Debbie Gordon Sollinger
(At 7, Debbie was one of Alliquippa's youngest campers when she spent her first summer there, in 1976. She offers the following recollections.) - "dead" pancakes by the back door - Collecting rocks to throw as we crossed the troll bridge - Ghost stories in the living room which instilled in me a permanent fear of the attic (burned by the angry ghosts of lobstermen), the ditch across the road (where Mott dumped the corn beefed hash that stirred the ire of the lobstermen), and the possibility of seeing three fingers pressed against my window at night - Hikes to Popham - Greenheads |  |
- Songs that are still with me today - The Circle Game, The Titanic, Sloop John B
- Getting caught in a terrible storm during my junior skipper test and Art having to come out in the Whaler to tow us in
- Never passing my swimming test because the water was so cold I lost my breath the second I jumped in
- Blueberry picking and clam digs
- Flat jeans and a child's fascination with the wringer on the washing machine
- Great all camp games of "relievo" and "sardines"
- Wishing (believe it or not) that I was big enough to roll the tennis courts
- Stopping at the local store down the road (what was it called?) for Charleston Chews and Gobstoppers on every trip out of camp
- The Dorm girls dressing me up in green ball-gown for one of the socials when I was in Little Dorm
- Looking out the windows at countless boats run aground because they didn't anticipate the tides
- Evan Zemil wearing an inordinate number of lobster rings around his neck
- After dinner volleyball games where my serve never quite made it over the net, but no one made me feel badly about it (my first experience playing on a team)
- Last Will and Testament in the final Quipps
- Garnering the courage to walk through the music room to Little Dorm while the counselors were in there listening to Pink Floyd
- Judy Gordon playing piano for me whenever I was homesick
- Ping-pong on the porch
- Kitchen duty with Sydney
- Hiking the Presidentials
- Night-time swims off the dock
- Watching "Yellow Submarine" at the local playhouse
- The glass-blowing shop in Boothbay (and of course, the fudge)
- Trips to LL Bean
- Awesome scavenger hunts
- Dressing up as munchkins and singing "We Represent the Lollipop Guild" for skit night in Little Dorm
- Playing "dictionary" for evening activity
- Feeling like the luckiest 7 year old in the world spending the summer with 40 big brothers and sisters, always ready to play with you and always looking out for you
- More wonderful people and great memories than I could ever put down on paper