One of the very unique experiences for sixth‐graders in the Irvington school system was always a week’s stay at the town’s 130‐acre educational outdoor center off Route 31 in Hunterdon County near Flemington on Round Mountain. For many of us, it was our first time away from home without family. More than a few sixth-graders got so homesick that they were picked up by their parents before Friday.

The Irvington Board of Education was the only one in New Jersey that owned and operated such an outdoor facility. The programs began in the spring of 1961. Our class was the third cohort of sixth-graders to use the facility.

Russell Neide (who was the Supervisor of Physical Education, Health and Safety and Director of Outdoor Education) had been involved with the camp project since its inception. Neide had a master’s degree from New York Unversity, where he taught and had charge of the freshman physical‐education program during the 1944‐45 school year. He joined the Irvington School system in 1946.

According to Neide, early on the project’s goals were ahead of most of the state and country in regards to teaching about the environment.

“Our main purpose is to change attitudes and values in relation to the environmental needs of our country. Our ultimate aim is to get them to do a better job than we’ve done in relation to a better environment and conservation of energy sources. Our main thrust is on such natural resources as water and wildlife. Most of the 130 acres encompass woodland, wild terrain, forest and mountains. The only flat land is where the buildings are located and a small field behind the dormitories for archery. The activities are strictly related to woods. The children are taught how to tell the age of trees, and there are birdwatching sessions as part of the wildlife study. The children also do field mathematics, wherein they are taught how to measure the flow and width of streams and the height of trees, and how to size a cord of wood.”

The boys and girls participated in nature studies, boating, fishing, archery, and other pursuits that may well have been totally foreign to their everyday Irvington lives.

Since our class went to the camp back in the 1963-64 school year (58 years ago!), a lot has changed at the location. Some of our classmates became counselors when we were upperclassmen at the high school and saw things from a different perspective.

At some point, the camp added a three‐acre man‐made lake giving the camp 1100 feet of frontage on the South Branch of the Raritan River. A new building at the edge of the lake housed three big aluminum rowboats. In all, there were then six structures in the complex, including a combined faculty cottage and infirmary, boys’ and girls’ dormitories (with double‐deck bunks) that could accommodate 42 campers each, and housing for a counseling staff of four to six high‐school students. The dining hall was designed to seat 76. A large recreation center contains a nature museum, and there are outdoor pavilions that are used for classrooms.

At one point in the 1990s, the town began to bring third and fourth graders to the facility as day trips.

Three meals each day were served with breakfast at 8 A.M. and no-thank-you portions (to discourage food waste) and students did all the meal setup and cleanup.

“We feel that these meal hours are teaching periods,” Mr. Neide said. “The children converse, make new friends, and are taught table manners. At all meals, the youngsters are on a rotating basis. The system calls for the boys and girls to take turns being ‘cruisers’ — those who set, serve, and clean up the tables and sweep the floors — and ‘pearl divers,’ those who follow up on kitchen detail by washing, drying, and putting the dishes away. Each student gets a turn, and there are new ‘cruisers’ and ‘pearl divers’ at every meal.”

From 9:30 A.M. until noon, and again after lunch, the students embark on forest ecology, soil studies, boating, fishing, and nature studies. Some things added since our class’ 6th-grade experience were boating and fishing.

Starting and dousing campfires, square dancing, and nature films were part of the evening entertainment, and “Talent Nights” which included everyone – students, faculty, and counselors – were scheduled on Thursdays. Back to the bunks for “lights out” meant saying “Nighty, night, Neide.”

Dr. George R. Gordon, Superintendent of Schools in Irvington for 17 years, said at one time that more than 2,000 students visited the camp annually. Besides the 1,200 sixth‐graders, there was also a summer program for about 150 children. Neide was also in charge of the summer sessions for 13 years. Under Federal Title I funding, a combination of third‐, fourth‐, fifth‐ and sixth-graders would go for two‐week “vacations” that included some of the activities done during the school year with sixth-graders. The summer program also included reading and mathematics classes, and day trips to zoos and museums. There was a summer staff of eight teachers and eight counselors.

The campsite was opened in 1928, and originally it was owned by the Irvington Home and School League, a nonprofit organization. They took 50 girls and boys to camp each summer with money raised in town from the sale of Christmas Seals. Around 1955, the National Tuberculosis Association felt there was no longer any need for that type of program and took the sale of seals away from the league. I was a member of the league at the time and we had no means of funding the camp program. In June of 1960, with fundraising down, the Home and School League turned over the property to the Board of Education and encouraged the board to establish a new center for students.

For two summers prior to our 6th-grade experience, the Irvington Board of Education maintenance crews went there for a week to do work. Paul Stahl’s father (Paul, senior) was one of the carpenters, painters, and plumbers who helped get the camp into shape. Paul from our class was able to go along and stayed for the week, so by sixth grade he was already an experienced camper! Paul’s mom, Johana, had been to the camp in its earlier incarnation when she was 9 years old!

Paul also recalls the camp cook, Mrs. Legelbauer, a German woman who drove an old Model T Ford. She lived near the river and even had a Florida airboat in her garage that she used when the area flooded.

The current status of the property is unclear, but it is not being used as a camp by the Irvington schools. An article from 2005, said that there was an effort to preserve the area (listed as being in Readington Township) under the terms of the agreement with the state’s Green Acres program. The camp had not been used for four years at the time of the article. Irvington would be paid for an easement to keep the property as a camp and open space. In that way, though the town wanted to keep it as a camp, even if Irvington sold the property in the future, they would have to sell it as a camp and it would never be commercially developed.

More recently, Irvington Councilwoman October Hudley told a classmate that Irvington still owns the property and still plans to renovate and expand the facility with the support of the current Mayor and council.