Camp Echo Quarterly Alumni E-News December 5, 2005 Welcome to all our new subscribers! Our last issue was dated May 9, 2005. Contents -------- Adult Alumni Reunion Summer 2006 Plans Underway What's Happening at Camp? Echo in the Round Double CD Set Camp Echo Annual Campaign KETRA Offers Giving Opportunity Until December 31 Alumni Website Family Camp and Women's Wellness Weekend Join the "Echo Spirit Team" Alumni Notes - Karen & Neil Featherstone - Pete Seyl and Art Gilkes - Nancy Ellen Fitzgibbon - Tonya Pitrof - Joel Fink - Ali Stone - Elise Anne Weiskopf - Mary Shaw Kientzy - David Michael Van Roeyen - Kitt Healy - Laura Mejia - Kelly Kruithoff - Hans Woudman - Josh Newman - James Kinney - Jamie Deutch - Bacary Badji Milestones Summer 2005 Alumni Connections Black Sheep Inn Wins 2005 Sustainable Tourism Award Song of the Month: BOA CONSTRICTER Adult Alumni Reunion -------------------- Our annual Adult Alumni Reunion will be Thursday, December 29 at the Prairie Moon Restaurant in Evanston, starting at 8 pm. There's no cover charge; it's a cash bar; light snacks provided. The Prairie Moon is located at 1502 Sherman (Sherman & Lake). Summer 2006 Plans Underway -------------------------- We closed out a successful Summer of 2005 in September with Labor Day Weekend Family Camp, Women's Wellness, Outdoor Education for Fremont Middle School, and a warm-weather Fall Work Weekend. Registration for Summer 2006 is open now! You can download the full color 2006 Camp Echo Guide and the Registration Packet at: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/register.html Main Camp Leadership Staff for 2006 are on board already: Program Manager: Lindsay Thompson Main Camp Directors: Bernard Rocca and Evan Howell LIT/CIT Directors: Swami Miller and Justin Altay Wrangler: Laura Gageby Our Teen Program includes Birches, Teen xTreme, LIT, CIT, Echo Service Corps, and 14 Adventure Trips. This year, for the first time since the mid-1990s, we will be offering the Alaska Trip. What's Happening At Camp? ------------------------ Property Manager Rob Johnston and Assistant Property Manager Brian McGinn are nearly finished with the rehab of the counselor area in 7 more cabins -- Friendship Lodge was the prototype last summer. The rehab includes solid, wider, more comfortable beds for counselors with plenty of shelving and drawers, as well as an in-the-ceiling exhaust fan for hot, sweltering nights. Last summer's horseback riding programs benefited from a new hitching rail in Main Camp, and a new riding ring and water delivery system for Ranch Camp at the Horseback Overnight site. We purchased a 250 Kw backup generator from Gerber Hospital that is capable of keeping all of camp online during a power failure. Final installation and testing occured in September and October. Rob & Brian recently built a pair of new picnic tables for the Arts & Crafts shop, and will soon start on the prefab for "Peak" number 10, another of our new staff cabins that sleep four. Echo in the Round - Double CD Set --------------------------------- The "Echo in the Round" CD set is on sale now! The price is $25; proceeds go to the "Send a Kid to Camp" Fund. Read all about the CD and the "Send a Kid to Camp" Fund, and see pictures from the rehearsal and the event, on the Camp Echo website at http://www.ymcacampecho.org/MusicCD Camp Echo Annual Campaign ------------------------- Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has responded to our Camp Echo Annual Campaign appeal! We exceeded our goal of $40,000 in donations from all sources for FY05 with the help of over $11,000 from Echo alumni. We were able to provide up to 75% fee assistance for 64 campers this summer -- more than ever. Look for our FY06 mailing in late winter (February or March). KETRA Offers Giving Opportunity Until December 31 ------------------------------------------------- The Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005 (KETRA) was signed into law on September 23, 2005 and provides numerous tax relief provisions designed to encourage contributions to both Katrina relief and to other charities. For donations to any recognized charity before December 31, 2005 KETRA eliminates the 50% adjusted gross income percentage limitation on charitable deductions for individuals and the 3% itemized deduction reduction for charitable gifts. Please consider an extra donation to Camp Echo before the December 31 deadline. Consult your tax advisor for details. Alumni Website -------------- Our Alumni website is up and running! Look yourself up with "Index by Name" and look for your peers with "Lists by Year." Click here for the site: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/alumni.html Use "Submit My Info" to send us updates and changes. You can email any other member of the list whose name appears as an underlined hyperlink. Their email address is not revealed unless they choose to reply to your message. Family Camp and Women's Wellness Weekend ---------------------------------------- Family Camp is a terrific time for alumni to return to Echo. You can return as a staff member or as a participating family. To apply for staff: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/apply.html To sign up for camp: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/register.html Join us for Memorial Day Weekend, Week 1 (August 13-19), Week 2 (August 20-26), or Labor Day Weekend. To bring back those memories, check out our gallery of family camp photos, thanks to Mike Kelly, Photographer. To see the gallery: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/familyweek.html Alumni are also welcome at Women's Wellness Weekend in September. Click here for info: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/programs.html Join the "Echo Spirit Team" -------------------------- We're looking for volunteers to help at the Echo bus departures and arrivals in Evanston this 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. Alumni Notes (compiled by Katie Trippi, Echo Alumni Contact) ------------ Karen and Neil Featherstone send their best wishes for a joyous holiday season to all their Camp Echo friends. Karen is responding well to her chemotherapy treatments and is suffering very minimal side effects. She was diagnosed with Liver Cancer at the end of August and has made a remarkable recovery from her surgery. She has completed five chemo treatments and has seven more to go. Her CEA numbers have dropped precipitously meaning that she is responding well to the chemotherapy. She is in excellent spirits and would tell you all that except for having cancer, she feels fine. Neil is doing well and would tell you that he is proud of his ability to perform his role as chief cook and bottle washer. Pete Seyl and Art Gilkes came all the way from New Mexico and Pennsylvania respectively to visit with Neil and Karen as soon as they learned of Karen's illness. For three days they regaled each other with stories and memories of camp. Karen wonders what it is about the friendships that are formed at Echo that allows folks to go for decades without seeing each other, but then feel as though they have picked up right where they left off without missing a beat. Is it the place? Is it the true meaning of the Camp Echo Spirit? Most certainly it is the character of the people who are impacted by their camp experiences. Whatever it is, we are all lucky to have friendships such as these. Neil and Karen welcome your cards and letters of support and prayers which lift their spirits and bring a smile to their faces every day. -- We received a great update from Nancy Ellen Fitzgibbon, camper in the late 60s and early 70s, who wrote: "I started out at Camp Echo in Friendship Lodge. I don't remember the exact year or all the Lodges but I was in Snyder, Y'sMen and Ford and spent one year at Outpost. I know Polly O'Brien was my counselor at Ford and at outpost. Christie Pollock was also at Outpost the year I was there. Katie Tucker was at Outpost with me. Pat (Nobles) Jay was my bunkmate throughout the years. We were from Northbrook. I remember Matt and Zenol, Jean Moore, Frog and Fred, Nurse Roche and Marie Roche, and the year we sang General Napolean had 20,000 men. And they all went SURFING on!. I loved the Olympics, overnight canoe trips, and overnight horseback camping trips, the great ghost stories and the singing ­ oh the singing ‹ in the dining hall, around the campfire, at the social lodge. Pat and I always brought our guitars." -- Tonya Pitrof, camper and staff from the late 70s and early 80s, wrote, "I can't really put into words all that Camp Echo meant to me. It was the single greatest aspect of my childhood. Today, I have 2 boys who I hope to send to Echo to experience for themselves the songs, the activities, and the camaraderie that make it so special. I hope to catch up with some old friends sometime at one of these reunions or at family camp. And to Ben Abel's Family, we camped together for many good years and he was always the light and the laughter in our summer. We will truly miss him." -- Joel Fink, counselor from the late 70s, found us through the website and updated his contact information. Joel writes, "I am proud to have brought the Wishy Washy Washer Woman to camp. Best to all of my friends and thanks for he collections of fond memories. - Joel -" In a follow up email he wrote, "Thanks for the warm welcome back. I know there is probably an over used "Echo" metaphor there somewhere. I had an earlier Echo this year when my son, Paul, was in a play and learned that the stage manager, Brad Cooper, was from Fremont. It turned out that growing up every spring, with his church, he was involved in helping to open Echo before Girls' Camp. Every time I saw Brad, I was struck with Echomania and before long, the spirit had a hold of me, and I would be reminding myself of one of the most irresistible experiences in my life. I look forward to hearing about future Echo experience opportunities." -- Ali Stone, camper in the early 80s wrote, "I still have great memories of Camp Echo. The Circle Game still resonates! I found this website accidentally but I am thrilled. Katie Tucker Trippi was my first counselor in Friendship Lodge." -- Elise Anne Weiskopf, camper and staff from the early 80s through the early 90s wrote, "I never stop thinking about Echo! I miss it! I was lucky to have had such an experience!" -- Mary Shaw Kientzy, camper in the late 60s and early 70s wrote, "Ending each summer with two weeks at Camp Echo was the most wonderful experience and one that I have always carried with me." -- David Michael Van Roeyen, camper in the mid 90s wrote, "Camp Echo is what made me really enjoy the camping experience, and led me towards the path of achieving the Eagle Scout award from the BSA. I definitely need to drop by some time and become a cabin counselor." -- Kitt Healy joined us at camp for Session 5 after spending most of her summer in Peru. Back in May she wrote, "I am in Lima, Peru studying abroad at the Universidad Catolica. I'm living with a family that is really kind and refuses to speak to me in English. Even though it makes me sad to be missing most of the summer at Echo, I'm really enjoying my time here and I'm meeting lots of neat people. While I'm here I'm planning to go to Cuzco, Machu Picchu, Madre de Dios in the rainforest´, and as many other places as I can." -- Laura Mejia, Colombian staff member for Family Camp 2003, wrote "I'm here to share with all of you a big big good news!!! After many tries, I could get my dream! I won a scholarship to study in France! I'm so happy! I can't believe it yet! I'm so excited! The scholarship include the ticket, the fee and a payment per month during one year. I'm going to study a master in economy and development durable at the university of Versailles en Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, in Guyancourt (a city near to Paris). Well, in Europe, I hope have posibilities to see some of you! A Colombian hug for all of you! Keep in touch!! Laura" -- Kelly Kruithoff wrote, "I was just thinking of Camp Echo the other day. I am living in Traverse City Michigan right now and working as a site director for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Grand Traverse. Kris and I are expecting our first child in October." -- Hans Woudman, Dutch ICCP counselor in 1977, is a member of the Dutch Badminton Club of Heiloo ... click the link below, then Fotos & Verslagen : Zwitsers to read all about it (in Dutch!) http://www.badmintonvennewater.nl/ -- Josh Newman: "Things here are very busy. We had a great Thanksgiving Newman Family Reunion down in Southern AZ at my uncle's house in Bisbee. The whole family came in for the long weekend and it was was the 1st time we were all together (uncles, aunts and cousins) in 10 years. It was tons of fun hanging out with everyone. I did miss being in Chicago with friends, but I'll be back for winter break. "I have been busy at school and with my coaching job, which has taken on a whole new role this year. I am truly supervising a growing swim team program and serving as an advisor to the new aquatics director and will become the assistant director next semester. "I will be taking only one course this spring semester and then will be taking a full load field course over the summer, which will be mostly a mountaineering course in Alaska. In the fall I will be back here in Prescott leading orientation and a Senior Project" -- James Kinney: "Since successfully finishing my Appalachian Trail thru-hike in September of this year, I have packed up my bags and moved out of Charleston South Carolina. My whole goal was to move back to Chicago and embrace the midwest glory but my path took an unexpected turn south again. I have been living in Lubbock, TX since October. The move was inspired by my girlfriend who I met out on the Appalachian Trail. [James' AT Journal is at http://www.trailjournals.com/jameskinney/] "Like any good 20-something with crazy dreams, I am once again packing up and come January it looks like I am moving to La La land. That's right ... Los Angeles. Honestly, I hate LA, but aside from the great outdoors, the other part of me has been dedicated to acting and it is time to live out that dream. My older brother Brian, who currently does the speciual effects and gore for CSI:NY, has convinced me to use his connections and give the whole "Kinney Brothers ruling the World" thing a shot. What he did manage to get me were the three Screen Actors Guild vouchers that I needed to join the big hoity-toity acting union out west. That was a miracle. "While I am out there I will be giving the acting thing a shot and filling my free time with hiking the lower portion of the Pacific Crest Trail. Once you do one of the Triple Crown Trails you gotta do them all!! See you soon. James" -- Jamie Deutch: "Since I moved down to Savannah I have been keeping busy by life guarding (Did I mention that our OUTDOOR pool stayed open until the end of October!) and coaching youth soccer at the ocal YMCA, taking students out a boat trawling trips, hiking through the salt marsh and maritime forest, and teaching everyone from age 4 though 74! The other day I ended up stuck on a bus for almost an hour waiting to do oyster restoration and wound up saving the day by singing camp songs and playing games." -- Bacary Badji: "I have started my activities that are playing soccer and my researches at the university. In soccer I had a good start by scoring 3 goals for my first match and 2 for the second one. Then I stopped for a month because I was permitted to be with my Mom who was sick. Now I am resuming the trainings to have my shape back. Once again thank you very much for allowing me to practice at camp. Would you say hi to Louie please? Best wishes Bacary Badji" Milestones ---------- Many new babies were born since our last update. Laurie LaComb and Paul White welcomed their son Finnian on May 21st. Kate Ruhl and her husband Kurt Kearney welcomed a daughter in early June. Todd Israelite and Carolyn Fraiser welcomed a daughter in mid June. Peter and Tracy Frankel welcomed a daughter, Annie, in Mid July. Congratulations to all of you! -- Deepest sympathy to Noel and Chris Coker whose father Max passed away in early June. -- Beth Brenzel Geiger's mother, Rosemary Brenzel, died suddenly on Friday, November 18. Bill and Beth were able to spend that night and the weekend with Beth's father John. John, along with Beth's sister Julie, and family from New Jersey, joined Bill, Beth, and their children for Thanksgiving in Evanston, then all headed to Whitefish Bay, Michigan for services on Friday. The family thanks all for their prayers and caring. Cards can be sent c/o Bill, Executive Director, McGaw Y, 1000 Grove, Evanston, 60201. Memorials may be made to: Holy Family Congregation, 4825 N Wildwood Ave., Whitefish Bay, WI 53217; The Milwaukee Rescue Mission, 830 North 19th St Milwaukee, WI 53233; The Milwaukee Salvation Army, PO Box 3071, Milwaukee, WI 53201-3071; House of Peace, PO Box 05656, 1702 West Walnut St, Milwaukee, WI 53205; or any special charity that you hold dear. Bill suggests that, "A gift to The McGaw YMCA or Camp Echo would be a fitting tribute." -- Chuck Norland turned 70 on October 24. With the help of Echo alumni, his son Jim put together a memory book with about 25 birthday letters, from Echo folk and others who worked under Chuck as Principal at Haven. Chuck was a family camper in the 70s and an Assistant Counselor in the 90s. Chuck's wife Nancy was a camper in the 50s and a family camper in the 70s. They currently live at Lake Summerset in Davis, IL. Chuck is about to retire for the 5th or 6th time -- he is currently interim Superintendent for the Pecatonica Schools and President of the Lake Summerset Board of Directors. Many Echo alumni remember the pipeline that existed in the 70s between Camp Echo staff and Haven Middle School staff. The Norlands were regulars at Family Camp in August. If Chuck could convince Echo staff like Bill Geiger and Bob Tarkington to join the Haven staff he did not have to leave camp early to hire teachers back in Evanston. Haven students may not have appreciated it, but they were lucky to get teachers with camp background and degrees from Dartmouth, Colgate, Yale, and so on. When Chuck and son Eric returned to take a cabin in the 90s, they had three Masters Degrees and an PhD between them. Talk about qualified staff! If you were hired by Chuck at Family Camp, write and tell us about it! Here's an update on the Norland boys who spent so many years at Echo: John (Family Camp 70s, Boys Camp 70s, Work Weekend 90s), wife Julie, sons Ethan (5) and Lucas (3), and daughter Charlotte hail from Edgerton, WI. John is a Communications Instructor at Blackhawk Technical College. Julie is also a teacher. Charlotte is in the Peace Corps in Lesotho, Africa. Eric (Family Camp 70s, Boys Camp 70s & 80s, Staff and Work Weekends 90s), wife Laekhena have twin sons Charlie and Phan born Memorial Day Weekend. Eric is a Counselor in the Green Bay Public School System and Laekhena is an Ornatholgist for the US Gov't and manages a Green Bay bird sanctuary. Jim (Family Camp and Boys Camp 70s), his wife Lauri, son Sam (10), and daughter Maggie (7) live in Des Moines. Jim works for EBC as a salesman for large group beneift programs and Lauri is a Cardiac Rehab Nurse at Iowa Lutheran Hospital. Jim play his Echo in the Round CD every chance he gets and sings loudly (poorly) to the frustration of his family -- the statement "shush Daddy, don't sing" can be heard several times a day. Jim visited Eric when he was on staff in the 90s, can almost fainted when he saw Maive and Bridgett O'Meara as adults on that trip. Summer 2005 Alumni Connections ------------------------------ The following Camp Echo alums visited camp this summer: Jane O'Brien and her husband Tim Raidle and their children Emmett, Molly and Stella were on their first Winnebago camping trip. They had traveled from Appleton, Wisconsin and stopped for a few hours to see camp and say hello. Hope Thompson Haberer stopped in for a weekend stay to visit her children who were campers and to check up on her neice Lindsay Thompson was Program Manager in 2005, and will return as same for 2006. Ann Cunniff, staff member from 1970, came to visit daughter Liz Carraro who was on staff as an Assistant Counselor this summer. -- The following alums actually put in several days or weeks of work at Echo this summer: Patrick O'Neil and Gina Difino; Amy Wilde; Betsy Donohue Allen and son Jack; Laurie Lacomb and her three little ones, Mia, Kayla and Finnian; Andy Mynard and his wife Suzanne and their son Grant spent all of Session 4 sharing the Head Counselor and Trading Post jobs; Amanda Sullivan, Jason Walczak, Ryan Behrends, Larry Goldberg all made brief but much appreciated appearances on the maintenance crew; and Mike Barber led a trip during Session 5. Chuck Carrington passed through; Mary Fifles Collins spent a few days working and saying goodbye before she and husband Mark and three children Lydia, Reed and Wynne head off to Spain for a year of sabbatical -- they will spend the next year in and around Granada so make plans to visit them if your schedule allows; Matt Walsh convinced his wife Sarah that a week at Echo was just what their family needed so they joined us with sons Charlie and Henry in tow; Alums Scott Anderson, Vickie Burke, Bill Geiger and Dan Israelite were at camp for the Camp Echo Committee meeting in July; Mary Kleschen worked Session 5 as our camp Health Officer -- her 3 daughters, Katie, Julia and Sarah were all in camper cabins -- they have great stories to tell about their past year sailing on a 43 foot cabin cruiser up the west coast to Alaska and back to Costa Rica, through the Panama Canal and the Caribbean to Florida, though the intercoastal, up the East Coast and through the St. Lawrence to the Great Lakes -- this fall they settled on dry land in Missoula, Montana -- What an adventure! -- Several alums have sent their children to Echo this summer. Charlie Ballard's sons Russell and Chad spent Session 3 on the peninsula. Paul Fischl's son Brad was here the same session. Holly Thompson Gemkow sent both her boys, and Dan Lindner's daughter Ava, came all the way from Alaska to spend a session at camp overnighting and horseback riding on the very same land that her grandparents sold to camp almost 50 years ago. Black Sheep Inn Wins 2005 Sustainable Tourism Award --------------------------------------------------- The Black Sheep Inn of Ecuador was chosen as the winner of the 2005 Sustainable Tourism Award, Conservation Division. http://www.sustainabletourismawards.com/conserv_finalist_1.htm Congratulations to Congrats Echo Alum Andy Hammerman and his wife Michelle Kirby. They plan to use the $20,000 award to convert the Inn to Solar/Wind power. Read all about it at: http://www.blacksheepinn.com/HybridSolarWindDesign.htm Song of the Month: BOA CONSTRICTER ---------------------------------- Oh I'm being eaten by a Boa Constrictor, A Boa Constrictor, a Boa Constrictor. Oh I'm being eaten by a Boa Constrictor And I don't like it at all. Oh, no (oh, no) he's up to my toe. Oh, me (oh, me) he's up to my knee Oh fiddle (oh fiddle) he's up to my middle. Oh heck (oh heck) he's up to my neck. Oh dread (oh dread) he's up to my (slurp). Embrace The Spirit! -- Rob Grierson Camp Echo Director rg@mcgawymca.org