Dorothy P. Flint 4-H Camp in Riverhead marks 100th summer: How camp has evolved 

Archery is still featured at the Dorothy P. Flint 4-H Camp in Riverhead – but these days, instead of just aiming at red bullseyes, campers also play a game called “Shoot Your Fears.”

They’ll attach a picture of something that causes them anxiety to the traditional round target, draw their bows and send arrows sailing through it. “If I’m in a situation when I’m facing that fear, I’ll remember this activity,” says camper Leah Clutter, 16, of Long Beach, who says she plans to draw a test with an "F" on it.

Sewing classes have rebranded as fashion; recent participants developed a line of clothing for the goats and chickens, to the delight of their fellow campers. The outdoor survival course culminates in campers defending themselves against counselors dressed as zombies instead of bears.

Dorothy P. Flint 4-H Camp is celebrating its 100th summer this year, and while some things remain the same at the sleepaway camp on Long Island Sound – a bugle call playing "Reveille" still wakes campers each morning, for instance, played over the camp’s loudspeaker system – other things have evolved since the camp was founded in 1924. The camp is the oldest established 4-H camp in New York state, says Collin Hedges, camp director. This summer, more than 900 kids will attend one-week sessions that run Monday through Saturday and cost an average of $775.

‘KIDS NEED US MORE THAN EVER’

“Although we started this mission 100 years ago, kids today need us more than ever,” Hedges contends. “The world is changing at an incredible pace. The sense of belonging is what we aim for. We’ve kept a lot of the same programs such as archery, arts and crafts and swimming down on the bluff, and added a lot of new traditions into our camp as well.”

Modern activities include goat yoga, high ropes courses, and caring for chickens in an entrepreneurial egg-selling program. Songs with religious overtones have had lyrics adapted to be more inclusive, Hedges says.

Campers live in rustic cabins, though they do now have electricity. But there’s no air conditioning. There’s also no swimming pool — the walk to swim in Long Island Sound entails going down a steep set of 178 steps through the woods and back up afterward. “We’re a heart and soul camp. Not a lot of bells and whistles,” Hedges says.

One thing multiple campers say they like about camp: No cellphones. “I like to get away from my phone because I’m addicted just a little bit,” says Nakayla Gumbs, 16, of Valley Stream. She’s going into 12th grade, and this is her fifth summer at camp.

THREE GENERATIONS AT CAMP

Camp was launched for Nassau County 4-H by the late Dorothy P. Flint, who was then a home economist on the staff of the Nassau County Farm & Home Bureau/4-H Association (now called the Cornell Cooperative Extension). Camp began on private property in Wading River, moved to Wildwood State Park, and landed at its current location in the 1930s. The Nassau County 4-H Camping Program was officially renamed in Flint’s honor in 1970. One cabin is in the process of being turned into a history museum with photographs, articles and artifacts dating back to the camp’s beginning. 

Some families have seen three generations at camp. “My dad started here in 1961 as an intern from college and soon after got a job in 1964,” says Kelly O’Callaghan Padavan of her father, David O’Callaghan, who died last year. “Me, my sister and my brother, we all went to camp here, and now I bring my family to camp here also,” says Padavan, 53, a physical education teacher who also works in the camp’s office for part of the summer.

Says her daughter Katie, 16, who has been coming to camp for nine years, “I love this camp. It feels like another home to me, especially when it comes to just coming here every summer and knowing that my family has been around every step of this camp.”

Many campers say making new friends is what they love most.

“You make new friends, get to be in the wilderness.” says Miles Kershner, 11, of Blue Point, who is going into sixth grade.

As Miles speaks, a set of new friends — Hannah Peters, 11, of Port Washington, and Liv Liu, 14, of Great Neck — are attempting a high ropes climbing challenge meant to foster communication and teamwork. “What you’re going to do is put your leg here. Now all you have to do is push,” Peters instructs Liv.

“I think it’s crazy that it’s been 100 years,” says Clutter as she waits her turn back at archery. “I hope that the camp is open forever.”

By Beth Whitehouse

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Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.