Current, former and future campers, counselors, staff and donors gathered to celebrate the new Fern and Feather Natural History Day Camp barn at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary on Monday evening.
Built in a short two months, the barn will welcome campers this summer. It will later be winterized to become a four-season structure and host a nature-based preschool.
On Monday the sliding doors on the new barn were thrown open to the warm June air. The frame was raised by a group of Amish carpenters and the project was completed by Autumn construction, owned by Kevin Cusack. The building was made possible through donations and a $350,000 grant from MV Youth.
Suzan Bellincampi, Felix Neck director, stood to address a crowd of about 75, warning that she might get teary eyed.
“The kids on this Island will have a place of their own, we’re not going to have them in the hallways of the nature center, we’re not going to have them in my office,” she said. The barn will offer a respite from inclement weather for campers, who had previously piled into the nature center on rainy days.
“With your help we made history,” she said to applause. “It’s we — it’s all of you folks that made this happen.”
She said the building represents the sanctuary’s commitment to conservation education. She praised the generosity of the community, recounting how a camper came up to her, offering his allowance to put toward the barn.
Gary Clayton, the president of Mass Audubon, added remarks.
“Part of our job is to think about training and inspiring the next generation of conservation leaders,” he said.
Lindsey Scott, executive director of MV Youth, said Felix Neck rose quickly through their grant application process.
Mr. Cusack recalled getting the call from Ms. Bellincampi and meeting with her to talk about the vision for the barn.
“I left that meeting, thinking this will be very interesting, no money, no design, no permit — I was energized,” he said. He thanked Ms. Bellincampi for her tireless efforts.
Stu Weinreb from the Mass Audubon team presented Mr. Cusack with a membership to Mass Audubon and a hat.
Six-year-old Kilya and eight-year-old Aki Weiner, described as “ride or die campers,” snipped the bright green ribbon with a giant pair of safety scissors. People poured into the barn, to explore the structure and nibble cheese, smoked fish and crudite.
Laura Hearn wandered through the barn. Now 46, she had attended Fern and Feather camp in the 1980s. She recalled how she was the first to find a salamander on their campout (a counselor may have given her a hint on which rock to turn over). Ms. Hearn said hearing the voice of Gus Ben David — the founding executive director at Felix Neck who attended the ceremony — still takes her back to being eight years old.
Her 10-year-old daughter, Morgan Caruso, is now a camper. Morgan, who said she is excited about the new barn, recalled her first campout as well. She was in the girls tent, which was right next to the boys tent.
“We got no sleep at night because we were next to the boys and they wouldn’t stop snoring,” she deadpanned.
Ms. Bellincampi looked ahead to the next 50 years of camp at Felix Neck.
“We’re going to have great-great-great-grandkids hanging out in this barn,” she said.
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