History of Blueberry Cove

• 1949: Blueberry Cove Camp in Tenants Harbor was founded as a children's summer camp by Bess and Henry Haskell, educators who dedicated their lives to children and the vision of a more peaceful world.  Blueberry Cove is thought to be the first private interracial camp in Maine.  An early camp brouchure described Blueberry Cove as "creating an atmosphere for growth and development of individual skills in harmony with self and the environment."
• In the late 1960s an adventure camp for teens was started using Blueberry Cove as a base camp but they spent most of their time out on island adventures, canoeing, biking and backpacking.
• 1972: The Haskells retire and Ann Goldsmith and Carl and Louise Smith become directors of the camp for the next 18 years.
• 1986: Blueberry Cove becomes a Family Camp and Retreat Center concerned with educational and community development issues.
• The camp then becomes a camp where other organizations can carry out their own camp programs
• 2005: With the generous support of over 200 donors, Tanglewood Camp Inc. purchases Blueberry Cove. The property was in disrepair and in need of much renovation.  Considerable support camp from friends and 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.
• In 2005, Blueberry Cove offers Day Camp programs for children aged 6-10 using the same programming models as set up by Tanglewood 4-H Camp.
• 2008: after many years of planning and rebuilding, Blueberry Cove's sleep-over program is revived with a 2-week session in July.  Main themes of the program are Marine Science, Arts and Sailing (with support of the Saint George Sailing Foundation).

Today

Blueberry Cove has new life under its wings.  The "Maine" (dining hall) has been renovated with a modern kitchen and fresh paint but retains its old charm. The camp garden is being revived thanks to the hard work of community volunteers.  Blueberry Cove will soon have a new dock so the camp can offer even better sailing and marine biology programs.

Hey, I went there!