By Megan Ma

“Kids thrive if they have space and decision-making ability,” said Carolyn Chan, a Hidden Villa camper and counselor during the late 1960s to 1980. Josephine Duveneck, camp founder and co-owner, with husband Frank, of the Los Altos Hills wilderness preserve, would often echo a similar mantra, Chan said.

“People need space,” Duveneck would say. Campers were always accounted for, Chan remembered, but they were allowed to choose their activities on a daily basis, too.

Hidden Villa plans to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its summer camp April 29 with a gala open to the public.

The freedom from structure often led to a much-needed break from their home life, Chan said.

“You could read for four hours or play ping-pong all afternoon. One time I told a counselor I was going up the stream - I just lay down on the side of the creek and looked up at the trees for two hours,” Chan recalls.

The customary morning activities included horseback riding, crafts or swimming, but the afternoons were largely “unstructured,” Chan said. Sprawled on the floor of the “Big House” (the Duvenecks’ home), listening to Josephine read aloud, however, was one of her favorite afternoon pastimes.

At night, Josephine gathered the campers and counselors together, arranging to put on plays in the Big House or organizing the children for a scavenger hunt under the full moon.

For Curtis Schneider, a counselor from 1974 to 1979, who grew up in Detroit, going away to camp was an especially unique experience.

“My summers had consisted of riding my bike around. Hidden Villa is so special - it gives kids a chance to fall in love with the outdoors,” he said.

It wasn’t long after he arrived as a counselor that he had an epiphany.

“A solid feeling hit me that I was doing the right thing. By leading the kids around the trails, I became convinced that I wanted to be a science teacher. It was so positive, and I could see the effect on the kids,” Schneider said. He is currently a science teacher at Egan Junior High School.

For more information, call 949-9704 or visit www.hiddenvilla.org. To volunteer for the event, call Nayna at 949-8650.