camp tucker and little balboa island

SUMMER
Balbos Island Museum & Historical Society Founded 2000
VOLUME 4
CAMP TUCKER AND LITTLE BALBOA ISLAND
Margreta Klassen, Ph.D., Heritage Committee, Balboa Island Museum
LITTLE BALBOA ISLAND IS BORN
Few of us “locals” know the charming history of Little Balboa
Island, the quiet island across the Grand Canal. I visited as a six
year old and knew the general story, but decided recently to sit
down with long-time resident, Gail White, to fill in some details.
In 1906, Balboa Island was formed by industrious developer,
William Steppe Collins. In 1913, Collins dredged Moonstone
Avenue, just east of Marine Avenue, and created a new island. He
envisioned a small gambling resort similar to Monte Carlo, and
planned to use gondoliers to transport people back and forth
between the islands. “Venice, Italy was big in those days,” Gail
explained. “One of the early plans was to have canals snaking
around. And when that idea was discarded, because they didn’t
have the money, they ended up with one canal.”
BIGHEARTED DONORS CREATE A SEASIDE CAMP
FOR CHILDREN
Early Newport Harbor booster groups discouraged Collins’ dream
for a glamorous resort. So in 1914, he gave the Covina Masons 28
lots for a summer tent camp, one eighth of the newly formed
island. The Covina Masons operated a residential home for orphans
and children of absent parents. The children travelled 50 miles from
Covina by auto and on the popular Red Car. They were greeted at
the Balboa Pavilion where a motor boat named “The Balboa” took
them directly to the Grand Canal dock at “Camp Collins.” That first
summer 52 children and seven adults slept in tents on the sand.
“There was no sea wall,” Gail said. “So when particularly high tides
came in, everyone would get wet.”
rowboat with an outboard
motor, when the rowboat ferry
became obsolete.
In 1919, a generous Mason
named John Tucker left
$2,000 in his will to Camp
Collins. As a tribute, the site
was
renamed
Camp
Tucker. According to Gail, a
large pier on Grand Canal was
the Camp’s center and hub of
activity. Over time the Masons
bought and sold local lots to
fund the construction of
dormitories, a dining hall,
kitchen, small hospital, guest
house, laundry, cabins for
staff, and a large recreation
building named Harmony
Married staff members served as “house
Hall. Camp Tucker was
parents,” supervising chores and structuring located north of the Little
play.
Island Bridge in the block
bounded by Park, Abalone, and Balboa Avenues, and fronting the
Grand Canal.
For over 25 years, children enjoyed swimming, fishing, and boating
in the bay. They danced, played bingo, staged weekly plays, and
competed in water sports for emblems and pins. Ferry service
owner, Joseph Beek, donated his first boat, the “Ark,” a large
The Lifeguard Dock was an irresistible magnet for Camp Tucker children.
“Home kids,” mostly orphans, considered themselves the lucky ones to spend
their summers at Balboa.
Every summer, Camp Tucker came to life until World War II, except
in 1934 due to a polio epidemic. In 1942, summer activities were
relocated to the Masonic Home in Covina. Some of the cabins were
leased to the City of Newport Beach for elementary school classrooms
and by 1944, due to dense population, the property was sold.
Continued on page 2
Balboa Island Museum & Historical Society
Little Island, continued from page 1
CHILDHOOD ON THE SANDS OF CAMP TUCKER
Gail White’s parents purchased the family home on Abalone in
1946, and Gail has lived there since 1995 following the death of
her mother, Emily White. Her father, Stroller White, was a Balboa Island real estate agent. Gail unfolded an early promotional
sales brochure with a map that referred to Little Island as the Los
Angeles Island Club. Joseph Beek offered lots for sale on both
Islands starting at $600. The White family members were among
the few full time residents on Little Island. “My brother and his
friends used to play baseball in the street,” she recalls. “They’d
break a neighbor’s window, and my dad would go fix it. No one
ever knew. My dad was good at that.”
Both Gail and her brother Tod, now a resident of Balboa Peninsula, attended local
Newport Beach schools. Tod was a star
athlete at Newport Harbor High School,
and both children loved going to the Balboa Island Yacht Club (BIYC). “In those
days it was run by Carroll Beek, Joe
Beek’s wife, right in front of their house.
Mr. Beek had a neat little boat service like
a taxi, called the ‘Round the Island Ferry.
You’d pay practically nothing, and it
would pick you up and let you off at any
pier on Balboa Island. It was great for
hauling beach stuff and groceries.”
“When we were growing up, before the
Boy Scouts had the Jamboree in 1953, my
Gail with her dad’s
dad used to take my brother and me to the
albacore
Back Bay hills to shoot cans with a .22
rifle. The only living soul back there was a Basque sheep herder.
My dad used to take us out clamming in a heavy wooden boat
with an outboard motor named the Green Gail. One time he
moored the boat on a mud flat, but the tide goes in and out so
quickly. Before we knew it, the tide had come in, and the boat
was set free. My dad had to swim out to get it. You had to be
really careful back then”
As they got older, Tod worked at the Market Spot, now Hershey’s Market, and Gail worked at the Jolly Roger Restaurant,
the current site of Wilma’s Patio. “Oh my gosh! We would have
paid the owner to work there, it was so prestigious! Do you remember the song 'Standing On The Corner Watching All The
Girls Go By?' It could have been written about that corner!”
This is just a snippet of
the stories the Balboa
Island Museum is collecting. For years, myths
and legends have flourished about our local
area. In order to separate
facts from fiction, the
Museum’s
Heritage
Committee is searching
old records, checking
written accounts, and
conducting interviews to
uncover the real stories
that preserve our treasured past.
The wood tower is gone, but Camp Tucker Dock is still standing. Photo courtesy of
David Palladini, 2013
Come to the Balboa Island Museum and experience times gone by.
Are you a local history buff? Consider joining the Heritage Committee
with congenial like-minded detectives. Or volunteer as a monthly docent and share Island stories with visitors. If you have first-hand accounts of Balboa Island prior to the end of World War II or know
someone who does, please contact us to make arrangements for an
oral history interview. Call us at (949) 675-3952 or send us an email
to [email protected].
Visit our new website
www.balboaislandmuseum.org
BALBOA ISLAND PARADE
Sunday, June 2, 2013 was a picture perfect day for the 20th
Annual Balboa Island Parade. The theme "Then and Now"
resonated loud and clear with the mission of the Balboa Island
Museum as we celebrate the rich heritage of our Island
through the past eleven decades.
The Museum's entry boasted a 1933 Ford Roadster driven by
owner Dennis Proud. Passengers were attired in period swimwear, mostly from the early part of the 20th Century.
A day of clamming in the Back Bay - Tod,
Gail, and their cousin, Sherry
Balboa Island Museum & Historical Society
TINA WAYT NAMED MUSEUM VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR
About the Museum
Founded in 2000, the Balboa Island
Museum & Historical Society provides
a place for Islanders and visitors to
gather and share the history and heritage of this beloved location. Please
browse in the Museum often and plan
to attend one of our upcoming events.
All donations are tax deductible; volunteers are desired; contributions of
photos, memorable stories and artifacts
depicting island life during its first
hundred years are welcome.
Museum Volunteers were honored on April 14th
at a festive Wine & Cheese Party hosted by
Shirley Pepys. Volunteers are the mainstay of the
Museum, serving as docents during the Museum's
hours of operation, researching historical stories,
cataloging artifacts and countless other jobs. Special thanks went to all docents who have served
over five years: Dean Starr, Don Wick, Craig
Page, Marcelle Bolin, Angela Glaser, Bill Blatter,
Jeane Ruston, Jenni Samuels, Chuck Cencilbaugh,
Peggy Marotta and Bill Wayt. Irma Moeller received commendation for her tremendous generosity in creating and sharing videos of numerous
events and noteworthy occasions. And an extra
salute rang out for Sue Sibley, our docent coordinator who manages each month's shifts heroically,
including finding last-minute substitutions and
welcoming and training our ever-growing flock of
volunteers.
Volunteer of the Year for 2013 is Tina Wayt. She
has spent the past eighteen months photographing
each and every house on Balboa Island. Since
many of the older homes are being demolished,
Hours of Operation:
Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
10 am - 4 pm
949-675-3952
[email protected]
www.balboaislandmuseum.org
PRESIDENT
Ed Trainor
VICE PRESIDENT
Bob Dennerine
TREASURER
Michael Smith
SECRETARY
Diane Bock
DIRECTORS
Conrad Baumgartner
Steve Bromberg
Alice Dear
Robert B. Lambert
Sharon Lambert
Tia Morris-Lowell
Jack Northrup
Shirley Pepys
Sue Sibley
Tina Wayt
Tina took several shots of each of the 1,376 houses
on the Island to be archived for posterity.
These photos will be available for viewing in the
museum, cross referenced with additional historical info. Tina scheduled her photo shoots to coincide with street cleaning days when the houses
were not obscured by parked cars; she perched
atop a mini-ladder and worked her way up and
down every street on the Island. More than once
she took her photo just in the nick of time as the
house vanished a few days later. Thank you again,
Tina! And thanks to all our intrepid volunteers
who contribute to our mission to preserve the extra
special history and heritage of our beloved Island.
Location & Contact Info:
331 Marine Avenue
Balboa Island, CA 92662
2013- 2014
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Tina Wayt - Volunteer of the Year - with her mother,
Peggy Marotta (who was Volunteer of the Year-2012)
Sharon Lambert, Sue Sibley & Tina Wayt
JOIN OUR TEAM
THANK YOU MEMBERS!
Please consider spending three hours each month greeting
visitors at the Museum. Being a docent is fun and easy.
You'll meet wonderful people, learn more about our Island
and be part of a growing, dynamic organization.
Thank you to our existing members
and to all who have recently joined
the Museum. Our membership has
almost doubled in the last few
months!
You are welcome to spend as much time as you can but
why not start with one shift, 10 am - 1 pm or 1 - 4 pm one
day per month? Sign up with a friend and work a shift
together. Contact Sue at [email protected] or 916799-6053.
We especially express gratitude to
Larry Kallestad, Cosy Ctvrtlik,
Bobbie Daniel and Matt Ctvrlik
for working on our membership
campaign.
NEW EXHIBITS
We are proud and excited to announce the opening of our latest exhibit, “The Hershey
Family Story.” This remarkable collection of photos and narratives was generously
donated to the Museum by the Hershey family. Come and learn about one of the most
prominent and significant families of Balboa Island.
We have also expanded our exhibit space in which we are featuring photos and stories
about the Balboa Island Firehouse, as well as other Americana-themed items.
Editorial contributions by Shirley Pepys, Diane
Bock and Ellen Goodman
Balboa Island Museum & Historical Society
MEMBER/DONORS 2012 - 2013*
$15000
City of Newport Beach
DIAMOND - $5,000
Argyros Family Foundation
Jack Scudder Memorial Fund
Meguiar, Barry & Karen
Pepys, Shirley
EMERALD - $2,500
Hershey Family
RUBY - $1,000
Abrams, Don & Gwenn
MHET/Mayor Keith Curry
Northrup, Jack & Joan
Trainor, Ed & Shelly
SAPPHIRE - $500
Bock, Diane & Larry
Brusco, Bo & Terri
Carstensen, Nancy & Jim
De Witt Family, Bill & Mary
Dennerline, Bob & Celeste
Lambert, Robert & Sharon
Lowe, Stan & Renee
TOPAZ - $250
Bromberg, Steve & Ronnie
Causey, Terry
Cencibaugh, Chuck
Cholakian, Mr.& Mrs.
Cooper, Mr.
Cornell, Janet
Ctvrtlik, Cosette & Bob
Edwards Family
Hall, Heidi & Steven Guzowski
Hill, Councilman Rush
Johnson, Myrna & Chuck
Marotta, Peggy
Pulaski, Rolly
Scioscia, Mike & Anne
Seaver, Christopher
Shonk, Al & Elizabeth
von Kleinsmid-Randolph, Marilyn
PEARL - $100
Allen, William
Auchter, Terri
Ballback, Steven
Baumgartner, Conrad & Barbara
Beek, Seymour
Bergman, Marielle & Peter
Bilezikjian, Zaven & Jamie
Birnie, Bill & Barbara
Blum, Mike & Patty
Bowers, Don & Pam
Brazeel, Steve & Casey
Bridges, Steve
Brittingham, John & Kathy
Brower, Ron & Stacy
Cassidy, Lee & Jim
Caton, Bill & Cathy
Christensen, Thomas
Cleland, Ann & Robert
Cook, Bob & Marcy
Cooper, Beth & Ted
Crawford, William
Curci, Janet
Curci, Kit
Davies, John & Sharon
Deardorff, Tom & Connie
DesCombes, Gordon & Susan
Donovan, William & Elana
Eggert, Pam & Steve
Ehming, Bill & Sue
Emerick, Catherine
Fellinge, Audrey & Lee
Fenton, Richard & Georgie
Freidenrich Family
Fuller, Joan & Ted
Gale, Lee
Goodwin-McNiff, Janet
Gram, Marshall & Virginia
Grant, Jim & Joanne
Halderman, Bob & Diana
Hall, Ed & Mary
Harmsen, Harlan
Harris, Joyce & Bert
Heisel, Albert
Hoofe Family
Houston, Tom & Cindy
Hurd, Joi & Del
Hynds, Ruth
Jones, Sug & George
Kelley, Bob
Kensey, John & Linda
Kirst, Jim & Sue Ann
Kohorst, Bob & Shelley
Larson, Ksenia
Leventhal, Ted & Christine
Mahoney, Thomas
Mariscal, Can
Mays, Richard
McNeill, Anne
Meyers, Fran
Moloney, James
Munroe, Dorothy
Nance, MD, Joyce
Nicholson, Bob & Marilyn
Noonan, Susan
Nunnally, Cary
O’Brien, Denis & Laurie
Parks, Kathy
Pearson, Michael & Lisa
Peets, Terry & Diane
Pepys, Noel & Catherine
Pizitz, Ron & Jackie
Rasmussen, Douglas
Rawlins, Rick & Lucy Dem
Rivett, Richard
Rountree, Danna
Smith, Michael & Lorrie
Spragins, Gigi & Sam
Stacey, Sherman
Starr, Dean
Stringer, Dan &Nancy
Taft, Kristine & Skip
Tarr, Judy
Thabit, Susan & Cory
Torrance, Anthony
Tucker, Larry & Jill
Wick, Don
Williams, Barton
Witt, Basil & Judi
Witzel, Ken & Marilyn
Wood, Linda
Woods Family, Cam & Suzanne
CRYSTAL - $50
Avanzino, Bohnie
Bear, Nancy & Dennis
Bessler, Anita
Bohn, Anne
Bonhall, Bill & Joanne
Brown, Bruce
Bryan, Carol
Buettell, Michael & Susanne
Burton, Janice
Byers, Daniel & Jill
Callahan, Bob & Terry
Campell, Dennis & Carol
Celio, Rick & Nancy
Chase, Wayne & Sherry
Culpepper, Patti
Cunningham, Lynn
Daniel, Bobbie
Davis, Sandra
Dear, Alice
Deardorff, Tom & Connie
Di Bari, Donna
Dunlap, Kay & Mickey
Egdorf, Nicole
Esnard, Audrey
Farmer, Robert
Gerbi, Ray & Jeanne
Girling, Bing & Vickie
Goodman-Beal, Michael & Ellen
Gouvion, Wayne & Nancy
Gregorius, Joan
Grime, Greg & Irma
Hagemeyer, Bill & Pat
Harris, Marilyn
Henle, Tom & Christy
Herdman, Jeff & Sally
Hershey Finley, Ruth
Holden, Greg & Ann
Hunt, Margaret
IEEI
Jennings Jr., Jim
Jones, Edward
Kallestad, Larry & Pam
Kelleher, Jerry & Nancy
Kredel, Rich & Stacy
Lewis, Diane
Long, Helen
Lowell-Morris, Tia & Reid
Lyon, Barbara
Marcin, John & Clarice
Mathews Family
McOwen, John & Cynthia
Miller, Jim
Morcos, Ellis
Morrison, Bob & Phyllis
Newport Harbor Area Alumnae
Panhellenic
Parnkope, Sallie
Podany, Suzanne
Preusch, Al
Pugh, Gary & Diane
Pyle, Tippi
Robinson, John
Rohrer, Ronald & Bonnie
Romo, Mary & Michael
Saliba, Tom & Betty
Sandberg, Albert & Jeannette
Schmid, Ben & Jeanne
Seely, Hall & Melinda
Sibley, Scott & Sue
Smith, Helen
Soule-Maggio, Stephen & Lynne Steele,
Tim & Jan
Swanson, Charles & Charlotte
Torrance, Bert & Charlotte
Tuppan, Helen
Wachtel, W & C
Walker, Josh & Carrie
Wickett, Geof
Williams, Bill & Bobbitt
Young, Barbara
BRIDGE - $35
Bakuy, Lynn & Mel
Banning, Phin & Lisa
Bergenfeld, Joe & Helen
Biggs, Barb
Birdsong, Jacqueline
Bonin, Peter
Bress, Dennis & Sol
Bromberg, Mike & Donna
Carmack, George & Shirley
Carney, Sam & John
Chiapuzio, Kymberly & Anton
Childs, Bob & Bev
Christie, Diane
Claxton, Scott & Tiara
Conforti, Jennifer
Curci, Erin
Davis, Jane
Daun, Lyle
Dawson, Susan
Dollander Family
Everson, Andy & Lori
Flamson, Arden
Gilbert, Steve
Golnick, Larry & Shirley
Grant, Gay
Heath, Edward & Pat
Hemphill, Mary Ann
Herold, Diane
Hewitt, Les & Bettsie
Jones, Dick & Judy
Kinton, Sandi & Doak Hefner
Kirkpatrick, Sandra
Klyver, Mary Jane
Lamb, Wink
LaMontagne, Joan & John
Lawson, James & Terri
Lehman, Charles & Patricia
Lenihan, Maureen
Lewand, Kevin & Jeanne
Lord, Margaret
Lowe, Buz & Patty
McCauley, Pam & Tom
Miller, Ron & Lois
Moller, Jorgen & Irma
Nangle, Pat
Pepys, Max & Charity
Pepys Hoey, Tiffany
Phillips, Maxwell & Pam
Pirkle, Hubert & Jacquelyn
Remy, Jon
Rogers, Bob & Robin
Roxburgh, Claudia
Runner, Dan & Jane
Ruston, Jeane
Sadler, Ron & Mary
Samuel, Jenni
Schmidt, Judity
Scott, William
Seastrom, Marea
Selson, John Karen
Smith, Allison
Sutherland, Lee & Hollie
Talley, Terry & Curt
Thomas, Joanne & Doran
Took, Sandra
Torrey, Margaret
Vasterling, Rusty
Veden, Vicki
Wayt, Bill & Tina
Weinstein, Charles & Ann Marie
White, Marilyn & Mike
White, Shirley Ann
MERCHANTS
Balboa Island Ferry
The Village Inn
Dad’s Donut & Bakery Shop
Martha’s Bookstore
Maryam’s Salon
*as of June 21, 2013. Please call
(310) 717-2325 with corrections.