By Thúy Holder-Vinh, age 15
Every afternoon at 2pm, campers run down the hill, past the art center, to the crystalline blue lake for Waterfront. Lake Ashmere is a crucial part of camper life and is the main attraction of Waterfront every day, where campers can swim, take boats out, or just relax on the lawn that chases the large expanse of water.
But what secrets does the lake hold? Why is it called that? If you’re like me, you’ve probably never given it a second thought. But Lake Ashmere holds a richer history than you might imagine.
To get to the bottom of this enticing, or at the very least chin-scratching mystery, I sat down with Mark Toporoff, better known as the director of Camp Danbee. While he doesn’t know why it’s called “Ashmere,” Mark has been at Danbee for 34 years and has a whole treasure trove of information for me. Tucked into his corner of the office on swivel chairs, he unfolds the 150+ year story of the lake WriCampia makes its home around.
Lake Ashmere is 217 acres in size, and at maximum 23 feet deep. It was created originally as a dam by the Crane Paper Company, which is still around in Peru, Massachusetts, and manufactures money in the United States. Eventually, the company blocked off the river, and the water flowed over the top of the dam, creating the lake.
The lake is now property of the state of Massachusetts, and they stock it with fish like chain pickerel, yellow perch, black crappie, pumpkinseed, brown bullhead, white suckers and golden shiners. Wildlife around the lake includes eagles, and MassWildlife, a conservation organization, has been known to come and visit the lake to study them.
“I like history,” Mark says, chuckling, at the end of our session. And I have to agree, learning about the rich history of Lake Ashmere helps me appreciate camp, and the world, a little more.
