Henry & Joy Plate
Faithful friends and loyal neighbors are an integral part of what makes our camp community. Henry Plate along with his lovely wife Joy have been cheering our boys from the hillside for over 75 years while helping to support and create a vibrant Waterford Community for decades. When they are not juggling their various civic engagements throughout the town or tending to their extraordinary farm, they can be found at day’s end on their porch viewing the Mahoosucs and waiting to hear the thundering noise of the BRC gentlemen playing on the hillside. Here’s a conversation with Henry and Joy Plate sharing just a “slice of life” of living in Waterford:
How did you come to Maine and Camp Waganaki? My gym teacher in grammar school who was also a counselor at Camp Waganaki introduced me and my parents to Director Walter Gardell. They came to our house and showed us some photo slides. My folks thought it would be a good idea to send me to camp being an only child. I went to camp for two years, 1938 and 1939, and for eight weeks each summer.
What were your earliest recollections of Maine? My family had been to Maine before, staying at Chute’s in Naples where there were cabins and a main dining room. My parents used to come to vacation in late August and early September for a few weeks prior to Labor Day.
Do you remember your first impression of East Waterford? It was time to eat breakfast! ( laughter). I was glad to be out of the city!
What was camp life like for you? A lot of swimming and riflery. We worked around the camp building things. Swim periods were instructional. There was wood working, nature, hiking and other things to do. (There were four children’s camps and one adult camp on the lake – Waganaki, Birch Rock, Waizyatah, Passaconaway, and the adult camp was Camp McWain, which had been a girls’ camp run by Helen Sanderson).
What attracted you and your family to Maine? I don’t know. My folks travelled around and wanted to find a summer place. They liked coming to Maine for vacation. My folks decided to look at this property on Memorial Day in 1940. We stayed at Pike’s on Mill Hill and got a key from the Postmaster at the General Store so that we could see everything. On Monday of Memorial Day, we drove home and my dad made an offer for $2500 for the 53 acres and buildings and it was accepted. However, there was a lot of work to do. The farm was vacant for about five years. There was not power, heat but the building was in decent shape with a view. The house had been used by some of the counselors from Camp Waganaki so there was some clean up and some debris to get rid of……. We didn’t get power until 1948 - like Birch Rock and the rest of East Waterford – and we heated the house with wood in the kitchen’s woodstove. After my folks bought the farm in 1940, we were spending the summers here from mid-June till September. In 1942, went to the University of Maine (Orono). I was interested in agriculture and liked being in Maine. I was there for two years before I was drafted for the service (World War II). Following my army time of 2 years, I returned to the university where I continued my studies in Dairy Husbandry. I decided to continue for a master’s degree in Agronomy (crops and soils) and finished in the spring of 1949. After college I returned to New Jersey.
What happened next? I started work at Eastern States Farmers Exchange in West Springfield, MA. And? I met Joy there. She was wondering down the hall.
Joy, what was your first impression of Henry? A gentleman. Our first date went to the movies and then a Chinese restaurant where we both had cheeseburgers. We dated for four long, long, long years and got married in February of 1958. We had many trips on weekends to the farm, and even in the winters with Henry’s dad. Bob was born in 1962 and Karen followed in 1963. When did you both finally get to Maine permanently? Joy: After we lived in MA and moved later to New York and raised our family…… Henry finally retired and moved to Maine permanently in 2005. What’s it like to be part of Waterford? Joy: It keeps us active. There is friendship, the Waterford Historical Society, Waterford Community Church – where Henry has done so much as a trustee and the Wilkins House. We have loved being part of it. You are as busy as you want to be and busier than you have to be…. What’s it like to have had grandchildren part of Birch Rock? Joy: It was fun to see them over there and waive back over here! It is an added bonus being part of the neighborhood. We sometimes get a bag of surprise cookies! McWain Hill is home! Henry: We like hearing the noise. Happy to see the activity down the hill. In fact, most of the Waterford neighbors came here because of their love of summer camps including Birch Rock.
