Hello former Sunnycroft people!

Although I was only 5 and 6 years of age (1956 and 1957) when my parents and I spent our summers at Sunnycroft, my memories are still amazingly vivid. We lived in the Bronx at the time, and Sunnycroft was my first real taste of experiencing the "country" as a young curious boy.

One adventure I've never forgotten, was the time one of my day camp counsellors (Linda) was ill and didn't come to work that day. A couple of the other campers were planning to visit her that evening and I asked to come along. Linda was staying with her family off the premises, a little ways down the road. After dinner, I found out that the others had already gone and returned without me. I was incensed and decided I would go myself to see her! I didn't tell my mother, and while I was gone she apparently searched for me frantically. When I returned, I learned that someone had told her they last saw me near the lake down the hill! To this day, I still feel guilty for putting my loving mom through such a fright!

I remember some names from those summers: There were Linda and Debbie, my counsellors. There was Alan Marsh whose family stayed in the unit adjacent to ours in '56. The camp director was Ed (or Bill) Weston(?). The Aronson family (son Paul) were also there -- I think my parents knew them from the Bronx. Same for the Bargs (Lillian, Charlie, and kids Ira and Lois). I also remember camp kids named Peter, Regina and Owen. Our last name at the time was Rosenblum, but my parents (Bill and Florence) changed it around 1960.

The songs I remember hearing or actually singing at camp were: Rise and Shine, and B-I-N-G-O. Other popular tunes sung there were Bye-Bye Love, Que Sera Sera, and Getting to Know You. Hard to believe this was all in the same lifetime!

I went back to visit Sunnycroft one winter's day around 1970. It was still there, of course. Haven't been back since, but would love to plant my feet in that soil again and recall two of my most wonderful summers of childhood. I currently live in Vancouver, British Columbia (yes, home of the recent Olympics!) -- a long, long way from Highland Mills and those beloved times of innocence.

Please share your thoughts and memories, especially if anything I've mentioned rings a bell! Thanks and take care.
~~Ira Rogers

I think often of my magical hazy and not so lazy summer days at Sunnycroft. How privledged we are were to spend an entire summer year after year in the mountains.Our annual family pilgrimage began memorial day weekend every year. We loaded up the car and converged to rehearse for would be yet another exciting summer. While our parents unpacked we ran off to reunite with friends . The long weekend was just a teaser of what was to come. The month of June proved agonizing as we waited for school bell to ring on that last day of school.Alas it did and before long we were on a fourth of July roadtrip to the place that sometimes seemed more like home, then home.

It was not at all like the city. Everyone knew one another, everyone's mom looked out for everyones children. The Dads came on the weekend the woman ran the place all week long. I adored Sunnycroft day camp.I loved meeting at the flagpole, making lanyards in arts and crafts. I was never a athlete but somehow I enjoyed playing volleyball , tetherball , and newcomb. When I became a nursery counselor and eventually a junior girls counselor, I had no idea how pivotal these jobs would be to my future endeavors. Those carefree summer days were molding my future. I went on to be a early childhood educator. My camping days helped foster my love for theatre. I would particpate eagerly in the summer theatre productions. My favorite production was the King and I . I thought back then that we were broadway calibre and always felt Mr. George M Cohan was directing from the side lines. I had my first summer crush at Sunnycroft, and my first heartbreak.My favorite time of all was Color War where the green and the white teams competed honorably in sports, songs, and skits to be declared the rightful winner.I would stay up late into the night writing songs, building a covered wagon, and a coffin which became the source of controvercy.One of my favorite moments is when my uncle Dave flew his plane over head dropping flyers declaring the start of color war. I will never forget the look of the opposing teams faces when I arranged for a rider on horseback to promote the white legends. We were a power to reckoned with.

My family stayed at Sunnycroft in the early 60's for about 6 or so years. We stayed in the first double-bungslow closest to the rock road that went downhill past the swimming pool. One year we stayed in the main house where the laundry rooms were. My wife and I attedded a wedding last year in Middleton NY about 15 minutes north of Sunnycroft and we were early so we decided to take a look at Sunnycroft and then Colonial Cottages where we stayed post-Sunnycroft. I was devastated to see though not surprised to see that all of the bungalow colonies are gone. Other than one six foot high stone pillar with the metal sign attached to it saying"Sunny Croft" there is nothing left. There are now paved streets, lawns and backyards with large houses, few trees, as if Sunnyroft and our childhood lives ever existed in our Summer home. We drove to the town where we used to go bowling, the movies, ice cream and the two big lakes. It is crowed with the Chasidim with their trail of kids, and carriages/strollers being pushed. All that is left now are our memories, black and white photos and movies. 

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