Camp DILL 'OLD TIMERS'

For at least the first 25 years, general access to Camp Dill was done mainly by boat by crossing the Raritan River from River Road.  A leader or older scout would swim across the river to get a row boat either hidden in the woods or in the cabin so that others could travel across with supplies and gear. Long term neighbor Harry O’Neill ultimately allowed an access road through his property from Cokesbury Road. Mr. O’Neill placed a deed restriction allowing for this access in perpetuity.  On-land access to Camp Dill no longer became an issue when the Camp Dill Foundation was able to expand its property in the 1990’s by buying a portion of the O’Neill property from his estate. Ironically, the owner of the former O’Neill property now has an access agreement to use Camp Dill’s road.

The source of the photograph is from an old Brown family album that has since been dismantled. I believe the tall youth in the front of the boat is my late great-uncle Harry Fisher Brown who according to the late John (“Louie”) Dobrzynski was the troop bugler. I don’t know who the ladies are, but suspect the gentleman in the middle is my great-grandfather Elwood Brown, who was the owner of Eagle Market on Broadway in South Amboy.

Some of the information regarding the old days of access came from stories told to me by both my Uncle Harry and Mr. Dobrzynski. As a youth and young leader, I remember Mr. O’Neill: he was a good neighbor who kept an eye on the Camp Dill property. He visited our Rosie regularly to make sure it was in working order (and rumor had it not to overload his aging septic system).

Jim Brown, CDF Trustee