Lakeview Day Camp Celebrates 75 Years

Lakeview Day Camp recently celebrated their lasting place in East Brunswick's history with the opening of a time capsule and welcoming back their alumni campers.

Lakeview sits on a 20-acre piece of property that comes up against Farrington Lake.

It has been a part of East Brunswick for the past 75 years, dating back to 1939 when former camp director Amy Wasserman's grandparents established it as a place for city kids to experience the country.

"It always felt like home," Wasserman said.

Wasserman, an East Brunswick resident, along with a number of former campers, toured the campus this past Tuesday during the anniversary party.

Lakeview was purchased by Doug and Christina Bartlett in 2010.

Doug Bartlett said the camp usually has about 500 kids daily, overseen by a staff of 200 college students and teachers.

A Lakeview summer lasts about eight weeks, during which kids climb a rock wall, act in plays, canoe on the lake, create arts and crafts, swim, play sports, and just have fun outdoors.

The camp operated as a sleepaway camp from 1939 to 1969, and has retained the look of an overnight getaway in the woods, despite its location off Riva Avenue.

It enrolls kids from as far north as Westfield and Hoboken and all the towns in between, Bartlett said.

The allure of the camp is that it is a "perfect combination" of quality staff, great programs and "unmatched facilities," Bartlett said.

On Tuesday, the camp dug up a 20-year-old time capsule and opened it up to find a letter from past campers and a number of items buried in 1993. They followed it up by creating a whole new time capsule to be buried for a future camp to find.

Justin Weiner, head of athletics for the camp, and his wife, Allison, a former camp counselor, brought their baby son on Tuesday to the celebration.

Their relationship was a camp romance that culminated in marriage, Weiner said.

Their family will continue to be involved in the camp, once their son grows up a bit and is able to attend, Weiner said.

"He'll be coming here," he said.

For more information on Lakeview Day Camp, visit www.lakeviewdaycamp.com.