CAMPING FOR 96 YEARS
CAMPING FOR 96 YEARS
After meeting at a summer camp in Sharon, Massachusetts, Abraham and Gertrude Krasker dreamt of owning a summer camp. Abe, a science professor at Essex College, had a student who owned a farm in Fryeburg, ME. Immediately, the couple fell in love with the property, bought the land from his student. In 1924, Indian Acres Camp for Boys opened its doors for the first time. Two years later, Forest Acres Camp for Girls opened two miles down the road.
In 1962, after Abe passed, Abe and Gertrude’s son Richard took over the management of Forest and Indian Acres. Dick learned the ins-and-outs of what it took to own a camp from his mother, and fully took over in 1969. With his wife Sandy by his side, Dick owned camp until 1998.
In 1998, Lisa and Geoff Newman bought camp from the Krasker family. In a place robust with history, the couple was determined to keep the tradition the Kraskers established alive. Between 2005 and 2010, Neal and Julie Waldman co-directed camp with Lisa and Geoff. Now, just under 100 years after its founding, Indian and Forest Acres thrives under the Newman’s leadership, with tradition at the forefront of what makes camp so special.
Forest Acres is a camp where campers develop physical, social and leadership skills through learning to set and achieve goals, experiencing risk in a safe and supportive environment and gaining a sense of responsibility.