org chart, 1977

Here's a page (click on the image above for a larger view) from the staff manual handed out at the beginning of the summer of 1977. Many of its pages had been written years earlier and were reproduced each year and inserted into the large (200-page?) manual--handed out to everyone on the first day of staff training in large 3-ring loose-leaf binders. This page I know was typed in 1977 (I remember the change to the new typewriter that summer--our first electric IBM). It shows very roughly the summertime FV org chart. A few notable things. First, whereas now the Executive Director reports directly to the Board of Trustees, in those days there was a "Camp Committee," or "Wawayanda Committee," which was a subgroup of the Board (though it included a few non-Board members). It was this group that set dates and rates each summer. It was chaired for many years by Floyd Hird. This reporting line would only have been relevant during the summer. Note also that the Program Director reports to the Camp Director. In those days there was one camp director for each of the two camps (boys and girls) and usually a program director for each also. The Program Director was in effect the Assistant Camp Director and had camp-directorish responsibilities as well as running the program. (The summer this org chart was composed I was myself that Program Director. Whew!) Finally, note "CIT" and "FCC." This was a two-year training project: at 16 you were a CIT (a low-level program assistant and table setter) and at 17 you were an FCC (Future Camp Counselor). FCCs went on the rigorous 11-day hike out of camp. At 18 you were a JC, so I suppose you could say there were in those days three summers of training positions.

your reflections and memories needed

Here is a letter to all FV alumni from Eva Gottscho's daughter Judy:

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Dear Frost Valley Alumni:

This coming summer the Ruth Gottscho Dialysis Center at Frost Valley will celebrate a special anniversary. It was 35 years ago that the program for kidney campers was established. To date, more than 1,600 children with kidney disorders have attended camp.

To mark this special occasion, the Ruth Gottscho Kidney Foundation is collecting reflections and memories about the program from current and former Frost Valley campers and staff. We would appreciate you sending us any personal experiences you or your campers may have had. Please email them to email@gottschokidney.org or judy.eichinger@gmail.com. Our regular mailing address is:

The Ruth Gottscho Kidney Foundation
515 Warwick Avenue
Teaneck, NJ 07666.

Please include your name, email (or regular) address and phone number. We look forward to hearing from you!

Best regards,

Judy Gottscho Eichinger
(Eva's daughter, Ruth’s sister, and Foundation Chair)

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For much, much more about our kidney program and the Gottscho Dialysis Center at Frost Valley, click here.

Castle in winter

My daughter and I xc-skiied by this lovely scene on Saturday, along "the Castle loop" trail.