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The Conants ran the dance camp as a labor of love, often with
a deficit and always with little money for capital improvements or maintenance.
Over the years, programs expanded to include folk music and chamber music.
The camp was also available to other non-dancing groups, and some houses
were rented out to families for summer vacation use. The Pilgrim Fellowship
held retreats and workshops for teen-agers, and for 30 years Richard Conant
hosted a social workers' weekend called the Pinewoods Institute. Gradually
dance programs expanded to include sessions offered by the Folk Arts Center
of New England, and Country Dance Society, Boston Centre and the Royal
Scottish Country Dance Society.
By 1975, Pinewoods Camp Inc. (PCI) was formed to raise money for the purchase
of the camp property. It was made up of representatives of all the current
user groups, the Conant Family, and Pond neighbors. The property was purchased
from the Conant family in 1976, and PCI has run the property ever since.
The first task after the purchase of the property was a campaign to repair
many years of deferred maintenance.
Today, with a number of new camper cabins, bathrooms, septic and water systems,
rebuilt camp house and dance pavilions, Pinewoods hosts around 140 campers at
each of 15 sessions throughout the summer. While our campers are mostly adults,
the camp does offer two week long and two weekend family sessions. We are
deeply committed to continuing the tradition of traditional music and dance
for future generations, and preserving the pristine environment of our very
special surroundings. We are also committed to remain at our current capacity,
and to carefully design and build any new buildings so that they blend into
the "feel" of Pinewoods Camp.
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