I won a trip to camp

The Berkley, Michigan chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars announced a poster contest in conjunction with their upcoming Buddy Poppies campaign. First prize was $25 and two weeks at summer camp. $25 might sound like chump change today, but in 1957 it was 250 comic books, or 500 candy bars, or (for grown-ups) ten cartons of cigarets.

I made four or five posters using construction paper and scissors and rubber cement. My friend Richard Streetman came to my house and watched me and wished he could enter the contest, too, so I told him to pick any of my posters and enter it in the contest.

He won first prize, which was $25 and two weeks at camp. I won second prize, which was two weeks at camp.

The guy behind us was one of the counselors who was a champion swimmer and set a world record for underwater distance swimming while holding his breath. I guess my dad took this picture when he came to pick us up at the end of the two weeks.

They had all the food you wanted at the camp; I went from 55 pounds to 73 pounds in two weeks, but then back home on our usual short rations I fell back to 60 pounds.