In 1936, Mr. Jimmy and Ms. Havelon started Camp Dunroamin. For years they had been on the road as entertainers, roaming from one theatrical performance to another.  They were reasonably successful and had saved some money.  While performing in middle Tennessee they fell in love with the people and the rolling hills.  They bought some land and built a Summer camp.  For 30 years, campers came, boys for 4 weeks and then girls would come for the following 4 weeks to camp.

It was in central Tennessee, outside of Fayetteville, down a long, tree lined gravel road along a ridge, with meadows on the right and mysterious woods on the left.  You would hear the sound that over-sized gravel makes under your parent’s car tires, you’d see a weathered barn, a field for softball, a glimpse of the back of a clay surface tennis court, then a small clearing for some power lines led down into the dark woods.  Eventually the road made a hard left turn down a hill and circled back into the woods revealing a group of hand laid, mountain stone, buildings.  A large cast bell in the center of the grounds  kept time from morning till night, moving campers from breakfast to crafts to swimming, tennis, archery, badminton and the rifle range.

A few weeks in, at the midpoint of the summer camp, parents would come for the afternoon to see what was going on and be proud.  Mr. Jimmy would wear a white guayabera with a breast pocket for his spectacles attached to a string around his neck, just the 2 lenses, he could slip over his nose, and calmly remove with a gesture.  Ms. Havelon was always beautiful and charming, making the guests feel at home.  Both of them had found the reason they had been placed on the earth, and for 30 years they shared their Summer with children.   Records indicate Jimmy and Havelon Gearish had no children but we know they did.  Perhaps you are one of their Summer children.