organizational structure and trustee committees, 1959

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Gansler!

Yes, and David Gansler visited FV yesterday, a guest of the Board. I think it had been many years since Dave's last visit. He is currently a prominent psychologist in the Boston area, running a center and affiliated with a university. No surprise to me that he has done so well in his field. I remember him as an utterly brilliant and (self-)demanding village chief - of Lacota, the first Lacota, the Sioux Indian-style village residing in tipis (sorry, I've mentioned that lots in this blog). When I was director, Gansler was for several great summers among the very finest VCs. Sharp guy, and brilliantly effectively ascerbic when necessary. Anyway, David was back and brought along his 18-year-old son Jeremy. We're hoping Jeremy applies for a job as counselor next summer.

a perfect midsummer morning & bits of news

Last night I awoke at 3 AM feeling chilly. Sleepily I grabbed a second blanket and slept soundly and happily another 3 hours. Yes, folks, here at Frost Valley it was a two-blanket night. A starry sky, the sounds of full streams...perfect night for an overnight, as Susky and Forest found out in their sleeping bags around fires at their various campsites. And this morning, well, it's gorgeous. Campers and counselors in sweatshirts at breakfast.

Today folks start to arrive ahead of tomorrow's annual summer Board of Trustees meeting. In the past few summers, we've transformed the summer meeting somewhat. Now it is essentially our "annual" meeting (which used to be held in May in NJ). We invite many guests (80 expected tomorrow) and we use the occasion to induct two or three or four people into the Frost Valley Hall of Fame. Tomorrow we will honor:

Jane Brown
Emiko and Tatsuo Honma
Charles R. Scott.

I'm honored to be giving the introduction to Jane. Bud Cox will speak about Charles Scott, who was, of course, the first director of Camp Wawayanda in 1901 and directed the camp for 21 years. Scott formed the first lifesaving corps at a camp in 1910 (of course also at Wawayanda) and he was the first president of the American Camping Association. He visited regularly through 1954. It was then, that summer, when he died suddenly in the dining hall--surely a fitting end, if an end had to come. (Bud was actually there that day in '54 - a camper at 10 years old in his first summer.)

Marie Hess is here for her usual all-August stint, volunteering as hardily as ever. She's amazing. David Gansler, who hasn't been here in years, will be a guest at the meeting tomorrow. Jeff Daly, now directing a Y in the Philadephia area, makes his triumphal return. Lourdes Montoro is here as well (also as usual in August).

The current Pokey-Totem VC, Sian Martin, went to her dentist for a check-up during a recent holdover weekend. Inevitably they got to talking about Sian's summer job, whereupon her dentist, John G. Pitman, told her that he too had been a counselor here, back in the 60s. I remember him! He was (is) British and was a member of the "Athletics" staff in 1967 or '68. I remember John advertising the Athletics program at Flag Raising by singing "They call us Ath-a-LET-ics" to the tune of Donovon's "Mellow Yellow." So this morning I will send John an email and see if I can get him to be back in touch with his old camp.

another McFarland joins us

Pokey girls at lunch...from the youngest cabin (21). At far right is Sarah Dickson, daughter of Cathy Dickson who as Cathy McFarland was (with her sister) a camper and counselor years ago. Cathy's mom, and Sarah's grandma, is (also) Cathy McFarland, a fabulously effective and helpful member of FV's Board of Trustees and former executive director of the Victoria Foundation. Sarah's brother Andrew is also here for his third summer. All in the family, for sure.

Morrie Hubbard was 101 years old

G. Morrison Hubbard , Jr., died peacefully, Aug. 21, 2010, at his home in Summit, N.J. He was 101. Born in 1909, he resided in Summit, all of his life.

Mr. Hubbard was the oldest camper from one of the oldest camps in the country, Camp Keewadyn in Salisbury, Vermont. Before he was 15, he had built up a writing paper business in eight surrounding towns and had about 200 customers. At 17, he had crossed the country with three other boys, in a second-hand Buick, returning home by working on a cargo freighter, the day before school started. It stopped at three Mexican ports and went through the Panama Canal.

Although his favorite camp was elsewhere, Morrie Hubbard was a good friend of Frost Valley. He came to us through Woody English, long-time chairman of FV's Board of Trustees. Morrie also sat on the Board of the Hyde and Watson Foundation for many years; Hyde & Watson has been very generous with Frost Valley--their many grants to Frost Valley have been honored in the naming of one of our large lodges. Back in early 2001, Morrie made a donation of $10,000 to our then-just-emergent farm program.

Dave Bieler, after 22 years

Dave Bieler was back after 22 years away. He and his wife and 6-year-old daughter Jossy joined us for our Board of Trustees meeting under the tent at Reflection Pond, and then Jossy got to a play a little Geronimo too. Our goal was to persuade her to come to camp next summer for two weeks. In this video Dave describes his FV years.

trustee judges

At the Susky / Lakota Challenge Night last night, we had to locate a new and different cadre of judges, since a VC program meeting was being held at the same time, so the usual suspects were unavailable. No matter. We had, from left to right, Laura Johnson (FV's director of conference), Phyllis Kaskel, Rick Kaskel (trustee up a night early for the big meeting, which was held today), Bob Messick (another trustee making his Challenge Night debut) and Brian Sense who was just back from a week co-leading a program at Straus.

Walter Margetts

Today Walter Margetts was posthumously elected to the Frost Valley Hall of Fame, joining Woody English, Halbe Brown, Eva Gottscho and several others. Walter's son Tom and daughter Cynthia - and other members of the Margetts family - were here today to help us celebrate. In this video clip, Fenn Putman presents a plaque to Tom and Cynthia. Earlier Fenn had given a biographical profile of Walter Margetts' accomplishments. He was Julius Forstmann's attorney and he was at the same time very active with the YMCA of New Jersey and it was he--Walter--who put the two together when the Forstmann family was looking possibly to sell the Catskills estate and when Camp Wawayanda was urgently looking for a more spacious home than their then-current temporary site (at Johnsonsburg, at a property owned by Stevens Institute). [By the way, several of our current staff started their camping careers at the camp that is now at the Stevens Institute site, including Stu Alexander and Jess Gonzalez.]

Below is a shot of members of the Margetts family who were in attendance on this special day.

org chart, 1977

Here's a page (click on the image above for a larger view) from the staff manual handed out at the beginning of the summer of 1977. Many of its pages had been written years earlier and were reproduced each year and inserted into the large (200-page?) manual--handed out to everyone on the first day of staff training in large 3-ring loose-leaf binders. This page I know was typed in 1977 (I remember the change to the new typewriter that summer--our first electric IBM). It shows very roughly the summertime FV org chart. A few notable things. First, whereas now the Executive Director reports directly to the Board of Trustees, in those days there was a "Camp Committee," or "Wawayanda Committee," which was a subgroup of the Board (though it included a few non-Board members). It was this group that set dates and rates each summer. It was chaired for many years by Floyd Hird. This reporting line would only have been relevant during the summer. Note also that the Program Director reports to the Camp Director. In those days there was one camp director for each of the two camps (boys and girls) and usually a program director for each also. The Program Director was in effect the Assistant Camp Director and had camp-directorish responsibilities as well as running the program. (The summer this org chart was composed I was myself that Program Director. Whew!) Finally, note "CIT" and "FCC." This was a two-year training project: at 16 you were a CIT (a low-level program assistant and table setter) and at 17 you were an FCC (Future Camp Counselor). FCCs went on the rigorous 11-day hike out of camp. At 18 you were a JC, so I suppose you could say there were in those days three summers of training positions.

hall of fame

This year we inaugurated the Frost Valley Hall of Fame. The first three inductees are Woodruff (Woody) English, Halbe Brown and Eva Gottscho. Halbe, Jane and their son Jim were able to attend the recent annual meeting of the Board, as was Eva, now 95 years old. Woody, alas, died years ago, but his daughter Carol English (who herself was a member of the FV staff in the 70s) and several partners from Woody's law firm (McCarter English) were on hand.

Halbe, Carol and Eva each spoke briefly after they were introduced as inductees. Jim Kellogg, who succeeded Woody as Chairman of the FV Board, spoke of Halbe and Woody, and then Jerry Huncosky spoke of Eva.

Listen here to a recording of these introductions and "acceptance" speeches.

If you have thoughts about who should enter the Hall of Fame in May 2009, please let me know.

Above at right: Eva Gottscho. Left here: D. Halbe Brown.

old friends gather

Above: Howie Elliot (whom we in the 1960s and early 70s remember as Howie Fischgrund) joined us at the FV Annual Dinner last night at the Newark Club. Here he is with Jane and Halbe Brown. Howie is funny as ever!

Lisa Ernst, Jerry Huncosky, Karen Rauter and others put on a really terrific evening for everyone. Alumni reading this who missed out on last night's event should seriously consider joining us next May for the 2009 annual dinner.

Above: Jim Kellogg, Halbe Brown, Jane Brown, and (standing) Mary Wheeler. Halbe was inducted into the Frost Valley Hall of Fame last night; he and Jane drove down from Vermont with son Jim Brown, who now directs Camp Beckett in western Massachusetts. Jim Kellogg gave the introductions to Halbe before his induction into the new Hall - and to Woody English (deceased). Carol English, Woody's daughter who was on the EE and Adventure staff in the late 70s, was on hand to accept the honor on behalf of her late dad and the family. Mary is a long-standing member of the Trustees, and part of the Tison family who collaborates with us on the Tison Estate at the end of the East Branch Neversink Road.

Above: Fred Wasiak and Bud Cox. Fred was our Conference Director for some years, then went to the Westfield Y, and in recent years has been the CEO of the well-loved South Jersey/Philadelphia-area camp, Ockanickon (and Matollionequay for girls). Bud of course is still at Frost Valley after all these years. He is only current member of the staff to have been there when Wawayanda moved to Frost Valley 50 years ago.

thank you, Hunter

Buildings at FV don't get built by themselves, of course. But most of us have always just exclaimed ("new building!") and then figured out how to use it for the benefit of the kids and families who love to visit our valley. Although FV is a non-profit organization, the capital (one-time expenses, not in the operating budget) needed to do any construction or renovation must be found. For the Mitchell Conference complex (Geyer Hall, the renovated former girls' dining hall; Lakeview Lodge) and the new Wellness Center, we went into a capital campaign. Lots and lots of folks were involved. Two major gifts of $1 million each were pledged by Paul Guenther (wellness center) and Helen Geyer (Mitchell buildings) but hundreds of others gave smaller yet significant amounts, including many alumni (I'm proud to say). The fellow who co-chaired and led this campaign on the Trustees side was the remarkable Hunter Corbin, one of the kindest and most thoughtful--and most effective--people you'll ever meet. At the recent at-FV meeting of the Board of Trustees, trustees and staff gathered in the Day Room of the dining hall before lunch one day and thanked Hunter, presented him with a plaque...and Jerry Huncosky announced that the new road leading behind the Group Home (gray house that used to be the Devlins' and then Whites' residence) up to some new staff houses would be named in Hunter's honor: Hunter Lane.

Thank you, Hunter! Every child who has a fever or a sprained ankle this summer might well thank you too, as he or she sits in a beautiful comfortable spacious and friendly waiting room and can get some nursing TLC in a real treatment room. The digs are so good that one imagines campers will want to stay overnight rather than tramp back in the dark and cold rain up to a sandy-floored old cabin on the hill! Oh well.

thank you, Ken

On September 15, 2007, we gathered at the farm (for those who don't know - it's along the East Branch Neversink road, past Claryville and a mile or so short of the Straus property) in order to dedicate the main building there (currently serving as a dining hall and meeting room - as well as bath facility for the kids in the summer, who live in yurts without bathrooms).

The building is now named in memory of long-time FV trustee Ken Estabrook. Ken loved his grandparents farm as a young boy and years later dragged his family off to live on a farm themselves. Overall he was a very successful attorney in the Westfield NJ area was very generous to Frost Valley with his time and money. His dream, all the years he was on our Board, was that we would create a working farm so that suburban and urban kids coming to summer camp would have the option of living on a working farm for two or four weeks.

Go here and read more about Farm Camp. "Among the animals living at Frost Valley's farm are: Pigs, chickens, sheep, rabbits, goats, cows, horses and of course birds. Farm campers will interact daily with the animals, performing chores, learning how to care for them, and understanding their importance in the ecosystem."

The Estabrook family traveled to Frost Valley for the dedication, and, over lunch which consisted almost entirely of farm-raised food, a number of Ken's friends shared stories about him.

I recorded some of these talks and hope you'll have a listen. You'll hear, in order: Fenn Putnman, President of the Board of Trustees; Jerry Huncosky, who is of course FV's CEO; Jenny Snyder, Farm Camp director; Alex Huncosky, Jerry and Patti's daugther and a veteran of Farm Camp; Ann Estabrook and finally Ken's sister who remembers their childhoods at the family farm.

Fenn Putman, President of FV's Board

Inside one of the yurts: Steve Roehm, Paul McGrath, Hunter Corbin, Lisa Ernst.

This is the building we dedicated to - and shall now be named for - the late Ken Estabrook.

Jerry Huncosky

Jenny Snyder

Alexandra ("Alex") Huncosky

two booming trustees

Every summer, during the middle weekend of session 2, the Frost Valley trustees come to camp for a midsummer meeting. I remember as a camp director being both excited and a little put out by all the hullabaloo surrounding these gatherings. Inevitably we would have to put on a little show. But I quickly realized what a benefit this was: the more the trustees came to know what we were doing, the more passionate and invested they would become.

For some trustees passion and investment were never issues. Two of those folks are in this picture, taken in July of 1979. That summer our meeting was all the way over at the Straus Estate on the East Branch of the Neversink. With his back to us at right, wearing glasses, is Woodruff (Woody) English, was for many years was the clear-as-a-bell-speaking chairman of the board. Woody was an attorney and always knew exactly what he meant and what he meant was exactly what he said. He spoke so loudly and clearly that I sometimes had the impression that he thought we were learning the vocabulary of his speech as he spoke it. He was teacher-like in that sense. He intuited whatever Halbe needed or wanted. I'm pretty certain the two of them had conversations about some such things, but I also feel sure that at least half the time such chats needn't even take place.

Facing us with arms akimbo in the red shirt is the unforgettable old-style oldster, Harry Lindeman. "The Judge," we called him. He had been a juvenile court judge in New Jersey (in Newark, I think) and had long long years of experience with what was then called delinquents - later "troubled kids." He had a slightly twangy, 19th-century-style story (with a moral or ethical punchline) for nearly every situation. He sometimes told such stories right in the middle of trustee meetings. Harry was frail and hardy at the same time. Halbe would invariably bring Harry into camp and ask me to arrange for a campfire or gathering of several villages or even the whole camp. And Harry would play his harmonica while slapping his knee and doing a frail jig, and then recite a long rhymed narrative poem from the 1880s or 1910s. What a character he was. A real throwback. Here he was, a distinguished jurist whose ideas about saving troubled kids was written up in books (e.g. Matthew Matlin's Crime Prevention through Treatment, 1953), and to us he was a throwback camp guy, an eastern cowboy with big fish tales, a one-man singin'-storytelling band.

Behind Harry, in the yellow top, is Peggy Rub--enormously talented, funny to the point of wackiness. Peg surely gets an entry of her own one day soon. She started at camp the very first summer that we had a girls camp and rose up through to camp director. In '79 she was the Girls' Camp Director (Hird) while I was the Boys' Camp Director (Wawayanda). A lot of energy there.