"CAMP MEENAHGA A SUMMER CAMP IN THE BEAUTIFUL ADIRONDACKS ON RAINBOW LAKE, ONCHIOTA, NEW YORK.
Camp Meenabga — An "Experience" for young boys and girls ages 6-16. Located on 126 acres of lakes, mountains, woods and rustic buildings, an ideal setting to explore nature, develop skills and mature socially and physically through our varied program of activities designed to meet the individual needs of every child." Text and image from a 1974 brochure for the camp.
Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience
Address: Onchiota
Old Address:
Other names: Meenagha Lodge, Camp Meenhaga, Buster Crabbe's Camp
Year built:
Starting in 1946, Meenagha Lodge on Rainbow Lake advertised itself as the "country's foremost aquatic camp." By the 1960s, they had hired Olympic swimmer and film star Buster Crabbe. 1
A camp on the St. Regis Lakes "was first called Camp 'Menaga' (Iroquois for blueberry)." 2
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, July 24, 1970
[A story about Muhammad Ali fighting Mike Goldbas of Utica at Camp Meenahaga ends:]
…Formerly the famous Florida-Adirondack School for Boys (Buster Crabbe Camp) Camp Meenahga is situated on Rainbow Lake in Onchiota. Since 1927, thousands of boys ages 6-15 and from all over the world have come to Camp Meenaha to experience the adventure of camp life.
It is now owned by Gus Calazzo and Judge Lloyd Elgart.
Camp Meenahga has over twenty buildings. These include an arts and crafts shop, ceramics shop, fully equipped gym, and auditorium, with theater stage and lights, a recreation building with ping pong and pool tables. also a nature shack, dining hall and the infirmary.
While at Camp Meenahga, the boys take part in swimming, water skiing, scuba diving, playing baseball and many other sports. Social functions with neighboring camps are also a part of the summer's activities
Comments
Footnotes
1. A paradise for boys and girls: children's camps in the Adirondacks By Hallie E. Bond
2. St. Regis Yacht Club centennial book, p. 123.
