Janet Miller, once Pokey VC, in Los Angeles last night

Last night I attended a non-Frost Valley gathering and got to spend a little time with Janet Miller, now Janet Miller Stier, who was a long-time Frost Valley'er and eventually was a (great) VC of Pokey in the 1990s. Here is she with her husband Byron Stier and their son Drew, who is currently a sophomore in high school.

more from the early to mid 1980s

Duff with the Hartleys.

Internationals and friends at Cold Spring Lodge.

Glenn Horton.

"Girls' Dining Hall" during the end-of-staff-training banquet. Seated at left: the late John Farnan with Phyllis Gherardi. At right, next to George Lordi: Irene from England. Al Filreis in back in green shirt, next to Joy White.

Hirdstock 1984(?): Duff, Cometa, Horton.

Wawyanda Trailblazers brochure - early 1960s

Click on the images for a larger view. And/or: click here and here for a PDF copy.

George Lordi

Photo taken by Stuart Duff.

Sacky and Windsong

The village chiefs of Sacky and Windsong in 1985 were Wendy Brady and Betsy Glick, respectively. This is the second summer of Windsong. The first-ever VC of Windsong, in 1984, was Carol Bockus of Westfield NJ.

summer of '83

Summer of 1983. This was perhaps the opening song at the end-of-staff-training banquet. Five people lead us in a song: from left to right - David Sunshine, Stuart Duff, Glenn Horton, John Giannotti, and Mike Ketcham. This was the first of three summers (1983, '84, '85) when we all ate in what had been known as the "Girls' Dining Hall." (Now Geyer Hall.) It was also the first summer of "The Hird" as such - the camp for teens (older campers, both boys and girls), our first summer as a camp organized by age rather than gender. Ketcham was the Director of Camping (a new position). I was the Hird director and slightly rewrote the words to a traditional song, emphasizing "The Hird." Giannotti drew the large poster with the words and during that summer we sang that song almost every day after lunch.

Seated at left (side view) is Bill Abbott. At right (back of head) is British international counselor, Heidi Wilson.

village chiefs across the generations

During the Labor Day weekend reunion at Frost Valley, we asked anyone who had ever been a VC to come up to the front for a group photo. These snapshots (taken by various people) give you a sense of the result. I heard several people say: "It was the hardest job I ever had."

teaching a time-honored camp song to the son of an alumnus

Henry Turer, Jon's son. He wanted to learn the chords to "Old Wawayanda" and that night he played the song with me at closing campfire.

your Program Director in the 1970s

This weekend someone gave me a photo taken of me in 1977 or so. The Egyptian t-shirt came from Rafik Melek Ghobrial. I was the Program Director at the time.

Tacoma 1995

Top row: Vicki Secora, Deborah Schoeneman, Cara Coffina, Marta Esquilin, Georgia Chown, Meghan Conley. Bottom row: Kristin LiVolsi, Jill Clark, Katie Kelly, Jessie Bleichman. This was Tacoma Village in 1995, Katie Kelly's first summer as Tacoma VC. They lived (as you can see from the photo) in cabins 41-45.

Frost Valley staff reunion, Labor Day weekend 2015

At "opening" campfire, a group of us gathered to sing "Old Wawayanda." I've sung this song with each of this guitarists separately across the decades but never all together. What an honor.

A closer view of the "Old Wawayanda" performers.

Dave King talks at Morning Reflection.

This old-style Wawayanda sweatshirt (with the original logo with canoe) dates back to the 1960s. It was sold (to Dari Litchman, who hopes her daughter Zoe will use it on cool camp nights as a camper next summer) during the alumni auction, which raised a remarkable total of $13,000+ — funds that will be used for financial aid (camperships).

Peggy Hope and Bill Clarke.

At one point during a meal we called up everyone who had ever led an Adventure Trip or been involved with Sequoia. This photo (taken by John Ferris) doesn't nearly capture all the people who were standing there. Adventure! That's what it's all about!