Tanglewood 4-H Camp and Learning Center purchased the 25-acre Blueberry Cove Camp in Tenants Harbor, in late January 2005, completing a campaign to expand its Lincolnville forest-based programs to the coast. The purchase of the former children's camp completed phase 1 of a $1.1 million fund drive to make Blueberry Cove an integral part of the Tanglewood experience.

For more than two decades, Tanglewood has given Maine children an opportunity for outdoor learning and enjoyment, typically for a week or two, with financial aid when needed. Tanglewood 4-H Camp, set on 940 inland acres in Camden Hills State Park, will use Blueberry Cove as a day camp for boating and camping programs and as a residential camp in 2008.

In its first year, Blueberry Cove had more than 130 day and discovery trip campers explore and learn about the seascape through nature-based experiences that included marine ecology, boating, water safety and sustainable living. Campers got to take advantage of the beautiful coastal camp and discover the wonders of its seaside forest, salt marsh, meadow, and intertidal harbor.

Tanglewood reached this milestone because of the generous support of over 200 donors, 150 donors of those new friends of Tanglewood. Considerable support came from Tenants Harbor neighbors of the camp who wanted to see the land, with two beaches and 1,400 feet of shorefront, protected from development and preserved as an affordable children's camp, but more money is still needed to renovate buildings and for its residential program.

Summer Offerings

Summer offerings at Blueberry Cove include Day Camp for youth ages 6-10, overnight Family Camps, 2-Week Residential Summer Camp for youth ages 8-14, and an overnight Outdoor Discovery Program: Islands & Sea Exploration, for 11-15 year olds to explore the Tenants Harbor area by canoe.  For more information call toll free 1-877-944-2267 or write Tanglewood 4-H Camp, One Tanglewood Road, Lincolnville, ME 04849

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History of Blueberry Cove

Blueberry Cove's former director, Ann Goldsmith, sold the camp to Tanglewood at a reduced price of $750,000 because of her belief in its value as a resource for learning and growth. "I'm really happy the camp will continue as a place for kids," she said, adding that she looks forward to again hearing children's voices from her house next door to the camp. "It's almost a miracle this happened," she said. For years she rebuffed offers which would have turned the property into a private compound, instead seeking some way to revive the camp in a form that kept faith with its past. She said Tanglewood's mission of living responsibly and in balance with the environment and the community is very similar to Blueberry Cove's philosophy. She said negotiations with Tanglewood succeeded because all participants were committed to making it happen. Frank Simon, Tanglewood Board of Directors, praised her dedication to the cause.

At Blueberry Cove, Goldsmith said, "Children were allowed to blossom. They learned that they were valuable individuals regardless of abilities and disabilities, and that great things could be accomplished by working together, whether building a coaster, navigating through the fog, or putting on a play on a rainy day. Children sang and danced, rock-hopped and picked berries, took naps, dipped in the chilly harbor and realized through these things the joy of being fully alive in the natural world."

The late Henry Haskell, who with wife Bess founded Blueberry Cove in 1949, said Blueberry Cove alumni told him the camp experience raised their self-esteem, made them more independent, and made them feel it is more blessed to give than to receive. Much of this has been reflected in their professional lives, and in the raising of their children.

Goldsmith has been associated with Blueberry Cove since its early years and was a close friend of the Haskells. She believes they would be pleased to see Blueberry Cove continuing. Blueberry Cove was the first interracial, co-educational summer camp in Maine, and it consistently encouraged  cooperation and compassion, diversity and creativity. Traditional highlights of the program included a neighbor's night, shore and garden feast day, Fourth of July bonfire, island and mountain camping trips, and a carnival in Tree Hut Village where spruce cones were currency.

Blueberry Cove closed as a summer children's camp in 1985, and since then has been used for a healing retreat, summer painting school, family camping site, women's carpentry workshop, various meetings, choral groups, and weddings. It will continue to be available for such use when not occupied by campers.

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