I’ll try and make this as short as possible.
My father was a school teacher while my mom worked in a corporate office. My father Chuck, was off in the summer and worked in youth centers and summer camps to make extra money. Eventually he and my mom had the opportunity to be the directors of a day camp called Eastern Country Day Camp, run out of Oheka Castle on Jericho tpke. After eight successful years, the facility was sold and camp was no longer an option. Depressed, my parents were driving around aimlessly, eventually winding up at a dead end street named Drexel ave. When greeted by a care taker at the front gate, my parents inquired as to what this place was? They were told “….it’s a camp, wanna buy it…?
Well one thing led to another and my folks found themselves in competition with a very wealthy business owner to purchase the camp. After many interviews, the owner decided that he liked my parents commitment to children, the fact that they worked in youth centers, coached High School sports and cared more about the campers than the money.
When it came time to seal the deal, they sat down with the attorney’s and signed all the papers. After which the owner said “…all we need now is the check…” to which my parents replied “….that’s the only thing we don’t have..” “…but if you can wait till early registration, our campers will follow us from Eastern Country and we’ll have the money for a down payment at that time… ” As luck would have it, the owner said ” we believe in you, and we’ll wait for the deposit…” The rest is history! On a side note, My father was super nervous about taking on such a huge financial burden and was ready to back out when he asked my mom Ann, ..’what if it doesn’t work out” to which she replied “….we’re broke now, if it doesn’t work out, we’ll still be broke..” God Bless Ann and Chuck!