MAKING AMENDS
IN THE LATE NINETEEN NINETYS THE CLAYTON FAMILY RECEIVED A LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE
‘CLAYTONS OF DORSET’. THE LETTER WAS FROM AN EIGHTY YEAR OLD GENTLEMAN WHO WAS
FROM NEW YORK STATE. THIS MAN HAD ATTENDED CAMP OTTER ON OTTER LAKE NEAR
DORSET IN THE MID NINETEEN THIRTYS. THE LETTER STATED THAT HE HAD STOLEN SOME
CHOCOLATE BARS FROM THE CLAYTON FAMILY GENERAL STORE WHILE HIS TEENAGE FRIENDS
HAD KEPT D.W. CLAYTON BUSY IN THE BACK OF THE STORE. FOR SIXTY OR MORE YEARS HE
HAD FELT BADLY ABOUT THIS. THUS THE LETTER OF APOLOGY AND HE ENCLOSED A CHEQUE
FOR TWENTY DOLLARS TO COVER HIS THEFT. HE WANTED TO FINISH HIS LIFE WITH A CLEAR
CONSCIENCE.
YOU CAN STOP IN AT THE DORSET HERITAGE MUSEUM TO VISIT OUR ‘GENERAL STORE’ EXHIBIT
AND VIEW PICTURES AND ARTIFACTS OF CLAYTON’S STORE IN THE EARLY DAYS. THE MUSEUM
ALSO HAS AN EXHIBIT FEATURING AREA CAMPS, ONE OF WHICH IS CAMP OTTER.
