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.

Eva and KK '08

Earlier I wrote about KK, a dialysis camper who has gotten deep into our hearts with her bravery and her total love of camp. Eva Gottscho's daughter, Judy Eichinger Gottscho, who I discover is a regular reader of this blog, is also a big KK fan, and just today sent me the wonderful photo below--taken in 2008--of her mom, the late Eva Gottscho--and our dear pal KK.

Pac togetherness

The Pac magic is back. Still in Hird Lodge. There since '85. Quinnipiac, more properly, but the 4-syllable sound of that name hasn't been heard in a long while. Just Pac. Somewhat separate (too cool for school) yet totally part of the scene. This morning (last full day of session) a late sleep, no flag raising, then brunch cooked in Geyer Hall. Then they don new Pac t-shirts and gather on the Hird Lodge porch. I happen by, take this good shot of them--the crew, what a crew--and chatted with them a bit. Listen to the recording of our talk. Pac chatter, vintage. The "Harry" referred to is their beloved village chief, Harry McCormack.

Olympic sounds

The rain held off (mostly) this morning, the full day of Olympics. Ten teams gathered in Filreis Field (oh geez--more about that name another time), showed tons of spirit, and then went in 5 different directions. Each event or set of events features two teams playing each other.

Now it's 1:35 PM as I write, and the sun has come fully out. So it seems that we will have an outdoor all-camp program straight through to the end. Last night we were in the dining hall during a deluge for the Opening Ceremonies, which were beautiful except for the fact that we couldn't light the torch (couldn't do so without bringing on the wrath of the fire inspector who might reasonably have asked us, "So you lit a wooden home-made torch with kerosene-soaked charcoal at the top in a room with 700 people sitting in it?")

I captured two brief snippets of FV Olympics spirit. First here is Nigeria cheering. And second here's a little exchange several of us on the host country had with Botswana.

tribute to mom

The theme at this morning's Morning Reflection was "tribute." CIT Briana (Bri) and her sister Kira, a Tacoma camper, sang a song together in tribute to their mother. Everyone there was much moved by it.

Tacoma / Lenape

The kids here seem to be born knowing the village cheers. They seem spontaneous when performed in the dining hall. But of course they are taught and practiced. Two days ago I was walking by Pigeon and Biscuit Lodges, on my way to the Castle, and noticed Tacoma and Lenape sitting under the shade of the Reflection Pond pine trees, their staff forming an informal line in front of them. They were practicing a cheer together. (Yes, the brother and sister villages learn each other's cheers and thus support each other during after-lunch hoopla.) Click on the image above and watch a brief video of this.

why be a CIT?

CIT: camper in training (a camper who is being trained) or counselor in training? Whatever. CIT. The acronym is good enough. In a desperate move to streamline the sound of it, we once took to calling ourselves a monosyllable that sounded like "sits." And we wrote a song, to the tune of "You've Got a Friend": "You've Got a CIT ['sit']."

Canteen, crafts, stables or swim,
We'll answer to your slightest whim,
And we'll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah,
You've got a CIT....

I spent some time with the CITs last week and they told me why they wanted to be CITs. Click here and hear what they have to say.

incredible edible founder is back

Ceil Smith, now Ceil Snyder, was I believe the first director of our "Incredible Edible" program, dedicated to the notion that kids can have fun making nutritional snacks. At first, the program was called "The Incredible Edible House," and it was indeed a house of sorts: the old Forstmann sled barn (the first Maple Sugaring House), a structure you would pass on the way to High Falls if you walked west behind Lake Cole. The program has wandered to and from various locations but still exists under the name, only the "house" dropped off.

Ceil was back last weekend, dropping off her daughter Julie, who is in Tacoma. I just finished playing "Geromino" with Tacoma and found Julie to be quite a talanted game-player, and, like mom, of a sunny disposition.

Kremer-McLaughlin

The Kremer clan has contributed its share of talented FV people. Charlie Sr. worked maintenance for many years. Charlie Jr. was a counselor, ran out-trip and led trips. Ray was involved with Trailblazers in the early years. Ann Marie was on staff for a time (and now has a pottery shop at the Claryville turn-off). Mom Marie of course ruled the Ad Office for many, many years, after having spent a bunch of summers cooking for Girls' Camp. (I washed pots for Marie in '72; not many years later I worked with her in my role as program director and then camp director. We were quite a pair!) John came up through the ranks and worked maintenance, as has been noted in this blog. Margaret was here, too, and at least one summer was the director of the girls' camp.

That summer Margaret brought with her a wonderful fellow named Joe McLaughlin. Joe, I believe, was the VC of Outpost. (That's a guess from memory; I haven't consulted my old staff lists.) Later Joe and Margaret had their wedding at Frost Valley.

Well now their daughter Emily McLaughlin is here - a counselor in Tacoma Village. In this photo: my daughter Hannah (in black), a Tacoma camper; Jess Halbrecht, the smart and savvy Tacoma VC (VC for her second summer there; she's a pro), wearing orange; Lily Bushman-Copp, a Tacoma counselor, with her arm around Hannah; and our alum kid, Emily McLaughlin, blue shirt next to Jess.

Both Jacqueline Kremer and Chris Dundorf have reminded me since this entry went up that John Kremer and Jacqueline Dundorf Kremer's daughter Sarah will be a special CIT - called WIT - for the month of August. (WIT = Wrangler in Training. Perhaps obviously, this is a special program for those wanting training in teaching equestrianism to kids. We will see John, Jacqueline ("Jacky Sacky" in her day) on July 27.

our Long Islanders

In the 1960s there emerged a core group of Wawayanda folks coming to camp from Long Island - Woodmere, Great Neck, etc. I'd guess that the L.I. contingent peaked in the early to mid 1970s. This group brought us a number of families whose devotion to Frost Valley continues to this day, four decades later. Among the core families were the Chandlers, the Nathansons and the Tilleses and a bit later the Diamonds. Ken Nathanson, who with his gang recently spent the weekend at camp, sent this recent photo and also this caption:

Most in this photo have been coming to camp during the winter for many years. Actually, the Chandler's and the Nathanson's were coming up to Frost Valley in the winter since the early 60's with the Ricciardis [Tom, Ellie, and Pat Ricciardi).

Front: Sam Nathanson, current camper; Ken Nathanson, '69-'77. Second Row: Aaron Chandler-worth; Bradley Nathanson; Alex Arrick, current camper; Graham Arrick, current camper; Cindy Chandler-Guy Back Row: Kathy Nathanson; Casey Chandler-Alexander,'94-'04; (behind Casey) Steve Guy; Micah; Maho; Cathy Chandler,'63-'72; Linda Arrick; Remy Bernstein, camper & CIT '07; Martin Arrick; Dan Arrick, camper - CIT '07; Lindsay Chandler-Alexander,'92-'02; Chris Lane,'78-'04.

I guess one can say this is a mini Allen Lane reunion. Missing from Allen Lane crew that went to Frost Valley are: David Chandler, Mark Nathanson, Peter Tilles & his daughters Amanda and Olivia, Adam Diamond, Cindy Diamond, and Kim Diamond.

At left you see just the summer camp crew: top row: Casey Chandler- Alexander,'94-'04; Cathy Chandler,'63-'72; Chris Lane,'78-'04; Lindsay Chandler- Alexander,'92-'02; Remy Bernstein, camper -CIT '07; Dan Arrick, camper - CIT '07. Bottom row: Sam Nathanson, current camper; Alex Arrick, current camper; Graham Arrick, current camper; Ken Nathanson, '69-'77.