The Bethlehem Shrine
The area known as Lloyd's Hills, NH was incorporated as the town of Bethlehem on December 27, 1799. The name was selected on the last Christmas Day of the century. We were, therefore, not surprised to see a small shrine on the edge of Maplewood Village with a statue of Mary.
That shrine is almost next door to our new house; it's actually adjacent to our next door neighbor's property. This morning I decided to take a walk and check it out. As I approached I realized that there were two benches and a couple of signs - I had missed these while driving by.
The signpost was not what I expected: Lady of the Fairways Caddy Memorial.
According to this placard, hundreds of boys from Boston were brought to Bethlehem to work as caddies at the Maplewood and Mount Washington Hotel golf courses. They stayed at what was known as the Maplewood Caddy Camp - first in tents, and then in cabins. Over 2,000 young men learned about golf under the camp's director - Norman Franzeim. The shrine was dedicated in 1998 to all of the former caddies who apparently remain in touch to this day.
Why a Catholic symbol? I doubt most (if any) of the guests to the grand hotels were Catholic. From what I have discovered, the Caddy Camps were run by the North Bennett Street School which opened its doors in 1885 as a trade school. It is now world-renowned, offering programs in violin making, bookbinding, furniture/cabinet making, piano tuning, and the like.
The engraving on the statue actually says: "Guide Us on our Daily Journey". And below, "In Memory of fellow Caddies and Campers C.C.A"
Another interesting tidbit about Bethlehem is that a huge number of Hasidic Jews make this their summer home.
That shrine is almost next door to our new house; it's actually adjacent to our next door neighbor's property. This morning I decided to take a walk and check it out. As I approached I realized that there were two benches and a couple of signs - I had missed these while driving by.
The signpost was not what I expected: Lady of the Fairways Caddy Memorial.
According to this placard, hundreds of boys from Boston were brought to Bethlehem to work as caddies at the Maplewood and Mount Washington Hotel golf courses. They stayed at what was known as the Maplewood Caddy Camp - first in tents, and then in cabins. Over 2,000 young men learned about golf under the camp's director - Norman Franzeim. The shrine was dedicated in 1998 to all of the former caddies who apparently remain in touch to this day.
Why a Catholic symbol? I doubt most (if any) of the guests to the grand hotels were Catholic. From what I have discovered, the Caddy Camps were run by the North Bennett Street School which opened its doors in 1885 as a trade school. It is now world-renowned, offering programs in violin making, bookbinding, furniture/cabinet making, piano tuning, and the like.
The engraving on the statue actually says: "Guide Us on our Daily Journey". And below, "In Memory of fellow Caddies and Campers C.C.A"
Another interesting tidbit about Bethlehem is that a huge number of Hasidic Jews make this their summer home.
posted by Mary at 1:47 PM
1 Comments:
The camp was run for many years by John T Dexter, a great man.I was there from 1959-63
Fred Mattei
Salem Ma
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