Community Guide 2017
The Swimming Pool at Forest Farm Summer Camp from a memoir by Frances Rundall Gregg, shared by Susan Gregg Conard, with thanks to Margo Schmidt Harold and Frances Gregg bought more than 35 acres of property next to their house on Tamal Road, Forest Knolls, in 1944. This was to become the first multi-cultural, multi- racial private summer camp west of the Mississippi. Harold Gregg remodeled the barn with a kitchen, built platforms for tents, pens for animals, showers and toilets for boys and girls. Beginning with 17 campers ages 6 to 14 in 1945, by 1950, 75 to 80 were attending each summer, until the eventual closing of camp in 1977. Camp offered 3-, 6- and 9-week sessions in the years during World War II and after. Parents with means sent their children from Europe to escape reminders of WWII. Harold would pick up children at the San Francisco airport, train station, and bus depot. Lots of music, adventure and diversity were enjoyed at Forest Farm Summer Camp. In the 1950s Joseph McCarthy’s malice was spreading. Who were the Communists living among us? The FBI came to talk to Harold and took him away for questioning.
Harold Gregg (center) with camp counselors (Photo from the Collection of Susan Gregg Conard)
swim here! This pool is restricted!” A few minutes later Harold and Frances drove into the parking lot to check on the campers’ morning swimming lessons. Why was Gloria not with her campers? They found her outside the chain link fence that enclosed the pool area. Gloria’s tears fell unheeded as she told how she tried to keep track of her five little charges playing in the water without their counselor. Harold stormed into the pool area. “OK, kids, lessons over for today. Quick, out of the pool!” A surprised group of campers and counselors dressed in record time and were trucked back to camp. “Everybody up on Oak Knoll, right away, important meeting.” All raced up the hill to meet in a circle on the knoll, even the kitchen staff. “There was an unfortunate incident at the pool this morning.” The discussion cov- ered the incident, and the children were asked what could be done to solve the problem? After many suggestions, one little boy pointed to below the parking area, “Build our own pool.” The making of a pool became the camp- ers’ focal point as they went through their day. Programs were rearranged, reprogramed. Digging and construction going on in the center of the camp proved to be a learn- ing process in itself. It became a great summer. There were trips to the coast—Stinson Beach, Heart’s Desire, Shell Beach, Dillon Beach for overnights in the sand dunes. When parents drove in to pick up their children at the close of camp, campers themselves conducted them proudly to over- look the brand new swimming pool. Then a going away treat—38 campers celebrated their accomplishment by asking Gloria to be the first one to enter the pool and the rest of the campers jumped into that sparkling water to be with Gloria. We were left with glowing memories, but with an expensive, unpaid-for swimming pool in our front pasture.
(Photo from the Collection of Susan Gregg Conard)
Harold and Frances sought counselors from the colleges and universities around the Bay Area. Many students were a long distance from home and looked for jobs locally for the summer. One counselor, Gloria, was an 18-year-old, Chinese-American student at University of California from San Francisco. She took her 6-year-old campers to the Woodacre swimming pool for their first day swim- ming lessons. Forest Farm camp was in its second year and our enrollment had doubled, but to invest in our own pool on the camp grounds? At the gate Gloria was asked, “You’re Chinese aren’t you?” “Yes,” she answered. “Well,” with finality, “you can’t
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