From counselors to lifelong supporters
In 1978, Bonnie Beaulieu sat down at her typewriter to fill out a summer job application for Pine Tree Camp. It was her junior year at Bates College and she was ready to experience something new.
“My parents supported Pine Tree Camp and always encouraged me to work there,” Bonnie recalled. “My father was an educator and felt strongly about providing opportunities for kids of all abilities. They thought it would be a privilege for me to work there, and they were right.”
Her classmate (and future husband), Dave, could see how excited she was about the opportunity and decided he wanted to work at Camp too. They went together for an interview and were hired on the spot. Neither of them really knew what to expect.
“It was so much more than I could ever have imagined,” Dave recalled. “There was so much diversity of people and abilities. It wasn’t long before I started to communicate with people on a very different level, oftentimes without even talking. I quickly learned how to get very creative because the kids loved playing jokes and trying to outsmart me. It’s very emotional to think back on that summer and all the joy and laughter we shared.”
Bonnie couldn’t agree more.
“There was so much going on, but at the bottom of it all it was the incredible joy and laughter and the casting off of all that holds us back. I remember walking through my cabin at night and seeing the kids’ crutches tossed to the side and feeling all the calm that comes at the end of a day well lived. There are so many special memories and it’s nice to feel what the lasting effect is.”
Forty five years later, the impact Camp has on campers and their families remains strong in their minds.
Dave said, “As a counselor, it struck me how thankful the parents were. It was very motivating to me. Investing in people’s well-being is so important. It’s so far reaching.”
For Bonnie, “The connection you can establish through common experience is really powerful and it’s part of the incredible vision that Pine Tree Camp has.”
