center harbor in the 50s and 60s

[TerryL]

In the late 40s, early 50s, my family would vacation in Center Harbor at a place called The Harbor Inn, run by John and Helen Blanchard. Across the street from it was a stretch of land where one horse would graze and run. I heard the horse was won in a contest, and its name was Sassafras, the name which won the contest. We vacationed there because my brother was in a camp on Squam, called Camp Cardinal Newman. There was a girls’ camp across from it on the other side of the lake. Can’t remember its name. When we’d pick up my brother from camp for the day, he’d want to stop at the Dairy Barn where he’d get their Frappes. I knew several local girls I’d hang with, like Kathy Blackey, Linda Caldwell, Kathy and Francine Anthony, as well as boys named Johnny Carr, Frankie Davis, Jimmy Lambert. Really good times in my youth, and my parents continued to go there every summer for years after my brother and I no longer went with them. I remember they’d time it later in the year to attend the Sandwich Fair. I have always hoped to return one day, but never have made it back. I treasure my childhood memories of this beautiful place.