I’ve been reading with great interest the articles about Jõekääru’s 50th anniversary. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any articles written by former kasvandikud themselves. As a veteran of Roopi Talu and the first 8 years of Joekaaru, I thought I’d share some of my memories of those memorable years.

As a six-year old at Roopi Talu, my memories are somewhat limited. I do remember our wonderful kasvataja, pr. Kuusk. All the older boys seemed to have underground forts, covered by split rails and sod. I remember swimming in the small creek and going for walks to the local country store for treats. My memories of Jõekääru begin even before the summer of 1953. Our family visited the old farm property in the preceding winter. Yours truly managed to fall into the river in the area behind the site of the future big boys’ barrack. I was promptly rescued from the frigid waters by hr. Kõva, one of the original three co-purchasers of the farm property. I was quickly carried off to the old farm house attic where the previous owners had left behind piles of old clothes. I must have been quite a sight! Whenever I ran into hr. Kõva over the years, we’d have a good laugh over the incident. The amazing hr. Kõva, who at the time, would take the train to Uxbridge and then ride his one speed bicycle 10 miles to Udora, and then commence the herculean task of clearing, cleaning and constructing in preparation for the first year of camp operation.

For the kids, preparation for camp started in the preceding months with the medicals at Vana Andres Kirik, performed by dr. Kasari, and later by dr. Mae. The dreaded hernia exams for boys, with little concern for the boys’ modesty.

In the early years, the parents had to bring just about everything, such as dishes, cutlery and cups. At the end of camp, the challenge was for the parents to find their surviving items from a large pile on top of a table. They even brought old wooden orange crates etc. to be used for bed-side tables. Parents also brought all the prizes that were handed out for the swimming and track and field competitions. These were all assigned for all the events and finishing positions and were laid out on tables in front of the lipu valjak. The kids could scrutinize all the prizes and hope to win that coveted knife, axe, or whatever. The most common prizes were inscribed leather notebook covers, book markers etc. I still have one of these cherished prizes from 1952. Unfortunately, starting in 1957, prizes were replaced by diplomas. I’m guessing this was because of safety concerns about knives etc., and because of concerns about how the prizes were assigned.

1953 was probably the best year for one to be in the smallest boys’ group. We were in the same barrack with the middle and oldest boys and thus close to all the action. Our kasvataja was pr. Schaer I believe. We were given a lot of freedom to move about the camp and even play in the water. Unfortunately, starting in 1954 we were “banished” to the new barrack and were restricted to the immediate area around the barrack. This made for some very unhappy little campers. Speaking of 1954, we have some amazing aerial photographs taken that summer, showing the camp in all its primitive glory. One can clearly see the three barracks, some of the above ground forts, and even one of the first cottages, on the Raamat property, and tenting activities on the L. Soots property.

In 1953 there were no shortages of places to explore and things to do for little boys. There was an old abandoned horse-drawn plough behind the farm house, an old model A Ford on the path to Kivioja, and several farm sheds etc. in front of the farm house. In fact, some of the older boys,like the Sulev brothers would get a head start on summer camp by camping out in the red chicken coup a week or so before the camp started. I bet they’d have some interesting stories to tell!

Interesting activities in the early years for boys included catching butterflies with butterfly nets and mounting them, fishing (small perch and sunfish I believe), and the ever popular fort building. Some of the forts were quite elaborate and the older boys were sometimes allowed to sleep overnight in them. All the boys used their trusty knives to whittle fancy walking sticks, whistles from willow branches, and for making bows etc.

Further afield, places to explore for older boys included “two rivers” where one could pick all kinds of wild berries, “three dams” in Udora, and the old car graveyard in Udora. I recall stories of the older boys being chased away from local farm properties by irate owners using salt rifles, of some boys riding a farm wagon down the hill just west of the camp property at breakneck speed and at risk to life and limb, and boys earning pocket money by picking peas on local farms. Swimming prior to 1958 took place at a spot just below the present dam. A small dam was built behind the big boys’ barrack in 1953. For a seven year old, the swimming area was just fine. The bottom was sandy and the water was clear. The sand bank was ideal for youngsters and before the start of camp in 1953, swallows still had their nests in the face of the bank. A large canvas tent was erected just downstream for washing purposes. The marshy area just to the side of the swimming hole was great for catching turtles, frogs etc. and for rafting. Unfortunately, one had to always pick off the inevitable leeches that became attached to one’s feet, and always be mindfull of snapping turtles that lived in the marsh. In fact, I remember hr. Kõva catching a large snapping turtle there and dispatching it with a swing of his axe. Fortunately, I wasn’t allowed to watch its demise.

Thanks to pr. Kütt’s interesting and informative article, we learned that a water mill had at one time been situated where the present dam is. This would explain why the previously flooded area had been strewn with old, fallen trees. A great place for kids to explore and a habitat for wildlife.

The early track and field competitions were a wonderous spectacle for a seven-year old. I clearly remember the electrifying races and prodigious leaps into the sand pits and over the high jump bar by the older boys such as Tõnu Eglon, Peeter Musting, Peeter Alvet, Jüri Sutt and Ants Toi.The crowds were large and the spectators were able to line the running lanes and jumping pits, getting birds’ eyes views of the events. The lõkkeõhtud were also exciting. My favourite memories were the spellbinding and rivetting stories that hr. Ründva would tell of his metsavenna(partisan) days during the war. The highly-respected and much-liked hr. Ründva, who was the pillar of the early years of Jõekääru.

The other major night-time activity was luuremangud, with games like lipu varastamine. It’s a miracle that no kids were permanently lost in the dark forests.

Though I was still in my last year in the smallest boys’ group in 1955, I have clear memories of pr. Falkenberg who was the kasvataja for the middle boys. Her artistic background led to several interesting projects that her middle boys were involved with. They built an impressive fort called “Tornado” where they slept overnight. Also, she made an 8mm home movie of their activities. In an article in Meie Elu several years ago, she was asked about the whereabouts of that movie, and thought that it may have ended up in the archives of the Ründva family. If anybody has the movie or a copy of it I’d love to hear from them and see the movie or get a copy of it. She also had a cottage at the eastern end of Narva Ave. and her artwork was evident everywhere, even on the sheds out back.

(To be continued)

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