50 years

Campers and staff gather on the Castle lawn during the summer of 2008 to celebrate 50 years of camping at Frost Valley, 1958-2008.

the family

Steve Cornman (camper & CIT, '70s) --> Helen Cornman (camper, counselor, VC, director, '80s) --> Dan Weir (counselor, VC, director, late 90s/'00s). I've remarked here and there in this blog over the months and years about this FV family. Happily, since I like them all. I'm particularly a fan of Dan this morning, after his superb presentation yesterday to the FV Board of Trustees who met for our annual at-camp meeting, under a tent set up at Reflection Pond. Dan's younger sister Liz is in camp this session, so Dan's family gathered at the beginning of the session. That's when the photo here was taken.

Elsewhere in this blog:

[] Helen Cornman & David Sunshine

[] legacies

[] Wawayanda in good hands

met in '99, engaged in '09 - same spot

Last Saturday, on the Biscuit Creek Bridge at Frost Valley, Chris Lane proposed to Lindsay Chandler-Alexander. She said yes! This photo was taken not long after the moment. Lindsay thinks she was at FV summers from 1992 to 2001. Chris was there from '98 to '02. Lindsay says: "We met in the summer of 1999 which was my JC summer and his second summer at camp. We decided to start dating on July 15th under the Biscuit Creek Bridge and 9 and a half years later that is where Chris proposed to me! Frost valley means the world to us. It is where we met, fell in love, and now where we got engaged. We couldn't be happier!"

Another Frost Valley romance turns into marriage. How many have there been? I can think of a dozen without even trying.

Of course Lindsay is in a long-line of a Wawayanda/Frost Valley family - the Chandlers of Long Island. (I remember Dave Chandler and Cathy Chandler very well - from 40 years ago.)

hope you had the time of your life

Brendan Heldenfels put together a beautiful 9 1/2-minute video montage, set to stirring music, of photographs across all years. It's been posted to YouTube. Just get your popcorn, dim the lights, find someone to whom you want to tell camp stories, and click on the image above.

You're tuning into an old-style radio, with a dial. Turn the dial a bit and hear a song from the '60s (and now the cabins are new, the docks at the lake seem in the wrong place, a few crewcuts mixed with some fairly hip-looking characters), finger the dial again and it's another time and set of images. Tune time back and forward.

A number of the photographs date back to the Old Wawayanda prior to the move to Frost Valley fifty summers ago. But for the most part the video traces our work and play across the decades, with songs and photos from the 60s, then the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s. Certain themes merge in and out of the decades: coming & going; the buildings; outdoor education and conferencing; etc.

Some highlights to watch for:

[] Halbe Brown's red plaid pants, circa 1976.

[] wellness-minded girl campers surround chain-smoker Chuck White as they take his blood pressure and listen to his heart.

[] misty sunrise over Lake Cole.

[] Eva Gottscho (co-creator of our dialysis program) with dialysis camper Stevie Bell in her lap.

[] the late John Ketcham blowing on the embers, in Canada, a Trailblazer for all time.

[] Wawayanda camp directors across the decades gather together to lead the noonday grace at a recent reunion.

[] You ain't goin' nowhere.

[] Lenape boys, clad in white Wawayanda tees, head out for an overnight...walking in a perfectly straight line.

[] the old garage before it was Hayden Lodge.

[] the late Oran Giannotti hanging out with good friends.

[] tons of Hirdstock shots.

[] lighting the Olympic torch.

[] everyone wearing really short shorts.

[] Mac guy learns to ride a bike.

I hope you had the time of you life. If so, I'll be joining you in that good company.

three girls (audio)

Three contemporary campers talk about their summer '07 experience. It's a 5 minute and 20 second mp3 audio file, and you can listen to it by clicking here. Topics that arise:

1) how good the staff is
2) rainy Olympics
3) winning Olympics
4) what you do when you know no one in the cabin
5) coming of age
6) how your friends at home react
7) anticipating a summer as an oldest camper
8) the air we can breathe

tomorrow's the day Moldova's gonna come

Yes, Moldova. Wasn't the Olympic team from Moldova, vintage 2006, creative when they sang this song as one of their country's chants? They certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves. Have a look and listen.

camper raises funds for camperships

In the Jewish tradition, the 13th year is the time the child becomes a member of the adult community – is asked to take on responsibilities, engage with the needs of the whole (beyond the self) and contemplate his or her personal attachments, commitments and values. There’s a lot of thinking entailed in all this but also an expectation that the young person will do something to express these beliefs.

As Hannah prepared for her “Mitzvah Project,” she thought about the several continuities in her life so far. Aside from family and school, there’s just one: Frost Valley. She was first bought to the valley as an infant just weeks old. She has grown up there and in 2008 will experience her sixth summer at camp. She’s a “lifer.” From September to May she goes to sleep at each night wishing the summer would come and she could again be at camp.

She especially loves her counselors. They are her big sisters, her friends, her confidantes about growing up, her goofy pals, her role models, her future.

How could these passions and commitments converge? She decided for her Mitzvah Project to make her friends, family and members of her immediate Jewish community (Kol Tzedek in West Philadelphia—the name means “Voice of Justice”) aware of Frost Valley, its core values, and the pressing need for “campership” funds to enable kids whose families can’t afford it to come to summer camp.

She made calls, visits, and wrote letters. Frost Valley’s Development office helped her with pledge envelopes, letterhead, brochures – and processed the contributions at they came in.

In the end Hannah’s project raised $2800, enough to send two kids to camp for two weeks each. Hannah feels that the project was good for her, good for her family and friends, good for Frost Valley and just great for the kids she helped send to camp. A win-win-win-win situation.

Hannah is a camper—just a kid herself—but she has begun to learn that kids too can take responsibility for others.

Oh, yes. As most readers of this blog know, Hannah is my daughter. Proud, am I?

notes on the leadership generations

Dan Goldman has a significant 12-month full-year job in Manhattan, but not so significant that he couldn't get the heck outa town for a week to come...back to the valley to volunteer in any capacity needed. Dan has become one of those jack-of-all-trades. In '06, however, he was between jobs (or some such thing) and worked as a counselor. But otherwise lately it's been hit or miss: Dan tries to be there when he can.

Since I began to listen closely to Frost Valley voices (long before starting this blog) I've been impressed at how relatively articulate these people are about the value of their experiences. I say "relatively" and without pointed judgment mean only to say that relative to the way most people talk about their most important experiences, these people can really describe what they feel and what's important. Maybe it's just that there's a FV dogma we learn and then can repeat when someone asks. But maybe it's that we learned the value--itself a value--of talking about values.

I spent an hour or so with Dan the other day at camp, and here is a good piece of that conversation.

it takes a village to raise a child

Notwithstanding its overuse, the African proverb is surely true, as perhaps--given the term "village"--we've known, especially us, for a long time.

At any rate, Andy Wiener agrees and has done something about it - done something to connect his adopted city of Rochester, NY, to his favorite community of villages. He formed a relationship with an urban elementary school, worked with Frost Valley's development and summer camp offices, and then raised money among family and friends. Enough money to send four kids from Rochester to camp this summer on full camperships.

When I talked with Andy on the last morning of session 4--just yesterday--he hadn't met two of the kids and hadn't heard anything about their experience. We hope to post something here as a follow-up, but in the meantime I think you'll enjoy hearing what Andy has to say--about his time at camp in the 80s, about being the parents of two campers, and about this new Frost Valley-Rochester Partnership.

So do please hear Andy Wiener. And here is Andy's description and how and why he created this project.

saying goodbye (and thank you) to Mac

Matt and Lexi were among the leaders of Mac this summer. Readers of this blog, even those whose era precedes that of the Mac program, which began in the mid-80s, should by now be familiar. "MAC"=mainstreaming at camp. The campers in Mac village (really, three or four connected villages) have one or several disabilities and range very, very widely in abilities, but one thing they all can do is come to camp for at least two weeks and love every minute of it. Frost Valley has become justly famous for the almost total integration of able and variously disabled kids. They play together, they get to know each other well, they love each other, and, on the last night of camp, they all join together singing and crying at the closing campfire.

Back to Matt and Lexi, shown above. Matt wrote a song as a means of expressing his and Lexi's and the other Mac staff's thanks to the Mac kids for how much they teach and give to them. If you listen to the song, you will believe that this is truly the feeling most if not all Mac staff have by the end.

I've edited the audio recording of the song together with Lexi Cariello's short village chief speech ("VC blurb") which she and the other VCs gave at the very end of the campfire. What Matt and Lexi sang earlier and what Lexi says at the end go beautifully together.

Yes, the sniffling you hear in the background of this audio is just that: the stifled sobs of a group of Windsong girls who were sitting behind me as I held up my little recorder to catch this great moment. Surely the sobs add to the aura.

I hope you know I'm always on your side,
and I hope you know you shouldn't have to hide...
Everythhing I've done for you you've done for me
in so many ways...

stand by me

Here are the girls from Susky singing "Stand by Me" at the final Wawayanda closing campfire of 2006. This link will take you to a QuickTime video (as it has to download before playing, you'll have to be patient).

Geyer Hall

On a warm, sunny day in April ('07) we gathered at the valley to honor Helen Geyer and to dedicate the newly renovated building named in recognition of her stunning generosity. She made a large gift toward the current capital campaign, yes; but over the years she has been a dependable and heartfelt supporter of what we do. As I've perhaps mentioned earlier, Helen was the first woman to serve as a member of FV's trustees. She loved this particular weekend. This picture captures the moment of the ribbon-cutting. From left to right: Paul Guenther (chairman of our board), Hunter Corbin (long-time trustee and chair of our development committee and head of the Hyde-Watson Foundation), Jerry Huncosky (as everyone knows, FV's talented CEO), Helen, and Fenn Putman (President of the trustees).

Helen's granddaughter was camper and counselor in the mid-80s to early 90s and her great-grandson was a camper here this summer for six weeks.

If you haven't seen this thoughtful, lovely renovation of the old Girls' Dining Hall, you really should. One nice feature: while digging around the lower level, Tom Groschell, our director of construction, noticed that if we dug out under the main part of the building we would have a large space for storage or activities. Sure enough, they dug. So now we have a large activity space (for one thing, we can do indoor archery there, as well as floor hockey) and--get this--a work-out room/gym for staff, complete with new cross-trainers, stepmasters, exercise bikes, and even a wall-mounted large-screen TV that receives cable reception.

that was the month that was

Eric Blum has written a diary-like entry, breathlessly and emotionally describing his second, third and fourth weeks here this month. I've linked the entire entry and hope everyone will read it. It's best read in full. Here are three small sections: first, about the last day of third session at the waterfront; second, about the moment after closing campfire that evening; third, part of this closing thoughts, written last night, the last evening of the last session. For more on this last passage, you should really read the whole entry; my excerpting doesn't give the full gist of what Eric's final thoughts are. Okay, here are those selections:

I have also have had the pleasure of working with the waterfront staff on a number of occasions, these folks are down at the waterfront in all types of weather providing a fun and safe place for the campers and staff to cool off or just hang out on the dock. On the last full camp day while I was 'guarding for I believe susky/forest the last buddy check was called and as the campers were exiting the water, a group of susky girls realized that this was thier last time to jump into the green section for the entire season-as they were approaching the the dock to make that 1 final jump into lake Cole I had to stop them, since it was time to go, I did my best to stand my ground in enforcing the "rules"-however in the end not even I could deny these kids one last chance to take the plunge and I conveniently "turned my back" (keeping the campers in my peripheral vision of course) while they "broke the rules" and laughed about it the whole way back down the dock to get their buddy tags-does camp get any better than this.

Thursday night as always was closing campfire, for Wawa and the Hird. I unfortunately had to be out of camp for most of that time and missed the actual campfires; however I did make back into camp in time to see the villages making their way back to their cabins, as campers have been doing for over 100 years. It never ceases to amaze me the emotions that are displayed. I witnessed a camper who had been bound and determinded to go home at the beginning of the session who was now crying not because she missed her home and parents but because she knew how much she was going to miss camp and all the new friends that she had made. AS I watched the processionals I couldn't keep myself from humming "Four Strong Winds" while watching the moon rise over Wildcat.

And finally this passage from near the end, written on the final night of camp (last night):

As I realize that this is getting very long and I have just returned from the Hird closing campfire, which means the only thing left now to do is watch the buses and cars roll in for one last time as the campers and staff leave this summer behind physically to return home to their normal lives, I will leave you with these few final thoughts from an "old timer" here at the valley. Many changes have occured over my 22 summers here--some I like, others I'm still on the fence about, and still others I must say I don't care for. This past session I have had the opportunity to catch up with some alumni from my years as a counselor, Milton Pittman and Andy Wiener, to name a few. Both of these guys haven't been back to camp while it's been in session for many many years. I could see it in their eyes and hear it in their voices that even though the camp has physically changed, the spirit of this place remains the same, from generation to generation.

A little later I'll add a photo or two to go with this. I'll also hope to add an entry about the abovementioned Andy Wiener, who has been visiting the past two days and whose two daughters are fourth-session campers. Andy has done a remarkable thing: he and his wife and friends in Rochester, creating the Frost Valley-Rochester Partnership, worked with an urban school and sent four kids to camp who couldn't otherwise afford to come. They have been here this session. Talk about giving back. I'm so impressed by what Andy has done--and by the steady conviction with which he's done it--that I'm thinking of attempting the same for several Philadelphians next summer. What about your city or town? Could we do the same there? Think about it.

Meantime, enjoy Eric's diary. And many thanks to Eric for being our diarist.

they met at camp

Sylvie Flatow (on staff from 1998 to 2003) send me this beautiful news:

"I'm writing on behalf of my good, good camp friends Mary Chopard and Noah O'Connor who recently got married in Mt. Tremper at the Emerson Lodge (right next door to the world's largest kaleidescope!!) Frost Valley alumni Julian Bushman-Copp (Noah's cousin and best man), Laura Mogulescu, Moira Poe, Anne Linder, Anne Brewer, Dan Schorr, Jon Blum and Sarah Chapman were all in attendance and led the crowd in an all-wedding hula hop. Since Mary and Noah met at camp, each table was named after a Frost Valley village. Anyway, just wanted to let you and the rest of the Frost Valley community in on the good news! It was a super fun time."

The Frost Valley family flourishes.

lean on me when you're not strong

One of my favorite challenges at Challenge Night is this one: The two people on your team who look most alike (but are unrelated). It never fails to produce hilarious and remarkable results. Here you see a photo of one of the look-alike pairs from this summer's Forest/Susky Challenge Night, back in July (a beautiful night it was, so we held the event at the Olympic Circle).

A few nights earlier it was the always-intense Lenape/Tacoma Challenge Night. What never fails to put everyone in a beautiful mutually appreciative mood is this challenge: Two people from each time who will sing for us a nice song about friendship. I was quick enough with my little recorder to catch two Tacoma girls from one of the teams singing a verse of "Lean on Me." As they sung the whole place went suddenly quiet and everyone realized it was a special moment. At the end there was a huge ovation. Moments like these...they help you carry on, 'cause--yup--it won't be long before I realize I need someone to lean on. When that happens I'll likely come back to this entry--this one right here.

So here's that recording.

how does it feel to be so loved?

Chris Harper's summer was her first as a village chief. 2007 is her 12th year at camp; she's come up from Pokey. In the past few years she's done something that was unheard-of in my day but seems to be a pattern now among the staff. Chris was a Sacky counselor when her current Windsong campers were in Sacky, then in '06 she was a counselor in Tacoma with many of the same girls, and now, as I say, she's their VC in Windsong. She will probably apply to be a CIT Coordinator next summer and work with the same kids. Some counselors "move up" with their campers. Several of my daughter's Sacky counselors have been with her since Susky (Susky-->Lakota-->Sacky) and are contemplating Tacoma for '08. Remarkable. What continuity this creates. It makes for actual generations...cohorts. I caught up with Windsong recently out in front of Arts & Crafts on a sunny day. They were untying their recently dyed tie-dye shirts, and as you can see from the photo, they turned out well. I asked them about the shirts and then conversation inevitably turned to their VC who blushed upon hearing such kudos. Listen to the audio recording of that fun encounter.

(For old-timers reading this: in the early 70s we created Cherokee to be an oldest girls' village, beyond Tacoma. For a year or two later this was Sunburst, and then in the early 80s we created Windsong - same age, 15 year olds, the sister village of Quinnipiac, "Pac" for short. Pac's first summer was '85. Windsong's was either '83 or '84.)

need your staff lists

We have copies of summer staff lists for most of the years from 1958 through the 90s. Below is a list of the years for which we do not have staff lists. Readers of this blog are urged to look through their attics and old camp files for staff lists from these years. If you find any, please photocopy them (or scan them) and send them to me. Email me at afilreis [at] writing.upenn.edu and I'll give you my mailing address.

1959
1960

1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994

1997

1999
2000
2001
2002

2004
2005

We are in the process of entering everyone's name into FV's master database. Many former staff are already in the system, but some are not. Of course we don't have accurate addresses for most of the folks whose names we find on old staff lists, but creating a database entry is a start.

Hirdstock 2006

Last summer I put together a quickie web page featuring photos from Hirdstock 2006. The response to this was so positive that I added some photos that others sent me from a few earlier Hirdstocks.

staff photo 2000

Here's the summer staff photo for the year 2000. Were the staff shirts that summer really black? If so: cool. (But I don't recall this. Maybe they were blue and the photo is bad.) Fourth from the right in the first row is Matt Buzcek. Fifth from the left, with bandana, rising in enthusiasm, is Joe Elliott. Soon Matt would become our Director of Camping Services, succeeding Sue Goldberg. And Joe would eventually join the full-year FV and serve as Program Director in the summer.

Eric Blum's week at camp

See this link for Eric's summary of his month at camp in 2009.

As I mentioned in an earlier entry, Eric Blum waits all year so that he can consume his entire annual vacation (and then some) to come to work at Frost Valley. He does get paid but donates every dollar of his salary to camp as a contribution. His position is known informally as "camp schlep." He will do anything to help, high- or low-level stuff. He is always there to drive. (This is something along the lines of what Sandy Shapiro Bohn does during the first half of the summer.) Eric is medically trained and is a terrific back-up during various crises, which unfortunately do occur at camp. And, what's more, he is a miracle in himself, as he's on dialysis and has been for years (and presumably came to FV first because of our program for people with renal disease). Here is an excerpt of the recent update from camp I received (the rest can be read here):

I am completing my first week of 4 up here and I couldn't be happier as I am sure my colleauges are at my "real job" are very happy to have a respite from having to hear such camp classics as "Baby Duck" and "Here at Wawayanda" being sung throughout the corridors of the O.R. where I work, and seem to increase in frequency and loudness the closer I get to making my annual trip.... [On] Tuesday and Wednesday I lifeguarded for a couple villages and just helped out. While I was lifeguarding for a Tacoma cabin I witnessed the FV magic: one camper, who I later found out couldn't swim, was really tentative about getting in the water; as she saw her cabinmates having such a great time she began inching closer to the water. With a lot of encouragement from her cabin she finally "took the plunge" and got into the water to just above her knees. If you could have seen the look on her face: it was priceless. Her bunk cheered her on and as we were leaving she promised that next time she'd be getting on one of the tubes. What a huge accompishiment for this child.... Friday evening I found myself out at Mongaup pond to meet up with the CIT's. Their leaders Gail Morris and Nick Dalrymple had askied if I would come out and just talk about my experiences at camp and to give them a little pep talk. Even though these 12 CIT's were cold, tired, dirty, and wet, they represented our organization in a way that made me proud. I assured them that they are our present and future. The ranger paid them the greatest compliment I think some one can give a group like this: even though they were the largest group, they were the best behaved. As I was leaving they were singing my most favorite camp song "Daddy won't you take back to Old Wawayanda" (one of the CIT's mentioned that her uncle had help to pen the FV version).... Through this enitre week I have again witnessed the magic of Frost VAlley", and it only reenforces why I return each year, even if my colleauges at work can't understand why I spend my vacation working here-maybe this year I will learn a new song to sing (even louder) throughout the corridors of UVa's operating room. The moon is rising over wildcat and camp is settling down for the evening. And as the song says: "Wawayanda spirit never did die". Smile that WAWAYANDA SMILE.