Memories That Linger: The Story of Camp Thomas E. Lightfoot

An old Indian legend states: "Never judge a person until you have walked a mile in his moccasins." Come, walk in the footsteps and share the excitement of the children from the coal fields in the Appalachian Mountains as they experience the fresh clean smell of an idyllic green carpeted plateau surrounded by lush evergreen trees which screened out the noise of traffic and gave one the feeling of living in a freshly washed world. The highly successful experimental camps established by the coal company in the 1930's after the Great Depression paved the way for the permanent camp located in the Big Bend of the Greenbrier River in southern WV. Camp Thomas E. Lightfoot was a very special place to the children from the coal mining towns. It was "OUR CAMP, BUILT ESPECIALLY FOR US" the children of coal miners. It made the "US" feel very special. Along with the good times, the shy, backward children from the coal fields, also learned the meaning of good fellowship and developed a healthy spirit of self expression and independence which ultimately changed their lives. To these children Camp Thomas E. Lightfoot, was truly something special, it was "almost heaven."