the Beirut connection

Looking over the camper list just prior to their arrival yesterday, I noticed two with the last name of "Hibri." This put me in mind of Bassem El-Hibri, whom I knew as a young man from Beirut, Lebanon. Bassem attended a Y camp in the mountains of Lebanon and somehow through that experience met Paul Brown, Halbe Brown's brother. Paul was doing an international Y stint in the middle east. (I think David Allen met Paul, and perhaps Paul and Bassem, over there too. David was in Egypt, I think.) Anyway, Bassem found out about Frost Valley from Paul and arrived in 1973 (in the midst of war and civil war back home). He was here in '73, '74, and '75, possibly '76 too. One summer he was the Totem village chief. Another summer he climbed all 46 high peaks of the Adirondacks with Bud Cox and a group of boys on an Adventure trip. He and I became pretty close friends and spent some wonderful days off together in '75.

I lost touch with Bassem a few years later. Last I heard, he had moved to the U.S. and was running an import/export business in South Carolina.

"Hibri" on the camper list. Okay. Then I promptly forgot about all this and went on with my check-in afternoon. Coming back from taking a family up the hill to a cabin, I ran into staffer Jessica Dymond who said that someone named Hibri was looking for me. His first name was Nadi. He was in fact Bassem's brother!

Nadi and his family live in Texas, where he is an MD (radiologist). "My brother has told me for many years that Frost Valley changed his life - that I must bring my own children here." So from Texas they came - with son Omar and daughter Nadia. As they drove a car along the New York highways, Bassem called his brother from Lebanon and asked where he was. "We are driving to Frost Valley!" "Oh! When you get there, look for Al." So they did.

Yes, Bassem is back in Beirut (running a business). So now I'm aiming to get back in touch with him. Meantime, Omar, as you see above, tried his hand at limbo in the Challenge contest this morning. He was eliminated fairly early (big guy) but seemed to have fun.

- - -

David Allen notes: "I met Paul Brown in Beirut but Rich Hanna new him there better. Rich came to Frost Valley first, and called me about an opening. Definitely a Beirut connection though. Part of my childhood was in Egypt, some teen years in Lebanon."

Gorm Fosdal returns

Gorm Fosdal was an international counselor in 1982 and visited briefly in '85. He and his family (his wife and two kids, 19 and 22) visited Frost Valley recently. Gorm hadn't been back in 25 years. He was a counselor in Hemlock which in those days was housed in cabins 21-25. His was 25. The photo here shows Gorm sitting in front of cabin 25 once again. Below is what Gorm wrote about this trip and he asks us to forgive his imperfect English:

I had a very nice return to New York and Frost Valley with all my family, and youngsters aged 18 and 22 were ready to stay in the City. They just loved it. We were lucky to be blessed with very nice weather in The Big Apple, and though nice sunny weather very cold and some dazzle in the Catskills.

It was very nice to be back at Frost Valley, but also strange as it was the first time being there without the many children in the summer. I was counselor in 1982 and visited FV twice in the summer of 85, after touring US for 5 weeks. It was great being there and we, because of the weather, drove more than walked around, which was a big change from the time being a counselor, where the shoes were much in use.

My wife Anne Marie was a cuonselor also in the Catskills in 1981, close to Parksville near Elko Lake at a camp run by The Presbyterian Church. We found the surroundings the next day, but it has not been a camp for years, and now private property.

Being there again is just like it was yesterday though it is 25 years ago, but thats how wonderful memories are for your life. In Liberty we met some other people also on a memory lane tour, who thought we were from Canada with our strange language, and were very surprised that Europeans found this small place in the US of all places.

Stuart Duff remembers

1981 internationals

Some of the 1981 international staff, from left to right: Maggi from Japan, Ulla from Denmark, Eric (was his last name Cahill?) from the UK, Elizabeth from Senegal, Thomas Franzkowiak from Germany and Johan from Holland. Tom F. was in Forest, Ulla was in Susky, and I believe Johan was a counselor in Sequoia.

Attentive readers of this blog will recall that Ulla was back here two weeks ago, along with husband now of any years, Greg Aggs, an Australian whom she met her at camp.

explains the swim test with this Irish brogue

At a recent Challenge Night, the challenge was "best imitation of a Frost Valley person." And here is the perfect rendering of Finbar, our Irish lifeguard, as he "explains" the swim test procedures non-understandably and overcomplexly. Fantastic.

Greg and Ulla back again after 30 years

In 1980 and 1981, a young man from Australia came to Frost Valley to try his hand at the American experience. At the same time, a young woman came from Denmark for the same reason. He was Greg and she was Ulla. Greg was thrown into the role of village chief - in Forest. And Ulla was a counselor in Susky. They met. When their Frost Valley years were done, they wondered whether they could make a go of it in Australia. A few years later they moved to Denmark. Now they have two sons - Thomas and Simon - and they are back here for the first time in thirty - yes, thirty - years. They chose to arrive on Olympic day, and wow was that ever an accelerating Proustian wormhole into memories of this place, floods of them. I introduced Greg to the 2010 Australian team as the coach of Oz from 1980; they were amazed and embraced him. Here you see a picture of Greg with this year's Australian counselor. At another point we went to show the boys the cabins their parents lived and worked in. We found Greg Aggs' Forest cabin, now up the hill--but still, ol' #10. He walked into his counselors' room and proudly showed his sons where he spent two summers of 10 weeks each--that little living space. Amazing. Tonight I'll take them over to the East Neversink valley, to visit the Farm Camp (which of course didn't exist during their time here), where I'll tell a story and will hope for the stars (after an alternately rainy and sunny day).

Greg and Ulla had recently visited Greame Sephton and Helen-Ann Hickey - in Massachusetts - and they brought along some of Helen Ann's old photos from the early 80s. From here they will drive to NJ and spent a few days with Jody Ketcham. During our chats I got to hear about the happy post-FV life of Greg's brother Ron Aggs, who works as a journalist in Sydney and commutes to his family (including twins) in Canberra.

sloped bob in Margetts

Lourdes Montoro is back again (again!) doing the late shift in the Margetts office, keeping everything totally and utterly clean there, and--a new offering--giving haircuts, by appointment. Last night's appointment went to Aisha Hadlock, Tacoma counselor, whose longish hair went onto the Margetts floor and emerged with a sloped bob. I saw her this morning and she's very happy about her cosmo look and is getting tons of compliments. I'm thinking about asking Lourdes to trim my beard. So far she says she doesn't do beards.

Arabic spoken here

Rafik has been briefly visiting, along with his wife Kathy; their daughter Katey is a counselor in Sacky this summer. Readers of this blog will remember the Rafik was a 19-year-old Egyptian international counselor in '76 and came back as VC in '77 and '78, maybe '79 too. Now an eminent liver transplant surgeon based on Houston and L.A. We were walking on this gorgeous first day of the session and ran into Sara, a staff member who works in Arts & Crafts. Sara and her sister are from Egypt. Next thing you know an animated conversation in Arabic is taking place on the Olympic Circle. A bit later we visited the dialysis unit, of special interest to Rafik, whose interest in medicine (and trans- plantation in particular) was ignited here in the early days of our kidney program. We are hoping Rafik and Kathy will return for a whole week next summer.

the surreal surprise of arrival

Something like 31 inter- national counselors (most of them new to FV, a few returners) arrived at around 10 pm last night. They'd endured a dozen or more hours of airports and flights and then the wiles of JFK, whereupon one energetic staff-shirted Frost Valley staffer met them with a smile and an enthusiasm not seemingly typical of other airport denizens, pushed into a camp mini-bus, and through the absolutely pouring rain driven 2-plus hours into the torrential darkness and into the mountains, bumping down the pot-holey camp road the final 7 miles, and brought to what we know as the bottom of Geyer Hall. There, super well-lit, awaited 40 or so VCs, adventure staff, program staff and directors. A double line formed, a happy welcoming gauntlet of rhythmically clapping folks, and as the bleary-eyed sleepy internationals entered their first Frost Valley space, they were greeted thus. Some brightened, some stared like deer in headlights, some actually shielded their eyes. There followed some music, lots of greetings (handshakes and even some hugs), and an announcement that they would now be escorted to various lodgings by way of wet dark unknown paths. This morning they were awakened at 7:45 in their new time zone, and led to the dining hall for breakfast. By now some are meeting with their VCs, while the program staff formed a circle in the drizzle and met their program directors, Mike Obremski (guy with beard, talking) and Megan Lawrence (blue shirt with back to us). One of the sleepy new ones, Kieran Murphy (guitar slung over shoulder) will teach music this summer; he's mainly a piano guy and surely one of his projects this week will be to look around camp to see what keyboards we have. Of course there's the one in the Castle, he'll be told. Imagine his surprise when he gets directed there, and wanders into that unexpectedly luxurious room and sees that the "camp piano" is a custom-made 1912 Steinway. Let's face it. For the new arrival, this is a beautifully strange place.

Dimitris from Greece

Dimitris Emmanouil, an international counselor from Greece, was a counselor with us for at least two summers--I'm guessing '82 and '83. At one point, I think his first summer, he came to me to say that his girlfriend, also Greek, was "stuck" at another camp and was very unhappy. Somehow we arrange for her to leave that camp and join us. If I'm rememnbering correctly, the two of them returned together the next summer as well. The photo here was taken in 2008. I'll try to dig up a shot of Dimitris at camp. He was quite the soccer player. Ah, I found one. It was already in this blog--that great 1982 U.S. vs. The World game. Below you see Dimitris in the middle of the shot - around him, counterclockwise, starting from the bottom, are Paul King, George Lordi, Tom Franzkowiak (Germany), Gorm Fosdal (Sweden), Todd Payton, Walid Sakr (Lebanon).

One of those summers, '83 I think, Greece was the host country of our Olympics. We made a big deal of that--since of course the ancient games, and the "modern" games since 1898, were held in Greece.


And now Keara Giannotti has come along with a photo taken one night at Cold Spring Lodge. Here are Bill Abbott, John Giannotti and Dimitris.


A note from Dimitris a day after I posted the above....tells me that he and Aliki are happily married (after 29 years), that they have three children--one of whom is old enough to be a counselor at Frost Valley. When we knew Dimitris in the early 80s he was studying to be a dentist, and in fact helped out around the Health Center quite a bit. Today he is indeed a dentist.

ICCP '82

Here are all the international counselors from the summer of 1982:

Hanne Drachmann, Denmark
Dimitris Emmanoil, Greece
Gorm Fosdal, Denmark
Per Eric Hansen, Norway
Karen Muller, Sweden
Ruthild Raasch, Germany
Veronique Pfeiffer, Switzerland
Pamm Robilliard, Australia
Graeme Sephton, Australia
Levon Yotnakhparian, Gaza
Tom Franzkowiak, Germany
Walid Sakr, Lebanon
Jon Coates, England
Mike McNamee, Wales
Anne Wishart, England
Fiona McKeith, England

Begonia, we remember you

"Do you remember me?" she wrote.

Just last night I got a wonderful email note from Begonia Albertos from Spain. She and her daughter Lucia (who'd been hearing Frost Valley stories all her life but hadn't made contact even indirectly with us) found us on the web - found my blog, found Frost Valley's web site, etc., and the stories and then the old photo albums started to come out. Begonia was one of our internationals for one summer - 1981. In the coming weeks I'll put up some of her other photos but here's one to start. These are some (not all) of the international counselors that summer, '81. I can't sort out exactly who is who but here first is Begonia's text (names not in order):

Tom Franzkowiak (Germany), Martin Graf (Switzerland), Claude Giraud (France), Ulla Hojstrup, Neils Hybolt (Denmark), Johan Vershoor (Holland), Maggie Tang (Hong Kong), Ron Aggs (Australia), Lucy Arnett, Eric Cahill (England) and Elizabeth Bione (Senegal).

Tom F is standing at left. Eric Cahill next to him. Maggie kneeling at left. Johan is standing at right, his arm around Begonia. Niels kneeling at right, his hands on Elizabeth's shoulders. I believe that's Lucy between Eric and Begonia. And Claude from France bottom middle. Ulla to the left of Claude. Missing from this pic: Ron Aggs and Martin Graf. Both those guys were there in '81 and stayed for several years after. Tom Frankowiak had already been at camp several summers by '81. The others were all just one-summer folks, so far as I remember. And I seem to remember a lot!

fine memories on clear days

Another clear day and fine memories. Not a cloud to be seen. Temps in the 80s, coming up from cool 50s at dawn. Beech trees' leaves shaking in a 3 mph breeze. Sound of Biscuit Creek coming over the falls and of course kids squealing on the soccer field, hardcourts, on the way to the waterfront with dry (for a change) towels. The two photos below this entry were taken just five minutes ago.

Reading these entries, I realize, makes a lot of folks remember such days precisely. I got about a dozen messages just yesterday. Below is one, from Mette Osterby, a Danish counselor who come back again three times after a first summer. Addicted. There's a little FV in Denmark at Mette's house. Here is a pic of Mette and her two girls taken this summer.

And here is Mette's nice note:

Just read your blog today about old staff sending their kids to FV. Got so nostalgic. My kids, 8 and 11, know all about FV and heaps of cheers and tales as well. Reading about the clear nights and bright days just makes me want to go back so badly. Think I´ll work on returning with my family next year if we can find a way to do so- I went to Fv during the same years as Dave Gold and Dave Mager, so your blog really got me. Make sure to send my love to those guys. Especially Mager, whom I knew the best being co VCs of Pokey-Totem. Have a wonderful summer. I´ll be thinking of you all wondering if Denmark has an Olympic team this year. - Mette Osterby, Denmark (86, 88, 89, 90 )



Claudia Swain adds this: "When Mette U. returned to camp in 1988 she had knitted [the Swains' older son] Bradley the most adorable outfit --(in Danish flag colors!) of his life. Danny [younger Swain son] wore it, though he never met Mette, and it is folded carefully, in the memory box, waiting for the next little boy....GREAT to see Mette's picture and to see her beautiful children!

Hogan invasion from down under

Here is a photo of Elise Hogan (the blonde), counselor in Lakota Village - taken just an hour ago in the dining hall during Wawayanda's lunchtime hoopla.

Elise is a niece of Cathy ("Cath") Hogan. I'll let Cath, with passion, tell the whole story:

Cath Hogan here from the wonderful land of down under.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your most wonderful, engaging and continuous Frost Valley updates.

Your efforts and passion for Frost Valley are greatly recognized and appreciated, especially by me from this end of the earth.

Al, I have never forgotten Frost Valley. The amazing and most wonderful memories of my three visits in the years of ’84, ’85 and again in ’88 for two weeks have remained with me since the day I first arrived.

I have spoken passionately about FV for what will be 24 years this June. My passion has never weathered, but has lived on and been shared with many Australians that I have recommended to Frost, some of which have been fortunate enough to have been accepted to work a summer or more there.

A wonderful Frost Valley story I wish share with you is about a Frost Valley Promise ….

Twenty three years ago, in 1984, I formed very close bonds and connected friendships with Eileen Bradley, Jen DeMelle and Ruth Krotchko.

All three of those amazing young people (at that time, ha ha) made a promise to me, twenty three years ago, that they would visit me in Australia!

In April 2006, Eileen Bradley and Jen Grant (DeMelle) together, side by side, walked through the doors of Coffs Harbour Regional Aiport (where I live in Australia) to be met by the most excited Aussie you could ever witness.

There we were, back in each others arms once again, twenty three years later. Eileen and Jen spent time with me in my beach village home in Sawtell, met my family, sang Four Strong Winds together and spent time face to face (literally) with Australian Wildlife Bradley got chased up a tree by a rather large Red Kangaroo. The girls also spent time with Liz Horne and Nikki and Eileen finally got to see a Wombat living in its wild living environment, which was her long time Australian goal.

A Frost Valley dream …. (apart from the visit)

It has been a dream of mine to have a member of my family attend Frost Valley so that it may always live on …. (for me)

This year, my two nieces, Nicole and Elise and my partner’s daughter Casey have all been accepted to work this summer.

Oh my God, I am thrilled beyond words …. A dream has really and truly come true for me !!!!!

The beautiful Ruth DiGiacomo (Krotchko) and I have never lost our very close bond and friendship. Ruth will be picking up the girls and seeing them safely into Frost Valley.

Another dream comes true ….

My partner Jen and I will be arriving into Newark on August 4th, being picked up by Ruth, staying some time with her and heading out to Frost Valley.

Al, I have kept every letter ever sent to me during my world travels all those years ago and then some.

I found:

1) My letter of acceptance written in 1984 by Terry Murray.

2) The Frost Valley Newsletter from 1984 containing a photo of all staff and the names of the International Counselors accepted that year.

3) I still have in my possession a Frost Valley t/shirt that I purchased from the shop in 1984.

Above: The amazing too-talented 1984 Tacoma staff (cabins 31-35).

Duff returns

"Thank you so much for the blog," Stuart Duff writes me. "Every time I log on memories come flooding back of the years 1984 to 1987 when I worked variously in Sequoia, leading Adventure Trips, and as a Counsellor and then V.C. of Forest."

Mike McNamee and Duff had been threatening to come back for years, and Duff finally managed to come to Family Camp with his wife Karen and children - Jamie (11) and Ceri (10). "Arriving for the first time after 20 years was both nostalgic and uplifting, and I was thrilled to find that the family loved it as well." There is now a realistic possibility they will come back next year. Kids Jamie and Ceri want to experience summer camp session 4, and for all the rest to attend Family Camp again. Duff might even persuade McNamee and his family to come with them.

The photos are Stuart's shot of Giant Ledge at dawn (stunning) and the Duff family on the day after Family Camp finished at Niagara Falls.

"Hoping to meet with you again someday," he tells me, "and I hope not another 20 years hence."

For a photo of Duff in his camp days, go here.

families within the family

I've tried not to make this blog what most blogs are - a personal diary. I hope it is more the long story of a generationally interlaced, complex human community, a community that shares a place, an implicit set of values, a part-historical and part-legendary history, and an actual network of relationships (many of them not-quite-known to the relators) in common. But how can I help it if every so often my lens on this place focuses on my literal family instead of the larger view of my Frost Valley family? Hannah and I were walking back to the Castle from a late-night Holdover Weekend campfire last night and I said something about what real happiness I felt at seeing how fully connected she and her brother were to this beloved community that meant so much to me--that their own connections were by now so strong that they didn't need me to sustain them. Then we talked about the people who joined us at our little impromptu campfire: Bud Cox (here since 1954), Mark Gottdenker (here since 1979), Eric Blum (here since '86), and me...147 years of Frost Valley/Wawayanda camping...and how Wawayanda at FV will be 50 years old next year (1958-2008). "Fifty years," Hannah mused as we walked flashlightless (as always) in the dark. (By now we were holding hands.) "Fifty years." And then she began talking about what she would be doing and feeling here fifty years from now. In her mind she'd already sprung forward to a time when she would be looking back. We walked by Reflection Pond. We walked up the thin road to the Castle, entered, turned lights off in the living room, went up to room 26, and wordlessly prepared for bed. Hannah has been in camp for six weeks and has another two to go, and this was a night she could sleep as long as she wanted (and in "a real bed"), and she relished it. A break before another sprint toward the end of the summer of her life.


Camp was quiet last night. There are perhaps 25 campers "holding over" between sessions 3 and 4. Almost all the staff are taking their days off. It had rained all day so people who were still around were mostly indoors anyway. The CITs (including my niece Danielle) had watched a movie and had their snack of ice cream, and were now banging around the hardcourts under the lights (but not as noisily as they might have been). Bud and Hannah and I drove down to the woodshed and picked out some dry kindling and maybe a dozen logs, delivered them to Forest village's CQ fire, and at 9:30 pm our little troupe gathered, built up a roaring fire, made s'mores (Hannah managed to bake the graham crackers and melt the chocolate next to the fire while roasting her mellows over it), and began swapping stories. I learned from Mark Gottdenker, in detail, his years here starting in '79, and, with Eric joining to tell about the late 80s and early 90s, was able to stitch together the pieces of that part of the puzzle I knew least well. Three international counselors joined us for a while, staring into the fire, eating s'mores, and listening with some wonder (if not also a measure of boredom) at all this talk of people (unknown people yet in familiar roles--doing specifically unknown things in generally familiar ways) from 20 and 30 years ago. Then these 3 women rose and told us they had to get to bed. Why? Because at 3 AM they were getting up in order to hike up Giant Ledge and catch the sun rise. "Okay," I thought, "but it's very wet and, although the rain had stopped during the time of our campfire, surely it's going to rain some more overnight." Well as I write this it's 7:45 am: the sky has cleared, it's a gorgeous day already, cold but beautiful, and those three were right to plan such a crazy adventure. They're tired themselves after 3 sessions and ought to sleep during the holdover weekend. But no.Yesterday afternoon, as the staff began leaving for their days' off, we passed a car on its way out and they stopped to say hello. The two passengers were Eric and Lisa Colton (Lisa is shown above), twins who have been coming to camp here for years. Eric is a program staffer this summer and Lisa is the VC of Susky. Their mom, as I have probably mentioned elsewhere, is Hope. She was here as a camper during my time as camp director and her name then was Hope Simons. Eric and Lisa mentioned that Hope would be driving them back to camp on Sunday for the start of session 4. I'll be here and will have my camera ready to try and catch a photo of them much like the one at the very top of this entry. It will convey much the same story too.

can those internationals play soccer!

After a staff soccer match, August 1982. Standing left to right: Todd Payton, Gorm Fosdal (Sweden), Dimitris Emmanoyil (Greece), George Lordi, Tom Franzkowiak (Germany), Kazuhiko Toshita (Japan), Jon Coates (York, England), Rudi Miremont (France?), Dave Gold, Mark Greenhall, Tom Woodard, Scott Livolsi, Dave Lovice, Graeme Sephton (Australia), Per Hansen (Norway); kneeling, left to right: Walid Sakr (Lebanon), Paul King, Rick Cobb, Paul Webster, Mike McNamee, Scott Nichol.

Rick Cobb had been an FV mainstay for years earlier and had been gone a few years by '82. But I faced a need for some extra counselors for the second half of the summer and got on the phone. "Cobbman, what are you doing now? You're between jobs? Oh, good, well, come on up here and be a counselor." So Rick was a super-counselor in Lenape that August, rooming with Walid Sakr in cabin 18. Cobb was "over the hill" and no one thought he could actually be a regular counselor for a whole month, but he really carried that village. Not that it lacked leadership, since, I believe, the great Paul Webster (Obi Wan Web-bo) was the VC--one of the finest in my long experience with VCs.

Cobb singlehandedly brought back a hilarious after-lunch dining hall skit, "The Ugliest Man in the World." The gist of the action is that a series of people look under the hood of the "ugliest man" and run away screaming, out of their minds. Well, Cobb taught his cabin-mate and fellow counselor Walid from Lebanon how to scream insanely for this skit. Walid's bizarre piercing scream still echoes in the mind down the years. I'd never heard anything like it. For days after the skit was performed, campers would come up to Walid and imitate his scream to his face, and then he'd do the maniacal scream back at them and they'd in turn run away screaming.

Well, I remember this soccer game as rather intense. Not sure if the expressions of the players reveal this. (The "old man" Rick Cobb is at right just above.)