Published: September 24, 2006 10:23 pm         

Woman compiles book on camp memories

For hundreds of children, it was a rite of summer — a two-week stay at Camp Thomas E. Lightfoot, complete with swimming, Indian lore, crafts, nightly campfire circles and numerous other activities.

Catherine Mack, known as “Kit” to her friends, has compiled her memories of Camp Lightfoot in a new book, “Memories That Linger — The Story of Camp Thomas E. Lightfoot.”

Koppers Coal Co. built the permanent facility, 10 miles east of Hinton, in the “Big Bend of the Greenbrier River” in 1941 after several years of transporting the miners’ children to camps in surrounding areas.

The idea of summer camp for miners’ children began in 1933 when a social worker, Florence Haughton, approached Thomas E. Lightfoot, an official of Koppers Coal, about body-building recreation for the children.

Lightfoot, according to Mack’s book, supported the idea of “two weeks of fresh air, sunshine, good food, and recreation in a healthy environment” for the children of company employees.

And those two weeks were offered to all children between the ages of 8 1/2 and 14 of Koppers Coal Co. employees, both the coal and stores divisions.

Mack, now 80 and residing in Beckley, had talked about writing the book for several years, then decided it was time.

“(Carl) Mack died in 1983, and for a few years, I didn’t really do anything. This was a kind of catharsis for me and a way to remember him,” she explained.

Catherine and Carl met in 1949 when both were working as counselors at the camp. She writes frankly about their courtship and the role of the camp in their lives and that of their two children, Frank and Rebecca.

She is also equally candid about how the closing of the camp broke her husband’s heart and may have contributed to his fatal heart attack.

Carl Mack served as camp director from 1964 until his retirement in 1982, though he served as director emeritus in 1983, the last year children attended the camp.

“He was in camp every summer — that was his life,” she emphasized.

He also served as the recreation director for the company and was active in the Boy Scouts.

Catherine is a retired elementary school teacher.

“I taught school, raised my children and went to college,” she noted with a smile.

She holds degrees from both Morris Harvey and Marshall University. Catherine also spent a great deal of time assisting her husband in camp activities.

She began working on the book in 1990, a little at a time until it was completed this year.

While many of the memories captured in the book are Catherine’s, she has also included those of numerous campers.

“I tried to include a little of everything that went on in those years,” she said.

“When someone would tell me a story about something that happened there, I would try to include it.”

The 367 pages also include some photos, along with a complete list of the names of Outstanding Camper awards from 1941-81, ceremonial songs and several stories shared during the campfire circles.

She also includes a history of the Summers County camp, along with how the facility is used today.

The book was released for the first time during the most recent Camp Lightfoot reunion conducted over Labor Day weekend. More than 200 former campers and counselors attended, Mack said. The reunion is hosted every three years.

Mack will conduct a book signing from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Oceana Public Library, with the Oceana Woman’s Club serving as hosts for an author’s tea.

Copies of the book are also available at area book stores and at www.camplightfoot.com. Hardcover copies are $29.49, or a trade paperback copy is $19.99, plus shipping costs, from the publisher by phoning 1-888-280-7715.

— E-mail:

mcbrooks@register-herald.com