TORONTO, ONTARIO - It all began in the summer of 1993 when Sean Costello, a short man with red hair and Down syndrome, wandered onto a playing field with a microphone and a cameraman and, for the purposes of a video class, began asking his fellow campers a single question - "How's your sports?" - right in the middle of a game of kickball.
The first time I saw Camp Jabberwocky to know what it was, it looked just like what you will see sometime after five o'clock this afternoon, probably about halfway through the parade - the dark red bus growling and coughing its way around a distant corner in Edgartown; in front of it, leading the way, the lanky kids with long hair and painted faces skipping, dancing, blowing whistles, banging drums and pushing other kids in wheelchairs. It was probably around 1968 or 1969 when the idea of what Jabberwocky first began to register with me.
Looking Glass: Jabberwocky Is Heading South with New Camp
By PAUL REMY Special to the Vineyard Gazette
Jowharah Johnson enjoys dancing and having fun. Her parents
frequently take her out. But the 19-year-old African American teenager,
who has Cerebral Palsy, does not have friends to hang out with.
The cabins are a topple of blankets and mattresses, the last of the tents is being taken down, and remnant odds and ends have been packed in boxes and lined up along the ramp railings. It is the middle of the afternoon and the loudest sound is the leaves rustling overhead. Like an empty ballroom, it is after the season at Camp Jabberwocky, and the echoes of shouts and laughter still hover among the tree branches and empty rooms.
Gillian Lamb Butchman Has Resigned to Pursue Ever-Widening Mission
of Building Similar Camps
By RACHEL KOVAC
After 35 years, Gillian Lamb Butchman quietly stepped down from her
role as director at Camp Jabberwocky on Saturday. The daughter of
Jabberwocky founder Helen (Hellcat) Lamb, Mrs. Butchman's
resignation leaves the venerable cerebral palsy camp with no Lamb in an
active director role for the first time in its 52-year history.
The red bus is back, and so are the participants of Camp
Jabberwocky, the longtime summer camp on Martha's Vineyard for
youths and adults with cerebral palsy.
People have asked her, in their quest to initiate a program similar to the longstanding summer Camp Jabberwocky, how to go about doing so without any start-up money.
I have been attending Camp Jabberwocky for 47 years. Participating in the Fourth of July parade is one of my favorite activities while at camp. It gives me and my fellow campers the opportunity to celebrate Independence Day as well as our independence. In our outrageous costumes with our fun-loving counselors, we also express our appreciation to our Martha’s Vineyard friends.
The morning after fellow campers and I arrived at Camp Jabberwocky, we went with our fun-loving counselors to music class in the camp’s studio. We sang Rocket Man by Elton John. I must admit our singing was very rusty, but as the month progresses it will vastly improve.
Rocket Man will be one of the songs for this year’s play — Jabberwocky Presents The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe — which will be written and directed by my counselor for the summer, Michael Leon.
The stage was set with its characteristic flare of color. The cabin was packed, as always, with kids and adults pouring off the seats and onto the floor. Everyone knew what to expect from Camp Jabberwocky’s annual play — an uplifting spectacle well worth a hardwood seat. This year the Camp put on The Great Gatsby.
