Camp Echo Monthly Alumni E-News November 30, 2003 Back issues are archived at The Camp Echo E-List is now at 700 members. Spread the word! If you want to be removed from this list, reply and let me know. ***** Next issue: late December/early January ***** Contents -------- 2004 Camp Guide Family Camp Reunion Alumni Reunion Echo in the Round: The Reunion Concert 2004 Staff Applications Open Family Camp "Tips" Join the "Echo Spirit Team" Wish List Obituaries - Mike Houlahan - Sharon Walsh's father, Michael Sullivan - Deb Heath's son, Steve Alumni Notes - Todd Israelite & Carolyn Frazier - Jon Kuypers - Matt & Liz Coyne - Hannah Nelson - Dave Tristram - Tom Fischl - John Fischl - Zoli Nep - Alex Behles - Tom Gardner - Emily Kritzler - Julie McGinn - Dawn Summers - Lauren Teichner - Jordan Shea - Ashley Milton - Jeff Neuberger - Jessica Mueller - Rob Johnston - Kitt Healy Echo in the Round: Performer Biographies - Mike Fischl - Gil Hoel - Kent Smith - Bob Tarkington Song of the Month: SOCIETY'S CHILD Lost Alumni 2004 Camp Guide --------------- The 2004 Camp Guide will be mailed soon. Within a few days it will also be available for download from the Camp Echo website. Check after December 5th. Family Camp Reunion ------------------- Saturday, December 27, 2 pm - 4 pm, in the Chinnock Lounge at the McGaw YMCA. Drop by for refreshments and conversation; bring pictures to share! Children can join the summer campers in the gym and pool. Alumni Reunion -------------- The second annual all-time Camp Echo Alumni Reunion will be held on Saturday, December 27, at the Prairie Moon Restaurant in Evanston, starting at 8 pm. Over 100 attended last year. Pictures from that event can be viewed at . This year's event promises to attract even more. Don't miss it! Echo in the Round: The Reunion Concert -------------------------------------- Join us for this historic Camp Echo event! The guitar legends of the 70's (Mike Fischl, Gil Hoel, Kent Smith, and Bob Tarkington) will be performing the "old favorites" as well as a number of Echo tunes that have stood the test of time. We will be recording the Camp Echo Reunion Concert CD for later sale to Echo alumni. Sunday, December 28, 1 pm to 4 pm, at the Prairie Moon Restaruant 1502 Sherman Avenue in Evanston. Brunch 12 noon - 1 pm is $12.00. No charge for the concert, but seating is limited! You must RSVP to Chuck Heisinger: A solicitation for the Camp Echo Alumni "Send a Kid to Camp Fund" will be made. If you would like to participate in the recording and sing along in the chorus let Chuck know. Otherwise, join us as part of the audience. Biographies of the performers are provided for those "too young to remember" in a separate section near the end of this newsletter. Click here for a full-color printable JPEG invitation for friends and family. 2004 Staff Applications Open ---------------------------- We welcome alumni who wish to volunteer (or work) for a week or two, particularly for Outdoor Ed in May and September, or for Family Camp in August -- but even volunteers must go through the regular application process. So if you have any thought that you might want to be a part of Echo 2004, download a 2004 Staff Application today: Family Camp "Tips" ----------------- Long time Camp Echo Family Campers know the secrets to making a week in our rustic setting more comfortable -- even simple things like bringing a folding chair or flip-flops for the shower. We are compiling a list of "tips" for our Family Camp Booklet and we welcome your suggestions. Hit reply and give me your ideas! 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. To join the "Echo Spirit Team" hit reply and let me know you can help. Wish List --------- bugle 35 mm cameras refrigerator computers: 500 MHz or better PCs; iMacs or better puzzles The Trip Center could use back issues (or new subscriptions) to outdoor-type magazines as reference materials. If you have any of the following back issues, or if you would like to give Echo a gift subscription, reply and let me know. We're interested in Outside, National Geographic, NG Adventure, NG Traveler, Natural History, Bicycle, Backpacker, Rock & Ice, and others. Thanks to Laura Dinapolis who has arranged for the donation of used decks of cards from the casino where she works. Obituaries ---------- Mike Houlihan, 63, died on November 5 after a long but brave battle with esophageal cancer. He and his wife Colleen (nee Calderwood) attended Family Camp for the past few years with their granddaughters Molly and Carly, and continued that attendance through last August in spite of his illness, when their son Mike joined them with his wife and children. A celebration of Mike's life was held Friday November 14 in the Alice Millar Chapel on the Evanston campus of Northwestern University. Mike was a Shakespearean scholar, former English professor, and president of the architectural photography firm Hedrich-Blessing. Colleen was an employee of the Evanston Y Girls Department in the 70s. Cards can be sent to 2122 Central Park, Evanston IL, 60201, and donations can be made to Yale College, Northwestern University, or the Michael O. Houlahan Scholarship Fund of Evanston Township HS. -- Sharon Walsh's father, Michael Sullivan, 67, died on October 30 of congestive heart failure. Sharon, her husband Ed, and their children Maura, Jack, and Patrick have attended Family Camp for the past few years. A funeral and wake were held on November 2. Cards can be sent to Sharon and Ed at 1317 Jenks Street, Evanston IL, 60201. -- Deb Heath wrote: Dear Rob & Louie, I need love and prayers from my Echo family. We lost our son, Steve, in an accident on the 14th and my whole world has come apart. Steve had just been at camp with us in 2001 I think before he went into Americorps. I can't believe he is gone. He would have been 21 on the 23rd of November and was scheduled to come home on the 26th. Deb Heath Alumni Notes ------------ Todd Israelite and Carolyn Frazier were married on November 8th in Akumal, Mexico, south of Cancun on the Yucatan Peninsula. About 100 attended the event, among them numerous Echo alumni. Rob Johnston joined the Israelite bothers Dan and Todd for scuba diving along the beautiful reefs and caves of the coast. -- Jon Kuypers , Echo 79-89, is Camp Director at YMCA Camp Abnaki in North Hero, Vermont. Camp Abnaki is a boys only resident camp affiliated with the Greater Burlington YMCA. If any alumni are in the Burlington area or please stop by and say "Hi." -- Family Campers Matt, Liz and Liam Coyne have a new addition to the family. James Lorien Coyne was born on October 16. He weighed in at 7lbs, 12oz, 22 inches long, and red hair (of course). Says Liam, "He's so cute!" Liz reports, "We are looking forward to showing him off next summer on his first Echo camping trip." -- Hannah Nelson reports, "I'm now living in Vermont, if anyone wants to go skiing/snowboarding, let me know." -- Dave Tristram wrote, "I made live animation for two big events this fall, Woodstockhausen and Different Skies . Since the end of September I have been working on a DVD compilation from the Woodstockhausen event; it is going to be 4.5 hours long! My wife Claire had big news this spring when she sold her first novel to Farrar, Strauss and Giroux. Since then foreign rights have been sold in seven countries. The book is called "After" and will appear in April, 2004. On the strength of her publication, Claire has been applying for faculty positions in creative writing programs around the country. Another thing that is keeping me busy is caring for my children Paul and Lucy while Claire is working on her next book. Lucy is in third grade; Paul will be four in January. I must admit, I love my life these days. It is lovely to spend this much time with Paul, and I am enjoying the lack of stress. I'm also very happy with the products of my video hobby." -- Tom Fischl is home and back to work after a hospital stay and recovery from a bout with diverticulitis. Tom is eager to reconnect with other members of the Echo family. -- John Fischl Echo 74-80 wrote, "I'm doing something I haven't done in 25 years of teaching. I'm taking my family to Florida for the week between Christmas and New Years. So I will miss the reunion and concert at the Fischl's favorite Evanston hangout, Prairie Moon. I look forward to buying the CD for friends and family. Can't wait! I missed the Vietnam era, but kept all those songs alive at Echo while the rest of the country listened to disco. Chuck's effort here is such a great way to keep the spirit alive." -- Zoli Nep is back in Hungary after a visit with his girlfriend in Germany. He's trying to figure out what to do for the next six months until it's Echo time again. -- Alex Behles is enjoying her Senior year of high school. She recently appeared as a five-foot-tall Gumby for Halloween. Alex will miss the reunion but loves to get email. -- Tom Gardner visited Echo alums Stretch Waeny, Trent Vorbau, and Ashley Keith in Melbourne before returning home to Perth. Tom has taken a full-time position at his swimming centre as an operations supervisor, and will start fire fighting training in the coming months. He offers any Echo alums who want to travel to Australia a room at his home in the land down under. -- Emily Kritzler spent an amazing two months in North Carolina teaching at the Outward Bound School. She is now in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, working as a children's ski instructor on Jackson Hole Ski Resort. She has been offered a job with Outward Bound South Africa, leading backpacking, rock climbing, and paddling trips during their summer season from January through April. -- Julie McGinn's son Zach is swimming with the MYST swim team again this year. In spite of being younger and smaller than the other swimmers in his division, he recently anchored the winning medley relay team and his freestyle relay finished first. Daughter Sarah will be skating in the Nutcracker this winter. -- Dawn Summers is settled in and looking for a job in North Carolina. Her father is really happy she is there and she finds it really nice to be home. Her kitties are loving life too. -- Lauren Teichner is living in Brooklyn and working for one of her favorite Princeton professors, doing library research. She's applying to grad schools and hopes to travel or even volunteer abroad in the coming months, possibly in Southeast Asia or new Zealand. She urges any Echo alums in NYC to contact her. -- Jordan Shea has moved to Breckenridge, Colorado for the winter and spring (until camp time). He has a job waiting tables at the Salt Creek Restaurant, and plans to teach snowboard lessons to kids part time at Copper Mountain. -- Ashley Milton is living in Berkeley, California where she was placed through the Teach For America program . She teaches 7th grade English to a challenging group of students at a school in El Sobrante. -- Jeff Neuberger has spent the fall playing music and attempting to attend classes at NYU, living in the west village and having an all around good time. His jazz trio is auditioning to go on a tour of Costa Rica this summer. Jeff ran into Echo alum Nate Plotkin while setting up his drums for a gig at Le Figaro Cafe. Jeff and David Plotkin's band, Los Osos Scandalosos, will be playing at Nevin's Live on Sunday, December 28 at 7 pm. They also have a new website, , and their own E-Newsletter. -- Jessica Mueller will miss the reunion due to a Florida vacation. She asks if anyone knows of any good scholarships or financial aid for people who want to become teachers. -- Rob Johnston wrote, "Check out the photo that Polish Tom sent me. This was the big catch of the day when he and I and Laurie went fishing on the Muskegon River near the end of August." Click here: -- Kitt Healy is on a NOLS adventure in Guaymas, Mexico, a city on the sea of Cortes, between backpacking in the Gila wilderness, climbing at Cochise Stronghold, and sea kayaking in Baja. Kitt was able to visit Echo alum Laura Jaffe at the University of Arizona during a break. Kitt will be back in town for the reunions. Echo in the Round: Performer Biographies ---------------------------------------- Michael Fischl began coming to Echo as a family camper in 1961 and a boys' camper in 1963. He was on camp staff more or less continuously from 1968-1974, and he got himself into a load of trouble when he sang an anti-war song during family camp talent night the same week as the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention. Between summers, he was the bass player for Hellfire & Damnation (an ETHS rock band) and then studied classical guitar at Indiana University. He eventually left music for labor law -- which he practiced in Washington D.C. and now teaches in Coral Gables, Florida -- but Camp Echo continues to loom large in his life. For the past five years, he and his family -- wife Pam McClain from Grayling, Michigan (about 2 hours north of Fremont), step-daughter Blair Bichler (17), and daughter Molly McClain Fischl (almost 8) -- have been living in one of the University of Miami's undergraduate residential colleges. In effect, Michael is "camp director" for a staff of 20 and nearly 700 residents, and the leadership lessons he learned working for Neil Featherstone and Ralph "Max" Maxfield are seldom far from his mind. Since the summer of 2000, his step-daughter Blair has been carrying on the Fischl family tradition as a camper and most recently a staff member at Echo, and daughter Molly is eager to attend camp as soon as she is old enough. -- Gil Hoel attended Echo during a period when boys and girls camp were separate. Although he was initially homesick (as an 11 year old boy in 1961) the shores of Long Lake eventually served as a home. This was particularly true in the late sixties when the world was at odds with itself. A yearly return from the turbulence of college life made Echo a sanctuary (Body, Mind and Spirit). He attended for several years as a camper and then worked hisway up the "chain" - maintenance crew, kitchen crew, assistant counselor, counselor in Friendship Lodge (with the youngest boys), to eventually managing the Outpost for two summers. He met his future wife, Julie VanAman, at boy's camp in 1971. Neither could have conceived of the meeting eventually leading to 25 years of marriage and raising two kids who have the Echo spirit (but have never attended). Music was always at the heart of his Echo experience. -- Kent Smith was a Camp Echo camper from 1962-66. He returned to be on staff from 1969-1974. In 1975 after graduating from the University of Kansas he was the Echo Program Director. In 1977 he returned to Y work full time and joined Bill Geiger in the Boys Department as the Assistant Boys' Director, eventually becoming the Youth Director until 1982 when he joined the family business, Mottl & Smith Office Products. He lives in Glenview, IL with his wife, Sherry, who he met in high school when they had the leads in the Y Brillianteen show "Wildcat" in 1971. They have two children who both attend the University of Illinois. Although never pursuing a musical career, Kent still enjoys singing in his church choir and whenever he picks up his guitar, he still plays those same familiar songs that he sang at Camp Echo. -- Bob Tarkington came to Echo as a camper sometime around 1960. Details are a bit fuzzy; although it was likely Cabin 3, conveniently located next to the only KYBO in those days. He served on the Echo staff from 1966-74 in every role immaginable from maintenance crew to program director in boys, girls and family camps. After six years of teaching at Haven and Skiles middle Schools, he got a business degree from Northwestern, and spent nine years in marketing management at Sara Lee Corporation in Deerfield. Since 1989, he has been in marketing and sales management at Coca-Cola in Atlanta. After being inspired for years by various Echo staff members, he finally picked up his first guitar in 1969 and learned enough to navigate around the campfire. After college, he became involved as a student, and later teacher, at The Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago and performed locally. He is married to a wonderful soul, Beth, and has three kids who are scattered about in Houston, College of Wooster in Ohio, and Interlochen Academy in Michigan. Music continues to be a real passion for him. The guitars and songs change over time, but there are always a few close at hand just for the pleasure of learning a new phrase or remembering an old favorite. Song of the Month ----------------- SOCIETY'S CHILD (Janis Ian) Come to my door, baby, face is clean and shining black as night. My mother went to answer, you know, and you looked so fine. Now I can understand your tears and your shame. She called you "boy" instead of your name. When she wouldn't let you inside. When she turned and said "But honey, he's not our kind." She said I can't see you any more, baby. Can't see you anymore. Walk me down to school, baby. Everybody's acting deaf and blind. Until they turn and say why don't you stick to your own kind. (Not sure about the rest of this verse. It sounds to me like) My teachers all laugh, they smirk and stare. Cutting deep down in our affair. Preachers of equality. They say "Believe us" but why won't they just let us be? They say I can't see you anymore, baby. Can't see you anymore. One of these days I'm gonna stop my listening, Gonna raise my head up high. One of these days I'm gonna raise my glistening wings and fly. But that day will have to wait for awhile. Baby, I'm only society's child. When we're older things may change. But for now this is the way they must remain. I say I can't see you any more, baby. Can't see you anymore. No, I don't wanna see you any more, baby. Build The Spirit! -- Rob Grierson Camp Echo Director rg@mcgawymca.org