The camper here in the pink tie-dye shirt is Gary Gold, the older brother of Fran Grayson. The year, we think, is '69. The blonde in the white T-shirt is counselor Doug Cresson.Gary earned 5 Wawayanda W patches. "I was in Forest, Outpost, Lenape, Hemlock, Catskill Explorers (2 years with Bud Cox), Trail Blazers with Pat Ricciardi.... and spent winters at the castle. My Dad (I think) donated and built the horse barn after the old one was on its last legs."
Gary also was there in late July '69 when we all sat on the Castle hill and watched a tiny black-and-white TV as Neil Armstrong stepped down onto the surface of the moon.
Gary was in cabin 19 in '69 and left his intitials in the top left bunk. Perhaps they are still there.
The more we talk about J. C. Pony, the more Gary remembers. "JC Pony yessiree," he writes. "He put the Forest cheer to 'Land of a Thousand Dances.' He sang, 'Oh the boys from Forest... they really got the groove!' And we responded, 'Na na na na na!'"
"When I was in Lenape," Gary continues, "I remember having the Live Cream album (and knowing about Woodstock). I remember the songs and the feeling I had listening to them on a portable phonograph with an extension chord we ran into the middle of the village. Look what happened: www.myspace.com/garygoldmusic. Were you there the summer that we put the big toilet paper 'X marks the spot' on the flagpole field? One of the campers parent (a hobbyist pilot) dropped a care package out of the plane... and then unsucessfully tried to land in the field across from the castle."
And more: "On a sad note... and I am sure all know. I sad Kim Connell in Elllenville hospital about 10-15 years ago. We talked for a long while. Ladd Connell (his younger brother) and I were on Trail Blazers together my first year (Frank Meigs and Pat Ricciardi led the expedition to Lake Treb... La Verendrye Park in Clova, East Abitibi Canada... 250 mile Northwest of Montreal). Ladd used to stay up all night reading Newsweek magazines from cover to cover. I heard he wound up in DC doing something political. I heard Kim (who was my fly-fishing hero) passed away."
Gary's younger sister is the super-talented Fran Grayson, who had her own stellar FV career.
