Netop Summer Camp

Netop Summer Camp (also known as Camp Netop) is a summer camp located in the Casco, Crescent Lake area of Maine. The camp was first developed by David Webster (Sparky) and Ken Truscott (KT) in 1955 as "Camp Netop". Sparky and KT originally met at Rutgers University where they had the idea and dream to open a summer camp for boys. During this time, Camp Netop had about 130 campers each session. After closing in 1987, the camp reopened in 2006 under the new name "Netop Summer Camp" under the leadership of former camper Stephen Hallowell.

Netop (pronounced “nee-tope”) is a Native American word for “friend”. Friendship is natural at this overnight camp in Casco, Maine, for boys ages 8-15. With its “four spokes” philosophy, Netop encourages growth and balance in four areas of life – social, mental, physical and spiritual. On 100 acres and a magnificent private lake, Netop offers a wide range of sports, water activities, arts, overnight canoe/mountain trips and traditional games. Campers choose instructional activities, such as guitar, soccer, baseball, archery, basketball, crafts, sailing, lacrosse, tennis, wrestling, drama, kayaking, swimming, photography and more. Team sports are offered for inter-camp competition. Excellent staff, platform tent living and great Netop traditions make this camp experience fun and enriching.

The original Camp Netop opened in 1956 with 5 tents and 23 campers. Netop campers would normally wake at approximately 7:30 am to the sounds of reveille playing over a sound system that seemed to come right from an episode of the TV series "M*A*S*H". Camp Netop obviously did not have Frank Burns and Klinger on its premises, but it did have campers Fabian Jochnick and Chris Wellington to make things interesting and give the directors gray hair, with the exception of KT who really didn't have any hair except for his crewcut. After some light stretching and exercises, campers would usually "run around the rock" and then head back to their platform tents to get ready for breakfast. Before breakfast began, campers would jockey around in attempt to have sugar cereal at their table. Have you ever had tang for breakfast?

Camp Netop had many interesting traditions and special programs that most campers enjoyed. Some of these traditions include the medicine stick competition, the gizmo stick, Kelpor Day, Klondike Day, hermit finds, camper versus counselor games, and many other events. Netop campers had opportunities to go on camping trips such as the Saco river trip, a gold panning trip, beach and mountain trips, as well as many other day trips such as the great aqua-slide outings.

* [http://netopsummercamp.com/ Netop Summer Camp website]