late 70s

Lynn Rowling, during Olympics, summer of '77 or '78. Lynn, from Westfield NJ, was a camper, CIT, JC, counselor and then worked at the horsebarn.

kayaking across the Big Tree Field

Gail McNeill, upon reading the latest entries here, had various responses: "Hmmm. . . I had been thinking about two of the items on that list. . . rainy June, of course. Kayaking on Big Tree Field. Dave Magid's sleeping bag stuck to the cabin floor. For some reason, though, I was actually thinking about "the crucial importance of the CQ fire" a few days ago, how it builds cameraderie between staff, serves as anchor and security for the campers, etc. I found myself hoping that the CQ fire itself, the act of burning forest wood, has not in itself become politically incorrect."

Yes, in 1972: we kayaked across the Big Tree Field. No kidding.

No, the CQ fire has not nearly become politically incorrect. Comraderie is an enormously respected value in '09 as it has been before.

Heather Cramer Reu, 42

Glenn Horton, via Leigh Rappaport, passes along this sad news (below). I didn't know Heather. If you did and want to comment or contact her family, please by all means do.

The daughter of a former Delong, Ill. couple died June 22 when a car hit the bicycle she was riding here. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Heather Cramer Reu, 42, was reportedly hit by a car driven by Daniel Gomez, 40. He was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death. Heather is the daughter of Ray and Molly Cramer. Heather Cramer Reu and her husband Phil have 4 children - their ages are 7,5,4,3. Their home is in Albuquerque.

Heather worked Environmental Education at FV in the late 80s and/or early 90s. Kenis Sweet recently sent around this note:

Heather Cramer was killed last month while biking near her home in New Mexico. Heather was with FV's Environmental Ed and Adventure Camp program in the late 1980's. She came to the FV family from Bloomington, Indiana. I was emailed the news from FV friend Tim Swenson. I, as many others will also, remember Heather as an incredibly fun, vibrant, and wonderful young lady. After reading her obituary, I am not at all surprised at the loving and full life she led. Our prayers are with her husband, parents, and kids.

old Olympics

Wawayanda Olympics 1959, photos by Mike DeVita. Notice the flags set up around the Olympic Circle. For many years--at least through '68--these would be set up for Olympics and also for every check-in day. Note, too, how rocky the soil is in '58. It took a while to clear some of the rocks and grow some grass on some of the fields and along the paths.

1962-63 guy finds us

Here's a page of the staff list for the summer of 1963. The last name on the page is Richard Matthes. Dick had been a member of the kitchen staff in '62, then counselor (Forest, cabin 6) in '63, and then, he remembers, he had to leave Frost Valley in order to make some real money in subsequent summers. "I have bored my children with my Tales of Wawayanda over the years," he says. Yesterday he found this blog and made his daughter sit with him and "suffer through a narration of the pictures" on the site. We're glad to be back in touch with you, Dick!

Geronimo!

The other day I played Geronimo with Adventure Village (they live in Sequoia but prefer being called "Adventure Village" or "AdVill"). Tons of fun; what a lively positive group they are during session 1 here. Anyway, for a few minutes we made a recording of the game, our Geronimo Podcast...just for you. You can hear the fun in the sound of the voices. Have a listen: mp3. The photo below shows another village playing the same game in the same spot, so while the pic isn't specifically illustrative of the audio, it's good enough. Enjoy.

challenge night blogged

From the Frost Valley summer camp blog (this entry composed, I think, by Hird Director Kam Kobiessi):

Last night, Sacky/Hemlock (13 year-old girls and boys, respectively) got together in the new theatre to participate in Al’s Challenge Night for their evening activity. Who is Al? Alformer Frost Valley camper, director, a camper and staff parent, trustee, as well as a summer volunteer. While here, one of his program offerings is Challenge Night, where cabins split into teams and are challenged to come up with the best celebrity impersonation, song, skit, counselor impression, counselor tug-o-war (on milk crates!) and other things. It was a rousing night, with counselors and campers alike cheering on their teams to victory.

Here is a link to the blogpost and here is a link to the blog.

Windsong, session 1, 2009

VC meetings: a history, the present

The particular mode of our programming - I mean, its current state - was established in 1976. To be specific: for sessions 3 and 4 of '76. Halbe Brown and Bill Hettler (both Camp Fitch guys from way back) pushed it on me as Program Director, insisting that we make a big shift in our program philosophy, and after a few days of their hard lobbying, I embraced and then began to plan the change. I took the Fitch model and did a good deal of tweaking and Frost Valley-izing it. I am referring to the whole structure of the village-centered weekly schedule: conceived by each VC but fitting into a basic 4-by-4 grid (to minimize conflicts). This big change required that we meet weekly to do our programs. Thus the now-famous "VC meeting," a name that is a misnomer. It's really the weekly program meeting. No matter. By now it's such an established tradition that folks don't much think that this was a conscious choice we made to decentralize and put (once again) the village at the center of the operation, and the VC at the center of the planning for his or her group. At such a large place, that's the way it ought to be. Anyway, the reason for these musings: on Monday evening I attended this summer's first such meeting. Years ago they were in the Castle living room. Now in a more functional space (and more centrally located) - the bottom floor of Quirk Lodge (Victoria Hall). A real conference room with chairs and tables, a kitchenette, some meetings spaces for the invariable side-meetings of brother/sister VCs and the two camps. The meeting is chaired by the Program Director, who always gets the last word. In '75, '76, '77, and '78 that was me, and (though it was huge hard work) I enjoyed every moment. (In '75, as you know from the above, we were in a different mode - the "master schedule" - but that was, if anything, harder on the Program Director.) Above is a photo I took of Monday's meeting. All the former VCs reading this blog post will get a shiver of recognition, I'll bet. Send your VC meeting memories to me at afilreis AT gmail DOT com. Do you remember the wonderfully collegial chaos?

CQ redux

Today's blog entry on the CQ fire stirred up a good many memories, to judge from the emails I've been receiving. Below is D'Arcy Oaks' response:

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"Your post about CQ etc. got to me. I remember those things, and I want to be there, and I am sentimental now having read that. Your explanation of that "cycle" of the camper taking risks by being uncool and ridiculous which generates some loyalty from peers which promotes the ridiculous to cool seemed emblematic of similar cycles I would see at FV. Your description of that night time scramble for some social interaction with adults even though its raining, yet the adults still talk about "work", which is about how the campers are doing, seems representative of a daily occurrence during my tenure at FV. Your discussion of how to deal with the logistics when things like the weather intervene reminds me of how Carrie and I had to scramble to make a plan B (as CIT coordinators) in 1997 after Ranger Patty kicked us out of the state park for sleeping too close to the stream the night previous. Your description of the moodiness of the Sacky village converting to unity and team spirit reminds me of something people would say at FV in the 90's: a day Frost Valley is like a week in real life. Something that happened mid-afternoon becomes a distant memory for a staff member by the time CQ begins.

"I loved CQ. In 1990 as a Hemlock JC I remember the staff frequently being around CQ when not assigned. We got the campers to sleep, we could have gone to staff lounge, we had spent the day around each other, yet we hung out at CQ. We were located in that middle cabin grouping, between "The Hill" and the Dining Hall/Outtrip road, cabins 36 - 40, and that fire ring is a good one, for you can face the ravine thus reducing the risk of keeping campers up when you are talking. That summer, for us, it was backgammon and Billy Idol, and, well, some visits from raccoons, that characterized the Hemlock CQ. Bill Baker, Mark Hanna, Josh Tucker, Wentworth Miller, and David O'Brian (VC) were amongst the Hemlock staff that summer. Sometimes we'd complain, sometimes we'd talk about our lives, sometimes we'd bond, but a lot of times we'd strategize about how to make tomorrow's experience better for Hemlock campers. So your post reminds me of that kind of thing: enjoying working, enjoying your co-workers, helping kids have good experiences. Nice memories."

the Times again

We've made the New York Times again. Here is the full text of the article, along with the photo they ran. The response from parents of children to this article has been terrific, and there are already new enrollments (for session 4) as a result of the impression--an accurate one--given in the article that we are remarkably diligent about preventing infectious illnesses.

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Before Summer Camps Throw Open Doors, Girding for Swine Flu

CLARYVILLE, N.Y. — At the Frost Valley Y.M.C.A. camp last week, counselors and staff were laying out swim lines, whitewashing a fence around the horse paddock and mowing the meadow in the shadow of Wild Cat Mountain.

But there were a few more things on the checklist before this year’s campers arrived.

Housekeepers were wiping down doorknobs with bleach solution. The medical staff was adding new questions about fevers and coughs to the opening-day health screenings, which traditionally target head lice. Three negative-pressure isolation rooms were ready to accommodate sick campers. Hand sanitizer was everywhere.

Here and across the country, summer camps have been busy trying to erect a firewall against swine flu.

“We think we’re ahead of the curve, but who knows?” said Jerry Huncosky, chief executive officer of Frost Valley, a 6,000-acre camp in the Catskill Mountains. “I think it’s the ‘who knows?’ that we’re preparing for.”

Sleep-away camp, of course, is a time of rustic simplicity and extremely close contact: 8 to 10 campers in a snug cabin is the norm. With swine flu’s potential for rapid transmission, camp poses unusual challenges for the adults charged with the campers’ care. It is perhaps no wonder that camp directors have been deluged in recent weeks with e-mail messages about swine flu protocols from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Camp Association and local health departments.

Swine flu has already surfaced at summer camps in the South and the West, where the camp season begins early, closing camps in Missouri and California and prompting the Muscular Dystrophy Association to cancel the rest of its annual summer camp program.

Outbreaks of swine flu have also been reported at camps in Georgia and North Carolina, but campers there were being treated on site.

The first task is simply to keep out the H1N1 virus, as swine flu is formally known. Like many camps, Frost Valley recently sent a letter to parents telling them not to send their children to camp if they have flulike symptoms: “fever over 100 degrees and cough, sore throat, runny nose or stuffy nose.” The letter added, “If you suspect your child is getting the flu, it is important that he or she does not attend camp or go anywhere else.”

Mr. Huncosky acknowledged that the rule could challenge some parents, especially those whose own vacations coincide with their children’s camp sessions. “It’s hard when you spend a lot of money to send your child to camp and then the Friday before, they have a little fever,” he said. “Parents might say, ‘We’ve got too much invested.’ ”

Of the 500 campers who arrived on Sunday at Frost Valley, two were found to have a fever as well as other flu symptoms and were sent home.

Frost Valley and other camps said they would try to work with families, either allowing a child to make up lost time in a later session or prorating the fees.

At Buck’s Rock Performing and Creative Arts Camp in New Milford, Conn., opening day was on Wednesday, and the medical staff members took the temperatures of all 260 arriving campers.

There was one case of nits (lice eggs), but no fever, said Mickey Morris, who directs the camp with his wife, Laura. Two families heeded the warnings in three “swine flu updates” the camp had e-mailed, keeping their feverish children home. According to standard protocol, that would be for seven days after the onset of symptoms or until the camper has been symptom-free for 24 hours, whichever is longer.

“At this point, we’re like a sealed community,” Mr. Morris said, adding that the staff lived on site, too.

At the welcome meeting at Buck’s Rock, campers were asked to practice good hygiene, like coughing into their arms and generously applying hand sanitizer before every meal. “We had the Purell stations in the past, but now it’s mandatory, at least until this thing dies down,” he said. “Nobody gets in the dining room without it.”

At Frost Valley, it is hard to escape the hand sanitizer. There are large dispensers on waist-high stands outside the dining halls, and there are more inside. In addition, because of an outbreak of gastrointestinal virus last summer, the camp installed trough-style sinks inside the entrances of the dining hall so that campers would not need to enter the bathrooms to wash up.

“It almost creates a social awkwardness if you’re not washing your hands,” said Tom Holsapple, the director of operations at the camp.

In a nod to swine flu fears, individual campers will no longer retrieve their own utensils. Instead, head counselors will load up trays for their cabins “so we avoid having a bunch of hands going into the pots” of forks and knives, Mr. Holsapple said. The dining hall, which briefly considered banishing the salad bar this summer to prevent unnecessary contact with food, decided instead to order 600 pairs of salad tongs so that campers could avoid sharing at each meal.

At the new wellness center, built to accommodate a total of 60 campers who require dialysis, Patty Conklin, the camp’s health care administrator and a registered nurse, has trained groups of staff members on a range of health issues, including swine flu. On Wednesday, it was the equestrian staff members’ turn. She told them that a staff member or camper who felt sick must report to the wellness center immediately.

“Last year, we had scheduled times to come in, like 10 to 12 and 2 to 4, but I want them here as soon as they feel ill,” Ms. Conklin said.

Campers who display flu symptoms will go into isolation in the negative-pressure rooms, which are designed to let air blow into the rooms when the doors open so that germs do not escape. Their parents will be called, and nurses and others who have contact with sick children will have to wear masks and gloves.

Some camps, like Frost Valley, are prepared to have a child in isolation for a week, but others are not. Mr. Huncosky said his staff would have a “discussion with the parent” to determine the best course.

Adam N. Weinstein, executive director of the American Camp Association’s New York section, which represents about 300 camps, said that camp staffs should plan for ways to engage children who are sequestered, something Frost Valley has already done.

“It’s not ideal, but if you’re at a seven-week camp and you have to miss a week of it in the health center, then the camps should think about the kinds of things you can do in isolation,” he said. “Good seven- or eight-week camps will be thinking about that now and not on the fly.”

At Campus Kids Minisink near Port Jervis, N.Y., where children sleep over Monday through Friday and return home on weekends, Jani Brokaw, the director, said campers were never in isolation for more than 24 hours. “Because we have such regular contact with the parents,” she said, “we would definitely ask the parent to take the child home.”

Some camp directors can envision the worst. “If we had multiple cases, it could easily shut down the camp,” said Philip Connor, chief executive officer of Becket-Chimney Corners Y.M.C.A., adjacent boys’ and girls’ camps in Massachusetts. “You just hope that Mom and Dad aren’t at the bottom of the Grand Canyon when you need to close the camp.”

cable bridge -> courage

Sometimes it's the little things. Like our cable bridges. An article appeared a few days ago in the Middletown NY newspaper about a girl who went to Frost Valley with her school, part of our Environmental Education programs, intepidly crossed the cable bridge and seems to recall that event as pivotal for her - courage, independence.

CQ fire after a very rainy day

It was the third night of camp and they wanted more than anything to build a CQ fire. But everything was wet, from an afternoon of torrential storms and a damp drizzly evening. It wasn't raining now, at 11:30, but was there any dry wood? Did anyone have a flashlight handy? And of course they were exhausted from a very long although super-successful day. There was the moment when the severe thunder-and-lightning storm hit; the network of radio- and intercom-connected directors somehow induced everyone, in 40 places, to stay indoors and not to move from one place to another. That meant, to take one instance, that Forest, Pac and Mac Boys were in the main room of Margetts Lodge together. What to do there? Instant activity. Plenty of energy on this third day of the session, but somehow it got used and also contained while outside it stormed. But then the CITs were supposed to begin their long out-trip. Word came back: they had made it out in time and were on their way to their first overnight which would, thankfully, be in a lean-to. Okay, but Pac and Windsong had their two-nighter planned. They were put on hold for now. At 4:30 we managed a hilarious hour-long game of Geronimo indoors for Forest. What is it about 10-year-old boys who prefer to slide along the floor and not make it to an empty seat? The staff, instead of being annoyed, fell off their own chairs in laughter. Tom from Liverpool exhausted himself running inside the circle as his colleagues Alan and Dave and Sam bandied about each other's names. Tom, not a big smiler but obviously a sweet man, smiled broadly when he finally got out of that jam. Dusk came and more iffy weather, but Sacky and Hemlock, who'd had perhaps a semi-challenging day, a few possible "mean girls" who needed to start accepting others soon, one possibly homesick kid, some needless running around in the rain, maybe a dose of impatience, came together indoors for Challenge Night, in the new theatre, and found their unified spirit, cheering each other, giving a standing ovation to one girl who didn't want to sing a song competitively but was willing to do so when no one else on her team would. She fake-sang a silly song but did it bravely, and then stopped--whereupon silence, and then a standing ovation for the cool girl who might not normally, in real life at home, ever submit herself to potential ridicule, being so uncool as to sacrifice her cool for her new friends. Thus the new friends were more friends now than they had been so far. The whole thing has a circular, building, self-pride-making effect. Back out into the cold dark rainy night. Next thing you know it's 11:30 and there's no dry wood. Ah, but some dry logs were stowed, wisely, under the lodge. Scott Lodge, named for Charles R. Scott, Wawayanda's first director. Maybe that has something to do with the outdoorsy foresight. Retrieve those logs, pull off some slivers of kindling, find some paper memos and a bit of cardboard, search for and find the lighter, and now out to the sopping wet fire-ring. Yes it had been a long day and the better part of valor, which is discretion, would be to go to sleep and hope the next day brought sun, and the next night, not this one, a CQ fire and a session of good old-fashioned talk around the fire among colleagues. No, now. Real valor was in that sitting 'round. One holds the light, one scrounges for "little stuff" notwithstanding its wetness, one lights the lighter. Tiny little stuff and two huge but dry logs. That's it. Once the fire is seen by others, the others start showing up. It's midnight. Is this the only CQ fire going? But it's barely going. Alan, with his huge lung capacity, shows up from Forest, attracted to the firelight. He blows and blows and the two dry logs burst into flames. We find another log, damp but not sopped, and it gets put alongside the others, to warm and dry, and eventually on top. Four or five more show up. Quiet talk of the day. This kid had trouble getting to sleep but is soundly sleeping now. This one had a much better day than yesterday; he's going to make it, we think. That one keeps asking pointless questions but we answer them all as patiently as possible. And lots of silence. Then several meandering quiet conversations at once. We are warmed by the fire although all the scrounging around in the wet old charred wood and smoke having been blown over our clothes has made everything we're wearing smell that campfire smell, which will be with us tomorrow. One counselor had had his first shower in several days but now he too smelled like campfire. He had his burger patties out, and skillet at the ready, but at 12:45 AM, with 1 AM curfew coming soon, the burgers would have to wait until tomorrow night. Tomorrow night. Maybe the fire would start easier. But if it didn't, there would still be this talk, this family of unlike people gathered around like a family at the end of a family's day, telling of the little things that add up to an almost cosmic whole. We wandered backed to our various beds, dampness in the rooms, and looked at watches and clocks. The month had turned. July 1.

two-nighter

Windsong (the oldest girls) are leaving this afternoon for a two-nighter, starting at Pete's Pavilion. Here are some of them at lunch. They got their sunglasses, their hiking boots, their braided hair and t-shirts...and seem ready to go.

sister counselors

Never before in the history of Frost Valley have there been siblings serving as counselor and junior counselor assigned to the same cabin. Am I right? Please tell me if there is a precedent. In this instance, we have sisters - indeed, daughters of an alumnus, Peter Boyd - as C/JC in cabin 21 in Pokey. They are Sarah (JC) and Elizabeth (C) Boyd. And what a combo they are. I played Geronimo with Pokey, Totem and the youngest Mac kids (who are housed in two cabins) and loved seeing the kids' wonderfully positive response to the Boyd sisters.

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A note from John Butler asserts--correctly, to be sure--that I am wrong about the Boyd sisters being first. "Joel and Court Ambrosino were co-counselors in Outpost, Cabin Infinity [#8] in 2002 (I think this was the year) session 3 or 4. Court was a JC, and Joel was the HC. Their other brother Ben was the assistant Program Director then too (or maybe even Program Director...)." Ben did work full-year at FV and spent at least one summer as Program Director, yes.

opening day 2009

Terrific, successful opening day yesterday. Rain held off - and indeed, part of the afternoon was a blue-sky/puffy-clouds affair. Many parents volunteered (didn't need to be asked) about the efficiency of our system, which readers of this blog will know has been perfected over years, decades: since we can't have parents' cars climbing the hilly roads up through the villages, we have to have folks check luggage whereupon CIT's (they themselves just arrived) move and sort it, load it onto trucks, and trucks deliver. Usually the delivery has been made before the family is done checking in at the dining hall and has walked up to the village. Since I spent the afternoon escorting families from the dining hall to the villages--giving directions, smoothing the way, chatting them up about the glories of the place--I saw this rational system work at first hand. The counselors, bedecked with their nice collared green staff shirts and constant smiles, greeted them all happily. Jeff Daly (current master of the perfect check-in day) said at the end of the afternoon that we pitched a two hitter. Which is to say, we scattered two overall harmless snafus across the whole process. I have to say, though, that the pitching analogy breaks down since there are more than 27 possibilities for success, plus we have about 25 pitches in our range of approaches.

Alumni who were here: Lee Fleischer, dropping of his son and helping out at the Wellness Center; John Wellington, giving directions and being proud of Jack, a CIT and Kelsey, now a counselor; Peter Tilles, dad of Amanda and Olivia (both campers); Ken Nathanson (dad of Sam, a Pac boy); Sandy Bohn, here for her usual stint (two weeks) helping out as a driver, Challenge Night judge, etc., over the moon about daughter Shaina, a VC, and Mariah, a counselor in Mac Girls, and Braxton, a Pac boy; Sue Ettelman Eisenhower; John Butler, a many-year guy (15?), Hird Director in recent summers, who now works full-time in Newark but took the day to help out. John's cameo at opening campfire received a big applause from the campers and staff. Welcome home, John.

Above, left to right: Olivia Tilles, Hannah Filreis, Amanda Tilles, Braxton Bohn.

FV guy on billboard

We were driving along through Philly a few weeks ago, when suddenly Hannah shouted, "Dad! Look! It's Eric Colton! On that billboard." Surely enough: it was. Eric is at Drexel and he's the perfect poster boy, so there you have it. Eric, alas, is in school this summer and will miss this go-round at FV, but his sister Lisa is a CIT coordinator and mom, a former camper, continues to sing camp songs on long drives and plans, with Eric, to visit.

nail your shoes to the kitchen floor

Here are the chords to a favorite camp song of Bud Cox. The other night Bud and I went out to dinner at a nice little place in Grahamsville, and on the drive back to camp, with the windows open (despite the rain), we sang this song together, loudly and happily. Tom Paxton's "Can't Help but Wonder Where I'm Bound."

rest in peace

Sat shiva this afternoon (along with Jerry Huncosky and others) at the home of Eva Gottscho. It happened that we were there with members of the Gottscho Kidney Foundation Board, so it was a bit of a reunion. Al Wickens, long-time leader of the Gottscho Board, was there with his wife Pat. Eva's daughter Judy showed me a painting of her sister Ruth, who died of kidney failure many, many years ago and whose early death gave Eva the impetus to do everything that she has done for kids with renal disease. Here are photos of the painting of Ruth and another shot of the same painting near a photo of Eva.

gracious giver

First full day of staff training: Windsong staff, asked to lead the morning grace, starts off a spirited rendition of the ol' ditty: Gracious giver of all good, thee we thank for....

droppin' off the staff

Yesterday was busy. The main body of the staff arrived - counselors and junior counselors. That means in some cases parents driving them here, and so, for me, a series of mini-reunions. This gang took a long walk with me - for the purpose of showing the place to Alexander (guy with the long hair) who directs a YMCA in Macedonia and is creating various partnerships with the Y run by Bob Lamauro.

From left to right: Bud Cox, Bob Lamauro, Nick Lamauro, Alexander (sorry, I didn't catch his last name), Ben Connell, Ladd Connell.

Nick decided to work at camp somewhat at the last minute. He's a counselor, having JC'd in Totem two summers ago (in the most challenging little boys--cabin 24--I'd seen in a long while). Through the Totem fire and now into the easy light of Outpost. Ben Connell will be a counselor in Outpost too. Ladd, as I've mentioned in this blog before, was a CIT with me in 1971 and we've stayed in touch ever since. Ladd is one of the neighborly Connells we've known for a generation: the family has owned the land west of FV, between FV and Claryville along the Neversink. Ladd and his family now live in northern Virginia.

The very talented former VC Lauren Lamauro was here yesterday too, but managed to evade this photo moment.

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.

another rainy June

How many of us remember torrentially rainy late Junes here at Frost Valley? I suppose '72 was the worst - literally a wash-out. Biscuit Creek overflowed its steep banks and ran a shortcut to the Neversink across Olympic Circle through Big Tree Field and joined the Neversink almost as far down as the lake! In 2007 it rained through staff training and most of the days during first session. Let's just hope that the current rain ceases when the campers arrive next weekend. Above is a photo taken yesterday of Biscuit Creek falls - from the bridge.

Eva Gottscho is dead at 96

For those of us whose time at Frost Valley overlapped with 1975 or postdated that year, we remember Eva Gottscho personally, one way or another. She was (with Halbe Brown and Ira Greifer) one of the three driving forces behind the creation of our dialysis program (for children with renal failure), and it was, to be sure, Eva's idea in the first place.

Now Eva has died at 96 years old.

Above & at right: Eva Gottscho, Halbe Brown, and Ira Greifer are shown cutting the ribbon at the dedication of the then-new dialysis center at Frost Valley in 1975. (At the far right is Dr. Bill Primack.)

Those who predate Eva's involvement with Frost Valley are surely not surprised to know (before this, I'm sure) that Wawayanda/Frost Valley was the one camp that took a chance at mainstreaming these children, whose medical needs scared off a lot of other camps before Eva found us and partnered with us.

Eva was stalwart and always sure that we were doing the right thing - even though she also never ever forgot the sadness associated with the illness and early death of her own daughter, Ruth Carole - after whom our dialysis center is named: The Ruth Carole Gottscho Kidney Dialysis Center at Frost Valley.

Funeral services are Friday (6/19/09) at Menorah Chapels at Millburn, 2950 Vauxhall Road, Vauxhall, NJ 07088 (908) 964-1500 (family will begin to receive friends at 10:45 am). The family will sit shiva at Eva's home, 7 West Beechcroft Road, Short Hills, NJ 07078, on Monday June 22 from 2 PM to 9 PM.

You can be SURE that Eva's family will greatly appreciate your cards and notes, sent to the Beechcroft Road address given just above. Please tell the family how much the dialysis program at Frost Valley means to you and to us, even if you yourself didn't know Eva personally.

You can listen to Eva's FV Hall of Fame acceptance speech by going
here.

You can read a summary of Eva's final summer visit to the dialysis unit last summer here.

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Stuart Kaufer

A little later, Stuart Kaufer (who was the coordinator of our dialysis unit for some years) wrote this remembrance:

"Besides Al’s messages I came home tonight to a message from Eva’s daughter Judy who told me that her mom had been ill for past several weeks, was pretty unaware of what was going on and that Judy was with Eva when she died. Much will be said about Eva in the next days and many of us will have our own memories. Besides her toughness and ability to conduct business, . . . Eva had a huge heart and soul. Her life was immeasurably changed when she was able to start the dialysis program at FV. It helped her preserve her daughter’s memory but, it also had a huge impact on Eva. We made such a big production of her visits each summer, special lunches, tributes, letters from the kids…but her most important moments at camp were when she was just talking to the kids on dialysis. I often thought she was amazed she made it possible, that Ruth’s dream of going to camp came true for so many kids each summer. When some of the kids wanted to stay for another 2-4 weeks Eva never said no. She simply said, send the bill.... A force of nature for sure but a soft touch and a tender heart. For that more than anything, she will be sorely missed."

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Rick & Phyllis Kaskel

Rick & Phyllis Kaskel sent us this statement: "It is with great fondness and appreciation that we remember Eva Gottscho in her passing. She was a visionary who shared her dreams for a camp that children and families challenged with chronic condition could one day enjoy the beauty and freedom of place such as Frost Valley. Through her efforts well over 1500 such children experienced life-long confidence building and encouragement fostered by the Frost Valley YMCA Ruth Carole Gottscho Chidlren's Dialysis Unit. Her heart was and remains in all that we are today and will only enable us to Build Strong as we continue with her dreams." (Rick is the Medical Director of Frost Valley's Summer Kidney Camp Program.)

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Jerry Huncosky

And Jerry Huncosky, Frost Valley's CEO, has written this:

This morning we lost a great friend and true advocate for children with kidney disease.

We all know the history of Ruth and Eva, but many did not know Eva and the wonderful life she lived giving back to the community and especially the children. Besides the millions she has spent on our dialysis program she has donated millions to Rutgers as well as supporting transportation costs for any dialysis patient who could not afford it.

Eva was a warrior when it came to providing for children. She never hesitated to pick up the phone and use her influence to help anybody in need.

Eva and I spoke nearly monthly for the past six years and visited each other several times a year. She always had a hug and kiss for me and always told me she loved me. During our last conversation, she called to talk about life. We talked about our families about God and about the beauty of life. I felt during that conversation it would be our last and I was right. She became ill shortly after.

I will miss Eva terribly as will Frost Valley. Mostly I will regret that so many children in coming years will not feel her powerful hugs and be warmed by her beautiful smile.

Heaven gained a wonderful person today. I imagine she is there now clinging to Ruth the way she would cling to all of her Frost Valley children.

God Bless you Eva and thank you.

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Peter Swain

I am so saddened to hear of Eva’s death. I felt many things about Eva over my years: at times she acted like my mother, at times a peer in camping, at times a shrewd business women. But she was always a humanitarian wanting to help kids with kidney failure.

When I was at FV, all of the remarkable efforts to help kids seemed practically routine. Now that I have left for other camping pastures, I realize with great clarity that the courageous giants that made it all happen were truly remarkable and unique, and Eva was one of this group.

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Lee Fleischer

I was sad to hear about Eva's passing, but grateful that I had the opportunity to finally meet her last fall at the dedication of the Wellness Center. I am glad that she had the opportunity to see the new dialysis center, and share her still very sharp wit with those of us there. In a public sense it was a lot like Philly's Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Kalas getting to see and broadcast on the radio the Phillies world series win (in 1980 local radio broadcasts weren't allowed) 6 months prior to his death this spring. On a personal level, though, it is much deeper for me. As a 16 year-old L.I.T. in the summer of '75, I was fascinated by the 'new' dialysis unit at camp, and for the next five summers found my passion for a career in medicine as I had the opportunity to see first hand the impact of the science and art of healing, transforming lives in a very profound way in the wonderful setting that is Frost Valley. I will never forget the day, when as a counselor in Forest Village, we got the call that a matching kidney was found for one of my campers. It is not a stretch to say that I may not have had a stethoscope dangling around my neck a few hours ago today, had it not been for the vision and persistence of Eva Gottscho 34 years ago. I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to tell her that, and give her my thanks a few moments before the ribbon-cutting ceremony last September. (Above: Lee and Eva chat during the September 2008 dedication of the new dialysis center.)

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Obituary published in the Newark Star Ledger.

Bells

We were once graced by three Bells - Avery, Jon and Jordy (eldest to youngest). Sons of Sue Bell, stepsons of Tom Fitzpatrick who for a while was our camp doctor. Avery was VC of Sequoia, among other things, in his time. They had a house north of Philly. One day I drove by right after camp ended and snapped this shot of Jon and Jordy who, I think, had just returned home from school. This was around 25 years ago. Amazing.

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Later: News has reached us that Jordan Bell and his wife Emily have welcomed a son, Finn. We too welcome you, Finn - to the large and getting-larger Frost Valley family.

Pokey '69

A village in Girls Camp (Susky?), fourth session, 1969. Later: no, no, it's not Susky, but Pokey. Here's what Sandy Bohn, then Sandy Shapiro, says: "I am in that Susky pictue on your blog from 69 it had to be Pokey since I was in it. I'm the one with the pig tails on the bottom right, can't believe I didn't notice before!" And that's Karen Krop two kids over from Sandy, with short hair.

Family Camp, 1964

The families who spent a week at Wawayanda at the end of the summer of 1964 gathered in front of the dining hall porch for a group shot. Jim White was the Director. The Hamiltons were, as usual, part of the gang. They lived in Oradell, NJ, at the time. Later they moved to a home very near Frost Valley, and Bill was a member of the Board of Trustees. Their kids were campers and staff members. You can see Ann Hamilton (now Ann Dupry) in the very front, near the far left, wearing sunglasses and a hat. Brother David is to her left, on the end. Dad (Bill) is in the last row, second from left, wearing glasses.

The Hamiltons had been Family Campers since 1962. They were still Family Campers when I was the Family Camp Director in 1977.

Forstmann innocent

During World War I, Julius Forstmann was incorrectly suspected of "German taint" and was compelled to face a legal hearing on the matter. The whole thing was part of an anti-German prejudice, and Mr. Forstmann's name was cleared. His attorney was Robert H. McCarter.

Here is a PDF copy of the New York Times article about the situation.

Robert Harris McCarter (April 28, 1859 – May 30, 1941) was an American lawyer who served as the Attorney General of New Jersey from 1903 until 1908, succeeding his brother Thomas N. McCarter. After his tenure as Attorney General he returned to his Newark law practice, which became known as McCarter & English in 1906 after the death of Edwin B. Williamson and the promotion of Conover English to partner. Conover English Hall was the name given to the lower level of the then-new Girls' Dining Hall in 1966 (now Geyer Hall). Woodruff (Woody) English served for many years as the president of Frost Valley's board of trustees.

cabin 13 when first built

This is almost certainly cabin 13 in Outpost - a photo taken very soon after the cabin was built in '58. Cabins 11 and 13 stood (and stand--but they are numbered differently and it's no longer Outpost there) along the left side of the field in the flat two flats up from the main level of camp. Between 11 and 13 was and is a path through the woods that leads up to the new cluster of five cabins, originally Lenape (16-20). Behind the cabin you see a tall tree. It's gone and what's located there now is Quirk Lodge, the super-est of the SuperLodges of the 90s.

Ken Nathanson thinks this might be cabin 6. But the slope seems too steep to me, and the woods too near. Hmmmm. Kenny writes: "Yea, from memory I thought the slope was too steep too, but after seeing the photo of yours that I linked to I see that cabin seemed to have a good slope to it. I don’t see how that could be cabin 14. Cabin 13’s front faced the trail as you walked up and cabin 14 would be to the right. Plus looking carefully at photo there is a lot of open space to the left of that cabin." Here's the view of cabin 6, from further back, in the mid-60s.

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Geoff Hazel is sure this is cabin 13. He was a camper there in 1961 and remembers that as a cabin project the campers painted the then-raw wood cabin with creosote.

weddings, yes

Frost Valley couples...have you considered having your wedding at Frost Valley? FV is now really set up to make this possible. Click on this PDF and see the details.

sis visits at holdover

Dave Scherer and his sister Amy during holdover weekend after 2nd session, 1985. The totem pole at the spot where the camp road turns in from the county road (main entrance) was made by John Giannotti just a year or two earlier.

dining hall

The dining hall, a photo taken by Mike DeVita, not longer after its construction was completed (I'm guessing it's late spring/early summer 1959). The shot is taken from the east of the building. Mike was standing at the top of the wide path that came up from the lower flat - the path that now runs behind Margetts Lodge.

Forest Village, 1958

Forest Village in its first summer at Frost Valley, 1958. First row, left to right: Dick Nice (cabin 7), assistant village chief; "Hutch" Hutchinson, J.C.; Mike DeVita, Village Chief; Row 2, left to right: Dave Andresen, cabin 8; Larry Kaufmann, 6; Chet McLemore, cabin 10; Bill Bedall, 9.

Behind and to the left you see the "Rec Hall," the Forstmann cow barn which then, in '58, served as the dining hall and indoor activity building. Just above McLemore's head: Doubletop Mountain.

now

Photo taken during a recent (Memorial Day weekend) early staff training for Junior Counselors who will miss part or most of the regular training week because of late-ending public school.

hoopla 1978

The scene is the Boys' Dining Hall, August 25, 1978. The last full day of camp for that summer, lunchtime. Time for what later become known as "hoopla." I think in '78 we still called this rollicking session "cheers." But it entailed cheering and loud singing (and sometimes a skit). Jean-Louis Lalanne had been an ICCP (international) counselor in the summer of '76, and missed all this. He asked me if I could make a recording of hoopla and I did. I recently rediscovered this old cassette and I'm glad it hasn't deteriorated too much. The recording is fifteen minutes long. At first you hear the villages cheering - Totem, Forest, Outpost, Lenape and Hemlock. Sequoia was with us usually in that dining hall, but they were out that day. And Cherokee, a village older than Tacoma (they lived in Biscuit and Pigeon Lodges and ate in the Boys' Dining Hall), wasn't happening in session 4 that summer (they'd been there 1, 2 and 3). Among the cheers you hear are two versions of "The Gridiron" (Lenape's: "The Gridiron's cold, you can't beat Lenape 'cause we're too old") and a classic Lenape "triple locomotive" left over from the Bud Cox Lenape days ("L L L - E E E - N N N - A A A - P P P P P P P - E E E... LenapeLenapeLenape"). And a Forest cheer that had been introduced and perfected by J.C. Pony in the mid-60s: "Has Forest got the spirit?" "Yeah, man!" Then "Announcements" and then two songs: Father Abraham and Green Grass.

Here's that recording - an mp3 audio file you can download.