Camp Frame

My family descendants, my great great great grandfather, Nat T. Frame, originated the 4H club. My family owns land in Virginia called Camp frame. Grandfather Nat donated a large section of the land to start the first club in the early 1900s while he was a professor at Duke University. To this day our family still owns and maintains the land adjacent to the 4H facilities.

To others this land was a camp they would come to visit occasionally while on a campout with the 4H program, but to my family it was our summer escape. 

My brother, sister, and I spent summers and the occasional holiday here with a plethora of relatives we loved and/or barely knew. The majority of our family was located in the northeast from New York to Virginia, and we grew up in Florida.

To us, Virginia was absolutely beautiful. Rolling hills, mountains, plains, cattle, pigs, and chickens. All very far removed from the sandy beaches of home. We ran through fields chasing cows, riding horses, and learning to shoot. Real life cowboys and Indians. Campfires at night telling stories and reconnecting with family you had not seen or heard from in years. Each year there was a different variety of relatives present at various times during the summer weeks. 

We rode horses through fields so majestic they would hurt your eyes. 

One year we were chasing my brother and in his hurry to get away, he jumped over a corral fence. Unbeknownst to him this was the field where the huge bull lives. That bull chased my brother all over while we laughed and laughed until he finally reached the fence and jumped over.

I remember the field where we sat on the high hill waiting for dusk and the magic return of the fireflies each night. Jars open and ready for the nightly capture. Daddy would give one dollar to whoever caught the most each night and competition was fierce. 

This section of Virginia is what I always think about when I remember childhood and family good times. Daddy was in the Marines and during my childhood was gone for many years, in Vietnam and Korea and elsewhere. But one thing was for certain, whenever he came home or got a break, we headed to Camp Frame to be with family. 

About 20 years ago a family caretaker accidentally burned down the house. We can still visit the land, but family time spent there has faded away. I was saddened to know my children would never experience the joy this homecoming always represented to me.

-Sarah R. Weaver