Camp Echo Quarterly Alumni E-News November 22, 2007 Welcome to all our new subscribers! Our last email newsletter was dated April 6, 2007 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 -------- Adult Alumni Reunion - Donations Requested - Matching Fund! Summer 2007 Recap Summer 2008 Plans Projects at Camp McGaw YMCA Vision Statement A Master Plan for Camp Echo Aiken-Talley Society Naming Opportunity Wish List Alumni Website Alumni Notes - Amy Spitz Burns - Chuck Campbell - Pablo Callejas Castro - Kyle DeLapp - Dan Ettinger and Simon Goldberg - Tom Gardner - Susie Carlson Gruben - Cara Sheehy Murphy - Jessica Welzen Paschke - Sheila Walsh Richard - Maggie Crowley Ryan - Trish Greenwood Scherner - Heather Sharp - Greg Spitz - Jim Wall - Steve Weingartner - Hans Woudman Song of the Month: Boom Boom Ain't it Great to be Crazy Adult Alumni Reunion - Donations Requested - Matching Fund! ----------------------------------------------------------- Our reunion this year is on the Sunday before Christmas. Sunday, December 23, starting at 8:00 pm Prairie Moon Restaurant, 1502 Sherman Ave, Evanston Voluntary $20 donation to the "Send a Kid to Camp" fund requested This year, we're using this event to raise money for the "Send a Kid to Camp" fund, which provides scholarships for 12 campers each summer, as identified for us by the Ted Fund of Evanston. As an incentive to our alumni reunion attendees, a matching fund has been established for the night. The first $20 of all donations of $20 or more, from different attendees, made between 8 pm and 11 pm at the reunion, up to a total of $1,000, will be matched! Your $20 donation will instantly become $40 towards this worthy cause. Even if you can't attend the reunion, you can donate with PayPal: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/donate.html (Online donations are not part of the matching fund challenge.) Summer 2007 Recap ------------------- 2007 was another successful summer at Camp Echo! - 1320 summer spots filled with 1139 different campers - 52% girls, 48% boys -- 62% retention rate from 2006 - 65 teen participants on 7 different Adventure Trips - 480 members of 97 families at 4 family camps - Main Camp enrollment was 100% of capacity - 87 campers and 10 families received scholarships - 193 different staff members from May thru September Thank you to all the Camp Echo alumni who continue to help out with work weekends, committee work, bus departures and arrivals, as summer staff members, and parents of campers! Summer 2008 Plans ----------------- Registration for summer 2008 starts Monday November 26. Check out our re-designed website: http://www.ymcacampecho.org 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. Some summer staff positions are available session-by-session to alumni: CIT Director, Town Run, Health Officer, Senior Maintenance Staff, and Social Worker. Let us know if you are interested! Projects at Camp ---------------- Property Manager Rob Johnston and Assistant Brian McGinn are enjoying the quiet of the fall, yet busy on off-season projects. The county Health Department has asked us to provide an accurate measure of water usage during the summer, so we're installing "flow meters" in five locations. In addition to repairing a number of bikes and sailboats and the pontoon boat, Rob and Brian will be expanding the size of the coffee/tea counter in the Dining Hall (so we can add decaf coffee and a skim milk dispenser) and re-grouting the kitchen floor. Other projects include refurbishing the stone benches on the Nature Trail, rebuilding the lift pump in Kybo West, building a classroom by the horse barn, and installing propane fireplace inserts in the eight camper cabins that do not yet have them. McGaw YMCA Vision Statement --------------------------- The McGaw YMCA, through its programs, members, volunteers, and donors, is recognized as a leading resource in helping people of all ages live a healthy, balanced lifestyle; creating programs for older adults, families, children, and youth that meet community needs; offering leadership development opportunities; and valuing diversity. As a department of the McGaw YMCA, Camp Echo shares this vision. A Master Plan for Camp Echo --------------------------- An architectural design "charrette" was held at camp on May 7-8 with more than a dozen Camp Echo staff and policy volunteers, 4 outside YMCA Camp Directors, and 6 members of the OCBA/Slocum design team. As a result, we now have an exciting plan for a number of improvements to the existing Camp Echo facility, as well as suggested locations and basic designs for new cabins and buildings that will enable us to provide a wonderful Camp Echo experience to even more campers. We'll be unveiling our plans and some fundraising goals in the coming months. Aiken-Talley Society -------------------- The Aiken-Talley Society was created in 2006 by the McGaw YMCA Board of Directors to recognize growing number of visionary benefactors who have generously contributed to the long-term health of the McGaw YMCA by including the Association in their estate plans. 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. Through the generosity of our past and current donors the endowment fund has over four million dollars. Our goal is to build the endowment fund to ten million dollars to ensure that the McGaw YMCA will continue to change lives and positively impact our community for years to come. 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, or if you are considering doing so, please contact the Camp Echo 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! Several cabins are spoken for, and we're in discussions for the others. 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, and we'll add you to the waiting list for this specific opportunity. Wish List --------- Camp Echo welcomes donations of the following items: - Macintosh computers (G4/750 or better) - Power tools - Decks of cards - DVD movies (G or PG) - 35mm film cameras - Board games - Jigsaw puzzles - Arts & Crafts supplies - Sailboats (Sunfish, or Barnett 1400) - Vehicles (specific vehicles, year 2000 or newer) - Water skis or Wakeboards (in excellent shape) Alumni Website -------------- We now list over 7,500 former campers and staff members! We have emails for over 1,600. 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 spring and summer! -- Amy Spitz Burns, camper in the early 80s, and staff in the late 80s wrote, "I love the Echo alumni website, and have already emailed lots of people I haven't been in touch with in nearly 20 years! It is great. Keep up the good work." -- Chuck Campbell, camper in the 50s, staff member in the 60s, and now a retuning alumni staff member for Family Camp wrote, "It's true, 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 swimming later for four summers while on the Echo Staff. I learned to run in sand at camp. I still sprint 100s and it is easy -- after all that sand. In today's competitive environment for kids time, I worry that my future grandkids 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!" -- Pablo Callejas Castro, international counselor in 2005, wrote to us after receiving a birthday greeting from Camp Echo. "Thanks a lot for remembering my birthday! It is really an honor to be remembered by such a nice place. I hope everyone is OK with good health and very happy in their lives. Always remembering the great times at Echo summer of 2005, great people, great community. Hope to hear from you guys too, about your lives, about everything. I'm doing great -- well, studying a lot. Already in my seventh semester and enjoying life everyday more. Big Hugs Pablo Callejas Viva Colombia !!!!" -- Kyle DeLapp, who learned to swim as a family camp child at Camp Echo in 1992, was recently named a recipient of the prestigious Carnegie Medal for heroism. Kyle and two friends rescued four children adrift in the Gulf of Mexico during their Spring Break in 2006. Congratulations, Kyle! Click here for a newspaper article about the rescue: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/REVUE%20Article.jpg Click here to see the Carnegie letter Kyle received: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/Carnegie1.jpg http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/Carnegie2.jpg http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/Carnegie3.jpg Click here to read about the Carnegie Medal for Heroism: http://www.carnegiehero.org/ -- Dan Ettinger (Echo 1995-2003) and Simon Goldberg (Echo 1996-2004) recently completed a cross-country bicycle trip in search of the best jokes they could find as material for a book. Check out their website: http://www.jokesacrossamerica.net -- Tom Gardner, international counselor in 2001, 2002, and 2003 wrote, "I have j oined the Australian Army, and have been enlisted for a year and a half, out of a 6 year enlistment. It's a cheaper way to see the world. I am currently studying a trade (Fitter Armament) and will complete it in about 6 months. Since leaving Echo I have done a range of jobs, in and out of the water, but found this was the best way to get a trade at the ripe old age of 25. Not one job has matched up to Echo yet. I find myself thinking about Echo every May, wishing I never stopped. I still sing all the songs; I have two nephews now (age 1 and 3), who are learning as many songs as I can teach them." -- Susie Carlson Gruben, camper in the early 80s and staff in the early 90s, wrote, "Camp Echo played a large part in creating who I am today. I will always have a special place in my heart for it." -- Cara Sheehy Murphy, camper in the late 80s wrote, "Thanks for the email! I think I went to Family Camp once and regular camp several times in the 80s and 90s and I also did Outpost once. I used to love diving off the pier, swimming across the lake and back, playing capture the flag, chasing boys, making bead bracelets, singing at campfires and catching my counselor with her elbows on the table, etc. Oh, and lying on those gross mattresses for riflery was the best!!" -- Jessica Welzen Paschke wrote, "Last April an Editor's note was inserted at the end of my news item: 'the time capsule was buried in 1985.' While one was surely buried then, I'm certain there was another one buried in 1991, at the base of the flagpole. I only went to camp three years: 90, 91 and 92." [Neither Sally Donohue Courtney, Camp Director that year, nor Rob Johnston, Property Manager, remembers a time capsule in 1991. It's a great mystery! Does anyone else recall this event? -- Editor] -- Sheila Walsh Richard, staff member in the 60s wrote, "I was a counselor at Camp Echo in the early to mid 60s. I was there when my brother Breaux Walsh was the Director. Zenol Moore and Carolyn Morby were also there. (Carolyn and I were ETHS grads in 1958.) They needed a counselor over 21 to teach riflery and I was asked to do it. I remember that Anne Henning was a camper in my cabin. She later became an Olympic speed skater. I also remember many of the old songs like White Wings, (they carry me cheerily over the sea; night falls, I long for my dearie, I spread out my white wings and sail home to thee.) I sung that to my three children, two of whom also went to Camp Echo -- Sarah Richard in about 1990 and Robert Richard around then also. Sarah might have gone twice. She was with Caroline Gantz and Stephanie Nash. Rob was in a cabin with, or at least at camp with, one of the Opdyke boys." -- Maggie Crowley Ryan, camper in the 70s, staff member in the 80s helped us track down Greg, Chad and Amy Spitz with whom we had lost touch. She wrote, "Good luck and it's great to see camp so active in connecting with former campers and staff. Keep up the good work and say 'Hi' to all at the Y." -- Trish Greenwood Scherner, camper in the 70s, staff in the 80s wrote, "It is so fun to receive current news of Echo! I have such fond memories of summers at camp. I used to spend the entire school year counting down until summer and the fun and freedom of Camp Echo. I think my time at Echo was very formative; I realized I wanted to live close to the outdoors and I wanted to work with kids. I have lived in a small ski town for almost 20 years." -- Heather Sharp, staff member from 2000s wrote, "Thanks for the Birthday Wishes!! It is so funny because I can't stop talking about Camp Echo at my new job. I just moved to Atlanta, Georgia in January with my fiance and I've gotten a job in the education department at the Atlanta Zoo. It is such a riot! I am doing daytime/school programs and overnight programs. I am also working part-time at a high school where I'll be starting full-time next school year. I miss camp, and I wish I could come back for Outdoor Ed this spring, but unfortunately there are just too many things going on down here. Echo's always in my heart though. I hope everyone's doing well; send everyone my love. -- When we tracked Greg Spitz down he wrote, "Great to hear from you! Thanks for sending those pictures from 1984. I think about Echo all the time and hope to send our kids there. Keep in touch." -- Jim Wall wrote to update us on himself and his son Jim (Brick) who also attended Camp Echo. "Yes, both Brick and I attended Echo. I am not certain what years he attended but I think it was 1975 or 1976. He graduated from ETHS in 1981 and enlisted in the Marines late that summer, spending 9 years traveling all over the world. He married a woman from Virginia but they liked California and decided to stay in the Camp Pendelton (San Diego) area and take a job in the Oceanside, CA police department. In 2002 he was recruited by the US State Department to train their employees in security methods. He moved to Virginia and lives there now. I attended Camp Echo in 1941, 1942 and 1943 and thoroughly enjoyed my experiences. I still see and associate with good friends Bill Shook, Dick Willis, and Bill Paine among many who I know attended at the same time, some of whom have since passed away. I remember the War Games we held. In 1943 I was the Admiral leading our team (half the camp) to victory. I remember the campfires, the mess hall food (which I liked), learning and singing camp songs, learning to sail, making lanyards, skinny dipping, and playing a variety of sports. I remember one counselor's name (John Barney) and of course Red Moser and Doug Monahan." -- Steve Weingartner, camper in the late 50s and early 60s wrote, "I'm trying to determine when exactly I attended Camp Echo as a camper. I was on the Maintenance Crew in 1966. I am also trying to remember the names of both of my counselors for each year. Here's what I can remember: 1959, 3rd Session, Cabin 2, Pete Seyl was my Assistant Counselor, I wonder who the Senior Counselor was? 1960, 3rd Session, I don't recall the Cabin number, Breaux Walsh was my Senior Counselor, I wonder who the Assistant Counselor was? 1961, 3rd Session, I don't recall the Cabin number, Doug Seator was one of my counselors, I'm not sure which one. Wow, I'm talking about 40 years ago, it seems like yesterday. Time sure does fly. I would greatly appreciate any info you could provide. Many thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you soon." In a follow up email Steve wrote, "I have many memories from my summer at Camp Echo. Maybe I should write them up sometime. That's what I do, by the way, I am a professional writer (historian) and editor. I still know by heart the lyrics for the Camp Echo Song (I wanna wake up ...) Six Pence, and Cheese (It's what makes the world go round.) My memories are clear as a bell. Speaking of which ... I was once involved in a midnight prank to steal that big heavy bell from the tall bell tower in the center of the camp. We put the bell out on the floating raft in the swimming area! Ha, Ha! Neil Featherstone sure gave us hell for that one, but ... he also laughed. I'll do a little digging in my attic and see if I can come up with some more info about my cabins and counselors. I used to have a newsletter from the 1959 session and if I find it I'll scan it and send it along." -- Hans Woudman, ICCP counselor in 1977 wrote, "Next June, in 2008, the European Football Championship, organized by Austria and Switzerland will take place -- almost 31 years after my participation at the wonderful Echo 1977 camp. Today, I'm sending you a copy of the song, I wrote 372 months ago ... we sang this song at the closing campfire, led by me and my AC and friend Tommy Olson, the Lion's Lodge kids, and all the other enthusiastic children of the one and only Camp Echo! Best regards from Switzerland - meilleurs salutations depuis la Suisse - Schöne Gruss aus die Schweiz - hartelijke groeten vanuit Zwitserland!" Click here for a PDF of the song lyrics Hans mentions: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/Camp_Echo_1977.pdf Song of the Month: Boom Boom Ain't it great to be Crazy ------------------------------------------------------- Way down south where bananas grow A monkey stepped on an elephant's toe The elephant cried with tears in his eyes "Why don't you pick on a guy your own size?" Boom Boom ain't it great to be crazy? Boom Boom ain't it great to be nuts like we are. Silly and foolish all day long! Boom Boom ain't it great to be crazy. A horse and a flea and three blind mice Sat on a curb stone playing dice The horsie slipped, and fell on the flea "Whoops!" said the flea, "There's a horsie on me!" Knee high Knee high Knee high socks A dollar a pair and a nickel a box The longer you wear them the shorter they get You put them in the washer and they don't get wet. Strengthen The Spirit! -- Rob Grierson, Camp Echo Director