Our old friend Afua Preston (she was a camper in my last years as director) currently works at NYU's School of Continuing and Professional Studies in the Foreign Languages, Translations and Interpreting Program, where she is the Assistant Director for Academic Operations. Recently Afua and I had a good email exchange, and, after a bit, this wonderful story came out. Here's Afua to tell it:
I wanted to mention that Frost Valley has been on mind over the past month after the death of my Grandmother Dina La Barre in April. She worked at the YMCA in Montclair, NJ and because she worked there, she was able to get a discount for me and my older brother Matthew Starensier to go Frost Valley for over 10 years. During her Memorial through the tears I was able to get out how much her sending me to Frost Valley meant to me. How I was such a NYC girl but for 2 -8 weeks every summer I was in a place of fun, good people and productive physical and mental challenges. It was at Frost Valley that I overcame my fear of heights, learned to ride a horse, learned to swim (well may I add) and lose my fear of unrecognizable noises in the night. FV is also why I have a collection of sounds of rain CDs. I always loved the sound of rain falling on the trees while in my cabin. It was also my Grandmother and her late husband Kenneth La Barre who wrote me the the most wonderful letters
keeping my homesickness at bay. I guess I took it for granted because I had no idea that she was the reason why I was able to afford to go to Frost Valley. I didn't know what a privilege it was to go to a sleep away camp until I would talk about my summers to college friends and co workers. I am grateful to her and to Frost Valley. Every now and then here in New York City I'll see someone with Frost Valley T-shirt or Sweatshirt and I swear I want to run over to them and ask "What village were you in?"The photo atop the entry is of Afua as a Windsong camper in (I think) '84. And here at right is Afua today.
