Camp Echo Alumni E-News December 2, 2009 Welcome to all our new subscribers! Our last email newsletter was dated December 18, 2008 If you don't want to receive these emails, reply and let us know, and we'll take you off the email distribution list. Can't get enough? Follow us on Twitter: @YMCACampEcho Contents -------- Adult Alumni Reunion Summer 2009 Recap Summer 2010 Plans Projects at Camp The Guiding Principles Conference in LaCrosse Planned Giving Wish List Alumni Website Alumni Notes - Sam Babbitt & Tristan Roche - Jon & Terry (Hansen) Brenner - Shane DuBow & Sunny Neater-Dubow - Bob Ettinger & Aileen Kane - Dan & Kiersten (Rippeteau) Fischer - Zilly Frazier Rosen - Naomi Goldberg & Bradley Guss - Al & Nicole Head - Tom & Amy Hodgman - Nate & Eileen (Kisilis) Plotkin - Scott & Jessica (Putnick) Sandstrom - Jordan & Lindsay (Thompson) Shea - Jamie & Kristen (Thomas) Steel Alumni Notes in a Linked PDF http://www.ymcacampecho.org/newsletter/alumninotes1209.pdf - Andy Hammerman - Jack O'Connor - Donald Edward Clippinger - Barbara Zillman Park - Liz Parker Watson - Julie Riley Waugh - Dan O'Holleran - Preston Cook - Kent Peterson - Tariehk Geter Your Alumni Information Adult Alumni Reunion -------------------- Our reunion this year is on Sunday, December 27, starting at 8:00 pm Prairie Moon Restaurant, 1502 Sherman Ave, Evanston. Again 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. A $20 donation is suggested. We're looking for alumni to host a Pre-Reunion Gathering of camp friends from their years at camp, at homes or local restaurants, on the day of the Alumni Reunion. Email Katie Trippi if you want to initiate a Pre-Reunion Gathering. Katie can put you in touch with others from your era. (The 60s and 70s are meeting at Prairie Moon. RSVP to Katie if you are planning to attend.) Even if you can't attend the reunion, you can donate with PayPal: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/donate.html#SAKTC Summer 2009 Recap ------------------- 2009 was another successful summer at Camp Echo! - 1221 summer spots filled with 1114 different campers - 54% girls, 46% boys -- 58% retention rate from 2007 - 99 teen participants on 11 Adventure Trips - 477 members of about 100 families at 4 family camps - 150 campers and 12 families received scholarships - 206 different staff members from May thru September - 134 volunteers donated 3,758 hours during fiscal year 09 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 2010 Plans ----------------- Registration for summer 2010 started Monday November 30. Check out our 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: Town Run, Health Officer, Senior Maintenance Staff, and Social Worker. Let us know if you are interested! Projects at Camp ---------------- Click the link below to see pictures of the recent projects made possible by our wonderful donors. Since last year at this time, we've added photos of the completed Bouldering Cave and Carpetball. http://www.ymcacampecho.org/recentprojects.html Click the link below to see pictures of recently named cabins. Since last year at this time, our newest cabin in the North Village has become Foster Lodge, and two new Main Camp cabins have been built -- Steffek Lodge and Codor Lodge. A few "Peak" cabins are still available for naming. Contact Katie Trippi if you are interested. http://www.ymcacampecho.org/recentlynamed.html Camp improvements are driven by our Master Plan, available online as a fairly large PDF (it might take a while to load on your screen) at: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/Echo_Master_Plan.pdf We're committed to connecting to the sewer system that services the homes across the lake; our wastewater will then be treated at the White Cloud Sherman Utilities. Phase 1 (laying pipes) will occur this winter and spring; Phase 2 (actual connection) will occur spring of 2011. We are currently seeking a leadership gift for the replacement of Kybo North. Please contact Katie Trippi or Rob Grierson if you can help. The Guiding Principles Conference in LaCrosse --------------------------------------------- Echo trip guides from multiple eras gathered in LaCrosse, Wisconsin on the weekend of March 28-29, 2009 to develop a set of principles that will be used to guide our trip program going forward. http://www.ymcacampecho.org/LaCrosse/ Planned Giving -------------- http://www.ymcacampecho.org/donate.html#PLANNED Wish List --------- http://www.ymcacampecho.org/donate.html#WISH Alumni Website -------------- We now list nearly 10,000 former campers and staff members! We have emails for close to 2,000. 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 ------------ Sam Babbitt, camper in the 90s, staff in the 00s, and Tristan Roche, family camper in the 90s, staff member and trip guide in the 00s, were wed on July 19, 2008 in Lamont, Illinois. They invited the trippers from Tristan's Echo 2006 Alaska Trip, and almost all attended! To see pictures of the event click these links: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/s&t.jpg http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/t&salaska.jpg -- Jon Brenner, trip guide in the 80s and 90s, and Family Camp staff member in the 00s, was named "Man of the Year" by the LaCrosse Tribune on January 1, 2009. Here's the article that appeared at the time: http://www.tinyurl.com/jonbrennerlacrosse Jon was subsequently featured on a segment of NBC's Today Show on Thursday, March 5, 2009, archived here on the MSNBC site: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/29523120/ As Jon continues to battle brain cancer, his wife Terry Hansen Brenner maintains an informative and uplifting journal and photo gallery chronicling their journey as a family on the CaringBridge website: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jonbrenner -- Shane Dubow, camper in the 70s, staff member in the 80s, and trip guide in the 90s, and his wife Sunny Neater-DuBow welcomed their first child, a girl, Freddie Jane Neater-Dubow (7 lbs 11 oz) on Saturday, May 9. To see a picture of Freddie Jane, click this link: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/FreddieJane.jpg -- Bob Ettinger, camper in the 80s and early 90s, staff member in the late 90s, and leadership staff in the 00s, married his college sweetheart Aileen Kane in Maine on July 18, 2009. Bob is teaching middle school in the Seattle public schools, and Aileen is working towards her PhD at the University of Washington. Here's a picture of Bob & Aileen at their wedding: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/b&e.jpg -- Kiersten Rippeteau Fischer, camper and staff member in the 90s and 00s, and her husband Dan Fischer welcomed their first child, a son named Bryce Malcom Fischer (7 lbs 11 oz) on Saturday, March 28. To see a picture of Bryce and Kiersten, click this link: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/kiersten&bryce.jpg -- Zilly Frazier Rosen, girls camp camper in the 70s, main camp camper and staff member in the 80s, was featured on the Smithsonian's website for turning cupcakes into artwork with unique images of Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama on President's Day 2009. Some of you may have heard or seen this at the time, and not realized it was "our" Zilly Frazier! Here's a link to the very interesting video: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/multimedia/videos/39994117.html -- Naomi Goldberg, family camper in the 80s, staff member in the 90s, and trip guide in the 00s, married Bradley Guss in Ketchum, Idaho, on June 20, 2009. They met while working for Nature's Classroom in 2004. Naomi is teaching 8th grade at the Community School in Sun Valley, Idaho. To see a picture of the happy couple click this link: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/n&b.jpg -- Al Head, camper in the 80s, counselor and trip guide in the 90s, and trip mentor in 2002, and his wife Nicole Yenkinson Head welcomed their first child, a girl named Madison Elizabeth Head (8 lbs 2 oz) on Sunday, February 1. To see a picture of Madison, click this link: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/Al&Madison.jpg -- Tom Hodgman, camper and staff member in the 90s, trip guide in the 00s, wed Amy Alloy on July 18, 2009 in New Haven, Connecticut. In May, Tom graduated from Yale with a Masters in Forestry and an MBA. The couple has settled in Seattle. To see a picture of Tom and Amy at their wedding, click this link: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/a&t.jpg -- Nate Plotkin, camper and staff in the 90s and trip guide in the 00s, married the love of his life, Eileen Kisilis, in New Haven, Connecticut on August 31, 2008. They are living in New York where Nate is a lawyer and Eileen is in her final year of medical school at Albert Einstein. To see a picture of their first dance, click this link: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/n&e.jpg -- Jessica Putnick Sandstrom, camper and staff in the 90s and 00s and Scott Sandstrom, staff in the 90s and 00s welcomed their third child and first son named Kai Karuna Sandstrom (7 lbs 15 oz) on Friday, April 3. Kai Karuna Sandstrom was born at home, under the watchful eyes of his family. For a picture of Kai Karuna, click this link: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/SandstromBaby.jpg -- Lindsay Thompson, staff member since 2000 and most recently year round Program Manager, married Jordan Shea, camper in the 90s and staff member in the 00s on September 12th. Jordan and Lindsay met at Echo and continued their romance throughout their collegiate and working years. At their wedding, Gus Granchalek, camper and staff member in the 90s and staff and trip guide in the 00s officiated, and many Camp Echo alums attended and had a great time. Jordan and Lindsay live in Chicago; Jordan is a lawyer and Lindsay is teaching sixth grade in Downers Grove. To see pictures of their wedding click these links: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/Lindsay&Jordan/L&J1.jpg http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/Lindsay&Jordan/L&J2.jpg http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/Lindsay&Jordan/L&J3.jpg http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/Lindsay&Jordan/L&J4.jpg http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/Lindsay&Jordan/L&J5.jpg http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/Lindsay&Jordan/L&J6.jpg -- Jamie Steel, camper, staff member and work weekend volunteer in the 80's, 90's and 00's and Kristen Thomas Steel, work weekend volunteer since 2006, celebrated their wedding at Camp Echo this fall. To see a selection of Pat McMahon's pictures of the event click these links: http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/Jamie&Kristen/J&K1.jpg http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/Jamie&Kristen/J&K2.jpg http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/Jamie&Kristen/J&K3.jpg http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/Jamie&Kristen/J&K4.jpg http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/Jamie&Kristen/J&K5.jpg Your Alumni Information ----------------------- Below this email you will see the contact information we have for you in our database. Please use "Submit My Info" (see above) to send updates and changes. -- Foster the Spirit, Rob Grierson, Director McGaw YMCA Camp Echo