Camp Echo Weekly E-Newsletter Feb 10, 2002 ***** Camp Echo E-List Update ----------------------- The Camp Echo E-List is now at 310 members. Spread the word! I'll put a membership list, sans email addresses, in a future issue. If you would like the e-address of another alum, ask me and I'll send it to you off-list. If you are in contact with any members of the Echo family via e-mail, me if they want to be added to the list. Who's Coming Back to Echo in 2002? ---------------------------------- I'm pleased to announce that James Kinney has accepted the position of Main Camp Director for the summer of 2002. (Main Camp Director is the new title for what has recently been called Staff Director and in previous years Program Director.) James began his Camp Echo experience as a camper when he was in sixth grade. He was a participant in the Outpost, CIT, and JC programs, then worked as an Assistant Counselor, Senior Counselor, and Wilderness Director (Outpost). Last summer he worked at the McGaw YMCA Child Care Center's Summer Adventure Club. James graduated from Kenyon College in May of 2001 as a theater major. At Kenyon, he was the social chair of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, and President of the Fools on the Hill improv comedy group where he won the 2001 Paul Newman award for best performance. James is a NOLS graduate, having completed their leadership course in the Chilean Pantagonian Andes Mountains; there he spent three months Sea Kayaking, mountaineering, and learning the basics of glacial travel. More recently, he spent two months on the North and South islands of New Zealand backpacking (or tramping as it is refered to by Kiwis.) He also completed various treks and circuits in the Tongariro National Park and the Fiordlands. James is currently working part-time for REI in Niles and the Stained Glass restaurant in Evanston, and taking classes at Chicago's Audition Studio; over the coming weeks he will become an integral part of the planning and hiring process for the summer staff. Welcome back, James! New applications received since last week: James Bruski, Michael Byer, Rachel Carrington, Rob Gartzman, Evan Howell, Mindie Kniss, Andrew Leary, David Plotkin, Kiersten Rippeteau, and Tyler Robin. If you are interested in working at Camp Echo this summer, get your application in this month. We expect to have a full staff hired by the end of March. Don't miss out! Last Call For Alumni Board Members ---------------------------------- Tom Fischl, Carolyn Frazier, Sarah Lloyd-Still, Peter Frankel, Kristin TePas, and Brian McGinn have joined the Alumni Board. Our first meeting will be later this month. If anyone else wants to join the group, let me know. Alumni Notes ------------ Send in your news! (You may know what you've been doing for the last X years, but the rest of us in the Echo Family don't know and we want to!) Gil Hoel writes, "Julie (Van Aman) and I are alive and well in the Northlands of Wisconsin. Two kids in college. Both worked at a local camp here a couple of summers ago. Our daughter Jill was the aquatic director and our son Tim was assistant cook. Of course, they loved every minute of it and I think it is quite possible that love for camp is genetic. Julie continues to teach gifted and talented kids in a local rural school district. I am a mental health therapist at a small rural clinic. A killer tornado came through our region last June and decimated a small town and a forty mile surrounding stretch. I have taken a year off from my full time caseload to manage a FEMA Crisis Counseling grant. The work has been stressful, but quite rewarding. I have a very real understanding of the September 11 disaster. Disasters, natural or man-made, offer wonderful opportunities for healing and growth - once the victims begin to move through the terrible grief and loss." Hans Woudman corrects me: "I'm working for UBS AG or, in French, UBS SA, which was the product of the merger in 1998 between the Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corporation, where I began working in January 1989. I'm living in Courroux now, and my wife's company, which specializes in air conditioning systems, is Vecsa SA not Vesca." [That's what I get for trying to piece together notes from five previous E-messages! - Ed.] Wish List --------- If you, or anyone you know, has any of these items to donate, let me know. Dodge Caravan or equivalent 'minivan' for Town Run High Speed Laser Printer (12 pages per minute or better) Copier Machine (40-50 pages per day) Laptop Computers (Pentium or G3) Openings at Camp This Summer ---------------------------- Many people believe, incorrectly, that because certain programs at Echo fill with waiting lists in the early days of registration, that all our programs are full. Not true! Each week I'll try to mention a program with openings. Alumni families should consider coming up for Memorial Day Family Camp Weekend. We've just received approval from the Y to purchase and install two additional heaters in the dining room. We are insulating the wall around the fireplace, and installing a drop-down canvas curtain that will enable us to better heat just half of the dining room when group size is under 100. All these changes should make for a much more pleasant dining experience in May. If you would like a Camp Guide mailed to you, let me know! Rob Johnston in the Evanston Review ----------------------------------- Our very own Rob Johnston was featured in a more-than-full-page article in the Images section of the January 3, 2002 Evanston Review. The article was entitled, "Life Lessons at Camp Echo." In part: There's no doubt he loves his job as resident manager of Camp Echo, one he has held since December 1980. There's also no doubt of his affection for the kids who have camped, swum, ridden horses, canoed, and made friends at Camp Echo during his tenure. And his belief that those kids benefit from the camp's 470 acres of woods and lake is also obvious. "Camp is a good place to send a kid to round out his or her education, with things they can't learn at home," Johnston says. "The group living teaches kids the values of the YMCA, ethics, and how to be a mature young person." "Rob has two walls in his home that are covered with cork board. People give him pictures of themselves, on vacations, traveling, pictures of their weddings. Whenever you visit Rob's house you go immediately to the cork board to see who's up now. He'll say, 'Here's so and so, they went on their honeymoon. Here's someone who came to camp to visit.' He tracks them all and they all stay in touch," Grierson says. Many of those friends were once campers at Echo. In fact, one of his closest, he says, is a man who first camped at the age of 17. His first service project was to help plant 500 red pine seedlings around the camp, Johnston remembers. "The guy is now about 37 years old and one of my best friends. He comes up every spring to help with camp. And those seedlings? They were only 12 inches tall when we planted them. Now they're 24 feet tall." Can you guess who the "friend" is? The answer is at the end. Winter Projects --------------- Camp Echo purchased a matching pair of Old Town War Canoes in the 1950's. Campers and staff used them for cabin group activities and canoe races, and they took some abuse over the years. In the early 1980's, the one in worse shape was stored under the Social Lodge. When the second one became unusable in the late 1990's, we decided to have them refurbished. The canoes were taken to a boat builder (Skywoods) in Honor, Michigan. There it was determined that the one that had been stored under the Social Lodge for nearly 20 years was in better shape, so we had that one refurbished. Rob Johnston assisted the boat builder in some of the work. The restored canoe was a real hit this past summer. The cost of repairing Echo's second canoe is going to be much higher than the first. Accordingly, this past fall the boat builder located a third canoe, in fairly good shape, that was for sale. Camp Echo purchased this canoe. This third canoe (soon to be Echo's second) is virtually identical to the one that we restored last season. In fact, the serial numbers on the boats indicate that they were originally constructed at just about the same time. Work began just before Christmas. Woodwork was repaired with a few slats and ribs being replaced. Then the thwarts, thwart posts and outwhales were disassembled and sanded, and it was returned to camp for the next phase. The entire interior of the boat was sanded, preparing it for four coats of varnish. Tom Hodgeman and Gus Granchalek were on hand in the early days of January to help Rob with sanding chores that seemed overwhelming. Thanks fellas! Rob applied the four coats of varnish in the ensuing weeks. On February 5th, Rob took the canoe to the boat builder's shop where a new covering of canvas skin was applied. Then the canvas was "filled" by saturating it with an epoxy-like substance and rubbing the "goop" into the fabric. Lots of elbow grease is needed, but the result is a very smooth surface that shines. This "filler" will take six weeks to cure and then the exterior of the canoe will be ready for three coats of paint. The finished canoe will be ready for its maiden voyage this summer. We are all looking forward to having two War Canoes out on the lake this summer. Besides the complexity of coordinating 10-12 paddlers and enjoying the quiet power of the big canoes, we can't wait to once again enjoy the challenge of "head-to-head" races in our speedy people-powered vessels. Song of the Week ---------------- This song will be "stuck" in your head until you sing it to one of your colleagues at work. You will either pass it on to them and be rid of it until you come back to camp; or be quietly escorted out of the building. THE BILLBOARD SONG As I was walking down the street one dark and dreary day I came upon a billboard and much to my dismay The sign was torn and tattered from the storm the night before The wind and rain had done its work and this is what I saw: Smoke Coca-Cola cigarettes, chew Wrigley's Spearmint beer Ken-L-Ration dog food keeps your complexion clear Simonize your baby with a Hershey's candy bar And Texaco's the beauty cream that's used by all the stars So ake your next vacation in a brand new Frigid-Aire Learn to play piano in your winter underwear Doctors say that babies should smoke until they're three And people over sixty-five should bathe in Lipton Tea Echo History ------------ Ben Snyder was in the molasses business. His company owned tank cars, and instead of dumping the excess in Louisiana and causing pollution, they brought barges up the Mississippi to Iowa and sold it to mix with feed. His brother Warren played football at Lafayette College. Both of them grew up in the Y in Evanston, and attended Echo. In 1954 Ben and Warren donated funds to Echo for the Boat House & Craft Shop, tennis courts, and Lakeside in memory of their father Thomas. The Snyder family later (1963) donated funds for a cabin in Ben's memory. Coming Soon: ----------- Computer, Website, and Internet Plans [The unnamed 37-year-old friend is, of course, Brian McGinn - Ed.] Feel The Spirit! -- Rob Grierson Camp Echo Director rg@mcgawymca.org 847-475-7400 x259