From left to right: Carolyn Shelburne, Jody Davies Ketcham, and John Giannotti - at the September 2006 reunion. As many know, John and his family lost his and Karen's eldest son, Oran, a little more than a year ago, in the spring of '06. The September reunion was a chance for the family to gather at a place that meant to much to Oran, as to all of them, and mourn him in a way they hadn't quiet done yet: at camp, with all their camp friends. Keara Giannotti's talk about Oran at the
in memoriam service on Sunday morning during the reunion was very moving. Here is the note I sent to the alumni listserv at the time of Oran's death:
This is the time of year when, typically, messages sent through this listserv anticipate the joy of the coming summer, a season when Frost Valley is especially noisy with euphoric voices, and when many of us most happily remember our own times there. But in the rhythm of our extended community there are also very sad seasons, and this seems to be one of those. It's with great, great sorrow that I report the death of Oran Giannotti. Most
on this list will remember messages sent this winter, describing the cancer of the esophagus Oran was fighting. A number of Frost Valley friends of the Giannottis joined a Super Bowl ("Oran Bowl") fund-raiser to help Oran's family deal with the unbelievable costs of the treatment. Radiation successfully reduced the tumor; then surgery successfully removed the cancer; but very recently Oran suffered from what turned out to be major damage done to his lungs by the radiation. During his second visit to the ICU this weekend, Oran succumbed, with his family, his sisters Keara and Dani, his father John and stepmom Toni and mom Karen, his wife Dara, near him. Oran literally grew up at Frost Valley. When the Giannottis first came to camp in the crazy summer of 1969, Oran was in tow, a little kid. Later he played in summer camp and eventually became a counselor. I remember him best as a novice counselor in Hemlock Village in 1984 or so--not perhaps the most organized of counselors but always extraordinarily creative in dealing with his boys' problems and complexities, and always astonishingly sensitive. He was just as creative as his father, John--utterly brilliant at, for example, solving homesickness with whacky but 100% effective methods. Oran's many dear Frost Valley friends are on this list. So are those who knew John and Karen Giannotti from earlier years and who might remember Oran as a small child. And so are many who didn't know the Giannottis but have heard
the Giannotti legend, and legend it is. A Frost Valley family more devoted to camp there never was.
From left to right: Carolyn Shelburne, Jody Davies Ketcham, and John Giannotti - at the September 2006 reunion. As many know, John and his family lost his and Karen's eldest son, Oran, a little more than a year ago, in the spring of '06. The September reunion was a chance for the family to gather at a place that meant to much to Oran, as to all of them, and mourn him in a way they hadn't quiet done yet: at camp, with all their camp friends. Keara Giannotti's talk about Oran at the in memoriam service on Sunday morning during the reunion was very moving. Here is the note I sent to the alumni listserv at the time of Oran's death:
