Former Gypsy Camp girls flit together 30 years later

Legendary camp shaped future leaders

— The girls have grown up, but they haven’t lost the spirit or forgotten the songs they learned at the former all-girls camp south of Siloam Springs along the Illinois River.

More than 30 years after Gypsy Camp’s last summer session in the late 1970s, camp members hosted a reunion for the first time on a weekend in mid-August.

Many arrived in gypsy clothing and toured the 90-year-old dormitories, dining hall and other rustic buildings nestled under limestone bluffs and tall trees west of Arkansas 59.

When the members gathered near the campfire for a group picture, they broke out into song, singing like they must have decades ago. Onemember recalled singing all those songs to her children.

They sang for Bob Coe, who had managed the camp with his wife, Daisy, for nearly 25 years. Bob celebrated his 91st birthday the weekend of the anniversary.

“I think it’s wonderful,” Coe said of the reunion. “We’re going to do it every year.”

The reunion was organized by Michelle Nabholz of Conway and friend Susan Carter of Dallas, who created a Facebook page to connect to former campers.

“This is amazing,” Carter said. “We’re still in shock that we’re together.”

More than 60 campers connected on the Facebook page before the reunion.

Actress Natalie Canerdayof Russellville, who played in Sling Blade, October Sky and Walk the Line, attended the camp for several years.

“I learned a lot of my ‘hamminess’ right here,” Canerday said.

She enjoyed the legend behind the camp.

The story was that the camp was made up of two rival gypsy tribes living together in peace in one city.

Upon arrival to the camp, each girl would choose a color, either red or orange, to signify her gypsy tribe.

Canerday said she was orange “queen” her fourth year and a counselor her fifth yearin 1979, which was the last year for the camp. As a counselor, she was in charge of her cabin and like a big sister to the younger campers.

“I like the whole folklore, the camaraderie,” Canerday said.

Actress Mary Martin, who starred in Peter Pan in 1960, also attended the camp, she said. Alice Walton, daughter of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. founder Sam Walton, was acamper there, too.

Nabholz, who was 7 when she started at the camp, attended for 12 years and was a camp counselor.

Campers would cry when they arrived on the bus and cry when they left for home. “This camp brought all these lives together,” she said.

Nabholz and Carter remained in contact after camp by calling each other.

Gloria Hunsaker of Pittsburg, Kan., and Dana Daniels Nixon of Osceola attended camp together between the late 1950s and early 1960s. Their mothers attended the camp during World War II.

“We are who we are because of what we learned through Gypsy Camp,” Nixon said. “We had amazing teachers. The classes were very disciplined.”

When Nixon first came to camp in 1958, she said she was so excited she hit her head on the top of the car and nearly knocked herself out.

Hunsaker also said that the camp has had a lasting impact on her life.

She said that they were taught to be the best.

She recalled swimming 10 miles down the Illinois River. She also remembers riding horses.

“We rode a lot,” Hunsaker said. “We had beautiful riding horses.”

A countless number of young girls spent summers at the camp horseback riding, playing sports, water skiing, singing and dancing.

Many kept up with each other away from camp by writing letters. But in mid-August, they caught up in person.

“I haven’t seen this woman in 42 years, and it’s like we’ve never been apart,” said Pam Miller of Richmond, Calif. “The feeling and the heart is there. It’s just the greatest thing in the whole world that we’re here.”

When asked why Nabholz organized the reunion, she said, “Because we have the gypsy spirit, and that’s all there is to it. It always calls us back.”

Nabholz hopes to obtain grants to purchase the camp.

Nixon said she wants to establish a campaign to preserve the murals in the dining hall.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 09/04/2012

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