyn with forty mostly New Yorkers and traveled to Thetford Center, Vermont to camp.
It was not just any camp, it was Camp Kokosing, and there was a lake, and cabins and pretty girls and more black people than I had ever hung out with. There were plays, and music, and driving to field trips in the back of a stake truck, and a camaraderie that reflected the ’60s. We used to sing antiwar songs in the back of that truck.
Heading down to New York City tonight…to a reunion of the Camp Kokosing crowd. What is it like to go see people you haven’t seen in more than 35 years? No way I am gonna recognize them, but hey, they have a place in my heart so I am going to go and catch back up.
October 19, 2007 @ 5:18 pm
Hi—I went to Kokosing when it was all boys–and only one black–named Clancy Hogan! It was 1946—-Just read your blog–and thought I’d send you this comment! Steve–1212-929-3846
December 13, 2011 @ 10:45 pm
Hi! My name is Helvio. I ‘am Italian and I live in Rome and Montreal. I’ve found this blog while I was looking for some information about Cam Kokosing on the web,
Actually I have already tried many times in the past but never found anything until tonight,
I was Camp Counselor there in summer 1964 and and I was involved in the Art and Crafts and in the Bicycle and Canoe trips Groups.
Such a fond memories, wonderful place and wonderful people mostly New Yorkers….
I remember them all by face , but only few by names… Bill ( one of the owners) Pat, Dave…
Always wanted to go back someday but did not remember exactly where it was. I could only remember that it was in the middle of Vermont near the New Hampshire border.
Your blog definitely helped me to find the place … I will visit there soon.
Thank you so much!
Kay oh, Key Oh, Ess eye en gee, K O K O S I N G !!!
Helvio
July 28, 2016 @ 4:53 pm
I attended Camp Kokosing back in approx.1974-’75. I still have some very vivid memories.
The lake. Taking the raft test, the 1/4 mile test. I remember the waterskiing counselor Jerry Faison mooning my friend Amy Harrison and myself. (I was all of 8 years old). Good memories. Socials, plays, mud sliding when it rained.
On a whim I googled Kokosing, not expecting too find any info, pleasantly surprised, I read a few blogs. Took me right back too those days. I wonder if anyone remembers the name Lisa Chosed.
February 18, 2023 @ 9:58 pm
Hi.I went to Kokosing in 1953,54,56 as a camper.I also remenber the raft test,1/4 mile and later the 1 mile swim,with a counselor accompanying me in a rowboat.I remember the canoes,where I went by byself after dinner and caught pickerel,which were cooked by the staff- tasted great.I remember the canoe tests.The beautiful pond (lake),early morning swims,the archery program,the plays,the other campers.It was a great experience all around.
February 24, 2023 @ 11:33 pm
You pre-dated me by at least 20 years Bob.
January 1, 2025 @ 9:26 pm
I went to Camp Kokosing in 1965 and 1966 and then worked there as a counselor a few years later. I remember so many wonderful things about the camp (swimming in the lake, riding on the back of the flatbed truck, visiting the Newport Folk Festival and other concert venues, going to see plays in Hanover, Vermont, and the amazing canoe trips). Mrs. R. was like a grandmother to all the kids. She let us bring our pets to camp. I have many fond memories of this camp and all the ways that it influenced me as an adult.