Dolly Copp Picnic Area
White Mountain National Forest
Pinkham Notch, NH
The Dolly Copp picnic shelter is classic Civilian Conservation Corps construction built in 1936 and was restored in 1996. When I was a kid, my mother's family gathered here all the time. She had eight brothers and sisters, so it was usually quite a scene. We'd take over the whole place with food, card games and a fire in the big stone fireplace. Frisbee, baseball, poking around in the woods or trying to climb the shelter's massive log posts kept us kids busy. Of course, I always wanted to get in on the game the Dads were playing, but was never allowed. Jarts AKA Lawn Darts... the game whose demise was fabled in the great Ed's Redeeming Qualities song "Pegged in the Head with a Lawn Dart" ("so they're now off the shelves at the KMart").
Recently my family visited Dolly Copp. It was one of those things you do that closes a circle in your life. While our Sunday afternoon event was smaller than the fabled Ruel family gatherings, my boys enjoyed the same things. Unfortunately, there were no Lawn Darts. As a society, we don't picnic enough. I call on all of you to take a picnic this weekend. Give us a call, we might join you.
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