When Halbe Brown, with help from Bill Hettler, Mike Ketcham, Joy White and others, led the Wellness Revolution in the late 1970s, he turned to Bob Allen to help as a consultant. Bob helped us understand how to change our brand without altering what we fundamentally were, and how to communicate our new emphasis on healthy eating, cooperative games and a staff training that focused on the larger matters of "the whole child" in his or her generally unhealthy world. Well, the story of that huge change--it's a story that includes tales of resistance as well as triumph--is for another time. Judd Allen and Peter Allen, Bob's sons, came to camp as the result of Bob's involvement. Both were counselors. I believe Peter recently had his own kids in camp, as recently as last year (perhaps in '07 as well).
Now Peter is a sculptor and painter and I'm pleased to provide this link to his site. "Over the past two decades," Peter writes, "I have cast aluminum and bronze and used natural fieldstone and locally harvested wood to create rather large sculptures. I also do welded sculpture requiring me to scour the bins of the steel salvage center in Dover, NJ and elsewhere to attempt to uncover treasures for my future works. I also add steel to the aluminum, wood or stone in order to weld together stones and wood limbs and disparate metals into an integrated whole. This work as a 'Hunter-gatherer' paves the way to the 'reader' of my work being invited to slow down their cerebral fast-pitched days and look for innovative combinations and dual uses of overlooked objects."
