Camp Echo Weekly E-Newsletter Mar 17, 2002 ***** Camp Echo E-List Update ----------------------- The Camp Echo E-List is now at 390 members. Spread the word! Who's Applied For Echo 2002? ---------------------------- Since last week: Emily Assink, Nate Baumgart, Ryan Erasmus, Tom Gardner, Carri Katonah, and Eli Silins. Letters of Agreement will begin going out this week. Honest. I finally have health forms, tax forms, and policies ready. If you have not had an interview yet, contact me to set one up. Alumni Notes (Send in your news!) ------------ James Field writes, "I was an as Assistant Counselor, Senior Counselor, and Archery Area Head in the early 1970's. I currently work for Kraft and live in Hudson Ohio. I am married with three daughters age 6, 11 and 13. We have been in Ohio for four years, and enjoy the Cleveland area. I hope to take the girls for a vacation at family camp one of these years. I am glad that I ran into you at the Camp Echo exhibit at our corporate headquarters in Glenview." [Editor: I was doing a Camp Fair at Kraft and James just happened to be in Glenview on business!] Kate Tate writes, "Thanks for the newsletter and for the song "Today" that you included in it. It took me back to Outpost, 1974 or maybe 75 when Polly O'Brien and Christie Pollack were my counselors. They sang that song and it has stuck with me so that now it is a regular on the bedtime song list I sing to my two-year-old, Sam. I feel pretty far away from everybody here in Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada) and so the connection is nice." Jamie Steel writes, "Greetings Echo Folk! Greetings and Salutations! I am writing to tell you a little about where I work and play. Note: there's a definite connection between Camp Echo and Eagle Rock School (much to the sarcastic chagrin of Philbert Smith, Director of Students here at ERS). Heather Solar, Alex Head, and Christian Champagne have worked here in the past and Paola Angel currently works here, as do I. So there's more than the camp counselor for life - Clean Plate Club employee - teacher progression. If you want to break that up, check out ERS. "Seriously though, Eagle Rock School is an amazing wonderful tuition-free residential high-school nestled in the Rocky Mountains just outside of the town of Estes Park. Our students have not succeeded in a public setting - for every imaginable reason - and have chosen to come to ERS and take charge of both their education and their lives. The staff and students of ERS are striving to do the right thing in education and everything else and it's a joy to get to take part in that process. For more information, contact a Camp/ERS alum or check out our website: . "There is a strong connection between camp and ERS and those of us who have worked at both places are trying to continue this tradition. Plus, sometimes camp counselors make great teachers." Katie Trippi writes, "I am writing to rave about a new dining experience in Evanston. As some of you know, Prairie Moon is a new restaurant that has just opened on Sherman Avenue between Lake and Grove. I took the kids last night and both the food and service are fantastic. The physical beauty of the restaurant down to the last detail in the restrooms is beyond belief. The food is fairly priced and everything we had was delicious. Each dish is from a different region Cake for desert. Many of you know that friends from Camp Echo and the Y, Rob Strom and Paul White own the establishment and I encourage you to get there soon because I predict a standing room only crowd every night is in their very near future." Song of the Week (requires that you recruit two helpers) ---------------- SNAP, CRACKLE, POP Snap, what a happy sound Snap is the happiest sound I've found You can rap, tap, slap, clap, but Snap makes the world go 'round! I say it's Crackle, the cripsy sound You gotta have Crackle or the clock's not round Geese cackle, feathers tickle, Belts buckle, beets pickle but Crackle makes the world go 'round! I insist that Pop's the sound The best is missin' 'less Pop's around Ya' can't stop hoppin' when the cereal's poppin Pop makes the world go 'round! (sing them simultaneously, and end with) Snap! Crackle! Pop! Rice Crispies! Echo Memories, Part 1 --------------------- Contributed by John Donohue, long-time volunteer at First Timers Camp. Written in 1999 for another E-list; reprinted with John's permission. -- Each summer I volunteer up at Camp Echo, usually taking a cabin of young boys and also teaching sailing. This past summer I had a group of fifth graders, which is a pretty neat age (but then, they all are.) The joy of staying up after lights out is one of those special things about camp, and despite my longing for bed I'm usually not averse to an appropriate night adventure. The stars in that portion of Michigan are one of the rewards for working up there, as there is no reflected city lighting, and the Milky Way can be really seen. In fact, my only real problem is that there are so many stars that sometimes it is difficult to find old favorites that are usually visible in the city. After I put the kids down I usually go outside for a few moments of stargazing (and blessed quiet.) One evening last summer the stars were so magnificent I went in and woke up the boys (who were probably faking sleep at my entrance anyway) and told them that they had to get out of bed and come see the stars. All but one - who insisted he was too tired and wanted to sleep - did so, and we trekked out to the middle of the baseball field and lay down to look at the sky. Remember, these were mainly suburbanites, and they had never really seen a star-filled sky. They were properly awed, especially by the Milky Way. We talked about and pointed out some of the more obvious constellations and identifiable stars, and I gave some pointers like "Follow the arc to Arcturus, speed on down to Spica," and so on. I showed them how one could tell time, and other arcana. To keep things modern we also talked about satellites, and how to identify them, especially in a Polar orbit. God, NASA or some intelligence agency must have heard me, because when I suggested looking for a satellite sure enough, after just a couple of minutes (and a couple of airplane false alarms,) a satellite went over in perfect north-south orbit. This was in August, and the Perseids had just come through, so we next talked a bit about meteorites and "shooting stars." In for a dime, in for a dollar, we then divided up into teams and quartered the sky looking for meteors. We were really on a roll, and there were about six quick, small meteors in about 10-12 minutes. At that point I was getting tired, and was trying to wind things up talking about something just above the Eastern horizon. At that moment the largest shooting star I have ever seen flew across in a low horizontal path, a long, brilliant white line extending over 90 degrees of sky and.ending in a spectacular burnout. In my mind I classify it as a probable meteorite, not just a meteor - I have never seen anything like it. Both kids and very Senior Counselor were stunned. By now the kids were really into stargazing, and begged for more. that, and I know when to quit when I'm ahead. I told them we absolutely had to go back to the cabin and hit the sack, before the Camp Director caught us out after hours. One of the unexpected joys the next morning was listening to nine young boys telling their sleep-in compatriot about all the neat things he missed. They all wanted to go out again the next evening, but luckily the sky was overcast. It would have been a hard act to follow. (But amazingly, the next week provided an even more spectacular experience in the sky during Family Camp.) Stay tuned ... Wish List --------- If you, or anyone you know, has any of these items to donate, let me know. Laptop Computer (Pentium or G3) iMac, any generation, any color - even Dalmation! Request ------- We're collecting photocopies or scans of the emblems/logos from Staff shirts over the years. We have 76-79, 87-88, 94, and 97. Can you provide others? We're only talking about Staff shirts, not camper or regular shirts. Feel The Spirit! -- Rob Grierson Camp Echo Director rg@mcgawymca.org 847-475-7400 x259