The Red Apple Rest: rest in peace

Didn't we all, on our way to and from camp, stop at the Red Apple Rest on the "old route 17" near Suffern? I stopped there, gosh, dozens of times - probably hundreds. When my parents or parents' friends drove us up for our 2 or 3 sessions as campers, a highlight was a Red Apple Rest cheesburger or pastrami sandwich with those big paper boat-like bins of crispy fries. The several times I rode the camp buses to or from camp, even they stopped at the Red Apple. Seriously.

Wawayanda staffer from the mid-1960s, Geoff Hazel, had this recent experience trying to retrace those steps.

I happened to be in the neighborhood last week and did some driving around.  On my way back from Bear Mountain I went past this run down building on Rt 17 with the word REST on a big red apple and upon further examination saw the old lettering "Red Apple Rest" on it.

How sad to see such an iconic place all run down.  I remember the bus stopping there on the way up to camp, and the way back.  They were grilling hamburgers right up at the front, and when you were on the trip home, you were flush with cash left over from your bank account and there was NO LIMIT to the amount of candy you could buy. 

Now it's just a relic of another day. 

what kids say (another installment)

Visited the dialysis unit this morning. We have full camps of kids on hemodialysis and others with transplants and other forms of treatment. It's as wonderful to behold these kids getting this experience in 2014 as it was in 1975 - 40 years ago.

Anyway, a counselor and another camper were waiting for a cabinmate to get off the machine. Here's the conversation we had:

Al: Hey guys.

Counselor and camper, unison: Hey Al!

Camper to counselor: Are we doing activities with Al this session?

Counselor to camper: Oh, yes, we're playing Geronimo tomorrow, and we have Challenge Night hosted by Al tonight. And later in the week Al's coming up to our campfire to tell us a devotional story.

Al to both: You guys are going to be tired of me!

Camper to me, mildly indignant: Look, Al, how many years you been coming to Frost Valley in the summertime?

Al: 51 years.

Camper, still with indignant tone: Okay, so if we were going to get tired of you it would have happened a long time ago.

Kids are great. They just are.

counselors are the kind of people willing to be painted head to toe

the A Team ready to go on the second morning of camp

Each morning, toward the end of breakfast, the A Team (activity counselors, aka program area staff) gathers in front of Margetts Lodge for a few minutes of in-training games, activities, tips and mutually inspiring creativity. As I rode my bike back from breakfast to the office, I saw them gathering in the sun. And here they are being together.

opening campfires

Shelle Edge took some nice photos at both opening campfires last night. I was really pleased to see these shots of me doing my thing at each - leading the Camp Wawayanda campers and staff in the making of a big echo down the Valley first, and then, at the Camp Hird campfire (on the Castle field) leading the Hird people in "The Hird Song" (aka "Ooo wee" and "Easy Chair").

...aaaand we have a SUNNY check-in for session 1

Yes, finally, a sunny check-in. It was marvelous. As of this writing there are only TWO pieces of missing luggage - surely a record. Jess Gonzalez showed up and will stay a few days. Here she is with Shelle Edge (who is our media specialist in the Marketing department this summer).

And check out these happy hungry dessert eaters from Totem tonight: at left is Jon Turer's son Henry, and next to him (in the middle) is Matty Tucker, son of Josh Tucker and Ellie Gordon. Jon, Josh and Ellie were of course campers and counselors here in their time. Josh and Ellie met during Josh's final summer here, and told me today that he was glad he did something really odd and counterintuitive at the end of his first year of graduate school - told his academic advisor that he'd really like to spend one more summer at camp. That the advisor said okay is amazing - and the rest is history - and a family! I first met Josh when he was ten years old, a Forest camper, and I was his camp director. And now he and Ellie have both their kids here - Matty in this photo, and Sasha too (in Susky).

And here we are, smiling and swapping Frost Valley stories after the kids were settled in their cabins.

And then, wouldn't you know it, in walks John (Lance) Zabriskie. His son Zach will be here for two weeks and already Zach seems completely at home. Lance is doing woodworking near Woodstock and apparently has many clients in NYC. It was great to see him. When I was camp director in the mid-80s, "John" was one of my favorite counselors.

The grandchildren of Tatsuo and Emiko Honma are here again. Kazumi is a talented JC in Lakota this summer, and Keiko is in Pac, the oldest boys village. Their mom is Kyoko, who was my camper in 1979! (Am I old or what?) The Honmas have a new book coming out soon - Tatsu's memoirs of his many years' work in the Y movement.

And then, as if all these reunions were not enough, in walks Fabrizio Spademan. I only had a minute to chat with him but I'm hoping we can persuade him to take a few days off from work and volunteer a bit.

It was quite a good first day of camp. Both Opening Campfires were spirited and fun and at the same time respectful - and not too long! Tomorrow for me: many hours of "Geronimo," a first-full-day staple.

the 2014 staff says: "We'll see you tomorrow" to the session 1 campers

staff training scenes

Our memories of staff training is that we spent a lot of time listening to our leaders and colleagues describe for us what great things are about to happen, itching more than a little to get out and just do it. But actually there is a lot of down time (or maybe it's better termed "up time") talking with old friends and getting to know the new folks. Here's an impromptu gathering of Outpost people from recent years.

The staff training overnight was a bust, because of the tremendous storm that hit us on Wednesday night. But was it a bust? I saw great things happening as people cooked out under shelter (see previous entry) and slept on floors in the various buildings, including one (Margetts Lodge) that sprung quite a leak. After all that, here's a scene of what remained the next day as folks got back to the business of prepping for the arrival of the children on Sunday.

And the talk sessions are pretty good, as it turns out. Here's Lincoln McLain talking about characteristics of our various selves.

Session 1 will bring with it a two-week visit of Dr. Rick Kaskel, who would normally do a week as our dialysis doc. The physician he'd arranged to be on hand for one of the the weeks of first session couldn't make it in the end, so Rick is covering the whole session (voluntarily, I should add). A bonus for me since I'll have lots of time to hang out with Rick, whom I see often as a fellow Trustee but not in this particularly fabulous setting. I'll induce him to judge a Challenge Night or two. Rick has an extra incentive to join us for the session, as his daughter Erica, herself a FV lifer, is back this summer working full-time in the development department. Sandy Bohn, another longtime volunteer, arrived last night. Her son Braxton is a Lenape counselor this summer.

your 2014 summer staff

Not all of them, but a good many!

returning

Anna Lieberman, after many years as camper and staffer, was away from Frost Valley last summer. That was hard for her. Her availability is limited again this summer, but she just had to get some Valley time. So she'll be working at camp for session 4 in 2014, and attended staff training this week. Jeff Daly, whom most reading this blog will know as lifer camper, counselor, VC, director and for his multi-year run as our Director of Camping Services - and who met his wife Kelly at Frost Valley when they worked together as directors! - and whose daughter Mary, upon hearing that Jeff would be visiting camp this week, said, "I want to go with daddy to Frost Valley!" - that very Jeff, came to FV twice during training to help describe the central importance of our campership project. Anyway, here they are, these two who will spend much of their otherwise busy summers wishing they were running the fields and roasting the mellows.

"your year" at Frost Valley - still together

I suppose we often think of ourselves as having a "year." I myself was a CIT in 1971 and I think of that group of people as "my year." Among them - Leslie Black, Norm Gurfinkel, Danny Shapiro, Roy Scheinbaum, Barbara Spitz - are people I'm still in touch with, and these are people, most of them, with whom I grew up as campers. Our year.

The two photos below are "a year" too. Most of them were campers together for years, and they were all CITs together four years ago, and now they are counselors and village chiefs. There are others around camp not in the photo, but these just happened to be trapped in the storm in Geyer Hall. Such good friends.

a "chef-off" on a night that was supposed to be a washout

Rain drove all the village staffs under cover tonight, but Lincoln McLain (Adventure Director) and his staff, including Zach (Adventure Coordinator), were keen to teach how to lead a good overnight hike and campout anyway. So all around camp there were sessions being conducted on setting up tarps, devising activities for the campsite, and (of course) cooking. I was invited to join this three-team gang: Adventure Village staff, Adventure Trip leaders, and CIT coordinators. So these are the folks who will be doing this kind of camping and cooking a whole lot in the coming two months. Zach "gamified" the cooking plan. He announced a chef-off. Each group was giving a bunch of ingredients, plus oil and a stove, a pot, and a pan, and some utensils. Then, "go!" - they had an hour exactly to present a three-course meal - appetizer, entree, dessert. Bud Cox and I were dubbed judges. Below you have a video of Zach describing the rules, and below that some of the photos of the action and the results.
 

Once Bud and I judged the results, everyone dug in, happily. I had the distinct feeling that this summer the kids going on hiking and canoeing trips with these adventure leaders will be eating very well. Lincoln and Zach proved to them that cooking out on the trail can produce really tasty--and even spicy (we had a macaroni curry!)--meals.

Then it got dark and the rain came down in sheets. It pounded on the metal roof of the Halbe & Jane Brown Pavilion, and it was time for a re-naming ceremony. Those who were being inducted into these groups (I can't tell who were were - but let's just say we were deemed "new" to the adventure units) were to be given "knuck names." We had four-letter words drawn just above the knuckle of four fingers on each hand, and could not look at these two words. Held our hands behind our backs as every formed a circle around us. They we loudly announced, each in turn, "I used to be called such-and-such, and now my name is such-and-such." Parker Van Nostrand was now "Luck Shak." I am "Lucy Star" (very nice). It was a hilarious and actually, in a bizarre way, very beautiful thing to be told you are a friend of the adventure team in this whacky adventure-ish mode.

what happens during the afternoon of the day the village staffs are supposed to go on their staff training overnights?

a village mission statement & a few staff training thoughts

I was passing through Margetts Lodge an hour ago when I saw this poster: a village has written a mission statement.

Yes, it's staff training week. Going very well, it seems. There's a very strong and experienced director team, and VCs who seem not just organized and experienced but seem to like each other quite a lot already. And our fabulous new Program Director (or Activities Director), Lindsay, who came over from the Farm, where last summer she was one of the directors there - and she seems just terrific, with associate directors who are all themselves very experienced. And lots of returning counselors and energetic bright-eyed JCs from among last year's CITs. All in all, they strike me as...well....ready to go.

found comfort in the absolute magnificent stars

Jeff Daly has been visiting camp during the first part of staff training and writes the following:

Many nights up at camp I found comfort in the absolute magnificent stars that lit up the sky. I remember vividly laying out under the stars for the first time at camp (way back in 1988) and how mesmerized I was by this site. There's just something so awesome about a clear, crisp starry night at camp in the mountains. After catching up with friends, I strolled through camp this evening, admiring these same stars and bumped into a group of camp staff. I can't tell you how great it is to know camp is in good hands with so many positive role models, many of whom I had the pleasure of watching them develop years ago as campers and/or staff. In a matter of days this place will be filled with kids who will have their own opportunity to discover the magic of camp and maybe gaze out under those same stars. It's no surprise, but I'll say it again: I Love Camp.

Gottscho Foundation video and new site - and 40th anniversary concert

As we celebrate FORTY YEARS of our ground-breaking program to help children with kidney disease, we are pleased to see that our friends at the Ruth Gottscho Kidney Foundation have created a new web site and have arranged for a celebration event in October.

On the site

http://www.gottschokidney.org/

is a wonderful video. You really must watch that video!


The site also includes information about our 40th anniversary concert which will be held on Sunday, October 19th, 2014, at 2 pm at Congregation B’nai Israel in Millburn, NJ. The admission charge will be waived for Frost Valley and Montefiore staff and trustees and kidney campers and their families. We will begin to take reservations on August 1st.

UFO over the lake?

William B. was a Wawayanda camper from 1965-1969 - 5 summers. He was one of the first campers on Bud Cox's "Catskills Explorers" trips. Here's a memory that is vague but still haunts him:

My memory is that one very dark night I'm guessing in mid-August people started moving to the lake and there were lights hovering above and adjacent to the lake. They moved very rapidly several times back and forth in patterns and speeds that airplanes or helicopters could not physically do. We thought they were UFO's. In my memory the lights moved across the horizon as defined by the trees and the hills, as you stood facing the lake with your back towards the main building. Then at one point they were behind us. I googled news accounts of those summers in the late 60's or perhaps 1970 and there were numerous accounts of supposed UFO sightings in the New York region. I'm curious to know if others have talked about this experience. I recall quite a number of people gathering at the lake. If no one else has ever talked about that, I guess it was a dream. I also googled Bud Cox  and saw that he was referred to as UFO man -- I'm not sure if he was there at that time, or if that name had anything to do with this puzzling "memory".

what an international counselor from Germany gave me in 1980

Tom Franzkowiak, a 3-summer international counselor from Germany, gave me this "certificate" at the end of the summer of 1980. I was his camp director. I've saved it all these years. (Click on the image for a larger view. Tom used that summer's standard certificate. Pretty basic, huh? But charming.)

Fenn Putman

Fenn Putman died recently, and this sad news has devastated so many of us who love Frost Valley. Fenn was the longest-serving member of FV's Board of Trustees. No one was more generous. No one gave more time and passion to the place. During the year-long transition to our current CEO - Jerry Huncosky - Fenn chaired a committee of staff and trustees who kept the organization going; during that time he made weekly visits to the camp. We had the honor and pleasure of inducting him into the Frost Valley Hall of Fame two summers ago. He fought us on that all the way - his modesty was a quality second only to generosity.

Memorial Service: Thursday, June 19, 2014 - 2:30 PM - at St. John on the Mountain, 379 Mt. Harmony Road, Bernardsville, NJ.

Here is the obituary published in the Star Ledger:

Memorial service

Thursday, Jun. 19, 2014

2:30 PM

St. John on the Mountain

379 Mt. Harmony Road

Bernardsville, NJ

- See more at: http://obits.nj.com/obituaries/starledger/obituary.aspx?n=reding-fenn-putman&pid=171363107#sthash.g12q3f4K.dpuf

Memorial service

Thursday, Jun. 19, 2014

2:30 PM

St. John on the Mountain

379 Mt. Harmony Road

Bernardsville, NJ

- See more at: http://obits.nj.com/obituaries/starledger/obituary.aspx?n=reding-fenn-putman&pid=171363107#sthash.g12q3f4K.dpuf

Memorial service

Thursday, Jun. 19, 2014

2:30 PM

St. John on the Mountain

379 Mt. Harmony Road

Bernardsville, NJ

- See more at: http://obits.nj.com/obituaries/starledger/obituary.aspx?n=reding-fenn-putman&pid=171363107#sthash.g12q3f4K.dpuf

Danny Shelburne has died

I'm very sorry to pass along the sad news that Danny Shelburne died yesterday at 4 PM about 2 days after suffering a massive heart attack. Danny's dad (now 89) and sisters Carolyn and Charlotte were at Danny's side as he passed away peacefully at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital soon after life support was removed. Carolyn writes: "It's been a long 2+ days and all your prayers and love have been appreciated."

Notes of remembrance are welcome at Carolyn's Facebook page. If you have a memory of Danny you want to share, and don't have access to Facebook, feel free to send it to me and I will post it for you.

As Carolyn has said many times, even before this recent tragedy, that Danny's most happiest years were those many summers (and a few winters too) at Frost Valley, where he was an LIT, JC, horsebarn staffer, maintenance guy and Adventure Trip leader. He loved Frost Valley completely. He was full of antics and sleights-of-hand, had an infectious devilish loud laugh, but when it was time to get serious and do the work, he was all in - strong as a bull, willing to pull more than his weight, all with a ready smile. I remember him in an emergency - he was the fastest to respond. I recall one afternoon when a young staffer (Spencer L.) was badly injured at the horsebarn; the intercom phone at the barn couldn't reach the nurse right away, so while were slower to respond Danny jumped on a horse and galloped off like a cowboy to the Health Center shouting "Git the nurse! Git the NURSE!!" - whereupon she was gotten and Spencer was immediately taken care of.

Even if you didn't know Danny Shelburne personally, you surely recognize a great Frost Valley spirit in the person described above. We all know a Frost Valley Danny. We all knew Danny. He's one of us, and in our memories of him - around a campfire after hours; making runs to Liberty for supplies for colleagues; digging ditches when an extra hand was needed; and laughing at the sheer pleasure of being in the mountains in the summertime - will always be with us, all of us.

Here is a link to the obituary: http://nrvnews.com/obituaries/shelburne-jr-harvey-daniel/#respond

In lieu of flowers, Carolyn asks that you make a donation in Danny's memory to Frost Valley:

http://frostvalley.org/ways-to-give/

Danny Shelburne needs your good wishes

I'm sorry to report that Danny Shelburne has suffered a heart attack. His sister, Carolyn, has asked us to think the best and most positive thoughts for Danny in the coming hours and days. She would also love to hear from you if you have messages of good wishes for Danny.

The best way to leave a message for Carolyn is through Facebook. You can search for her name in the Facebook search box, or go directly to her page: https://www.facebook.com/carolyn.shelburne.7?fref=ts .

For those receiving this message who don't know Danny and Carolyn: they came to us from Radford, Virginia, and spent many summers from the late 1960s to the mid-80s, helping to run FV's summer camp, Carolyn as a counselor, VC, trip leader, Program Director and Camp Director; Danny as a counselor, trip leader, horsebarn staffer, and maintenance guy.

Thank you for being a multi-generational community that comes together when support is needed!

FV in early May (trustee meeting)

This weekend there was a gathering of the Frost Valley Board of Trustees for its annual early-spring meeting at FV. Above is a triple selfie: Mike Ketcham, Bud Cox and me. And, bottom pic, Mike Ketcham and Ted Hilton. Mike traveled from Seattle to attend. Ted Hilton turns 90 years young at the end of May!

Melanie Brown Freshwaters contemplates her camp trunk

"Once upon a time there was an old trunk," writes Melanie. "The man who owned it [that would be Tom Brown, Melanie's dad and Halbe Brown's older brother] gave it to his daughter for summer camp. She took it to camp every summer and always let her friends sign it. The girl grew up and moved away, but she always kept her trunk."

Jane Smith has died

It's with sorrow that Jane Smith's many Frost Valley friends report her recent passing. Jane served Frost Valley as summer camp registrar for a number of years.

Jodi Rockower Rossman provides this information about a memorial service:

A service honoring Jane Wilkens Smith will be held at the Holy Trinity Church, Trumbull, CT, on Tuesday April 22nd at 5:00pm. Friends, please join her family in celebrating her life. http://www.htlctrumbull.org/ — with Robert Wilkens and 2 others.

Note this address if the link isn't working...

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
Evangelical Lutheran Church In America
406 White Plains Rd. . Trumbull, CT 06611 . (203) 372-8844
The Rev. Linda J. Kraft, Pastor
office@htlctrumbull.org

Shaz Atwell has contributed these remarks: "Our Hearts are heavy and we are so sad to say goodbye to our beautiful friend Jane Smith – the most loving, giving, caring, compassionate and loyal friend anyone could ask for. Jane put everyone ahead of herself. She loved us all deeply; was prouder of her family than you could imagine; treated everyone with respect and took care of us all in a way that only she could, never forgetting a birthday, an anniversary or a special event. Her infectious laugh made us all happy. Her cheerful demeanor made us want to be with her. She loved being surrounded by her friends and family and she took every opportunity she could to gather us together.Aunty Jane, we hope that you know how much we love you and just how much we are going to miss you. Our lives without you are forever changed. Rest peacefully, dear friend."

Mikia Eatman added this: "I loved this woman. Such a warm and welcoming spirit. I think I stopped in admin to chat with her daily. And, with a smile, always took a few minutes away from her work to share, listen, laugh or give a great big hug. To "mother". She was a part of what made frost valley home. Rest in peace, Jane."

Fred Wasiak adds: "Jane was the voice of Frost Valley and a constant bowl of sunshine!  'Good afternoon... Frost Valley YMCA, this is Jane, how may I direct your call?'"
 

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.

Lillian Rountree in 1985

Lillian Rountree (now Lillian Rountree Lippincott) in 1985 as a Windsong camper.

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.

the bug

My (infamous) red Volkswagen, parked by the Castle in the late spring of 1973. The other vehicle was the ubiquitous Volkwagen microbus driven everywhere by the late Leon Van Heusen.

Eric in '86

1986 - Eric Blum's first summer at camp. He was a JC. This photo was taken of him on a day in August. It was an all-camp theme day, and he was ready to go. But first of course he had to stop in at the dialysis unit, to pick up a new round of meds, or finish up after a dialysis treatment. But you can tell that was ready to get back out there. Great photo!