Last night marked the return of an evening program called "The Ichabod Craine Revue," a story night featuring an anthology of three stories by noted FV story-tellers. Most of the Hird villages (older kids) and a little more than half of the CITs were in attendance, sitting in the upstairs of Geyer Hall waiting for spun yarns to delight and astonish them - give them something to talk about later into the night.First up was Gail Morris, who started here in '92 and is this summer on the administrative team as, among other things, the coordinator of our Newark Partnership Program. Gail casually but mysteriously told the story of strange happenings up on Banks Hill over the years.
Next up was Jeff Daly, celebrating (have I noted this yet?) 20 years since he first came to Frost Valley in 1988 as a Sequoia camper. He's now one of the two overall directors of camping and--as those who know him already know--a person of unmatched summer camp instincts: timing, staff talent, the balance of enthusiasm and sternness, etc. Jeff told a new and truer version of a legend that had (he tells me) come up through the ranks and years starting in (I think) Hemlock in the 90s. The figure in this myth is the Toothless Roosterman, a scary figure who at the same time is utterly ridiculous. Jeff told "The Legend of the Toothless Roosterman," and the campers and staff loved it. I made a recording of this. Tonight, when you get home from work, build a fire in your Manhattan apartment or Mississippi condo or Seattle suburban house, get out the marshmellows and sticks, and put on this story. Camp again.
Here's your link to Jeff's story: LINKOh, yes, I told the third story last night - the story of J. C. Pony (Forest counselor in the 1960s) and the mysterious "Haunted House" overnight camp site. The key lines are: "Does Forest have the spirit?" (to which you answer: Yeah man!) and "Does Frost Valley have the spirit?" (Yeah man!)
