Memories of Crane Lake Camp from 68 to 79

Blue Rams ’75 song

Betsy G — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 18:32:51 +0000

Guess the brain is primed this week to think about these things. This was I think a second part of a two part entrance.

This part went to The Halls of Montezuma

From the moment it was broken
Color war belonged to blue
Although not a word was spoken
Even whites knew it was true

How can white riders expect to win
When blue team cannot be beat
Even the rec hall is confident
The white team will meet defeat

Mustangs trot ’69

Betsy G — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:04:36 +0000

To the tune of I’ve got a lot of living to do (from Bye Bye Birdie)

Mustangs trot
Right into their victory
Blue team braves
Take heed to our call
Whites are here
to show you who’s with it
Blue team, you’re bound for a fall

Tonight’s the night
That we’re gonna win it
We have galloped
All through the rec hall
[Argh, can't remember lyrics here]
White mustangs are gonna take it all

For we’ve got [people to see? Places to go? something?]
As we sing and march along

Tonight’s the night (excellent harmony thing was going here)
That we’re gonna win it
We have galloped
All through the rec hall
[Argh, can't remember lyrics here]
White mustangs are gonna take it all

Ba ba ba , ba da ba da ba ba (Gimme a W) (we formed each letter as we did this)
Ba ba ba da ba da ba (Gimme an H)
Ba ba da, ba da ba da ba da (Gimme an I)
Ba da ba da ba da ba (T)
Ba ba da ba da ba (E)

This will be a white team color war

Waiters’ song

Betsy G — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:22:15 +0000

Was this ’69 or ’70? or ’71 even? I can only remember a few lines:

To the tune of Hava Nagila

We are
the Crane Lake Waiters
We serve potaters
And a lot of P&J

Senior girls ’75

Betsy G — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:02:05 +0000

I’m sure Meryl and I both remember at least some of this, but neither wants to put it up because we realize how inane the lyrics really are. Then again, we were 14 when we wrote it all on our own (our group leader had quit, or was still there and completely ineffective), and we taught it to our huge group of seniors, and choreographed it. It was unheard of for campers to write the fight song. The entrance was written by some of the girls in the Chalet (Dani Klein, I think was involved, and maybe Jamie Goldfarb?), and that was actually pretty good in retrospect. We were proud of ourselves, but I don’t think it’ll go down in CLC history as one of the greats.

We lost to the Camper Workers, whose song was truly one of the greats. Robin Ulanoff was one of the judges and Meryl and I felt she was biased in favor of the CWs, but I think in our hearts we both realized we had not won. We pretended to be upset, but we both confessed to each other that we really weren’t.

BTW, I never, in 6 years at camp, won fight song night.

Entrance to the theme from The Sting

We’re the seniors of ’75
The greatest senior group ever alive

(Actually, I can’t remember the entrance version, only the exit, unless we used a different entrance from exit, which we might have, as we threw everything but the kitchen sink at this event)

Now that our song is done
We are sure that you know that we have won
We’re the seniors of ’75
The greatest senior group ever alive
We’re the sexy, sensational, sassy, successful super seniors of 75

To the tune of When I’m 64

Winning this fight of 75, senior girls are here
We’ll be showing you our pep and drive (oy, how corny)
Senior girls are really alive (cringe)

[surely a verse missing here, but thanks to Susan Stein for this verse]

Seniors of crane lake our time has come

We’ll convince you all

Who’s gonna win it, we’re gonna win it

we are on the ball

Then, to the tune of California Here I Come (we had the hardest time keeping people from changing keys in the middle of this):

Listen to us, Don and Ed
Senior girls are way ahead
If you’ve heard all that we’ve said then we’ll conquer this sing night

Sports and games and tennis too
We all show our strength to you
Blah blah blah all that we do
As we sing with all our might

[Then back to When I'm 64]

Okay, I forget all the rest of this, except the last few lines

Who’s gonna win it? We’re gonna win it…
The seniors, yes the seniors, the seniors naturally

(Curtain close, curtain open)

The seniors, yes the seniors, the seniors naturally

(Curtain close, curtain open…Big finish)

The seniors naturally

Color war morning greetings

Betsy G — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:30:32 +0000

After we’d line up at flag poll, each team in turn would do the morning greeting. One was this (I’m sure a few words are off):

Good morning blue team

the white team says hi

Our smiling faces, the gleam in our eye

Since we have slept well, we hope you have too

good morning blue team, the best day to you

The we did the one (maybe I already wrote this) based on Boom and Robin’s little Bingo Bango Bongo song:

Bingo Bango Bongo, morning judges morning blue team

oh the white team says hi

(then we did a little wave)

Then there was the boring one where we just said Best of luck in today’s events.

Birthday songs

Betsy G — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:21:11 +0000

There were a few camp-specific songs I remember when someone had a summer birthday. (For some reason I remember the girl who played Oliver in like 1970 or so had a summer birthday.)

This one was just a chant:

Happy Birthday (unh)

There is sorrow everywhere and

people dying everywhere

But Happy Birthday (unh)

Happy Birthday (unh)

The birthday kiss one??

This was another chant/cheer. I can’t remember how the beginning went.

Wait, two days later, I can remember…

Today is somebody’s birthday

Who’s birthday?

Susan’s birthday

How old is she?

[then you'd clap the right number of times]

13 years old and never been kissed?

This was always done in the mess hall, and it would end with everyone saying (using whatever names there were):

Jimmy give Susie a birthday kiss, Jimmy give Susie a birthday kiss…

This would go on until the hoped for Jimmy would make his way from the boys’ side of the mess hall to the girls’ side and give Susie a kiss…

The other one, I never knew all the lyrics, but hopefully someone can supply the middle two lines:

Kings and queens and princes too

Blah blah blah blah blah blah (some word that ended with an oo sound)

Happy Birthday…to you

Candlelighting ceremony

Betsy G — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 00:09:30 +0000

Posted by Robin Feldberg:

Does anyone remember the candlelighting ceremony down at the lake at the end of camp? All I remember is lighting a candle that was stuck to a piece of tree bark and setting it adrift on the lake. It was a beautiful sight. Did we sing a song? I don’t remember anything else…

Silly songs

Betsy G — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 13:44:59 +0000

The boys at Crane Lake will never be
Tall dark and handsome and six foot three
The boys we call our own
Will have glasses and braces and smell of B.O.

Is it possible to forget these lyrics?

I go to Crane Lake Camp so pity me
There’s not a boy in the vicinity
And every night at 9 they lock the doors
I don’t know why the hell I ever came before

I’m gonna pack my bags and home I’m bound
I’m gonna turn this camp right upside-down
I’m gonna smoke and drink and neck and peck and what the heck
The hell wwith the whole damn camp

One more. Substitute any couple’s name for granny and grandpa:

And there was granny
Swingin’ on the outhouse door
Without her nighty
Grandpa never had it so good

Forgot about this one, ’til Meryl sent this today. Can you remember the hand motions?

To the tune of Zoom gally gally
Food waiter waiter waiter
Food waiter waiter
Food waiter waiter waiter
Food waiter waiter

Oh give me something to eat
So I won’t fall flat on my feet

Okay, I know you want to know the hand motions. I have to do it first to remember. Hold on.

Okay:

Fists on table
Thumbs on table
Pointers and middle fingers on table
Pointers and pinkies on table

At least that’s what my hands remember.

Friends, friends, friends and B&W together

Betsy G — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 13:17:08 +0000

I didn’t think I’d have to do this but apparently it is possible to forget these lyrics.

Friends, friends, friends
We will always be
Whether in fair or in dark stormy weather
Camp Crane Lake
Will keep us together
The white and blue
We will e’er be true
Love will pervade us till death separate us
We’re friends, friends, friends

It wasn’t until today that I knew what the word “pervade” meant. It means to permeate, which makes sense in this context so apparently the word I have always sung while shrugging my shoulders in confusion is correct.

Another song along this lines:

Blue and white together we shall not be moved
Blue and white together we shall not be moved
Just like a tree that’s standing by the wa-ah-ter
We shall not be moved

A favorite CLC memory

Betsy G — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 17:45:07 +0000

It wasn’t any one night. It was every so often, and it was always so special and magical. Maybe it could have happened anywhere and it’s just one of those carefree times of childhood. But it happened at camp, so that’s how I remember it.

We used to lie on our backs at night in front of Studio–me, maybe a girlfriend, my brother, and Bobby Price. Maybe Mitch Feldman instead of my brother, maybe just me and Bobby and my brother. Though he would later be my boyfriend for about a minute, at the time Bobby and I were young enough that it was all very innocent, when just being near each other made us feel happy. All we would do was lie there forever (Where was evening activity? Why were we allowed to do this?), staring at the sky, waiting for a falling star.

There was nowhere we had to rush off to; we had the luxury of having no cares or worries to urge us to go somewhere, do something.

I have never seen a night sky as perfect as the sky at night in front of Studio at Crane Lake. ”Busy” is the best way I can think to describe it; with no city lights for 50 miles to pollute or dilute it, you could see every star and planet the heavens had to offer.

The best way to find a falling star was to look nowhere and everywhere at once, allowing your eyes to lose focus and stare at nothing, while being accutely aware of any movement of light in any part of your range in vision. We were so young, and the sky so old, so old that ancient stars that were years dead came to life to dance one time, and for us.