Margetts Lodge under construction

Winter/early spring 1974-75: the old "Rec Hall" is under construction. The top half was lopped off by Chuck White and his construction crew. The stone frame of the first floor of the old barn was retained. This would become Margetts Lodge after one summer season being called "NCC" (the New Conference Center).

Joy White

One weekend winter morning in 1974. Joy White was our nurse during the summer and on some non-summer weekends, but mostly that year she helped out in the kitchen. Here she is tending to a vast vat of boiled hot dogs. Fun. She seemed to love the work. :)

Castle watercolor

Watercolor of Forstmann's Castle at Frost Valley reproduced on a card. I seem to have a dozen of these, I just noticed, and have mailed one, with a nostalgic & grateful note, to a dear old Frost Valley friend who has having difficult days.

pix from a lovely November weekend

Mark Gottendenker, up for an alumni work weekend.

Anna Armstrong

Cabin 32 as seen from Lakeview Lodge.

Just outside Hird Lodge.

Biscuit Lodge, seen from behind and from across Biscuit Creek.

Lake Cole, looking west, from above CIT Point.

The Shire, home in the summer of the AiTs (adventure counselors in training)

Rushawn's amazing story

Summer 2016.

Halbe with the kids

At a reunion weekend, at the Friday night campfire, Halbe Brown tells a story to the children of his former staff. He just loved the kids.

2001 Wawayanda centennial celebration - 15 years later

Fifteen years ago we celebrated the Wawayanda centennial during a weekend-long reunion gathering that also served, as it happened, as a farewell to Halbe & Jane Brown. It was the largest Frost Valley reunion ever (nearly 500 people at one point during the weekend) and I made sure to grab some good swag so I would remember it. One such item, my favorite coffee mug, served me my java this morning a decade and a half later.

High Falls hike, early 90s

On a hike to High Falls in the early 90s, from left to right, Al Filreis, Ben Filreis, Casey Ketcham, Jody Davies Ketcham.

Michael Ratner (d. May 2016), friend of Frost Valley

Michael Ratner believed in what we do at Frost Valley. He and his wife Karen, both political activists and leaders of change-making nonprofit organizations, came to love FV and were donors. Michael passed away last May and here is a tribute to him from a friend & colleague in international human rights work.

https://media.sas.upenn.edu/afilreis/Michael-Ratner.pdf

Eva Gottscho's bench

Sven Grotrian returns to the Castle

Sven Grotrian was driving through Frost Valley yesterday and took this photo of the Castle. Last night he told me that the experience produced "heartwarming memories."

big (first) 1987 Labor Day weekend staff reunion

This collage was made from photos taken during the first big Labor Day FV staff reunion in 1987.

Cody, on a break from office work, surveys the scene

proud of the 10-year-olds

what parents see when they pick up their kids

FV's greenhouse

camp still life: frogcatching nets at Margetts Lodge

a happy perfect day

Giannotti

Cecilia, Oran Giannotti's daughter, John Giannotti's granddaughter and niece of Keara and Dani Giannotti, was here for session 4 in Windsong.

Castle is 100 years old this summer (completed 1916)

at canteen in the late 60s

by the Ketcham Chapel, I encountered the memorial to dear friends

Blum House with Banks Hill in the distance

"Kitchen Al" tries his hand at judging Challenge Night

Click on the photo for a larger image. Al Oldmixon, head chef at FV, was willing one night to be a judge at Challenge Night. Here is a triad of photos of Al encountering the infamous "smelliest shoe" challenge for the first time.

old cabin 13 (Outpost)

Old cabin in Outpost (I'm going to guess this is cabin 13 - now numbered 10).

yes, the W patches

These girls just received their "W" patches and are proud. Some things never ever change.

Kaskel family makes possible this new hiking kiosk near Trip Center

independence (a short video)

the last day, summer 2016 out

For the final breakfast grace of 2016, Morgan called up anyone who is wearing a Hawaiian shirt to lead. Of course it turned out that most such folks were from Adventure Village, a Hawaiian-shirt-wearing crew if ever there was one.

Meantime, a few minutes earlier, the Hird VCs and directors gathered for their final flag-raising-time morning meeting....

While back in the dining hall, Misty from Windsong was proudly donning her new "vintage" staff shirt, which she won at Challenge Night last night. Most objective observers would agree that this augers well for the future of the staff. And now onward into that future.... (Leadership is young here and they perform amazing feats of adult patience and citizenship, far beyond their years. Come here and see it for yourself. It will give you heart and hope.

Outpost poise

This guy was so, so, so relaxed when I chatted with him yesterday. I just love the happy-calm expression on his face when I snapped this photo. He told me he was having the time of his life here this two weeks, a great break, he said, from the routines at home.

the Lenape crew

we miss you, Doug

a meeting of the Order of the Oar

DeQuan Foster has his birthday celebrated with a meeting of the Order of the Oar. DeQuan has been the Outpost VC all summer. What a guy! Everyone adores him, and rightly.

a counselor and her camper

In the (late?) 1990s, Wendy Warren (right) was Gail Ryan's counselor. Wendy is here volunteering for two weeks (thank you, Wendy!) and Gail, who directs the MAC program from the YAI offices in NYC and visits here for several days each week of the summer, bumped into her at the directors' table a few days ago. What a reunion!

such concentration

I love this photo because it captures an amazing convergence of total "hangout"-style relaxation and intense concentration. I love the way everyone is watching the result of the one girl's toss. They are so into it. And yet this is a motley crew of kids from various villages (presumably they don't really know each other) who just showed up under the Brown Pavilion during the free period before dinner.

Eva at Reflection Pond