Former camp counselors reunite 47 years later

By Jessica Goodman
Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Friday, June 15, 2012 at 7:37 p.m.

Three friends waited excitedly outside Never Blue on Main Street Friday, glancing up and down the street, waiting to recognize someone they hadn’t seen in 47 years.

The women were counselors at Blue Star Camp off Crab Creek Road in the summer of 1965. Junior counselor Lois Pardoll, a part-time Henderson County resident, stayed in contact with senior counselor Simmy Cohen from Miami and cabin leader Loretta Bready of Rhode Island, but lost contact with the fourth friend, Renie Halperin of Atlanta. That is, until Halperin reached out to Pardoll through the Internet.

“I can’t wait,” Pardoll said as she looked up and down the street again for Halperin. “I’m really excited.”

Then one of the three spotted her strolling toward the restaurant. They looked at each other, asking “Is that her? I think that’s her.” Finally, they called out “Renie!” and were reunited with hugs and more hugs.

“This is just amazing,” Halperin said. “It’s just a wonderful experience. I loved camp so much. That particular year was just an unbelievable year.”

In 1965, the girls were responsible for cabin P-13 — the fifth-grade pioneers. Halperin said she almost wasn’t a counselor, but the owners of the camp called her to come at the last moment.

The girls just clicked that summer. They were all around 18 years old and just hit it off, Pardoll said. The cabin was in a great location, right next to the archery pit.

“It was such a wonderful place to spend the summer,” Cohen said.

The girls enjoyed the typical camp fun — though swimming in the lake was “too cold.” The peanut butter at the camp was extremely good and Cohen said female campers often gained a few extra pounds because they are so much of it.

“I think it’s spending a month or two months in a situation where everyone has the same thing in common and all the other pressures of your hometown are removed,” Bready said.

All the girls agreed the summer of ’65 was different from any of their other experiences at Blue Star.

“We all had cabins before and after,” Pardoll said. “I haven’t gelled with my other counselors the way we did.”

Friday was the start of a weekend reunion for the girls from Cabin P-13. On Friday night, they went back to the camp for dinner and Sabbath services.

“I found Lois on the Internet somehow,” Halperin said.

“Otherwise, I think it would never have happened,” Pardoll said.

The summer of ’65 was significant for Pardoll for another reason. She met future husband Pete Pardoll at Blue Star, when he was also a counselor. The two own a summer cabin on Pinnacle Mountain near Blue Star Camp.

Reach Goodman at 828-694-7867 orjessica.goodman@blueridgenow.com.