“West End is in your blood. The place will infect you and there is no vaccination. It goes beyond being a member. It’s part of your core.” There are few, if any, people in the modern era that bleed West End more than Gerry Walsh. At the age of 8 years old, Gerry started attending the West End House…
“Camp transcends everything, it’s a special place. To see it continuing, young guys stepping up and taking the reins. It will keep on going in perpetuity.” Rick and Neal Shrier have an old West End House lineage. In 1918, Neal’s grandfather, Louis Real, was signed up for camp when it was canceled due to the…
“Every time I go back and look up at the rafters and see my name or people that are here or who have passed, it conjures up memories of happy experiences.” In 1962, Jimmy Gordon came to camp at the age of 8 ½. He snuck in under age as he had an impressive camp lineage. His…
“There is a certain bond, when you go to camp you are a part of a strong bond that cannot be broken. That spirit has prevailed.” In 1957, Malcolm Alter went to camp for the first time. His parents sent him to learn how to swim and to “toughen me up.” He grew up in…
“I moved a lot as a kid and never felt I had a place for myself. Camp was home. I moved, but camp was never going anywhere.” In 1980, Kevin’s Aunt Harriet (who sadly passed away on March 17th) was working at Randolph Savings Bank, in Stoughton, where a frequent customer, Bill Margolin, would come…
“Everyone was one big family. They always came back. It’s friends and family for life.” Brighton Lew was never a camper and was only a counselor for 1 summer, in 1972. He would have come earlier, but the West End House had just moved to the Allston - Brighton area in 1971, close to where…
“I learned how to be with people who AREN'T LIKE ME and people learned what it was like to LIVE WITH ME.” Mark Sands reflects on his 45+ years as a West Ender through the lense of a Special Education teacher and years working with Emotionally Behaviorally Disabled Middle Schoolers in an Outdoor Environmental Program…
When Sidney “Sid” Boorstein was asked what he learned most from camp, he stated “We learned how to get along with all kinds of people.” Sid Boorstein first came to camp in 1945 as an 8 year old, even though the cutoff was 10. He was the son of legendary West Ender, Morris “Lucky” Boorstein,…
“Why don’t you try West End?” Andrew “Hurv” Hurvitz had his life changed forever with a recommendation from his Needham friend, Alan Niss. In 1980, Hurv had gone to Camp Bauercrest for his first overnight experience. He did not make many friends and wanted to try something different. So, in 1981, Hurv came to West…
“We hit the lottery!” Skip Stearns knew he was lucky being one the first occupants of the new 5A/5B cabins in 1961. Young Skippy had West End House in his blood. His father, Albert, was born in 1906, the first year the West End House Club opened on Blossom Street. His parents were immigrants from…
