ings and their joy of final ownership of “A CAMP,” and 
maybe you would like to know how it all came about and 
what the result has been. 
Running across our county we have a little river, quite 
fussy in the spring, and even a bit dangerous to the careless 
canoeist who treats it too lightly, but a quiet and lovely 
stream the greater part of the year. From its beginnings 
in the north-western part of the county to Plum Island 
Sound where it meets the ocean the Ipswich River runs 
through a rather unusual bird country. We have the woods, 
the uplands, the marshes and bogs, farming country, small 
towns and below tide water the salt marshes and sloughs 
and finally the wonderful dunes and beaches below Ipswich. 
This river valley has been, from childhood on, the play 
ground and nature study schoolroom for many of our mem¬ 
bers. Is it not natural that when we thought of “A Camp,” 
we thought of a camp on the Ipswich River? A camp on 
the upper reaches, amidst the birds of field, marsh and 
woods; or a camp on the Ipswich Dunes for the birds of the 
beaches, flats and sea, or best of all, a camp at each of these 
places. 
On one of my first canoe trips down this river the thing 
that made the most lasting impression on my mind was a 
little shingled camp that seemed to just fit its place on the 
top of a high bank about half way between Howe Station 
at Middleton and the town of Topsfield. This bank has 
been known for many years as the Otter Bank because from 
time to time otters have been taken in the vicinity. The 
camp itself had a name, “Boxford Lodge,” and so it may 
have been to its owner, but to those who passed it on the 
river it was always “the camp with the man on it” because 
on its side a tin silhouette of a man appeared to be climbing 
to the eaves. 
Last fall at a field meeting held nearby, it was learned 
that this camp could be bought at a reasonable price and a 
group of members looked it over. With but little discus¬ 
sion they decided the Club must have the Camp. Two 
5 2 
