Camp Echo Monthly Alumni E-News September 30, 2003 Back issues are archived at The Camp Echo E-List is now at 697 members. Spread the word! If you want to be removed from this list, reply and let me know. NOTE: Former "attbi" users please reply with your new email address. ***** Next issue: late October ***** Contents -------- What's Been Happening at Camp? Echo Song CD Update Join the "Echo Spirit Team" Wish List Alumni Notes - Josh Gilbert - Bill Clark - Julie McGinn - Kiersten Rippeteau - Bob Ettinger - Flo Allan - Alissa Pywell - Josh Newman - Kitt Healy - Naomi Goldberg Announcements Bunk1 Song of the Month: MY AUNT CAME BACK What's Been Happening at Camp? ----------------------------- Our three August Family Camps were terrific. Terry Hansen Brenner ran the two week-long camps, and Katie Tucker Trippi ran the Labor Day Weekend camp. Skiing, sailing, arts & crafts, horseback trail rides, archery, swimming, fishing, and kayaking were supplemented with high ropes, canoe trips, blueberry picking and of course "Tool Time." Evening programs included campfires, talent shows, carnivals, and of course square dances called by Vince Kemperman. (Yes, Vince!) The senior members of the Tramel and Englehard family even joined us for Labor Day Weekend, spending nights at The Shack and days at Echo. Pictures will be up on the Echo website later in October. Camp Echo Family Camp has been described both as "Evanston's best-kept secret" and "Disney World without the Disney." Anyone who picked up a copy of the Evanston Round Table last week may have seen the nice article on Familiy Camp written by Les Jacobson. We had a few empty cabins each week -- but we still had over 20 families each session because more and more neighbors and friends are sharing cabins. Many Camp Echo alumni have dropped off the McGaw YMCA mailing list since they are not current members. If you want to receive registration materials in December, email Debbie Boller and ask her to put you on the 2004 Camp Guide mailing list. Zoli Nep, Echo alum Mike Barber, and four international staff members from other camps (Mwansa Mulenga, Ramatoulaye Georges, Georgette Sow, and Laura Mejia) did a terrific job with our Outdoor Ed school groups from Fremont Middle School and Ealy (Whitehall) Elementary School. We had a small group of women here for Women's Wellness Weekend under the direction of Katie Tucker Trippi. Campfires, power walks, great meals prepared by Echo cook Laurie Marshall, dancing to the oldies, yoga, and canoe trips around the lake made for a fantastic time. Registration opens in December for next year's event, which will probably occur the weekend after Labor Day -- September 9-12, 2004 Check out the pictures at . 20 local women attended Rustic Scrapping Day and about 17 of them spent the night. Die-hards were up until 4 am working on their creations. Check out the pictures at . Zoli Nep and Mwansa Mulenga have been working with Rob Johnston to begin the process of putting the camp away for the winter. Among other things, they have taken boats out of the water, packed up the various program areas, planted grass, and cleaned out the walk-in. We await the arrival of our adult volunteers who will finish the process by pulling the piers and assisting with other projects next weekend. Echo Song CD Update ------------------- Thanks to reader response, a nice list of Echo song favorites has been compiled, and a great deal of preliminary licensing research has been completed. Now we'd like to hear from Echo alumni musicians and backup singers who would like to perform. We are particularly interested in folks who will be around the Evanston area in December, and especially folks who might have quality recording capability or a connection to a studio. Although we are still not sure how this will all come together, we'd like to hear from anyone interested in performing a song or songs on the eventual CD. Write to with the subject line "Song Performers". (Don't hit reply to do this!) Join the "Echo Spirit Team" -------------------------- We're looking for volunteers to help at the Echo bus departures and arrivals in Evanston next summer. Give us an hour or two on a Friday or Saturday afternoon, or a Sunday morning. Mingle with the parents and campers and talk about your experience at camp. Help with the distribution of bus passes and loading/unloading luggage. Numerous Camp Echo alumni, parents, and Camp Committee members have helped from time to time over the years. Our goal is to develop a large group of volunteers who can show up en-masse and turn the arrival and departure process into an informative and upbeat event. New ideas that would require significant leadership include sales of Echo clothing, offering bug juice and snacks, and presenting an electronic slide show of pictures from the previous session. Bus departures and arrivals are the only contact many parents have with Camp Echo. Please help make this a pleasurable experience. Wish List --------- bugle 35 mm cameras refrigerator working, 500 MHz or better, Pentium-based PCs complete decks of cards puzzles reliable buses Alumni Notes ------------ Josh Gilbert writes, "I was a camper from 1986 to 1988, a JC in 1989, AC in 1990 and 91, and an SC in 1992. I was was on the Bike Trip with Jon Brenner, Mike McMahon, Maggie Crowley, and Terry Hansen (now Brenner) in 1988. I spent a session in PV and Outpost, as well." "I think of camp often, especially when the summer mornings are cold and the grass is full of dew -- just like so many mornings walking across the field from the Chapel to the Dining Hall for breakfast with wet feet. Why did I think the grass would be dry that day?" "I have a daughter, Eloise, who is 7 1/2 months old, and already I get excited for her thinking about all the fun she'll have at camp." -- Bill Clark and his new wife Kay, who he has known since they were in first grade together, visited camp on September 20. Bill, who was one of the "original" family campers 40 years ago, lived in Evanston for many years and has a summer home across the lake from Camp Echo. -- Julie McGinn is working at an awesome new restaurant in Northbrook called Stonefish Grill (same owners as Bar Louie) - right on Skokie Blvd off off Dundee (next to Ron of Japan). Great Happy Hour deals and YUMMY food! Check it out! -- Kiersten Rippeteau has been hired as a Program Manager for the Youth Services Department at the McGaw YMCA in Evanston. She will be in charge of State Youth and Government, City Youth and Government, and the One-on-One Tutoring Program. -- Bob Ettinger is living in Somerville, Massachusetts, near Boston doing a new teaching program in the Boston public schools. He spends 4 days a week in a middle school science classroom with a "master teacher" and the fifth day going to various seminars. He will end up with a Masters and teaching certification. -- Flo Allan's daughter Debbie gave birth to Montana Marie on September 18th, 8 lbs 9 oz, 18-1/2 in. (She is Flo's sixth grandchild!) -- Alissa Pywell is working in southern California about 2 hours east of San Diego teaching science to school groups at a place called ASTROCAMP. They do lots wit the sky and telescopes, but they also have high ropes, hiking trails, and a climbing wall. -- Josh Newman and Eli Silins are doing well in Prescott Arizona. They began their school year with a three-week backpacking trip. Eli went to the Barbershop Canyon and Josh went to follow the paths of Clear and Beaver creeks. -- Kitt Healy has deferred her admission to the University of Virginia for one year so she can participate in a NOLS semester in the Sonoran Desert from October through December. -- Naomi Goldberg has taken a job at Nature's Classroom in Groton, Massachusetts, where she teaches science classes to school groups from all over New England. Nature's Classroom is always looking for more teachers, so spread the word; it's a great program with 13 sites all over the East coast." Announcements ------------- Echo 2003 staff members Gus Granchalek and Tom Hodgman have settled in Denver for the school year. They would love to hear from any Echo alumni in the Denver area with teaching, business, or environmental related jobs who can help them learn more about what Denver has to offer. The Lodding family (Nurse Nancy) is selling their 3 bedroom house in Niles. Refer buyers to . Bunk1 ----- Bunk1 was our connection for one-way email from parents and an online photo album for the summer. You can join Bunk1 as an Echo alum, for about $10 per year, to view the thousands of photos that were taken and uploaded by our summer Computer Technician, Dylan Carrington. Go to http://campecho.bunk1.com to register. Email me if you want a pre-approval code; otherwise you'll be approved after you register. There is no need for you to purchase a bank of Bunk Notes for emails. Song of the Month ----------------- MY AUNT CAME BACK My Aunt came back from Old Japan And she brought me back a paper fan My Aunt came back from Old Algiers And she brought me back a pair of shears My Aunt came back from Holland, too And she brought me back a wooden shoe My Aunt came back from the Big City And she brought me back an itchy flea My Aunt came back from the World's Fair And she brought me back a rocking chair My Aunt came back from Old Belgium And she brought me back some bubble gum My Aunt came back from the City Zoo And she brought me back some nuts like you! McGaw YMCA Executive Director Search ------------------------------------ The search is still in process. Build The Spirit! -- Rob Grierson Camp Echo Director rg@mcgawymca.org