SING-A-LONGS around a campfire, paddling across a scenic lake in a kayak and hiking through trails surrounded by tall pines is a scene that most adults probably attribute to their days at camp as a child.

Some adults mourn that fact that their parents never sent them off to summer camp or that the camp experience they had wasn’t as fulfilling as the four-color brochures promised.

Gays and lesbians may look back and wonder what it would have been like to attend a summer camp that was made for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons.

Fast-forward to 2005, to a set of rustic cabins in a forest of pine trees near a lake in Maine that for a week in late summer is transformed into Camp Camp, where rainbow flags fly and where all campers have something in common.

The weeklong camp experience for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender persons scheduled August 21-28 in Kezar Falls, Maine is all about replaying the summer camp experience with a gay twist.

Now in its ninth year, Camp Camp is the invention of Bill Cole, who came up with the idea of a gay summer camp as he was going through the coming-out process at age 49.

Cole, whose career has centered around marketing and strategic planning for educational institutions, said he had been married to his second wife for 12 years when he realized that something was amiss.

“I was happily married to a wonderful woman,” he said. “After a series of depressions, it became apparent that I was avoiding something pretty major in my life.”

That “something pretty major” was that he was gay.

Bill Cole founded Camp Camp nine years ago as part of his coming-out process.

Cole and his wife began the process of dissolving their married relationship. He helped her move to Boston and he recalled, “She put me on a ferry to Provincetown for my first excursion into gay life.”

Provincetown was celebrating Carnival. It was definitely an introduction to gay life, but Cole returned home without having experienced much of it.

It was while attending a workshop about making dreams come true that Cole first dared to voice his idea for a summer camp for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender persons.

As a former summer camp counselor and a volunteer for the American Camping Association, Cole had a good idea of the elements needed to launch a successful camp. Since most camps are for youths, Cole said his camp would need an additional element – beds long enough for adults.

Cole consulted with a friend in Maine who ran a camp for teenagers and presented his idea. The friend suggested that his camp would be available at the end of August that year.

So, in 1996, Cole had brochures printed up and began advertising Camp Camp in gay and lesbian publications.

“I had no idea who would come,” Cole said. “I worried, would they all get along?”

NINE YEARS LATER, CAMP CAMP is home for a week in late August each year to 200 to 215 campers who for the most part do get along.

Some first-time Camp-Campers show up terrified and unsure of what to expect.

“You have to be willing to give up your privacy for a week and live in cabins with six other people all sleeping in bunk beds,” he said. “That’s a big deal for some people.”

Camp Camp chef Jim Benton, who owns a Houston catering business, bakes several batches of cookies on oversized trays to satisfy the sweet tooth of

It’s a co-ed camp, and Cole said especially among gays and lesbians, that may require a willingness to be open.

“I mean, grow up,” he said.

Sometimes, he said, campers go away having had what they consider to be life-changing experiences.

Gay men who have not been around lesbians and lesbians who don’t want to interact with men are among the biggest issues. Cole said he has seen gay men go home in tears because they’ve had to leave their newfound lesbian friends.

In the past eight years, he said, only two campers have gone home before the end of the week.

“One of those left in the middle of the night,” Cole said. “For him, it was a socialization issue.”

He’s had lesbians call excited about the camp only to balk after learning that Camp Camp is a co-ed experience.

For the most part, he said, campers enjoy one another and find lifelong friends at Camp Camp.

For anyone who wanted to go to camp as a child but never had the opportunity, Camp Camp leaves out few of the typical camp activities

Morning opportunities include aerobics, swimming and time for meditation. Campers choose to spend their late mornings and afternoons negotiating an adventure course, wall climbing, playing basketball, canoeing and kayaking, creating crafts such as wire baskets, stained glass, pottery and jewelry.

There are lessons in photography, filmmaking, fishing, tennis, massage and yoga. There’s also mountain biking, hiking, sailing, windsurfing, soccer and softball.

EVENING ACTIVITIES INCLUDE square dancing, a tea dance and pajama party, a talent/no talent show and a karaoke lounge.

Houston Chef Jim Benton and Kay Gabel, also from Houston, stir up a big batch of cous-cous for dinner at Camp Camp. (All photos by Dalton DeHart

Those staying up late have the opportunity to sit around a campfire and share songs and stories, to take a guided late night hike or go stargazing.

“One of the things we do every year is tie-dye T-shirts,” Cole said.

Cole added that the closing campfire is always an emotional event. Camp Camp ends appropriately with a brunch.

For the last few years, Houston caterer and chef Jim Benton has served as chef for the camp. Instead of mac and cheese, he serves cous-cous. He provides vegetarian meals for those who request them.

Cole said food tends toward healthy, and Benton manages to work magic each year with the budget he’s given.

“It’s simple, wholesome cuisine with lots of vegetables,” Cole said. “We tend to downplay fat.”

Directions to Camp Camp and other pertinent information are available on the Web site. Because of location, Cole said, many campers are from the northeast, but some come from as far away as the West Coast. Each year, he said, he can usually count on having about 28 states represented.

“It’s meant to be a happy, light time outside,” Cole said. “For people who have not been here before, it’s like a fantasy or a dream.”

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