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Celebrating a century of Camp Fitch
Camp Fitch marks milestone
By ELISE McKEOWN SKOLNICK
YOUNGSTOWN
The people who gathered at the Tyler Mahoning Valley History Center had at least one thing in common: a love for Camp Fitch YMCA.
Saturday’s event celebrated 100 years of the camp, which is a branch of the Youngstown YMCA. More than 200 people attended to reminisce about their time at the North Springfield, Pa., facility.
Paul Storm of Youngstown fondly remembers his four years at the camp. He attended Saturday’s gathering with his wife, Jean.
Storm first attended Camp Fitch in 1942. He was 13. To pay his way, he washed dishes and performed other chores.
“When we weren’t doing dishes, we were able to swim, play basketball, ride the horses, partake in all the activities like a camper, only we didn’t have to pay,” Storm
remembers. “Oh, they were great. It was a great thing in my life.”
He remembers a time when the cook baked pies and put them out to cool.
“It was just too much for me to resist,” he said. “And I took one of the pies and brought it up to our tent and we all shared the pie.”
He was found guilty of being the pie thief, and punished. But it was worth it, he said.
Storm’s grandsons attended Camp Fitch the last two years. Storm was disappointed when he saw the camp with them.
“Everything had changed,” he noted. “I expected this or that, but Camp Fitch is still the greatest thing that ever happened.”
And his grandsons enjoyed it, too.
The camp is a special place for Lisa and Joe Amerson, too. It’s where they met and fell in love.
They started dating at the camp in 1999 when they were camp counselors, Lisa said. Originally from Youngstown, she also attended the camp with her school. Joe’s great-grandfather, Paul Davies, helped found the camp.
The couple, of Charlotte, N.C., married in 2002.
The camp is rooted in family tradition, Lisa noted.
“People send their children, and their children’s children, and I think that’s one of the reasons why it’s been around for 100 years,” she said. “There’s a lot of strong feelings for the people that you meet there and the families that go there. It has a very special place in our hearts.”
The couple enjoyed reading the historical information about the camp on display at the event.
“It’s fun to come back and see all this and see all the people that really helped camp grow into this wonderful thing that it is today,” Lisa said.
The event included entertainment and food.