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Sharing Memories With Abbott Fenn

Tuesday October 24, 2006

By Bridget Dorman

    When Abbott Fenn surprised his friend, Alfred Hare, on the doorstep of the Grand Hotel in Paris on a dark night during World War II, and called out “Waboos!” - an Algonquin nickname from the  Keewaydin  Camp known only to a select group of Keewaydin campers and counselors - Hare, who was then serving in the army and “Abby,” the Air Force engineer stationed nearby in England, were momentarily transported to the hills of Vermont, Keewaydin where the two had originally met, and  would later reunite.

Abbott Fenn, a Middlebury resident whose name is familiar to many for his commitment to local environmental education, is highlighted here for being a community member worthy of praise and whose story, if only basic level, is one that should be shared.  To fully understand Abbott Fenn's ambitions and values one must first familiarize oneself with  Keewaydin Camps , which Abbott willingly helped me to do.  Abbott published a full history of The Keewaydin Camps in 1959, the year that marked Keewaydin's Fiftieth Anniversary, and the author harbors a wealth of history, both about his own experiences at Keewaydin and his adventures in life beyond the warmth and glow of the campfire  Abbott's greatest gift to this community is his passion and dedication to the maintenance and growth of Keewaydin Camps on Lake Dunmore. When Abbott, Waboos and “Slim,” Harold, Curtiss took over ownership of Keewayden in 1945, they did so with the intent, as Abbott explained, “to keep the values of the camp we knew and loved.” And the three did a stellar job of maintaining the camp's charm for the next forty years of ownership.  When Abbott first arrived at Keewaydin as a college freshman in 1939, he was offered forty dollars, for the summer, to work as a camp staff.  Six years later, during Abbott's thirty day “R & R” from the service, he, Waboos and Slim all migrated back to Keewaydin where the three were fated to reunite and together they embraced the unforeseen opportunity to take over ownership of the camp.

It is clear that Abbott shaped and in return was shaped by Keewaydin Camps’  commitment to environmental education, its sense of community, and its commitment to maintain tradition and embrace history.  Abbott founded the very popular extension of Keewayden known as “K.E.E.C,” the Keewaydin Environmental Education Center in 1974.  This program allows groups of school children with their teachers to visit the camp during a one-week stay, in the camp's off-season, during which they can access and learn about the environment.  Abbott, in partnership with the Audubon society, also started a ten- day youth camp at High Pond in Hubbardton, Vermont embracing these same ambitions.  

During our interview, Abbott also shared stories of his  winters spent in Florida, where he both taught at a small private school and for four of those winters worked for the Audubon society guiding trips into the Everglades.  We joked that his days at Keewaydin conditioned him well in his ability to combat the insect world of the hot and humid tropics.  Only fifteen years ago, at the age of seventy, Abbott opted to head further south where he participated in a Spanish immersion program and lived for three months with a family in Costa Rica. (After which he drove north to L.A. and east, cross-country, back home to Vermont).  

Abbott had stressed early in our interview that the most enlightening experience for most Keewaydin campers are the canoe trips where the campers are taken in small groups on adventures that stress community participation and the individual's roles and responsibilities. Abbott initiated the most challenging of these in 1963, the wilderness Trips Program in the Cree Country of Quebec. Perhaps it was adventures like these that instilled in Abbott the importance of one's ability to participate in the community on a global level, and that later would grant him such honors as the Dr. Stephen A. Freeman award, bestowed upon him by our local Rotary Club, for his citizenship and leadership, as well as Regional EPA Award.  

In the final passage of Abbott's story on the history of Keewaydin he writes, “Keewaydin's is a strength of steel - cast from the iron of tradition, improved by the alloy of change, and tempered by the years of experience.”  For any who know Abbott, these words may resonate as those exact sentiments one may associate with the author himself.  But for now, this brief porthole into Abbott's life gives the reader reason to, at the very least, shake “Abby's” hand for the good neighbor he is, and to have pride in  Keewaydin Camps, a tribute to Abbott's ideal; “may all that has been good in the past always be used to better the future.”

If you are interested in reading Abbott's story on the history of Keewaydin, visit Ilsley  Public Library.

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