Cherokee

Below is a photo of Cherokee Village in 1975 or '74. When the number of girls enrolled as campers boomed in the early 1970s, Halbe Brown asked the seasonal director team how they could accommodate the increased numbers. The response was to create a new village for the oldest girls. Tacoma had been the oldest village since the beginning of girls' camp. Now "Cherokee" would be the oldest. But where to house them? The boys CITs were now in Hayden, since its renovation in 1968 or '69; the girls CITs were traditionally in Turrell Lodge. Pigeon Lodge was used for staff housing upstairs and the Staff Lounge downstairs. That left Biscuit Lodge, so the oldest girls moved in there. The then-new Tokyo YMCA partnership in a few years (early 1980s) moved into Pigeon and Biscuit, so eventually the oldest girls village had to move again. I created "Windsong" village in 1983 (and two years later, "Quinnipiac" in 1985 in Hird Lodge). "Windsong" moved into Turrell and was there for some years until Kresge was built in the '90s. In between "Cherokee" and the making of "Windsong" there were a few summers of "Sunburst" village, living in odd spots around camp; one summer "Sunburst" even lived in a few platform tents set up at the edge of the woods behind the Ad Office! They used the Ad office bathroom for showering!

But Cherokee was not a success. The camps were still divided by boys and girls. The oldest girls couldn't be expected to walk all the way across campus for meals in the girls' dining hall (now Geyer Hall). And there wasn't room there for more than the four original villages: Pokey, Susky, Sacky and Tacoma. So Cherokee ate in the boys' dining hall, in the back room ("Hemlock Lounge"). It means, let's just say, that they received a great deal of attention from the boys in the oldest villages, creating some rivalries with Tacoma and even Sacky. In Hemlock Lounge they ate with the program staff and administrative staff, and that wasn't a good fit either. Still, it was a few years of interesting experiment, and I'm sure that those who came through Cherokee on their way to CIT remember the experience fondly.

when Margetts Lodge was new

This photo was taken in the spring of 1976 or possibly the early fall of 1975. Margetts Lodge was new and hadn't been named yet (we called it the "New Conference Center" and used "NCC" on schedules). The Volkswagen bus is that of Leon Van Heusen.

Glenn Kreismer

I've mentioned Glenn Kreismer here before. A long-time camper from years ago (1970s), he re-connected a few years ago and is now (for session 3 this summer) sending three of his children to camp. I saw him yesterday as he dropped them off. This morning he wrote me a note:

Attached is the photo of your "68" - "75" alumnus [Glenn himself, that is] pointing to his signed oar and wood log in your administration building, with his three kids that are going to session number three. My daughters Ava and Sophia are on their third year and this is my sons first year of many to come.

Yes, a few years ago and he came with memorabilia, which we now display in the "historical room" of the main office.

alumni visitors

Check-in day, as I've said, and we had a contingent of alumni visitors. Lee Griffin joined us and was very helpful--donning a staff shirt and escorting new campers and parents to their cabins up in the hills. Thanks, Lee. At lunch, Lee stood around with his former campers, now staffers themselves. That's Lee on the left (no staff shirt yet at this point).Brian Butler, James Raffo and Shawn Schaefer came too - spent the weekend here and then provided a hilarious trio of help along the trail to lost parents.
Noah Ferris arrived for two weeks in Outpost, along with his parents John Ferris and Jan Gikner Ferris.
At one point we got a radio call from the Ad Office telling us that a "gentleman" was there hoping to show us some memorabilia from 35 years ago. Allye Glicker and I promptly went down there, only to find Glenn Kreismer, who began as a camper in 1968 and kept coming through 1975, his CIT year. He had with him a carved stick, signed by staff and campers back then (I recognized most of the names)--he and others whittled such sticks under the guidance of Mark Showers, who became something of an expert in this art. Glenn also had with him an "Order of the Oar" paddle that he somehow persuaded his counselors to give him. It too is signed by many FV stars from the 70s. Chris Mills, Reed Auerbach, Mark Kramer, Ladd Connell, Doug Terrell, Pat McShane (VC Lenape), Mark Wazniak, Pete Dobbs (taught many of us how to flyfish), Jim Ewen ("your friend always"), Mark Staimer, Stu Sherman, David Householder, the late Mark Selig, D. Halbe Brown, Jon Mittelman, Russ Oeschle, Barry Dunkin, Pat Ricciardi, Mike Rubin, George Zimmerman, Bob Grant, Carl Hess, David D'Oyen, Jim Weigley, Peter Tilles, Bassem Al-Hibri, Norm Gurfinkel ("mini-bike '73"), Rick Hicks ("basketball, that's all"), John Mumford, Tim Stickel, and some guy named "Al Filreis."

Glenn donated to us both the paddle and the whittled stick, as well as some certificates (rifle range, archery range, Olympic awards) and a beautiful old blue jacket on which is sewn all of his patches. His "W1" dates back to '68. In the early 70s we switched to the not-so-nice blue-and-yellow "FV" patches, only to drop the patches altogether for many years until a few summer ago when the "W" and "H" patches (modeled on the old W's) were brought back. This jacket will be auctioned off to the highest FV alumni bidder during the upcoming Labor Day weekend reunion. Proceeds from the auction will go toward our camperships program ("Project 332").

We spent a few minutes with Glenn in the office and he remembered some details from his FV years, including his mastery of the unicycle.


Sandy Shapiro Bohn read this blog entry and wrote: "I was reading the Alumni Blog and I still have the carving Mark Showers made me and I also "had" an oar/paddle. I painted mine in arts and crafts they probably gave us the old ones. Not sure what my parents did with mine when they moved, though!"

brave spokesperson

Dr. Bill Primack and Connie Giunta talk at the 1975 meeting of the Frost Valley Board of Trustees. This was the first summer of the dialysis program. Bill was the first head nephrologist of FV's unit. (He came from a hospital in Massachusetts to do the job, although our HQ was Einstein in the Bronx.) Connie, though shy, was willing to be a spokesperson for that first summer's campers dealing with renal failure. Earlier this summer, I had a chance to tell Connie's story briefly in a eulogy for Eva Gottscho.

'75 staff shirt now worn by '09 counselor

Last night, as a prize at Challenge Night, I gave away another old staff shirt - this one given to me a few years ago by Leslie Black from her own stash. I believe this shirt dates to 1975, but I'm not certain. (Someone correct me. It might be '77, but I know it's not '76 or '74.) The winner of the shirt was, perhaps aptly, Kelsey Wellington, a counselor in Lakota who is the daughter of former camper, CIT and counselor John Wellington - this being the famous Wellington family who have had a house in Claryville for many years. Kelsey's brother Jack was a CIT here in July.

alumna nurse here now

Marianne Black (now Marianne Norelli) is here working in the new Wellness Center as a nurse. The networking must be doing its job. Here's Marianne:

"I was a camper/CIT in 1975, 76 and 77. Both of my daughters are at camp this year Rachel is in Tacoma (her 4th summer) and Juliet is in Lakota (her 1st summer), my other daughter Cara did not attend this year since she is travelling. I am also working as an RN at the new Health Center. Staying at Frost Valley has brought back many memories and I was looking forward to coming "back to camp" for the 2 weeks. As always the girls are having a great time and are always busy. The new health center is beautiful, I do not know how the nurses handled so many kids the summers before. I have some old FV books incase you want to post any old photos."

Eva turns 95

Above: Rick Kaskel (right), Eva Gottscho, and me. Eva turns 95 on 6/21/08. If you send me birthday wishes to afilreis [at] writing [dot] upenn [dot] edu, I'll pass them along to her. She'll be delighted to hear from you if you've had anything to do with the dialysis program since 1975. Since the founding of the project that summer, Eva has found a way to pay for every one of the on-average 65 renal failure/transplant/dialysis kids who attend camp each summer. At the FV annual dinner last night, Eva was one of the three inductees into the new Frost Valley Hall of Fame. (The other two were Woody English and Halbe Brown.)

Rhode Island disaster

I heard from Jim Beckner by email last night. He corrected an egregrious error in an entry I made back in August about the 1971 Lenape village picture. It's fixed now so go back and have a look.

Jim was at camp with us from 1971 through 1975. He remembered for me an incident from '75 that I had forgotten until now, involving an adventure trip. "During my last summer with the Camp (and you'll probably remember this) two people in Rhode Island were killed when they turned their car directly into the FV van as we were taking staff up to Massachusetts to put bikes together for the New England bike trip. The van was a total loss and several of us were injured."

pull a spoke shave, learn a work ethic

It's Labor Day today and I woke up wondering whether what the day symbolizes has anything to say particularly to us. But of course it does. We all worked hard at the valley--very hard indeed (think about how much time off per day we got--very little)--but I'm thinking about "labor" in the traditional sense: physical supportive work that makes things function well, the infrastructure labor of the sort that mostly we take for granted. Were leaders, citizens, good family people being made of this kind of work just as they were in the counseling and helping-kids roles we normally associated with camp? You bet, and so for Labor Day '07 here's a story about the work ethic.

When John Kremer read the entry called "They Made Things Work", a flood of memories and emotional debts overwhelmed him. Here's what he wrote:

I just wanted to thank you for the effort, and memories of your blog. The photos and the musings sure bring back the memories. I especially like the recently posted photo of Carl and Marie Hess, Bill Van Zandt, Chuck and Ron, and Lou. This one pictured managed to capture some of the most influential people in my life.

I vividly remember as a teenager (14 or so, which would make it about 1975) getting up the courage to ask Carl for a position on the summer maintenance staff. It was in the FV office, and after some pointed questions to make sure I was serious, and worthy, he said yes. I was thrilled. That summer I became Bill Van Zandt's "helper". Ron was on the staff, as was Chuck, so it must of be about the time this picture was taken. I worked will Bill rebuilding many of the porches in the upper girls camp cabins, some of which are still in use. I spent long hours cursing camp in the yellow truck with Bill. He was a quite a character, as I'm sure you know. I'd known him for years, as my Mother [Marie Kremer] and Sisters worked with him when he was camp cook, but despite the familiarity, he still scared the hell out of me! Rough, grump and hard on the outside; with a heart as big as the Catskills. I learned much from him, not the least of which is a work ethic that still drives me today. I learned to use a power saw, swing a hammer and, pull a spoke shave. I came home with all my fingers, so the lessons took! I learned the importance of loving what you do, as he spent 20+ years as an administrator in the NJ Prison system, in a job he hated. I learned the horrors of war, as he often recounted his time in the Pacific during WW II. He, Carl, and later Chuck White, entered my life during those impressionable teenage years when my parents know nothing and as looked for guidance as I struggled with the transition from boy to man. They were all there, mentoring, supporting, and accepting me. I owe so much to them and by association to Frost Valley. The life lessons taught to me by that place and the people I encountered there will be with me forever. For that I am truly blessed.

John met Jacqueline Dundorf at camp (we called her "Jackie Sacky") and later they married. The photo above shows them, with their son, on the last day of session 4 this summer, coming to pick up their daughter after her own camp experience. I'm sure at some point John will tell them about the guy who made daddy so straightforward and disciplined--the late, great & sorely missed Bill Van Zandt.

Stanley Steamer transports us away from camp

Stan Treadway's old car was so beat we called it "The Stanley Steamer." But it successfully conveyed several of us on a wonderful holdover weekend off--to a farm (where I then lived during the year) in upstate New York (in a village called Lebanon, 7 miles from Hamilton in the Chenango Valley).

From left to right: June Kaiser, Bassem El-Hibri, Stanley Treadway, and Pete Paulsen. Bassem, VC of Totem that summer and Adventure Trip leader, was a brilliant handsome guy from Lebanon. He was very connected to the international YMCA and taught us at least a dozen songs, including "I Like to Eat" (apples and bananas) and "Father Abraham." Bassem fell for a Jewish counselor from Long Island and that was some trick negotiating (with their families) for them.

Bassem just loved the trip. He kept telling all the farmers we met, "I never thought I'd be able to go to Lebanon on my day's off!"

Pete Paulsen was a brilliant counselor - the very first, I recall, who suddenly realized a talent and passion for working with the dialysis campers. In boys' camp he was literally the first counselor to be assigned a dialysis kid in '75. His work with that boy was inspired. I'll never forget it.

they made things work

They were probably already laughing over Carl Hess' rare display of his pale legs (he rarely wore shorts on camp property) when I took this shot. Carl said something satirical about me, and brushed his brush-cut back with one hand (then that little rub of the short hairs down toward the neck) while lifting his cap with the other.

Carl's audience that late-summer late afternoon in the mid-70s ('74 or '75) was, from left to right sitting on the Olympic Circle: Carl's beloved, dependable, can-do wife and life/work-partner Marie Hess, the pseudo-grumpy and hilariously ascerbic long-time summer maintenance guy Carl Van Zandt, Ron House, walrus-mustached Lou Senor, and the immortally ingenious Chuck White.

All four of the men sitting worked for Carl in the maintenance department (although Ron House was a summer-only helper that year; he was a year-round environmental ed coordinator). Shortly after this, Chuck and Carl split the facilities responsibilities into two large parts: Carl leading maintenance and repairs, Chuck leading construction (we called it "development").

Fans of FV's storied vehicular history will recall the olive-green Chevy Suburban van in the background here. This one didn't last long. There was another green Suburban (no "wood" paneling on that one) that was fine for a while but then our camp driver Charlie Speck drove it into an old Forstmann-era concrete wading pool behind Biscuit Lodge. That's a story I'll tell another time, if and when I find a photo of Charlie Speck and/or of that ill-fated van.

We (the young camp staff drivers) were very hard on the vehicles, as Carl never ceased reminding me. Indeed, the wisecrack he'd just made at me when I took this shot might well have been about something I'd done (again) to one of the camp trucks.

they also found love

Pat Ricciardi and Joanne Murphy, sitting on the Olympic Circle one beautiful morning in July 1975. They were literally just then planning the adventure trip they would be leading together. And maybe the adventure of their whole lives. (As for the trip: it was either the Adirondack Canoe trip or the Canadian Canoe trip; I know that because Pat is listed on the staff list as having led those two trips in '75. Joanne is listed as "Adventure Camp C" with no other specifics.)

These two met at camp, fell in love (was it that summer--in '75? was it happening when this blissful pic was taken of them?**), married and now have a family. Another true, long-lasting Frost Valley love affair.

We all liked them both tremendously and did everything we could (although it wasn't much, nor was it necessary) to encourage them.

** Truth be told, I think they fell for each other in '74. But of course they can tell me when they read this.

Sue Whirty, Ellen Hart, John Mumford

Bob Whirty was mentioned in a recent post. Bob's daughter Hanna is in camp this summer (session 4) and it was great to see him. I asked about his sister Sue, who is a bit older and also spent many summers with us. Here is a photo of Sue Whirty (at right) and Ellen Hart (left) in their Goldrush Day get-ups in the mid-1970s. A summer or two later Ellen Hart was the VC of Susquehanna and worked closely with the VC of Susky's brother village, Forest. And that gentleman was the unforgettable John Mumford. I have lots to say about Mumford, a guitar-playing hipster from Montclair, but these few things will suffice for now: (1) it was John who brought to our village--for I was a counselor in Forest at the time--a real mascot...a goat named "Bozo"...who joined us at flag raising and even came into the dining hall to help us with our village cheers and performed as himself in the Forest skit in the staff show; (2) wrote with me, in 1974, the song that's come to be known as "The Hird Song" (or "Easy Chair" in the 90s). John had a fine voice and was a wonderful guitarist. John's favorite expression was "Lemme go!" Meaning: give me a break; you've got to be kidding; get out of here.
John Mumford in 1978

care continued, pardon, rest (with the commas)

As I was posting the photo from the early 90s in the previous entry, I noticed the grace board at the top of the shot. In 1999 the Windsong girls created three new grace boards; indeed, at the end of each sung grace, the campers and staff took to chanting, "Windsong '99!" Even those graces have been replaced (the boards, not the words--the words are the same as ever). But for many years all three graces were woven into a single home-made tapestry. The year (you can barely see it in this photo) was 1975 and the artist signed her name as initials in the bottom right corner: "DLZ" - Donna Zelaney (who was a staff member at Arts & Crafts and sister of Beth who was, I believe, at the waterfront). Donna's piece served as the grace board in the Girls' Dining Hall until the new main dining hall was completed in '86, whereupon it was moved over and was used until it frayed 24 years later and Windsong's artistry took over.

By the way, the current grace boards make a mash of the final line of the dinner grace.

Tireless guardian of our way
Though has kept us well this day.**
While we thank thee we request,
Care continued, pardon, rest.

The final line is now rendered as:

care continued pardon rest

--which of course doesn't make any sense. Yes, the old Wawayanda graces are tortured syntax, made long ago to fit the meter and rhyme without much regard for easy understanding (such as ballads--and these graces are of course ballads). The final two lines mean: We're thanking You and while we're thanking you we might as well also make some requests. Please give us continued care, please also give us pardon (or: please pardon us), and please (since it's evening now) give us some rest. The phrase "care continued" is another way of saying "continued or ongoing care." Otherwise the final line is a list of three items: care, pardon, rest. Without the commas it means nothing. Maybe Wingsong '08 will get it together and make a new one, restoring the commas. Not to carp, but...maybe we can also return to quietly sung grace too! There's nothing quiet as easeful, especially at dinner after a long day of running around.

** Back in the day, the girls sang "today" and the boys sang "this day."

playing hookey from swimming lessons

When I was a camper in Lenape in '68, I met an Outpost kid named Steve Breitenfeld and we instantly hit it off. And we were together at camp for the next ten years. As it happened we were assigned together to the Olympic team from Egypt, which in those days of Nasser was called "the United Arab Republic" or "UAR." ("You'll go far / with the U A R!" we shouted hoarsely throughout; we came in dead last.) Steve's last summer was '75 as a Lenape counselor. Somehow - even though we were in different villages - we managed fairly regularly to play hookey from Waterfront period. We would meet in the long thin grove of trees separating the Big Tree Field from what was then called "the Flagpole Field" (currently Margetts Field--there were no hardcourts and the row of trees was denser than now and of course there was no road running up to the dining hall there). We had constructed a home-made checker/chess board at Arts & Crafts and we hid it somewhere in the woods. We used stones for pieces. And we'd spend a blissful activity period playing chess and talking. The other day I remembered all this and had to urge to contact Steve again. Here was part of his reply:

It was wonderful receiving your note, Al. It is great you found me in the cabin list from 1968; if I recall cabin 13. Hard to believe I started at camp in 1966 in Totem, cabin 3 with Jim Ross, and ended in 1975 counseling in Lenape. I often remember running around a bit wild with you - hiding in the woods between the Rec. Hall field and big tree field - playing chess with our camp-made chess set. I don't know if you remember that, too. There are so many memories sometimes it is hard to keep them all straight. It was a long time ago, but I have many fond memories of the 10 years at camp. My fondest memories are of the Olympics, which were then held on the last two week of the summer. It was held over four days - two full-time days - including country meeting, opening ceremonies, country trials, Olympic events and closing ceremony. It must have been so much work for the counselors, but it was pure heaven for me, as a kid. I came back year after year to live out that wonderful experience. I remember being on the UAR - United Arab Republic, my first year. In retrospect, it was quite a diverse experience - us all accepting and learning those different cultures. All is well with me and my family. My wonderful wife, Christina and I are living in Lexington, MA in an old 1780's home just 1/2 mile from the Lexington Battle Green, where we get to re-live the Revolutionary Battle of Lexington every April 19th. : ) Christina and I had lived a number of years in Tokyo, Japan in the early 90's before we started having kids & moved up here from NYC in 1995. We have three children, Sarah - 14, Laura - 12 and Paul - 10. They are avid readers, great skiers & back-packers. In fact, we just returned from a three day hike in the White Mts. of New Hampshire. Sarah is heading off to spend 12 days hiking & canoeing in the Whites & Maine with the Appalachian Mountain Club's Teen Adventure Program next week. She went on an all-girls 7-day trip last year, and was hooked.

Many reading this will also remember Cathy Breitenfeld, an FV mainstay in her own right. I recall Cathy as, among other things, a lifeguard at the waterfront.

Melanie Mackin, 1958-2005

The other day I was thinking about Melanie Mackin, who was a CIT in '73, an LIT in '74 and a terrific JC in '75. Melanie from Short Hills, NJ - an energetic joyful young person I recall from those summers. I looked in our listserv and realized that we'd lost touch with her. Then I googled her and found, sadly, that she passed away in 2005. In 2002 she and two other partners had founded a law firm in Ohio that concentrated on workers' compensation and labor relations. Here is an obituary:

Melanie Mackin Stump, age 47, of Oakwood, Ohio, formerly of Montclair and Short Hills NJ, passed away Saturday, Oct. 15, 2005 at the Hospice Care Center, Dayton, Ohio. Melanie was born on April 25, 1958 in Newark, New Jersey. She was preceded in death by her mother Alma (Partyka) Mackin. She is survived by her husband of 18 years, Randall; her son Ronald Patrick Stump; her father Thomas Mackin of Bedminster NJ; her sister, Tara Hiby and her husband Eric of Houston TX; her niece Allison Hiby; her father-in-law and mother-in-law Maury and Patricia Himmelberg of Kettering OH; two sister-in-laws Leigh Ann Turner of Bellbrook OH and Susan Holt and her husband Tim and their children Justin & Kristin of Tampa FL. , She was a 1980 graduate of Smith College in Northampton MA, and a 1984 graduate of the University of Dayton School of Law and was admitted to the Ohio Bar in the fall of 1984. She started her career as a law clerk for Judge James A. Brogan, then worked at Smith and Schnacke for several years, later with Chernesky, Heyman & Kress, and then with Thompson Hine. In 2002 she was a founding partner in the firm of Scheuer, Mackin & Breslin, with offices in Dayton, Cincinnati & Cleveland. She was board certified in the specialty area of Workers Compensation Law. Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Dayton, 324 Wilmington Ave., Dayton OH 45420.

If Melanie's FV friends want to set up a campership in Melanie's memory (financial aid grant for a camper to attend for 2 weeks whose family cannot otherwise afford it), contact me and I can help set it up.

there's gold in them thar hills!

The all-camp program that for many years took place during the first two-week camping session was called "Goldrush Day." A few directors would walk around the hills and along the trails leading down from the villages, with cans of gold spray paint. They painted little and medium-sized rocks - and once in a while, as a tease, a large rock--a boulder even. Some years the horsebarn staff rode around the villages on horseback before dawn, dressed as '49'ers, shouting the discovery of the Wawayanda mother lode: "There's gold in them thar hills! There's gold in them thar hills! Campers, get up. Get the gold before it's gone!" The campers arose, grabbed a laundry bag or pillow case, and once the signal was given would walk around camp gathering "gold." (This was, for one thing, a way for the camp to get rid of hundreds of pounds of those awful ankle-twisting Catskills round rocks along the paths we all used every day. At the end of the morning campers brought their bags of rocks do the Assayer's Office (the laundry) where the gold was weighed and Frost Valley paper money was given out accordingly. After lunch we gathered in the Flagpole Field (now "Margetts Field") and spent our money at a carnival. There was the kissing booth, various races and contest, face-painting, a water-slide, a haunted house, and the "Dunk Bozo" machine (a staff member sat in a cage while campers threw bean bags at an arm; if the arm was hit it would swing around and known over a bucket of cold water, which fell onto the staff member). In 1975 Valerie Pluto (VC of Tacoma) was a terrific reader of futures (I mean, aside from Goldrush Day, she predicted my future) and so she became the gypsy Palm Reader at the carnival. We all lined up to hear what she had to say about us. First in line was Paul Trela, shown here.

Here's more on Goldrush Day.

dialysis unit dedication, 1975

The dedication of the Ruth Carole Gottscho Kidney Dialysis Center at Frost Valley took place in August of 1975, toward the end of the unit's first summer of operation. From left to right: Eva Gottscho, chair of the Gottscho Foundation; Halbe Brown, FV's executive director; Ira Greifer, director of pediatric nephrology at Albert Einstein Hospital (the name of the academic hospital within Einstein is now called Montefiore); Bill Primack (the doctor who served as the unit's first medical director for that summer). I've gotten to know all these people fairly well over the years, Halbe and Eva especially; it's never lost on me what a signal moment this was in inclusive camping, a real turning point. The Gottscho Foundation/Einstein-Montefiore relationship was not always perfect, and Halbe and more recently Jerry Huncosky have managed it deftly, yet the partnership has held together and many kids with renal failure have had their time at camp...a miracle. One of these kids was Eddie Padilla of the Bronx, a real character.