Dining Hall The dining hall at ONT was such an incredibly beautiful building. It was surrounded on all sides by push out windows and it always had such an airy, spacious, clean appearance. It was entered by a small porch in front. Inside behind the front dor was a piano and during the day you could always hear someone playing music or pounding on the keys learing how to play. This is where I learned to play Chopsticks and Heart and Soul. I would practice whenever I could and thought I was pretty good. Those were the only 2 songs I knew though. The dining room was massive. It had beautiful wood floors. Along one wall was the kitchen. Separating the kitchen from the hall were counters with cabinets under them for the storage of the plates and serving dishes and utensils in their holders. There were also unshelved cabinets for the green rolling carts that stored the glasses and pink cups. In the middle of both sets of counters was a counter that flipped up and a half door that pulled down. Tables for eight were set up all along the hall and at night after the dining hall was cleaned up the chairs were picked up and place upside down on the tables. Along the opposite end of the hall was 2 large doors that opened to the rear deck. Stairs ran the length of the hall and this is where we had many picnics and some activities. I can specifically remember having star gazing night on this rear deck. After dinner everyone would congregate outside on the rear deck and in the grass and wait until it was dark enough to star gaze. Different constellations were focused on and we had readings on the different constellations. I used to love to lay back on my sweatshirt and just look up into the night sky. I don't think the sky has ever been more beautiful to me than on the hill there at ONT. You could feel that you could almost reach up and touch the starts. The sky at ONT was ink black and because of that and the openess the stars were so magnificent and luminous. I always loved stars but ever since camp, I have been always partial to stars. That is funny because my children always knew of my love for stars and the theme for my daughters bridal shower and wedding was the STAR. In fact, her wedding cake was a Swarovsky crystal star. Her shower favor was a ceramic white dish that her maid of honor made with silver stars etched along it and cut out. Star foiled chocolates were in each dish. Laying back there behind the dining hall in the pitch dark, in the cold and looking up at the incredible sky and smelling the earth and grass was PEACE in every way. When I just wanted to get away from it all, I would sneak back there at night and just lay back and meditate and I felt comfort, warmth, peace and happiness. Along the rear of the dining hall were stairs leading down to the rain room. Along the basement walls were all hooks for everyone to store all their rain gear when it was raining. On rainy days we always entered the dining hall that way. Finally there was the kitchen. Being a kitchen girl I was so familiar with this. There was the toaster machine, the dish washer and counters, large sinks, the table the kitchen staff ate at, the stainless steel island, the large mixer and bowl, the carts, the walk-in freezer and the storage room. The kitchen was always immaculate and upscale with its stainless steel. This was a place that always smelled good. Mrs. Baker was the BEST!!! I loved her so dearly. She was the most wonderful cook and person. She was a real Southern Belle. She would smile and everyone around her would smile and I can still picture her when she got silly. She had such a hearty laugh and she would smack her hips and put her hands up to her mouth and shyly giggle. She could make anything taste GOURMET! And she did it to effortlessly and so organized. She ran a tight ship and boy did we ever work hard. We respected her and did everythig to please her. Outside the back of the kitchen was the bell that I loved to ring to let everyone know that meals were ready. There was a side porch also where we used to peal and shuck vegetables and get fruits and vegetables ready. The dining hall was always a hub of activity. Even at night after the kitchen was shut down, the hall was used to rehearse for shows or activities. It was then finally darkened for the night. Unless, of course, there were senior campers and counselors like me and my friends who were always raiding the kitchen!!! Latrines AMAZING! I can remember the smell leading up to it. I remember the green sinks lined up on both sides back to back. Everyone would be lined up in the morning waiting for a sink and it was FREEZING! My teeth were chattering and my sniffles were frozen and yet here I was in the cold brushing my teeth and washing my face. I can remember the canvas curtains on each stall and siting on those damned seats. My butt was frozen! That was a place where I certainly never lingered day or night. The night was worse because even though it was lit, it was dark out and you could hear the crickets and you were frozen and bundled up and just getting there was a CHORE. There were always moths flying around and we were dodging them and mosquitos biting our butts! We needed our flashlights just to light the way and if your batteries were dead, forget it, you got there on AUTOMATIC! When I used to tell my friends about the latrines, no one believed me that a place like that existed. They thought I was fantasizing. Waterfront Silver Lake was tranquility! The waterfront at ONT consisted of the crib, bucket and lake. The crib was for beginner swimmers who were learning how to swim. The bucket was for intermediate swimmers and the lake was for advanced swimmers. If you were walking down the hill you could always spot the different colored bathing caps and it always looked so funny! I can remember when I graduated to the lake and was able to swim to the raft! I loved to sit on the raft and sunbathe! Alongside the boathouse were the rowboats and the kayaks. I loved to go boating. We used to take the boats out sometimes at free time and just drift on the lake and just connect to nature. How peaceful it was just drifting on the lake and listening to the fish pop up and the birds chirping. So often I would take a boat out and just drift as I read a book or wrote letters. Around the perimter of the lake were some campsites - Vesper Rock, Balance Rock, Shelter Rock. The boathouse was also alongside the lake. Usually it was a hub of activity with everyone changing and getting ready to swim, or go boating. During the day, you could see swimmers in the lake and boats on the lake during activities. During swimming, there were always counselors on the waterfront and campers both in the lake and on the rocks relaxing. You could also see campers who were out on fishing activity on the sides of the lake with fishingpoles. I was never one of those! I hate fishing!

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