We ask parents of campers, soon after the campers have arrived home, to fill out a survey. The final question is: "Please give us one sentence to describe your Frost Valley experience." Here are results from session 2 this summer:
So happy he had a good time.
The staff is kind and caring
Awesome-thank you!
Frost Valley is fun-filled and exciting. It's really a unique opportunity for the girls.
Frost Valley rocked my daughter's world!
It sounds like my daughter had fun overall with a few things that made things less comfortable and fun.
It's heaven on earth.
Exhilarating and fun.
my kids had a transformative experience at Frost Valley. They deepened relationships with nature and each other, although different ages and different locations at camp, through their shared stories and time at Frost Valley.
First time away from home for that long for a shy kid (who didn't know anyone) and he totally wants to come back
a very positive all around summer camp experience with a diverse group of campers
Amazing
It was excellent
Frost Valley is a very supportive and safe environment.
Frost Valley was fun and unique!
Our son said that he feels the camp experience was rewarding because it gave him the opportunity to try new things, and make new friends.
Thank you for putting the kids first.
Frost valley is literally a breath of fresh air; a place where young people can thrive , reflect and regain their center- a magical summer reprieve.
My child Loved adventure village because it is challenging and fun.
Frost Valley is Absolutely Amazing, To the point that I wish I was a kid again just so I can go to Frost Valley. Love it😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆💜💜💜💜💜💜
Spanning generations, Frost Valley continues to be the most special place on Earth.
My daughter is completely comfortable at Frost Valley.
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- Amy Furman Melican
- Kelcourse and DeMelle
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- between meal shifts: dancing to Elvis
- the sorting hat
- a round of "swat" during Geronimo
- CITs sing while they work
- survey says...
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- Olympics: canoe tug-of-war (video)
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- Olympix 2016 opening ceremony
- faux face
- dusty Geronimo
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- Lakota theme night
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- the "tradition" of rushing the program tables is o...
- at the weekly Leadership Meeting (weekly program m...
- three Brady cousins
- another Brady
- "Tireless guardian..." — the evening grace
- just dancin' in the dining hall
- classic Outpost cabin
- Dave Bieler's daughter
- father-daughter Hunker Hawser
- Pokey girl
- three more photos from the recent visit of the Got...
- vintage staff shirts
- winner
- annual visit of the Gottscho Foundation Board
- almost lunchtime
- John Giannotti with Joy & Chuck White
- Brown birthday
- this summer's Hird VCs
- four 1971 CITs reunite in the late 1980s
- Bud Cox anonymous
- first-session weather report
- meals are a time to confer
- A Team in the morning
- during Wawayanda's morning grace
- Zoe found a double daisy
- hair sculpture
- Ellie Gordon's camper has a son at camp
- Browns and Devlins once more
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summer camp blog
about Al
why do this?
It seemed time to gather together photos and recordings. I'd always hesitated because I didn't want to imply that my own take was definitive. The blog--the medium of the blog--seems the right combination of diary-like subjectivity (blog readers simply know this is the blogger talking) and a communal forum for various perspectives and multiple stories.
Castle depicted in old postcard
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new at my blog
Wawayanda chapel in early July
Old Wawayanda
When I die let my ashes
flow down Biscuit River,
let 'em roll on in water
the color of sky.
I'll be halfway to heaven
at a New Wawayanda,
saying "Wawayanda spirit
it never did die."
flow down Biscuit River,
let 'em roll on in water
the color of sky.
I'll be halfway to heaven
at a New Wawayanda,
saying "Wawayanda spirit
it never did die."
in memoriam alumni tree
planted at September 2006 reunion
links
sunset at Friendship House
Al's hand-motion antics at opening campfire
Frost Valley
is a place where good things happen when people pay attention to each other. There’s endless beauty here - the high meadows, blankets of evergreens, and pristine brook trails – and you can meet nature in all its forms. But more than that, it’s a place where our ties to friends and family are strengthened. When a community of people came to the Catskills to build Frost Valley, they had in mind a place where you can sit next to someone you think you know, and then really get to know them. It also happens to be where the everyday light and shadow is enough to inspire artists; where American fly-fishing was born; and where today, a quarter million acres of green forests still remain “forever wild.” At Frost Valley, where we are does have an effect on how we treat each other. Here, a family can relearn what “family style” means as they share a meal together. The rose-gray river stones in the hearths and chimneys around camp reflect the colors of nearby Biscuit Creek and pull you into the surroundings. If you need more reasons why it’s so special here, we encourage you to explore citizen science activities during every season. But you don’t have to, because you might have more fun just learning silly camp songs. And by the end of your stay, when you your family and newly found friends are composting like pros together, everyone becomes richer, including next year’s butterfly garden.
after lunch, inevitably Dave King
...and if I could transport myself
not just back to this place, but to a certain moment in my personal history here, it would perhaps be:
end of lunch on any July day in 1968, and Dave King (our camp director) walks to the center of the dining hall, without microphone, and without introduction of any kind begins to lead one of the 25 or so camp songs we sang in those days. He is the maestro, waving one arm to the rhythm we are to follow and with the other arm, at turns, directing us to sing quietly or loudly or pointing toward some one camper who isn't singing or (rarely) is talking. And it's "Young Folks Old Folks" or "Zum Gali Gali" or "Deep and Wide" and I look down to the end of the table at my counselor and he's singing too, no hesitation, not too old for this, totally entranced and I myself turn my gaze back toward Dave....
Okay, I ache for that. Not being young again, not quite. More like being momentarily again part of such harmony.
end of lunch on any July day in 1968, and Dave King (our camp director) walks to the center of the dining hall, without microphone, and without introduction of any kind begins to lead one of the 25 or so camp songs we sang in those days. He is the maestro, waving one arm to the rhythm we are to follow and with the other arm, at turns, directing us to sing quietly or loudly or pointing toward some one camper who isn't singing or (rarely) is talking. And it's "Young Folks Old Folks" or "Zum Gali Gali" or "Deep and Wide" and I look down to the end of the table at my counselor and he's singing too, no hesitation, not too old for this, totally entranced and I myself turn my gaze back toward Dave....
Okay, I ache for that. Not being young again, not quite. More like being momentarily again part of such harmony.
save Frost Valley's Monarchs
ache
"The blog is awesome - I just went back through the whole thing again. I'll say this without shame - I ache for Frost Valley. I spend a lot of time and cerebral metabolism trying to devise a way I can get back up there for a session...."
waterfront 1961
looking in the direction of Wildcat Mtn. and the boathouse (which is off to the left)
definition of "Village Chief"
Village Chief \vil aj cheef\ n: An overworked, underpaid, camp official expected to be everything to everyone, including, but not limited to, Counselor, Mediator, Motivator, Programmer, Administrator, Police Officer, Caretaker, and Supervisor, all while maintaining good working relationships with parents, campers, counselors and support staff, and without whom any summer camp would struggle to function adequately.
Wawayanda flag raising
July 2006
Dot Conklin
is an original Catskills denizen. She has family scattered all across the region, she knows all the old stories about one-room schoolhouses, what this Claryville house was used for in the old days, and so on. Dot was the first recipient of a recent annual staff award, and when she received this honor everyone stood and applauded, tears in their eyes. Finally a chance to recognize a true community elder - hard working, honest, a kind & beautiful soul. [LINK]
