Camp Echo Quarterly Alumni E-News April 6, 2007 Welcome to all our new subscribers! Our last full issue was dated December 7, 2006 If you don't want to receive these emails, reply and let us know, and we'll take you off the email distribution list. Contents -------- Annual Campaign Spring Fundraiser April 22 Summer 2007 Preview Alumni/Staff E-Pals Projects at Camp A Master Plan for Camp Echo Aiken-Talley Society Naming Opportunity Wish List Alumni Website Alumni Notes - Ed Bradley - Chuck Campbell - Sarah Christmas - Kathleen Donohue Carey - Dick Colberg - JK DeLapp - Herb Engelhard, Sr - Dan Ettinger YouthCare Update - Zach Gilford - Meghan Gordon - Don Gordon - Hope Thompson Haberer - Gil Hoel - Carly and Molly Houlahan - Dan Jacobson - Jim Johnson - Hub Kelsh - James Kinney - Eric Maltzman - Susan McKearnan Passing - Ann Miner - Jessica Paschke Mystery - John Pinter - Ann Higgins Pranschke - Bonnie Hewitt Redding - Marcy Ring - Mary Kelsh Siddall - Randy Simonds - Nick Starkman - Dawn Summers - Ken Thiel Passing - Breaux Walsh Mystery - Maria Cuellar Weisgal Song of the Month: THE BIRDIE SONG Annual Campaign -------------- We recently mailed our Annual Campaign brochure to nearly 5,000 Camp Echo alumni for whom we have current addresses. Please consider a generous donation to Camp Echo, at a level that you can sustain each year. Our goal is to raise $80,000 this fiscal year (ending June 30); as of the end of March we were at $45,000 -- just over halfway. The need for our general campership, Send a Kid to Camp, and Send a Family to Camp efforts is greater than ever this year. If you would like to help us out as a Campaign Captain (the job is just to email a dozen or so of your peers, to encourage and remind them to make a donation) please contact Katie Trippi at . Spring Fundraiser ----------------- Help "Send a Kid to Camp" and reunite with Echo Alums. Join us for an afternoon of friendship and philanthropy as we celebrate the beginning of the 2007 camping season by raising money to send more kids to Camp Echo. We are in the fourth year of our collaboration with the Ted Fund of Evanston, and this coming summer we will be sending 13 kids to Camp Echo. The "Send a Kid to Camp" effort provides a full scholarship and a Trading Post account for economically disadvantaged Evanston youth. Wine Tasting Echo Alumni Fundraiser Sunday, April 22, 2:00-4:00pm At Schaefer's Wine, Food and Spirits 9965 Gross Point Road Skokie, IL 60076 Cost per person $25.00 at the door 100% of the proceeds go to the "Send a Kid to Camp" Fund. 10% of all wine sales also go to the "Send a Kid to Camp" Fund. Call Katie Trippi at 847-475-7400 x 226 if you have any questions. In keeping with the technology of the 21st century, all Echo alumni over the age of 21 who live in the Evanston area will receive an "evite" via email within the next week. Just click and RSVP "Yes" if you plan to attend; note that you must click and RSVP "No" or you will receive multiple reminders of the event as the date draws near. Thanks to Shaefer's and Anje Shaefer Cluxton for sponsoring this event! Summer 2007 Preview ------------------- New programs and a once-in-a-decade extra week of camp! Read all about our summer plans on the Echo website: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/programs.html We've filled over 1200 spots already! Click here for openings: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/openings.html We encourage working alumni who can't give up an entire summer join us as staff members for Family Camps, Outdoor Education, or Work Weekends. We have nearly filled all our session-by-session slots for Town Run, Health Officer, Maintenance Assistant, and Head Counselor. Please email Katie Trippi if you want to join us in 2007! Alumni/Staff E-Pals ------------------- We're looking for alumni to pair up with interested 2007 staff members for email exchanges before, during, and after camp. What a great way to stay in touch across the years! Contact me if you want to be added to the list, and let me know if you have a specific interest (e.g. by program area or a particular area of support staff) Projects at Camp ---------------- Property Manager Rob Johnston and Assistant Brian McGinn have been working hard this winter. All 16 camper cabins now have reconfigured counselor areas, with built-in, larger, more comfortable beds and built-in shelves, and an 'attic' exhaust fan for cooling. Eight cabins have Michigan-approved propane fireplace inserts for heating in May. The kitchen floor under the dishwashing machine ("Hobie") was torn out and replaced in March. This month, Rob & Brian will be expanding the Main Camp horseback riding ring from 60x120 to 80x160, building new racks at the water ski area, and reconfiguring the swimming entry, swimming cabinet, and buddy board. A Master Plan for Camp Echo --------------------------- Construction at Camp Echo over the years has been driven by immediate needs and short-term thinking. We've begun the process of creating a Master Plan -- a vision of what Camp Echo will look like by 2022, when we will enter our second century on Long/Ryerson Lake. We began by using aerial photographs to create a topographic map of the entire property in August. An architectural "charrette" will be held at camp on May 7-8 with 16 Camp Echo staff and policy volunteers, 4 outside YMCA Camp Directors, and 8 members of the OCBA/Slocum design team. We'll be putting our heads together to come up with the best possible ideas for potential additions to camp -- cabins, buildings, and activity areas. We'll have more news about our Master Plan in the fall. Aiken-Talley Society -------------------- The Aiken-Talley Society was created last fall by the McGaw YMCA Board of Directors to recognize people who have had the foresight to ensure the long-term health of the YMCA by including the association in their estate plans or making an endowment gift to the McGaw YMCA. The Society is named for Mayhew P. Aiken, the first president of the Evanston YMCA established in 1885, and the Rev. James Talley, the first Executive Secretary of the Emerson Street YMCA established in 1914 for the African American community in Evanston. The two YMCA's were merged in the 1960s at our present location. Our goal is to grow the McGaw YMCA's endowment fund from $4 million to $10 million in the coming years. Specific opportunities to designate endowment gifts for Camp Echo are being planned and will be announced in the coming year. If you have already named Camp Echo or the McGaw YMCA in your estate plan, and have not let us know, please contact Katie Trippi, Camp Echo Alumni & Development Director . We want to be sure that we honor you as a member of the Aiken-Talley Society. Naming Opportunity ----------------- We're naming our staff cabins, currently numbered 1-10! Contact Katie Trippi as soon as possible if your family is interested in making this type of significant contribution as a lasting legacy to Camp Echo. Wish List --------- We've recently upgraded our staff computers with a donation of three eMacs from Buzz Walsh, a G4 tower from Eric Singer, and iMacs from Lolly Voss and Barbara Mueller. Thanks, folks! We still need another Mac G4 tower for the Trading Post, and a few 500-MHz-or-better iMacs. Please email Rob Grierson today if you can help. Alumni Website -------------- We now list nearly 6,500 former campers and staff members! We have emails for about 1,500. 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. Alumni Notes ------------ We're catching up here with notes from the winter! If you've written to us in the past month or two, we'll publish those notes next issue. Ed Bradley, Boys Camp Camper in the 70s married Michelle Casey on November 4, 2006 and they currently reside in Chicago. -- Chuck Campbell, Boys Camp camper/staff from the 50s and 60s and recent Family Camp volunteer, wrote, "I do not think a day goes by that I do not think about Camp Echo. That is since 1953 my first year in Cabin 1. I swim and run everyday and when I do I think of camp. I learned how to swim at camp and taught later for 4 staff summers. I learned to run in sand at camp. I still sprint 100's and it is easy after sand. In today's competitive environment for kids time I worry my kid's kids will not have the experience of loving a place like Camp Echo (or the "Y"). We were fishing in Argentina in late January. Canoe trips at camp taught me about rivers. Keep the spirit! Thanks, Chuck" Picture from Chuck ... http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/CEC.jpg -- Sarah Christmas, staff member from 2002, is in the Chicago area at the Great Lakes Naval Base until June 2nd. She just finished her second tour around the world as a gunners mate aboard a troop deployment vessel. She got married over the summer to another naval crewman and they live happily at a base in Chula Vista, California. She has decided that the Navy will be where her career is spent and is currently taking a class to become a E4 Petty Officer 2nd class from her 3rd class ranking right now, she says she is flying through the course and after only a week in Chicago she was a third of the way through what should be a 108 day course. She would love to hear from anyone from 2002. -- Kathleen Donohue Carey, Family Camp Camper Child in the 60s and 70s, Girls Camp Camper in the 70s, Family Camp Camper Adult in the 90s and 00s wrote, "What a flood of memories the Alumni newsletter produced. My family started going to camp in the late 60s and like the energizer bunny, we keep going and going, I remember Shorty playing his harmonica, the cool hippy counselors (all the older Fischls, Rob Johnston, Ruth Cornelli, Katie Tucker Trippi) singing Neil Young songs at campfires. At family camp we used to sleep overnight on the trampoline after square dancing every night. On an Outpost Pine River canoe trip, Nancy Hoffman and I hit every rock and log the water offered and completely soaked our wonderful counselors' (Marie Roche and Mary Fischl Wise) sleeping bags, their only judgment lapse that session was putting anything of value in our canoe. While rinsing out a container of bug juice on the third night of our trip, we found four dead, bald mice in the bottom of the jug. We had all wondered why our juice was so hairy. Of course it being camp, we made a song out of it. This past year at Family Camp, Nancy Hoffman and I were the only exclusively adult boat to participate in the Viking Naval Battle. So yes, you can go back to Echo and sill have a ball. -- Dick Colberg, staff member in the early 60s, wrote "I'm retiring as of 12/31/06. I am hoping to spend more time now at our house in the Normandy region of France, 100 miles west of Paris. Since 2000 we've been spending 3 months a year there. Loved my years (1959-1964) at Camp Echo and will never forget them." -- JK DeLapp, Family Camp Camper in 1992 (of the DeLapp family that first attended Family Camp in the 60s), now 25 years old, worked in 2006 as a stand-in double for Matthew Fox on the set of "We Are Marshall" and as a stand-in double for Edward Burns on the set of "One Missed Call". He's recently had bit parts in four different episodes of the TV show October Road. Congratulations, JK! Brother Kyle also made the home town news about a year ago after helping with a beach rescue while on spring break in Florida with a couple of friends. To read more about JK and Kyle, go to and enter "DeLapp" (no quotes) into the search archives box. (http://www.northfulton.com) -- Herb Engelhard, Sr. Family Camp Camper 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s wrote in response to our December Alumni News, "Thanks for the great email ... Merry Christmas to all of the Camp Echo people ... It is amazing to me that seven of our grandchildren have attended camp Echo and every one of them loves it. They have the Echo Spirit!!! -- A year ago, many Echo alumni responded to the plea from Dan Ettinger, staff member from the late 90s and early 00s, to vote online for his organization, YouthCare, in a contest to win a $10,000 grant from the Minnesota Timberwolves FastBreak Foundation. Youth Care won the grant! http://www.youthcaremn.org/Newsletters/December2006.htm#article2 -- Zach Gilford, camper and staff member from the late 90s, stars as quarterback Matt Saracen on NBC's "Friday Night Lights": http://www.nbc.com/Friday_Night_Lights/bios/Zach_Gilford.shtml A number of alumni have written to us about this. Congrats, Zach! -- Meghan Gordon, Family Camp Camper Child in the 80s, 90s, Echo staff late 90s and 00s wrote, "I am living down in Indianapolis right now, finishing up school (taking my sweet precious time). I should be done soon though. Then if everything works out in my favor, heading back up to Chicago." -- Don Gordon, Meghan's Dad, Family Camp Camper Adult in the 80s and 90s is running for Alderman in the 49th Ward in Chicago. Don's wife Bonnie wrote, "Most of you remember Don Gordon as an avid running through the beautiful grounds at Camp Echo. Now, the most senior one in the Gordon family is seeking new leadership in his community as he runs for Alderman of the 49th ward in Rogers Park. Don has a 'preserve our lakefront' initiative in which he has worked diligently with some of his Evanston neighbors. Anyone interested in supporting Don's efforts is encouraged to contact us on his website at: Got the spirit? We hope so!" [Don is running against the incumbent Joe Moore in the April 17 election.] -- Hope Thompson Haberer, Camper late 60s, Staff member 70s, Family Camp Camper Adult 90s and parent of a current staff member wrote in response to the news of Karen Featherstone's death in December, "I am very sorry to hear the news of Karen Featherstone. I remember Neil and Karen and their toddler sons, Jimmy and Billy, very well from the late 60s when they lived in Lakeside. They were a special family to all of us campers and staff back then. I am most thankful that a lodge exists up at Echo with the Featherstone name on it. -- Gil Hoel (camper 59-64, staff 65-73) wrote, "Julie and I went canoeing last summer in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Here are a couple of pictures of us up Nort'" http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/GH1.jpg http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/GH2.jpg http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/GH3.jpg http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/GH4.jpg -- Carly and Molly Houlahan, Family Campers for the past few years (and members of the long-time-Echo extended Houlahan family), started a business called "Hives for Lives" in memory of their grandfather, Mike Houlahan, Sr, who died in 2003. All profits go to the American Cancer Society and in three years they have donated over $22,000! In mid-March they were featured on Fox News in Philadelphia in a touching story which unfortunately has since been dropped from the Fox website. Please visit their website and consider buying honey, donating money, or talking to the children in your lives about starting a bee club to help with a great cause. -- Dan Jacobson, Family Camp staff member from 2004, who raps as Island (see his website at ) will graduate from Columbia College in May and plans to go to LA this summer to see if he can make his mark in the music industry. The proud papa is Lester Jacobson, also a Family Camp staff member, from 03 and 04. -- Jim Johnson, Boys Camp camper from the late 40s and early 50s staff member in 1954, visited camp this summer for the first time in 50 years. He remembers when Wally Ford was a senior counselor that he asked permission from Cliff Maxwell, the Camp Director, to take his entire cabin in his convertible on a trip to the Ford family cottage in Luddington. Jim was Wally's Assistant Counselor that year and still remembers what a great time they all had together. -- Hub Kelsh, Boys Camp camper 1949 and Family Camp Camper Child 1950's sent in his alumni update from the Echo website. He wrote, "Great experience, Little Manistee, Pine River canoe trips." -- James Kinney, staff member from the 90s and 2000s, wrote, "I am gearing up to ride in and raise money for the 2007 MS Bike Tour June 22-24. I hope to reach my fundraising goal of at least $500 and do my part to help end the devastating effects of multiple sclerosis. It would mean a lot to me, and to those living with MS, if you would consider making a donation on my behalf to work towards that goal. Please visit my Personal Page: http://www.msillinois.org/goto/Jkinney150 I am riding to support my dear Aunt Tish who, while suffering from MS, has been one of the most loving and inspiring people in my life. Any amount makes a huge difference, even $5 or $10. I truly appreciate your support because only together can we help people live with multiple sclerosis today and without it tomorrow. Sincerely, James Kinney" -- Eric Maltzman, Boys Camp and Family Camp staff from 1976, a resident of the Ein Gev Kibbutz for the last 25 years, has offered to put together a trip to Israel to visit Christian holy sites as well as sites of major importance for the Jewish people and the modern State of Israel. There are no definite or specific plans, but we're asking if folks are interested. Reply and let us know. -- Susan McKearnan, Family Camp Camper in the 70s and staff member throughout the 80s, died February 21 in Nevada City, California at the age of 41. Her life was celebrated in a ceremony on March 10. Memorial contributions can be made to the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalition of Nevada County, PO Box 484, Grass Valley CA 95945 or via their website at . Brian McGinn and others will plant and dedicate a tree at Echo in Sue's memory; those interested in joining that effort should email Katie Trippi . -- Ann Miner, Counselor in Training in 1956 received her first email newsletter in December, she wrote, "I don't think I have received any of these before, and am interested in staying on the list. Is there any way to get a list of the people who attended Echo in the period when we attended? How do you find people who went to Echo? Rob Grierson, Camp Director wrote back, "We've been going through old registration paperwork and staff lists from many different years and then looking up current contact information using the ETHS and New Trier Alumni Directories. You can get in touch with other alumni from your era by using our website ... Welcome back to Camp Echo" Ann replied, "This is really odd. I just have been working on some informal music things that have made me think back more actively to camp singing here and elsewhere. Is there some way I can figure out when I myself was there? I have some confusion in my own mind between places I attended as a camper and others where I was a counselor." Rob Grierson replied, "We have you down as having been at camp in 1956 our database says you were a CIT (Counselor in Training) but I don't think the program would have been called that in those days. FYI, our current Echo Songbook is online as a PDF. It contains some timeless songs that you may recall. http://www.ymcacampecho.org/songs.pdf -- Jessica (Welzen) Paschke had written us last year about a time capsule that was buried at the base of the flagpole in 1991. In publishing her news, we mentioned that a lot of us remember burying a time capsule in 1985, when Fred Brown was Camp Director. Jessica is certain there was another buried in 1991. Can anyone tell us what the occasion was? -- John Pinter, staff member in the late 70s and early 80s wrote, " I was brieflyin Evanston for Christmas and made my annual visit to the Y early in the day after Christmas for a quick plunge. I grabbed a brochure for Echo. My kids have expressed an interest but probably the best idea for us would be familycamp. School starts very early here, so I am not sure how practical that is. Our Y has a camp as well, so maybe they'll go that route. Hope all is well, it would be fun to come to the reunion but it won't work for us this year." -- Ann Higgins Pranschke, Girls Camp camper in the late 60s, updated her information through the Alumni website and write, "I just found this great site and have a million wonderful memories about camp, those were the days!!!!" -- Bonnie Hewitt Redding, Girls Camp camper in the late 60s received an email from us asking what her Echo history was. She wrote, "Yes, I am an Echo Alum with vivid memories but not too many names to help you with. I was first a camper and then a Jr. Counselor in 67 and 68. Names I recall ... Zenol Moore, Marsha Hanley Hoover, Ellie O'Connell, Paul O'Connell, Rob Johnston (still there???!!!!), and Susan Marsh who was also a camper. When I have time I will pull out my ETHS directory and find more." -- Marcy Ring, Main Camp camper from the mid 80s responded to an email asking for other folks she remembered from camp. She replied, "Katerina Manettas King, Amy Stern, and so many of Amy's friends went to Echo, my brother Dan Ring went as well, I believe." -- Mary Kelsh Siddall, Family Camp Camper Child, 50s, staff member early 60s wrote, "Please add me to your newsletter list. I am Mary 'Sam' Kelsh Siddall. For one season, I was called Sam to differentiate me from the cook, Mary Coyle. I hated it and told Neil Fetherstone that I didn't think we looked at all alike, that there wouldn't be any confusion. Next season, I was back to being me! I am not sure how may years we went to family camp, I will try and find out. My biggest accomplishment at age 5 in 1950 (the very first family camp at Echo ever) is that I caught the biggest fish of the whole season. My claim to fame when I became a full summer staff member is that I was the first 'woman' to work at Boys Camp (other than the cook). My mother was essentially hired to be the chaperone but officially she was Assistant Cook. She was a better cook than chaperone because that is when Bill and I started dating." In a subsequent email she continues, "It was a big deal to be a woman at Boys Camp in the early 60s. I was -- and am -- very proud of having had the courage to ask Neil Featherstone for a job. I had long been a part of Zenol Moore's Y volunteers before I got my first job as a CIT at Girl's Camp. You can print what I said about dating Bill. I can't see how it matters and it was sure no secret. I just think it was funny, Indeed, my Mom was a better all round cook than chaperone. As the director of the craft shop and trading post, I was in frequent contact with all the 'men'. What a great position I was in! Ah, Camp Echo ..." -- Randy Simonds, Boys Camp Camper in the mid 70s responded to an email asking if he is Echo Alum. He replied, "Yes, I did attend Camp Echo, for three summers consecutively, with my cousin, Brad Alger. My older brother went there as well. I think I was there in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade summers, so it was 27 years ago. So that would be 1976. Camp was only boys when I went there. I knew Rob Grierson back then at Camp and I understand he is still involved. I do not know of anyone else besides my cousin and brother from camp. Memories, I have many, I even remember the Camp song (the KYBO version) I remember spending entire days making marble runs in the sand by the Kayak launch area near the arts and crafts building. I remember capture the flag games. I remember awards for clean cabins, the bunks, the dining hall. I even got a plaque from the CITs for helping them one summer in the dining hall after dinner each night. I remember making root beer with real roots, catching frogs at the water's edge, water skiing on a counselor's shoulders, it is really endless. I would be there three sessions in a row, or six weeks each summer for three years so my memories go on and on. Because I was there back-to-back sessions I would get a day off before the new camp people came in. I remember spending it goofing off around camp. My brother recently bought the Camp Echo CD, and I have his copy now. The Titanic Song was one of my favorites. I still know some of the arts and crafts they taught me there, especially making lanyards. I am still good at archery from those days. I remember the trees an sometimes when it rains here, the smell reminds me of camp. Any questions you can call me, I'll remember. When I drink Fanta Red Cream Soda I think of Camp. I still dream about camp." -- Nick Starkman, Main Camp Camper in the late 90s and early 00s wrote, "Camp Echo to me is one of the greatest places I've ever been, and I say that being lucky enough to have traveled the world a great deal for someone my age. Echo is one of the most positive environments a kid can be exposed to, from the care and enthusiasm of the staff to the organization and dedication of the directors. Echo is amazing because it encourages individuality while promoting the idea of a positive community. Echo changed my childhood, and with that, my life. I am thankful for all those who put so much into camp. Much Love." -- Dawn Summers, Assistant Camp Director and Teen Adventure Coordinator (2002-2003) wrote, "I just finished my second year of teaching. This year, I took on a K-2 class for Behaviorally and Emotionally Disabled kids. I am now thoroughly exhausted. I am still working on my licensure and my Masters of Art in Teaching. Never a dull moment. I hope that camp is off to a great start this year. I'll check out the website soon to see the who's who list this year. Give a hug to Louie and the kitties." -- Ken Thiel, Family Camp Director in 1950 and Family Camp camper in the 60s, died January 20 at the age of 81. In 1949, Ken started working at what was then the Evanston YMCA, and in 1961 began efforts to start the North Suburban YMCA in Northbrook. Ken served as the Executive Director of that new YMCA from 1969 to 1989. Ken and his wife Alta continued as near-daily participants of that Y after Ken's retirement. A long-time Rotary Club member with 42 years of perfect meeting attendance, Ken was memorialized in a service held at the North Suburban YMCA in February. -- Breaux Walsh, staff member in the 60s updated his alumni information and wrote, "I am looking for my missing Aunt Lenore. If you know where she is contact me by email, or contact the Greta Monster." -- Maria Cuellar Weisgal (Family Camper 2000s) received an award from the Childcare Network of Evanston for founding the Puerta Abierta Preschool as a dual language (Spanish/English) program, something unique for Evanston. The purpose of the award is to recognize special individuals who have demonstrated outstanding personal commitment to early childhood education in Evanston. Song of the Month: THE BIRDIE SONG ---------------------------------- [Warning: Hand motions might alarm colleagues at work] Way up in the sky the momma birds fly, While down in their nest the baby birds rest. With a wing on the left and a wing on the right, The little birds sleep all through the night. Shhhhhh! They're sleeping! The bright sun comes up, The dew falls away, "Good morning, good morning!" the little birds say. Honor The Spirit! -- Rob Grierson, Camp Echo Director