Biscuit Creek trail

Sun-dappled trees along the Biscuit Creek trail.

facebook

There are a number of Frost Valley-related Facebook pages, and of course Facebook users who read this blog can find them for themselves, merely by entering "Frost Valley" in the searchbox. But today I wish to point out the main FV Facebook site and hope that all Facebook-using fans of FV will become indeed a "fan." Here's your link.

volunteers

Last weekend some former EE and conference staff gathered--as they do every year--to volunteer. Left to right in the photo at left: Steve Metevier, Torey Sweet, Vicki Sweet, Glen Horton (orange hat), Kenis Sweet. Sharon Zimmerman was there but is not in that photo.

From left here are Dave Haight and Dee Ward and Sue Haight (Dave's wife). From right are Carmel Dorn and Bud Cox. Looks as if Bud's the only one eating the lunch!

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.)

take off your thirsty boots

Two photos taken during one of the CIT out-trips last summer. Photos by Kristen Williams, who notes: "our whole group at North-South Lake campground."

winter paradise

A staff guy from last summer--Dave Seddon, Forest VC--came back to the valley from England and took this blissful pic at the entrance to camp.

kids sends kids to camp

Click on the image above to see a larger version of this page from Frost Valley Life.

1995

Marc Hanna has made a wonderful video montage consisting of many many black-and-white photos he himself shot throughout the summer of 1995. It's on Facebook and I'm not certain those without a Facebook account can view it, but give it a try and see.

Here are some of the people who appear in the video: Adrian Gamarello, Al Filreis, Alexander Papouchis, Alexander Shalom, Alexander Warnow, Angelica Velazquez, Anne Valerio Goff, Bob Eddings, Brian Butler, Carly Einstein, Chloe Annetts, Coll Wenke, Damion Frye, Diane Sacker, Elisabeth Gordon, Elizabeth McNeil Runte, Eric Blum, Heather Constant-Eddings, Heather S Graf Noon, Janine DelGiorno, Jeff Daly, Jennifer Ostrow, Joe Elliott, Josh Gordon, Joshua Tucker, Julie Cusumano, Kate Landis, Laura Viggiano, Leah Rickman, Malik Jenkins, Mikia Eatman, Noah O'Connor, Ryan Annetts, Sara Sara Bo Bara, Theresa M. Lane.

where have you gone, lean-to?

For years and years, long past the kids in the picture had grown to be adults, this postcard was sold at the "canteen" and later "the camp store." I can only for the moment identify two people in the shot: one, at far left, a camper, is the young Pat Ricciardi. And the counselor stirring the big pot was Lynn Garrison, from somewhere down south (I assume Mississippi). Lynn was probably the VC at the time of this Devil's Hole overnight. Later he was the Program Director (I'm going to guess in '67 or '68). I'll guess that this shot was taken in '66 or '65.

Indeed it was at the Devil's Hole camp site. Today's campers and staff will immediately notice that cooking was being done here from the big pot. Not something done these days. Indeed one probably can't get such a pot to take on an overnight. (Not that I'm recommending the return of these clunkers. I ate too many bad meals from the insides of them in my time.) Since Lynn's stirring the pot we can assume that it's not merely boiled water for hot dogs. I'm guess it's either a big mess of baked beans or some kind of beef stew. About the site: these days the hole area itself - the big flume - is referred to as "Devil's Hole." The hole itself is on State of New York land. So way back, presumably in the late 50s, the camp site was built about 100 years on the camp side (to the west) of the hole, on Frost Valley property, next to a beautiful and less dangerous swimming hole and little waterfall. The whole site - the flume and hole; the camp site just to the west - was called "Devil's Hole." Now the first site is called "Brothers' Hole" and only the main hole (the real attraction) is called "Devil's Hole." Not sure why or when this name change happened. There's a cable bridge at Brothers' Hole, so one can cross and use a new-ish trail to get back to Devil's Hole. In my day there was a nice lean-to built at the camp site. It's long gone, and is a fabulous spot for a new one to be built. (Any volunteers out there wanting to re-build that old lean-to. Excellent for rainy nights out.)

Can anyone identify others in the postcard?

radio Dave

David Scherer ("Radio Dave") is up to something on YouTube - something about some sort of somewhat unkosher project he undertook in Forest one summer - but I can't quite say what it is. Anyway, here is is, Dave's video, on YouTube: link.

snowy trails

Just back from a gorgeously snowy and cold winter weekend. Saturday afternoon and overnight we got a new layer of powdery snow (8 inches or so), on top of the 4 inches of icy hard stuff that was already there. Perfect for cross-country skiing. Before the snow we slipped and slid along the Castle Loop trail (easy) and busted out onto the red trail that goes on past the Castle field toward the old Sawmill site, crossed the Neversink at the bridge built for logging (near the Model Forest area). At some point, breaking a new trail somewhat east of main camp, we stopped to make this recording to mark the spot.

deployed

Jake Kerr - son of Leslie Black and Doug Kerr (both of them Frost Valley lifers) - is being deployed to Afghanistan and is leaving January 14. Jake himself is a FV longtimer - having spent the earliest years of his life living there and has always felt a great love of the place. I asked him if he wanted his FV friends to have his email address, and he said yes, and added: "Getting mail is always a good thing for deployed soldiers." So here it is: jacob.c.kerr@us.army.mil. If you know Jake or knew him at camp, please send him your best wishes!

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

landscape a painter can love

The web site, ArtDaily.org, keeps track of new exhibits as museums and galleries. Today the site features a new show of paintings by Louis B. Sloan, who died in '08. Louis Sloan used to visit Frost Valley and one of his FV landscapes is in this exhibit and is mentioned in the article.

PHILADELPHIA, PA.- Louis B. Sloan (1932-2008) was a prominent figure in the Philadelphia art community. An alumnus of Fleisher Art School and PAFA, Sloan taught still-life, landscape, portrait and figure painting classes at PAFA from 1962-1997. Sloan worked in the conservation department at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1961-1980.

The recipient of many prestigious awards, including, PAFA's third annual Distinguished Alumni Award and the Jennie Sesnan Gold Medal, the Louis Comfort Tiffany Grant, the Emily Lowe Grant, the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and the James Van Der Zee Award from Philadelphia's Brandywine Workshop, Sloan also received tributes in the halls of government from Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell, Philadelphia Mayor W. Wilson Goode, and most recently on November 4, 2008, from Mayor Michael A. Nutter.

The exhibition, curated by Philadelphia art collector, Lewis Tanner Moore, will display over thirty works spanning Sloan's long career. Early works include Backyards, 1955, painted during Sloan's student days at PAFA. The painting captures a moment in his west Philadelphia neighborhood and "that glorious light that glows", indicative of Sloan's work, particularly his landscape paintings. While Sloan's cityscapes favor a more somber palette as seen in Early Streetscape and Gathering Storm over Philadelphia, c. 1961, Sloan's landscape paintings embrace brighter colors to emphasize the varying light and atmospheric conditions as seen in Moon Light, 1978 and Lifting Fog in the Poconos, 1980. Sloan's true passion was landscape painting and it is in paintings such as, "Frost Valley in the Catskills, 1995," that his great techinical skills, unique artistic vision and masterful rendering of nature are brought together.

D'Arcy Oaks saw the painting and was intrigued. Where is the painter standing? What scene is the painter painting? His guesses: "My guess: perspective is from somewhere near the water tower, looking through some of the recent trees at Wildcat. Second guess: beyond the trees is bank's hill." Anyone else have a guess?

- - -

A few weeks after posting this entry, I got this note from John Giannotti: a note about Louis Sloan, the painter of "Frost Valley in the Catskills". Lou was a delightful man who first came to FV with me in 1977 when we did our first Weekend in October painting marathons with his students from the Pennsylvania Academy and my students (and Bill Hoffman's) from Rutgers. Lou fell in love with FV at first sight. That fall was the beginning of a long association with Lou and FV. We came back dozens of times and Lou continued the tradition with his plen-air painting friends from all over the East. By the way, Chuck White loved to watch Lou paint. In fact, Chuck was in awe of him. I loved to watch Chuck watching Lou -- loved to watch that heavily lined, Marlboro man face turn all warm and fuzzy when he discovered a new color in the mountains that Lou had found for him on his canvas.

1985 names

Some names on the 1985 summer staff:

Kirsten Albert, VC (Pokey?)
Judd Allen, Adventure staff
Connie Bartis, CIT Director
Juliet Bobrowsky, Family Camp
Jen DeMelle, C
Stuart Duff, program staff
Alice Selig Giarrusso, Adventure staff
Betsy Glick VC Windsong
Mike Hall, dining hall steward
Abby Kantrowitz, JC
Dari Litchman, JC
Preston McCollum, Iscusfa VC
Lourdes Montoro, C
Coenraad Rogmans, VC (Holland)
Todd Watson, C
Sue Yennello, Program Diretor

1986-1994

Out of the blue today I received a nice note from Kelly Harford, whose Frost Valley years ran from 1986 through 1994. She sent the photos above and here, below, is her note:

Hi Al, my name is Kelly & I found your blog while looking on the web for Lourdes Montoro's email. She & I have kept in touch since I was a little girl in her cabin in Pokey. I'm now 32! How wonderful to read your blog after so many years away. I first came to FV in the TiPi village called "Lacota" in what was its last year, I believe ('86?). Then Pokey the next year when I met Lourdes...then in 1988 I was in Sequoia with Colin Hill---I found an old photo from the top of Mt. Wittenburg on that trip & I believe a young Jeff Daly is to the right! Colin was a huge influence on me & the next year I did an Adirondack hike & canoe out-trip with him. I came back and did CIT training, then a summer as JC with Sequoia and Tacoma, In 94 I did a session at Sequoia again which was my last at Frost Valley.

I spent a whole afternoon reading your blog while snowed in with my little daughter in WA state where I live now. Thank you for the opportunity to think about all the amazing people and experiences from Frost Valley again!

I've been afraid of changing

Last summer, at a closing campfire, six girls who've gotten to know each other at camp over the past five summers sang "Landslide" together. They're all now 14 years old, having met at 9. They're feelings for each other are very, very strong. Saying goodbye each summer is hard for them. They stay in touch all year but it's not the same. They count the days until next summer. They really are afraid of changing, because they know inevitably that while friendships last they cannot remain just what they were. Some of these girls will drift off summers--summer school, family trips, the early need of jobs and a little income to help out. They climbed a mountain and turned around. Can the child within their hearts rise above?

I happened to catch their singing of the song on my recorder and here it is.

I took my love, I took it down
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
till the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail thru the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life

Well, Ive been afraid of changing
cause Ive built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
Im getting older too

Oh, take my love, take it down
Climb a mountain and turn around
If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide will bring it down

If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well maybe the landslide will bring it down

archery and rhubarb

The Forstmann apple orchard and rhubarb patch, in the center of camp, served as the "Boys Archery Range" and then just generally "The Archery Range" for many years, from 1958 to (I would say) the mid-90s. At some point archery was moved to the northern edge of the Big Tree Field, just to the west of the tobaggan run and to the east of the old Deus property. (This new location for archery was where the BB Range was for years.) Anyway, in the old apple orchard we restored the apple trees as best we could (they still produce good sour apples, although the trees must be 100 years old by now), and we built some raised flower and vegetable beds, and moved the greenhouse up into camp. (It had been located next to the composting center down the road by the maintenance shop; this location made sense because students and campers could see the camp food waste turn into compost and add it directly to the soil where veggies and blossoms grew. But the problem was simply that the greenhouse was thus too far away, and didn't get enough traffic.)

In the past few summers I've spent some quite and meaningful time with campers and counselors in the orchard, spread out under the old trees in the quiet of the edge of the middle of camp, somewhat secluded, for some good talks.

I was reminded of all of this by the photo Jim Wilkes sent me this morning - a photo of some dads teaching some sons (this was an YMCA "Indian Guide" weekend, no doubt) to shoot with a bow and arrow back in the early sixties.

Note, once again, in the background, along the fence (the fence is still there!), the rhubarb growing. This was apparently Mrs. Forstmann's prize planting. She loved rhubarb pies, and maybe it's a fact that she loved to make rhubarb pies. When the camp came, long after the Forstmann's pie-baking days were done, the rhubarb was still growing somewhat wildly. I can remember as a young camper picking the rhubarb and (somewhere, somehow) participating in the making of pies. Does this memory make sense? When is the rhubarb season over? Surely by summer? I may be fantasizing this. If so, it's a worthy fantasy.

the muck-and-mire relay - and the winner is...

Late 1980s. That's Dave Gold (as Camp Director) standing on top of the boathouse. I'm guessing that it's the afternoon of Olympics - the "water games" and he's doing the amplified play-by-play announcing. I've been there myself....

Photo courtesy of Dari Litchman.

kidney disease getting worse

Rick Kaskel - long associated with our dialysis program - was quoted in this week's Science Times. Here is a link to the article.

An analysis of federal health data published last November in The Journal of the American Medical Association found that 13 percent of American adults — about 26 million people — have chronic kidney disease, up from 10 percent, or about 20 million people, a decade earlier.

“We’ve had a marked increase in chronic kidney disease in the last 10 years, and that continues with the baby boomers coming into retirement age,” said Dr. Frederick J. Kaskel, director of pediatric nephrology at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx. “The burden on the health care system is enormous, and it’s going to get worse."

one-room schoolhouses

Andy Hutner, staff alumnus, has been conducting studies and tours of the old one-room schoolhouses around Frost Valley. Below is a preliminary report he's made on his findings.

mowing the Castle Hill

Doug Kerr, now of Lewis, NY, was a camper in '68 and '69, then CIT, LIT, Counselor and then joined the maintenance staff. Eventually he worked year-round on the maintenance staff. Doug writes: "Did you know I had the record time for mowing the Castle Hill with a hand mower solo? Carl [Hess] trained us well!"

In those days the Castle Hill was mown by hand. I suppose that's because tractor mowers in those days were not built flexibly enough to handle riding sideways at such a steep angle. For whatever reason it was done by hand - tiring, hard work, and terrible on the ankles! Andy Kremer, I recall, wore spikes (like soccer shoes, or baseball cletes) when mowing it, to keep himself from falling over and tumbling down the hill.
Doug is our source for the spectacular photograph below. Top row, left to right: Bill Van Zandt, Carl Hess, Morris Slater, John Kremer, Norm Gurfinkel; bottom row, left to right: Mike Schiffer, Dave McBride, Andrew Schiffer, Doug Kerr.


John Kremer writes: "This would have been my first summer on the Maintenance staff - Norm and I lived in one of the dorm rooms in Hayden - I think the younger Schiffer is actually John, who would have been my age. Andrew is the youngest and he did not join the staff until years later when Chuck had the crew."

gloomy hill

Taken yesterday, this photo shows "the Hill" (cabins 41-45 and 46-50). The leaves are gone, gone, gone. Mucky misty rain added to the gloom. Along the road (but not in camp) there were signs of earlier snowfall. And snow was in the forecast again for tomorrow.

If you click on the photo and stare at the larger version, you'll see three cabins in the vertical middle of the shot and to the left of center: at the far left, 46 and barely visible behind it, 47; then to the right of 46 is 45 and 44. To the right of a clump of yellow-brown leaves is 43, and then I can barely make out 42 further to the right. Of course when the leaves are on the trees you can't see any cabins from where I took the shot (on the road up the hill).

finally, a real theater

Readers of this blog - even those who have not seen Frost Valley in several or more years - will already know plenty about the new Guenther Family Wellness Center. Remember that the upper floor is for the medical facilities. We took advantage of the building's site (on the edge of the second flat up from the valley bottom): architects and builder created a large lower floor the front of which looks out across the valley toward Wildcat. Okay. Inside that lower floor is the new Arts & Crafts room, which yesterday I saw in its current state - about 20% of the way toward being the new A&C it will be. But working and terrific.

Elsewhere on the lower floor is a toddler room/day care room. Other meeting rooms. A Life Sciences classroom/lab. We met Houdini the snake in there. A plenty of FV's old stuffed beavers. A few objects of old taxidermist's talents--including some figures, surely, that date back to the Forstmann era--are here.

For me the most exciting and beautiful space on the lower floor of the new building is...the theater. As of this weekend (photos taken last night - Saturday) it looks to be 97% finished. Take a look and imagine what great events and performances can be staged here.

Who's Your Father - now available in mp3 audio

I have been asked 1,000 times at least to re-tell my 45-minute blockbuster comic epic, "Who's Your Father." Since I "retired" from Camp Director-ship in 1985, I've told the story exactly twice. Once was at a reunion in the early 90s, at the urging, I think, of Dave Gold, Eric Wechter and Adam Diamond. And once, spontaneously, just two summers ago, I told the story to Lenape Village one late rainy night in their lodge up the hill. I'm really not sure they knew what hit them. The story was always funniest when the listeners had heard the legend of the story. Then they were ready to persist against the story's deliberate narrative confusions. These Lenape boys, knowing nothing of all that, scratched their heads, conceded that this bearded guy apparently can tell a good story, but wondered really what it was all about.

Anyway, I can't imagine telling the story too many more times. It takes a lot out of me and really requires loosening up - a ready-familiarity with the story's complicated turns. Something like story-teller's RAM (ready-access memory). Let's just say that "Who's Your Father" requires a lot of RAM.

One of my dearest Frost Valley friends says: ""Who's Your Father" is, of course, part of the furniture of my mind." I like that. I like something I've made being in the structure of things. Nothing so fancy as the air we breathe, but more like the furniture we sit on.

The story was recorded twice that I know of. The last time I told it in 1985, billed as "the last time the story will ever be told," the VCs and program director (Sue Yennello) actually arranged to have my father drive up for the telling. He emerged at the end of the story, to my surprise and that of the campers. And they presented me with a beautiful painted three-legged stool, with a Frost Valley horizon in green and white and the words "Who's Your Father" scripted out nicely by the then Arts & Crafts director. Nice. The recording was a video tape. Not bad (I still have it) but it turns out that that was not a great telling of the story (for reasons I can't remember now).

The other recording was an audio cassette made in 1983. Someone was taping from the back of the room so the sound quality isn't the best. But this must have been one of the better tellings because by the end I was really getting into it.

This morning I found that old cassette here at my house, in a box of old Frost Valley things. And now I've converted it to digital recording, 1's and 0's that will last forever. So click here, if you dare, and listen to the story. Let me know what you think. It's a bit odd and seems to make light of vices like vandalism and gambling, but I'd argue otherwise.

goodnight, girls!

New Goodnight Song

We run along home
and jump into bed,
Say our prayers and cover our heads,
And,
the very last thing
we sing onto you
is you dream of me
and I'll dream of you.

Someone make a recording of the song as sung and send it to me. I'll add it here.

Giannotti, strong on the issues

John Giannotti and his granddaughter Grace "debate" national politics.

man with a cleaver

In this photo you'll see the camp food service staff, the Castle food service staff and the maintenance staff - for 1960. Vilja and Fritz Kohtz, Albert and Mrs. Fay, and Paul Cypert - they were the leaders of the group. Wanda Cypert still lives in the Cypert house a few miles down the road from Frost Valley's east end. What I personally remember about Albert Fay was that he was - or was said to be - legally blind, couldn't see very well. And yet when he got mad he'd come at you with a cleaver, all in jest, to be sure, but just imagine what it felt like to be mockingly chased around by a man with bad eyesight waving a cleaver. I remember Bill Van Zandt once telling me about being chased all the way around the kitchen by Albert. What I remember about eating meals prepared by Vilja and Fritz...was that they served, more frequently than I ever liked, Hungarian goulash, served in these large low flat brown bowls that didn't make the dish any more appetizing.

Photo courtesy of Jim Wilkes.

on Oran Giannotti

Kim Aronowitz O'Connell, thinking about Oran Giannotti:

As I walked to the infirmary in early July of 1970 I noticed a little boy sitting on the lawn in front of the building. I asked him his name and replied "Oran David Gianotti". He was barely three and I was 12, but I knew even then he was unique child (how many three years olds recite their entire name when asked?) He had a little beatle type haircut and was extremely precocious. Three years later I was assigned to the infirmary as a nurse's aide and lived in the infirmary with the Gianottis. Oran was six then and quite serious. He was blessed (or cursed) with two little sisters Keara and Danielle. As time went on Oran decided he wanted to leave camp with John (who I believe had to attend to some teaching issues). I realized that Oran was not afraid to express his needs, and his wish to go home was respected by both parents. He was an admirable person. I never saw Oran again and read with sadness in this blog that he had died. I work for a Hospice and have seen many young people, including young children die before their time. I have never forgotten Oran, or that time I spent with his family. I wish them all peace and hope they know that he is remembered even after all these years by someone who only knew him briefly, but was nevertheless deeply affected by him.

And here Kim reflects generally on her time at Frost Valley:

I first arrived at Frosy Valley in late June of 1970. I was 12 years old and had been to three other sleepaway camps before my Mom found this one. I was to be a camper in the Tent Village, a small enclave of two large tents on a little piece of land behind the Ad office. My two counselors were Anne-Marie Kremer and Susan Ambry (later Sue's sister Meg joined us as a third counselor). I was to be there for ten life changing weeks. We hiked and campred, climbed mountains and were taught how to survive in the woods on our own. Anne knew the area well and led us on dozens of bucolic and awesome adventures. All three counselors played the guitar and Anne had one of the most beautiful singing voices I have ever heard. I was a wild and wacky kid, the product of a "broken home". I learned how to be part of a team, was never judged, and was comfoted and praised by three caring people who incidently, were barely out of their teens themselves. I was there for three more summers but this particular one resonates for me. I learned to respect nature and in turn to respect my peers. Each of us was from a different backround and came to together for one magical summer. Thirty eight years later I drove into camp and stood outside the AD office listening to the sound of singing coming from the boys dining hall. I almost think I heard them singing the Titanic song or the first chorus of Blowing in the Wind. Frost Valley will forever signify a turning point in my life. The smell of campfires, the sound of singing, and the feeling of peace. It was what I had been craving for in my young life, and it was there that I found it.

Castle tour to end all Castle tours

It was billed as the Castle tour to end all Castle tours. It might well have been the greatest Castle tour-giving talent assembled in the old mansion's living room at one time. The featured tellers were Dave King (not pictured here), Chuck White, Bill Devlin, Dave Haight, Dave Gold, and Bud Cox. This (again) was Labor Day 2001, the Wawayanda Centennial (1901-2001) reunion. In this picture you see Bill Devlin (white beard), Chuck White (wearing sweater), Dave Haight (next to Bill), and Dave Gold. Bud and Dave King were on the other side of the room.

three great FV talents re-unite

Stan Treadway, Lisa Ernst (center) and Nancy Brady Smith - saying hello to each other not long after arriving at the Labor Day 2001 reunion.

fall is time for fog & deer

This photo was taken from the living room window of Halbe & Jane Brown around 1999 or 2000. It was autumn. If that doe knew what was good for her, she'd have moved on, out of the main part of camp, for hunting season was just a few weeks away.

old patch, worn but cherished

Someone sent me a photograph of his beloved Wawayanda 1 (first year) patch. I'm sorry I can't remember who it is, but that's just as well because the symbolism is generic, universal. Many of us have one of these somewhere, in the attic, in the back of a drawer, sewn onto the sleeve of an old jacket or sweatshirt.

Gene Orbaker honored

Gene Orbaker invented women's soccer at SUNY Brockport. Here's what a news release from the college says:

The College at Brockport Women’s Soccer team is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2008 and will have a special ceremony Saturday at halftime of the home opener against Buffalo State. The game is scheduled to start at 1 pm and the ceremony honoring the first head coach of Brockport Women’s Soccer, Eugene Orbaker, will take place at the end of the halftime intermission.

Orbaker led the Golden Eagles from 1983–1985, compiling 30 wins and just 12 losses. In 1983 –- the first season of Brockport Women’s Soccer -– Orbaker led the Golden Eagles to the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Championship with a 12-1-1 record.

Orbaker coached the team for the first three seasons before Connie Werner took over for a two-season stint during the 1985 and 1986 seasons. Current head coach Joan Schockow took over the head coaching reins in 1987 and has been the head coach every season since. The 20-year coaching veteran won her 200th career game last year with an overtime victory over St. John Fisher and became the all-time winningest soccer coach (men or women) in Brockport history in 2003 with a 1-0 victory over SUNY Cortland in the first round of the SUNYAC Tournament. Under Schockow, the Golden Eagles won the SUNYAC championship in 2006 advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

In the 25 years of women’s soccer at Brockport, there have been 77 players named to All-SUNYAC squads, 40 players to All-State honors and seven named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas All-Region team for the Northeast Region.

From The Stylus, which I'm guessing is the student newspaper of SUNY at Brockport, comes this news story, which is in part about the honor conferred on Gene, who, with his wife Mary, and two sons, spent many summers at Frost Valley in the 70s and 80s. Gene did various jobs at camp, including, for many years, coaching our soccer programs. For a few years there was a two-week "soccer camp" (soccer village, really) during the first session, and Gene was the coach for those kids. Mark Gottdenker, who learned his soccer from Gene at FV, directed me to this article. You'll probably want to skip directly to the italicized parts.

By George Banko
STAFF WRITER

Saturday, Sept. 20, The College at Brockport Golden Eagles women’s soccer team celebrated the 25th anniversary of their program. With the sidelines packed with fans and notable alumni, they did not disappoint. Brockport jumped out to an early 1-0 lead against SUNYAC rival Buffalo State, off a Jess VanAllen goal 11 minutes into the first half. From there, the Golden Eagles offense did not look back as Brockport scored two more goals by senior Ashley Broadhurst and sophomore Jessica Bush, which gave Brockport a 3-0 lead at halftime. In the second half, Brockport put their offense in neutral, but still maintained their strong defensive presence, shutting out the Bengals en route to their second win of the season. Brockport coach Joan Schockow, now in her 20th season, credited the team’s commitment to work ethic as the main reason for the win. “We had an amazing week in practice,” Schockow said. “We’re not used to losing the way we have been recently, and our girls showed a great amount of toughness all week long, and I think that carried over into the game.” The women’s soccer team has had their struggles early on in the season, dropping their last two games to opponents Nazareth and Walsh. “It’s a huge lift to get this win,” Schockow said. “On a day like today, against a division rival with so many people here, it’s a big positive for us.” Determination has always been a focal point in Schockow’s coaching philosophy. “I don’t like to talk about the things we do well and the things we don’t do well,” Schockow said. “The biggest thing is that we outwork the other team, if we can do that, then we feel that we can win any time.” Schockow’s statements have proven true. The Golden Eagles looked like the team from last year, out shooting their opponents 21-11 while committing few penalties and scoring with a variety of players.

The win for Brockport came on a special day. At halftime, there man by the name of Eugene Orbaker, who many consider the father of women’s soccer in Brockport.

“Eugene is a great man,” Schockow said. “When people say that he’s the biggest asset to the Brockport soccer program, it’s true. Eugene always supported the male soccer program here and with his support we were able to start the women’s program as well. I am glad we got to honor him today.”

Orbaker was a 1953 graduate of SUNY Brockport. He was named All American in soccer and served on the faculty from 1958 to 1995 in the department of physical education and sport.

The Brockport women’s soccer team will play two home games on Friday and Saturday against SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Plattsburgh. Game times are 4 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m on Saturday.

Mark Gottdenker says: "Gene is one of the classiest people I have had the privilege of knowing and working with at FV. His contributions to the Tokyo-FV sports program were amazing and should/need to be recognized."

Barry Glickman returns

I remember Barry Glickman from the summers when we were campers together in the mid-60s. Barry lives in the Northwest now and doesn't get back east much. But recently he and his wife were in the area, climbed Slide together and then sought to visit Frost Valley after all these years. Dan Weir showed them around. Here is part of Barry's happy response:

What impressed me was how friendly the staff was and how clean the camp was. The new cabins were really nice, but not as cozy as the old ones. The mess halls were huge and the new medical facilities were amazing. I like the new dock which made the lake look cleaner and the horse fields added a lot to the camp. I was also glad to see that the big tree is still around. My sisters asked me about the swimming pool which was supposed to have been built ages ago, but I don’t remember seeing a pool. Did I miss it or is it still on the drawing board? Personally, I think a lake is all you need for an outdoor camp.

From a business standpoint, I have to say again how impressed I was with what that camp has done to bring in extra income. I don’t know if it is working, but I was impressed when Dan was telling us what the camp has to offer. Oh! I was also impressed with the castle. I only got to see it from the road, but it looked great.