In 1980 and 1981, a young man from Australia came to Frost Valley to try his hand at the American experience. At the same time, a young woman came from Denmark for the same reason. He was Greg and she was Ulla. Greg was thrown into the role of village chief - in Forest. And Ulla was a counselor in Susky. They met. When their Frost Valley years were done, they wondered whether they could make a go of it in Australia. A few years later they moved to Denmark. Now they have two sons - Thomas and Simon - and they are back here for the first time in thirty - yes, thirty - years. They chose to arrive on Olympic day, and wow was that ever an accelerating Proustian wormhole into memories of this place, floods of them. I introduced Greg to the 2010 Australian team as the coach of Oz from 1980; they were amazed and embraced him. Here you see a picture of Greg with this year's Australian counselor. At another point we went to show the boys the cabins their parents lived and worked in. We found Greg Aggs' Forest cabin, now up the hill--but still, ol' #10. He walked into his counselors' room and proudly showed his sons where he spent two summers of 10 weeks each--that little living space. Amazing. Tonight I'll take them over to the East Neversink valley, to visit the Farm Camp (which of course didn't exist during their time here), where I'll tell a story and will hope for the stars (after an alternately rainy and sunny day).
Greg and Ulla had recently visited Greame Sephton and Helen-Ann Hickey - in Massachusetts - and they brought along some of Helen Ann's old photos from the early 80s. From here they will drive to NJ and spent a few days with Jody Ketcham. During our chats I got to hear about the happy post-FV life of Greg's brother Ron Aggs, who works as a journalist in Sydney and commutes to his family (including twins) in Canberra.
In 1980 and 1981, a young man from Australia came to Frost Valley to try his hand at the American experience. At the same time, a young woman came from Denmark for the same reason. He was Greg and she was Ulla. Greg was thrown into the role of village chief - in Forest. And Ulla was a counselor in Susky. They met. When their Frost Valley years were done, they wondered whether they could make a go of it in Australia. A few years later they moved to Denmark. Now they have two sons - Thomas and Simon - and they are back here for the first time in thirty - yes, thirty - years. They chose to arrive on Olympic day, and wow was that ever an accelerating Proustian wormhole into memories of this place, floods of them. I introduced Greg to the 2010 Australian team as the coach of Oz from 1980; they were amazed and embraced him. Here you see a picture of Greg with this year's Australian counselor. At another point we went to show the boys the cabins their parents lived and worked in. We found Greg Aggs' Forest cabin, now up the hill--but still, ol' #10. He walked into his counselors' room and proudly showed his sons where he spent two summers of 10 weeks each--that little living space. Amazing. Tonight I'll take them over to the East Neversink valley, to visit the Farm Camp (which of course didn't exist during their time here), where I'll tell a story and will hope for the stars (after an alternately rainy and sunny day).
Greg and Ulla had recently visited Greame Sephton and Helen-Ann Hickey - in Massachusetts - and they brought along some of Helen Ann's old photos from the early 80s. From here they will drive to NJ and spent a few days with Jody Ketcham. During our chats I got to hear about the happy post-FV life of Greg's brother Ron Aggs, who works as a journalist in Sydney and commutes to his family (including twins) in Canberra.
