Organic Roots, Summer 2015

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Dennis Aftergut, Chair Barkley Stuart, Vice-Chair Hope Knight, Treasurer Sandy Gray Nowicki, Secretary Jenny Ewing Allen Karla Ayala Lisa Beck Barry Breeman Peter R. Brest J. Matthew Davidson Guillaume de Ramel Brian Eng Laura Thrower Harris Nick Hewitt Caroline Kenney Roger S. Loud Jennifer Maslow Bob Parker Marty Rosenberg Pamela Rosenthal Matt Salinger Hume Steyer Manny Weintraub Bethany Dickerson Wynder Jun Zhang HONORARY TRUSTEES Joan K. Davidson Colin C. Tait Richard E. Wilde TRUSTEES EMERITI David T. Kenney Rose Kean Lansbury Sumner Parker

ORGANIC ROOTS SUMMER 2015 Editor Emilie Allen Layout & Design Aaron Hobson Contributors Emilie Allen, Jenny Ewing Allen, Karen Culpepper, Emily Eisman, Kimberly Corwin Gray, David Hochschartner, Greta Konkler, Bill Localio, Susie Localio, Derick Nicholas, Mark Richards, Mike Tholen Photography Emilie Allen, Nancie Battaglia, Tom Clark, John Eldridge, Kimberly Corwin Gray, Sierra Grennan, Meredith Hanson, Aaron Hobson, Shaun Ondak, Larry Robjent, Kurt Terrell, Susan Topper Editing Lisa Rowley Cover Photo Aaron Hobson Printing Print Management Pittsburgh, PA

ORGANIC ROOTS SUMMER 2015 CONTENTS

11 19

13

15

25

33

3-6

18

32

Editorials

A Dialogue About the Way We Eat: Tracie McMillan visits NCS

Trustee Profile: Jenny Ewing Allen, NCS 84, parent 14-present, CTT parent 10-present

19-26

33

7-10 Treetops Tributes: Jeff Jonathan, CTT staff 85-93, parent 02-11 & Gail Schumacher, CTT staff 56-97, parent 6471, 73-87

11

Music at NCS & Treetops

27 Alumni Events

Greening & Renewal: Cleaner, Greener Communities Grants Projects 2015

Alumni Profile: Jim Steyer, CTT 65-68

13-14

31

A Farmer’s Wisdom

15 Why Lake Placid?

Derick Nicholas, NCS 48

29

Young Alum Spotlight: Tierra Jones, CTT o3-07, NCS 08

From the Archive

35 2015 Graduation

38 Strong Roots, High Peaks Campaign

41-46 In Memoriam / News & Notes

ON TINKERING

By David Hochschartner, Head of School and Camp During long months of skiing, shoveling snow, and breaking ice out of water buckets at the barn, it can be difficult to imagine this time of seedlings taking root in our gardens. But soon after the last boil in the sugarhouse, spring does come to the Adirondacks.

The snow ebbs from the fields, then the woods, and gradually our landscape brightens into green.

In May, North Country School students served our

fresh maple syrup to nearly 300 guests at our annual free Community Pancake Breakfast. After a hearty meal of homemade pancakes and sausage, visitors have the opportunity to tour the building, the barns, and the greenhouses with student guides. This tenyear tradition has introduced hundreds of locals to the special world beyond the sign on Route 73.

Reporting on the event, the Lake Placid News called this place “A Shangri-la for Kids.�

Photo: NCS Founder Walter Clark with children tinkering in the woodshop, late 1930s.

page 3 Organic Roots Summer 2015

School and Camp may not be utopias, but they are surely a sanctuary in today’s world. Every day I am more convinced our founders were on to big ideas. In April, The New York Times published an op-ed column

by Allison Arieff, “Learning Through Tinkering.” As I

problem‐solvers. Our students are masters in the art of tinkering—whether rebuilding a bear skeleton in a science Intersession course, welding recycled bed frames to construct a ship for this spring’s production of Swiss Family Robinson, or milking goats to make

At NCS and CTT we give children the time, tools, and adult mentorship required to become accomplished problem solvers. read, I was struck by how much of what the article calls for, NCS and Treetops have done for decades.

Arieff maintains that hands-on, project‐based curricula are vital to helping kids learn to think strategically and solve problems. She profiles Gever Tulley, head of The Tinkering School program in San Francisco.

“There are not enough opportunities in a child’s life to be taken seriously, to be given autonomy and to learn authentically,” Tulley believes. “I think they need learning opportunities that respect and incorporate their ideas.”

cheese. Similarly, our campers learn to carve canoe paddles; dye wool and weave it; care for their horses on overnight trail rides, and plan, map, and lead wilderness trips. The result of these experiences is a child who exhibits a sense of confidence, creativity, and engagement—all essential to success in life.

As Camp and School move forward in strategic planning for the future, we remain dedicated to safeguarding our signature programs. Part and parcel of our history for so long, they will continue to thrive, so your children’s children may enjoy them in the years to come.

At NCS and CTT we give children the time, tools, and adult mentorship required to become accomplished

From the Editor This year, sixth-grade ESY (Edible Schoolyard) students investigated our School archives. Each child was assigned a decade to explore. They poured over years of photographs, handwritten letters, and keepsakes. In a sense, the project was a meditation on this place we call home. They noticed how the visual landscape had changed, architecturally and otherwise, while so much remained the same. And they came to an important realization. In the years after they leave, children will continue to live here and do the very same things they now do: sleep, eat, make, learn, work, and play.

At the end of the year, the ESY class completed the archive project by planting apple trees in the Children’s Garden. Now this act had new meaning:

they weren’t just planting trees, but contributing to a larger narrative.

We each have a story about this place, and they all matter. In telling our stories, we tend to look to the past, which is important. But ours is a living archive.

Now is the time to celebrate it. I hope you enjoy the sampling of old-time photographs featured in this issue.

Keep in touch.

Emilie Allen

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COMMUNITY

By Karen Culpepper, Camp Treetops Director

AT TREETOPS, WE SHARE A RICH HISTORY AND VIBRANT COMMUNITY. In 1954, a scrapbook was presented to Doug and Helen Haskell to honor their 25th anniversary as co-directors of Treetops. A handsome collection of letters, stories, songs, Barbara Morgan photographs, collages, maps, watercolors, and all forms of whimsy, the book remains a Camp treasure. (NCS music teacher Don Rand contributed a collection of folk songs illustrated with watercolor landscapes; see above.)

On the first page, former counselor Linda Rennells Lewis writes of the Treetops community: “These were people who knew things, who laughed loudly, who played instruments, danced with abandon, climbed the fireplace chimney, had faraway looks in their eyes, were silly and serious, touching and awesome, wise and gay and warm.�

page 5 Organic Roots Summer 2015

That description of our community holds as true today as it did 60 years ago. And what also remains is the Treetops tradition of instilling in children the joys of community.

Every summer campers learn compassion for all living beings, from tentmates to counselors to animals at the barn. Connecting with a world larger than oneself and putting others first remain important Treetops ideals.

A feeling of accomplishment is achieved not simply in doing a job well done. We find joy in contributing to meaningful work that can only be accomplished when we succeed together. Almost every Camp activity is centered on these understandings. Climbing Algonquin means working toward a common goal and supporting your friends along the way. Creating original plays requires a collaboration of different creative talents. Community morning projects allow

all campers and counselors to participate in the care of our summer home. At Treetops, year after year, we show children how “many hands make light work.”

Doing chores together in the barn or in the gardens connects us to the land, to the animals, and to the people we live and work with. Weekly Fund Lunches remind everyone of the larger causes beyond our doorstep—and that each of our contributions matters.

a tremendous impact on me. As the first full-time director of Treetops, Jeff set the highest standard of professionalism, one that inspires me to this day.

His mentorship was vital to my success as Camp director. Throughout her amazing 50 years of service, Gail personified the kindness, compassion, and connectedness from which our community draws its warmth and strength.

For generations, these practices have woven community into daily life at Treetops and helped cultivate life-long connections. For me, the friendships formed at Treetops are some of the most profound of my life.

In closing her letter in the 1954 scrapbook, Linda expresses her gratitude to Treetops: “for transmitting a feeling of magic about each summer, a feeling for the elements, openness, water, textures, marvels of land and animals and most of all for people.”

That’s why the recent losses of former Treetops stalwarts Jeff Jonathan and Gail Schumacher have been so difficult to bear. (See pages 7-10 for tributes.)

Each played a huge role in our history, and each had

My own gratitude to Treetops includes the privilege of having known and learned from Gail and Jeff.

They will be greatly missed, but their impact on our community will not be forgotten.

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TREETOPS TRIBUTE JEFFREY R. JONATHAN January 14, 1957 – March 16, 2015 The Treetops community lost a loyal friend and visionary leader when Jeff Jonathan died in March after a long and courageous struggle with cancer. Jeff’s appointment as Treetops’ first full-time director in 1984 began a 30-year family devotion to Camp that continues to this day.

Jeff’s wife Julia, who predeceased him in 2013, served both Camp and School for decades in various roles as a nurse, administrator, and longtime trustee. Their three daughters, Eliza (23), Sarah (20), and Annie “AJ” (18), all loved Treetops as campers. The eldest two have served as counselors, and Annie will join us this summer, as well. Jeff’s leadership in a trailblazing role and the subsequent dedication of his entire family are a large part of what makes Treetops so special.

For more about Jeff’s life and accomplishments, see “In Memoriam” on page 41.

Photo from right: Jeff Jonathan (CTT staff 85-93, parent 02-11), Margaret Sloane (CTT 81-85, CTT staff 87-94), and Susie Localio (CTT 55-56, 58-59, staff 65-80, 89-94) with campers in the early 1990s. page 7 Organic Roots Summer 2015

EULOGY FOR ‘A MAN OF HONOR’

By Bill Localio, CTT 55-59, staff 64-15 (various), parent 94-98, Trustee 85-91

The first time I met Jeff — as well as Julia — we were all teaching at Hamden Hall Country Day School, outside of New Haven. I was running an outdoor program for upper school students. Even though Jeff was teaching 6th grade, because of his outdoor background, the head of school asked him if he would join me. The next year we recruited Julia.

A few years later (the fall of 1983), Treetops was looking for a full-time director. Jeff worked at nearby Camp Lincoln and had spent a day off one earlier summer visiting me at Treetops. He’d been intrigued.

He and I were rock climbing one Saturday and I suggested, half-kiddingly, that he consider applying for the job. “Maybe I will,” he murmured. That was the last I heard about it until late in the hiring process.

Typically, Jeff didn’t ask me to write a recommendation or intercede on his behalf. He wanted to be considered strictly on his merits.

full-time camp director and all alone created what it involved. He didn’t even have a secretary. That next summer Camp enrollment plummeted, and the pressure must have been enormous.

Jeff applied his immense organizational skills to the job. He walked through Camp several times a year and drew up a meticulous maintenance list. He noticed things amiss that I had passed by for years.

He pushed hard to get these maintenance issues resolved, reading aloud at Board meetings each year which items had been fixed and which items remained. I was on the Board at that time, and it was a powerful message: pay attention to the needs of Camp; don’t take anything for granted. Jeff certainly never did, and his legacy to Treetops has been profound.

Jeff dove into the archives and began organizing and doing critical preservation. He unearthed a series of photos that Holger “Van” Aller had taken from the roof of the Craft Shop — a panorama of Senior Camp in the 1940s. With the help of counselor and professional photographer Sue Topper, he had the negatives developed on acid-free paper and carefully

“Jeff’s legacy to Treetops has been profound.”

That first summer, 1984, Jeff was at Treetops “observing.” He would take over in September but was spending the summer learning how Treetops operated without any formal responsibilities. It must have been an awkward position. He was 27, surrounded by staff who were older and had many years of experience at Treetops: Bob Bliss (CTT 33, NCS staff 40-43), Gail Schumacher (CTT staff 56 – 97, parent 64-71 and 73-87) even my twin Susie (CTT 55-56, 58-59, staff 6580, 89-94) and I. One day Jeff quietly admitted to me that he didn’t know how he was going to manage this — he knew so little and so many others knew so much.

However, that proved to be the only moment of self-doubt I saw. Jeff strode into the new position of

mounted. They still hang in the hallway of the Main Building’s East End. These days former campers love browsing through old trip logs. The reason we have them is because Jeff saved the old steno pads Camp used to use; he found a pile going back to the mid ’70s in a corner of the archives, and he instituted the printed and bound trip logs we still employ today.

Jeff also created the structure of program directors for Junior and Senior camp. He instituted the “Summit” meetings that take place every January for Camp administrators and senior staffers to discuss broad issues.

He was meticulous about budgeting and worked closely continued on page 37

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TREETOPS TRIBUTE GAIL SCHUMACHER June 17, 1935 - January 10, 2015 A longtime high school English teacher, Gail taught riding and served as a tent counselor in her early days at Treetops. Later and for more than 30 years, she ran the Camp office, a job well-suited to her legendary organizational abilities and attention to detail.

Gail’s command of the intricacies of Camp life was matched only by her huge heart.

Thoughtful and generous, giving and kind, Gail embodied all that was good about our Treetops community. When my son Tucker suffered from a brain tumor as a child, it was Gail who rallied everyone around us with such deep love and support. That was vintage Gail, and for that, I will be forever grateful.

Karen Culpepper, Camp Director For more about Gail’s life and accomplishments, see “In Memoriam” on page 41.

Photo: Gail and Bob at Treetops page 9 Organic Roots Summer 2015

Th e fol l ow i n g a r e r ef l ec t i o n s f r o m G a i l ’s fa m i l y a n d f r i e n d s

ROBERT SCHUMACHER, husband CTT staff 56 – 97, parent 64-71 and 73-87

Helen Haskell hired me in 1956 as a carpentry shop teacher. One morning at breakfast with Franz Gierhass & Don Rand, I heard a girl named Molley Sager who taught riding say she was leaving Camp to go to Europe. So I talked to Helen about a girl I knew who had riding skills. Her name was Gail Stephenson, and she was counseling at Camp Twanakoda, a Girl Scout camp, near Jamestown, NY. Helen got in touch with her right away and gave her the position as a riding counselor.

After two years as a riding counselor, Helen asked Gail for help with the parents (parents’ weekend) in the office in front of the Corn Crib. After that, Gail transitioned into the office full time when Peggy Skinner departed. We lived in the back of the Corn Crib, and both Gail and Helen’s office were in the front of it.

Around 1960 the office was moved to NCS, and Gail continued to perform the Camp office duties: ordering children’s summer supplies, making doctor appointments, coordinating packing lists and admissions

During the early 1980s Gail took on the Camp admissions responsibilities for a few years. This was a year-round position, and we set up a home office in Hamilton to facilitate the winter time work. Gail traveled several times throughout two or three years to attend conferences, meet with parents, attend trade shows, etc.

Throughout the years we introduced many counselors to Treetops: Rebecca & Erica Lloyd (Bergamine), Joyce King, Carl & Ellie Metzloff, Bob and Ann Lamp, Mary Voker, Carol Nevulus, Debbie Walp. And our children all attended and worked at Camp as well.

JANE PURDEN, daughter CTT 64-71, staff 75-76

My first memories of Camp are in the Corn Crib, Mom allowing a nap to be skipped — let’s go see the newly discovered kittens. She had developed a severe allergy to hay, yet made sure I was in on the barn news. (One of those grey kittens came home with us that fall; Twinkletoes became an adventure Gail chose never to repeat!)

“People were her true joy.” welcome packets. She would frequently perform the town trip and drive children to doctor appointments in Lake Placid. Gail really ran the administrative side of things at Camp for many years, organizing the office, paperwork, pre-camp checklists, coordinating arrival and departure details for each camper, ensuring progress reports were prepared (often proof-reading them as well) so each parent received a timely and informative acknowledgement of their child’s summer activities. AKA “Gail Flashlight,” she ordered toothpaste, shampoo, batteries, flashlights, jack knives, etc.

One of her most memorable moments in those earlier years was answering the office phone and speaking with Eleanor Roosevelt! Mrs. Roosevelt was calling to wish her godson a happy birthday. I went to the lake and took him back to the office for their conversation.

I spent hours within view of her office window, safe within the circle of Helen’s sun hued nasturtiums, building twig bridges for caterpillars, watching Tiger Swallows, dragonflies frolic. Never too far off from the sound of her typewriter — still far too young for Crow’s Nest, my world complete was a triangle, on land: Mom at the top of the hill near the visitor’s circle, Dad down at the lake or sometimes up at the woodshop. Often Mom would display my gathered offerings on her desk — a four year old’s handful of clover or Indian Paintbrush, perhaps a small pine cone, yet never the orange salamanders found near the boathouse rocks… I have vivid memories of Town Trips in the long, wood-sided station wagon; the full canvas mail sacks were at least as tall as a five year old — I couldn’t reach my arms around them, yet Mom would often tell me how important each individual envelope was to a homesick camper waiting for mail call. continued on page 39 camptreetops.org | northcountryschool.org page 10

GREENING & RENEWAL

2015 NCS & Treetops Community art project, “Rooster,” using recycled metals and various materials

page 11 Organic Roots Summer 2015

C LE A NE R, G R E E N E R COM MUN I TIE S GRA NTS PR OJ EC TS 2 015 by Emilie Allen In 2013, North Country School and Camp Treetops were awarded two competitive New York State grants under the state’s Cleaner, Greener Communities Program.

Administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the program aims to empower regions in New York to develop sustainable projects that improve economic development and environmental well-being of their local community. The projects are in partnership with Northern Forest Center in New Hampshire and ANCA, a local community development organization based in Saranac Lake, NY. Director of Facilities and Sustainability John Culpepper hopes to complete both grant projects in 2015. “I am very excited about these projects,” he says, “as they will take our ongoing campus greening efforts several steps forward.”

“Our biomass program provides an excellent opportunity for children to draw a direct connection between the natural world and our own needs as human beings.”

– Hock

The first of the two grants awarded will help fund a new state-of-the-art biomass heating plant slated for either Farm House and the barn or Road House and the maintenance shop. It is the fourth different type of biomass technology now on campus. Six years ago, we were consuming approximately 27,000 gallons of fuel a year. After implementing this latest addition, we will have one oil boiler left on campus that consumes 3,000 gallons of fuel annually. “That’s a significant reduction in our carbon footprint in a relatively short period of time,” John says.

The second Cleaner, Greener Communities grant will help us develop an affordable commercial composter. The $30,000 award will support design and assembly of a drum

composter, built with readily available materials that can be placed inside a 20-foot shipping container.

For many decades, we’ve utilized two static composting systems for both food and barn manure. The new unit will accommodate up to 150 pounds of food scraps per day, which will allow for composting of food scraps in several weeks instead of several months.

The new system, which will be built here on campus as a demonstration unit, could be used at any medium-to-large sized organization, such as other schools, hospitals, prisons, or restaurants. With an expected completion date later this fall, the project, John Culpepper hopes, will prove that commercial composting is possible at affordable costs. “The best possible outcome,” John says, “would be for a local community group or entrepreneur to begin building and selling these units. That would be a tremendous accomplishment.”

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A Farmer’s Wisdom

By Mike Tholen, Farm Manager

F

arming at NCS and Treetops is not so different from farming anywhere else. Certainly, we face some challenges unique to this place, but mostly, the obstacles (and joys) are the same. I’ve cultivated many meaningful relationships here over the years. And in tending the garden and animals, I’ve also developed a pretty intimate relationship with our acreage. Saying goodbye is bittersweet. Wendell Berry, among others, talks a lot about a farmer’s close connection to a piece of land, the way an agrarian lifestyle connects you on a profound level with a particular place. I can relate.

From Idaho to Maine, most old-school farm wisdom usually rings true no matter the soil. Full moon, first week of June, watch for frost. Sugaring is over when the ice goes out on the lake. Plant potatoes when your fields are flush with dandelion flowers. All these are true for our region. There’s a reason why this area is famous for brassicas and potatoes: they are crops that have proven commercial success in this harsh climate so far north.

Photo: Mike Tholen visiting Sugar House Creamery, a nearby dairy in Upper Jay page 13 Organic Roots Summer 2015

Of course, when you devote yourself to a farm, you’re beholden to its climate, geology, hydrology, existing infrastructure and history, and all the idiosyncrasies that belong to it. So, farm wisdom comes with the particular caveats of whatever land you might be tending at the time. Not only are you at the whim of nature and her weather; our NCS/Treetops farm comes with the additional challenge of fitting natural cycles of the calendar and seasons into School and Camp program schedules.

The following three bits of wisdom are true both to farming in general and to our operation.

1. If it can break or go wrong, it will.

There’s been a stretch of hard rain in the spring season, when finally, a break in the weather comes. At last the fields aren’t muddy, perfect for tilling. Of course, on that day the stars align and there will be six broken tiller knives. It’ll take you two hours to get the tiller fixed and then you’ve lost two hours in the field. That’s a good sum of how everything is on a farm.

In addition, on our farm, we have lots of “little helpers.” We might plant a crop with the kitchen or a specific program in mind. So then one day you look over at whatever crop you’re intending to harvest for that particular purpose and there are half a dozen barefoot kids stuffing their faces in the garden. Usually it’s rhubarb, raspberry, carrots, or peas. But we would never discourage that. We just plant more at the start of the season. The only real downside is if you’re trying to keep track of what you’re growing, but it’s never that big of a kink. Plan for the worst, and hope for the best.

2. It always takes longer than you think.

Okay, so it’s time to harvest potatoes. At Camp and School, we have a single-row offset potato digger, “The Carlotti,” a sexy Italian implement. You use it exactly once a year, for digging potatoes. It behooves you to get it out the week prior, to grease it, run it, make sure the belts aren’t broken and the drive shaft works. You have to check that the width is set correctly, so you actually dig potatoes, rather than slice them up. This may take you half a morning, but this relatively short time of preparation can save you a day of frustration in the field. Even better is when the equipment was properly cleaned and put away after its previ-

ous use. The right thing to do is leave yourself more time than you think necessary for every task, because there are never enough hours to do things right the first go-around, but there is always enough time to do the task again.

A farm on this scale is on the cusp of being too big to do everything by hand, but that’s what we do. It would be near impossible for a husband and wife with one intern to run a business here and be successful. It needs many hands to make the work light, so you need all of your helpers.

But then you go to look for a rake, which was borrowed by someone with good intentions and doing good things, and you spend an hour trying to find it.

3. There’s always tomorrow.

Sometimes you have an impossibly long list of things to do; you cross two off and ten more appear. But no matter how bad things get, you always have tomorrow.

Mike Tholen taught Level I at NCS for five years before becoming the farm manager for School and Camp, in 2009.

In fall 2015, he returns to the classroom at The Grammar School in Putney, Vermont, where he will be teaching fifth grade.

Mike’s Recommended Reading for Children and Adults Mad Farmer Poems by Wendell Berry Our Only World by Wendell Berry The New Organic Grower: A Master’s Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener by Elliot Coleman Winter Harvest Handbook by Elliot Coleman Humane Livestock Handling: Understanding Livestock Behavior and Building Facilities for Animals by Temple Grandin

Farmers of Forty Centuries: Organic Farming in China, Korea, and Japan by F.H. King Clabbered Dirt, Sweet Grass by Gary Paulsen and Ruth Wright Paulsen Second Nature by Michael Pollen Botany of Desire by Michael Pollen Salad Bar Beef by Joel Salatin

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WHY LAKE PLACID? Last fall, right after Thanksgiving, Derick Nicholas brought 26 members of his family to campus. The occasion was Derick’s 80th birthday, and he wanted his children and grandchildren to get a sense of a place that has meant so much to him. Here is the letter he wrote to his family, explaining his choice.

Photo: Spring 1943, the barn page 15 Organic Roots Summer 2015

then boil it down day and night in the “sugar house” into syrup and maple sugar candy.

WHY GO TO LAKE PLACID —AND NOT THE CARIBBEAN?

By Derick Nicholas, NCS 48

At nine years old, about [grandson] Saki dude’s age, I went to a boarding school in Lake Placid. The school was called North Country School (NCS) and the year was 1944. I cried all summer in Blue Hill before I went, desperate about leaving my parents, or they leaving me, quaking about what lay ahead. At nine you’d cry, too.

The school had been in existence about five plus years when I got there. It had 28 students, boys and girls, ages nine to 14, lots of weirdos from broken homes, and 15 adults. We called the adults “counselors.” Some were 18 years old. One or two were really old, like 50. Several married each other, like Ham and Jane [Corwin]. You will meet their granddaughter, Kimberly [Corwin Gray].

Many graduated from Oberlin and Antioch Colleges.

The adults taught us our lessons, supervised the houses we lived in, managed with us the property: such as cleaning and feeding daily the horses (10 plus) and cows (2), which we learned to milk; shoveling manure; feeding and watering chickens (35) and cleaning up chicken s---; harvesting and canning in jars vegetables we grew on the property. The counselors worked alongside of us, keeping the houses clean, cutting ski trails, and installing rope tows, damming up brooks to build ponds for skating, building our own ski jumps (2), and keeping up the boats for the lake that fronted the property and reached a mile across.

Often we’d hike on a three-day overnight into the mountains, sometimes in snow, sleeping in Adirondack leantos. In March and April we trudged, off and on over about two weeks, into the woods in knee-high, melting snow with horses drawing sleds to tap trees for sap, and

Twice a year, as many that could ride horses would saddle up and move out for an overnight at a nearby farm, sometimes 20 strong. We rode on back woods dirt roads, galloping all of us like the cavalry coming to the rescue in a movie. After a supper cooked over an open fire, we’d camp out in sleeping bags all bunched up together, boys and girls, in a field. The horses, turned loose, would mill around all night, munching, some sleeping standing up, others snoring lying near us. Then we’d rise at dawn, stiff in our jeans, sleeping bags damp in the spring or autumn dew, catch and feed the horses, breakfast ourselves on flap jacks and NCS maple syrup, saddle up, and walk, trot, gallop back to school. Hi-Yo, Silver!

Sometimes in winter, we’d climb herringbone style for four or five hours up some mountain trail on waxed skies, breaking the trail in deep snow. We also attached seal skins to the bottom of our skies, to stop sliding backwards. Gaining the steep and rocky rugged mountaintop, after breaking the last hundred yards of the trail by side stepping, packing the snow to make sure we would see the trail when skiing down and not careen off the mountain, we’d pause with only ourselves, the small pines of the tree line, and the wind. With the mid-afternoon cold temperature beginning to settle in and the light dwindling, we’d take off the skins and whiz down in 35 minutes. There were no chair lifts around back then.

Stowe, Vermont had the only one in the East.

In another winter activity—what would be considered madness today—we’d ski-jour behind a pick-up truck after a good snowfall. The roads would have been plowed, but still had some snow. Holding onto the rope pulled by the truck, 15 of us, like boats on a tow line, one behind the other, would cruise at 20 miles an hour. If someone toward the front of the line, close to the truck, fell, all behind would crash in a massive pile-up. The truck would stop. We’d sort ourselves out, remove the snow from our ears, and start again.

We had movies and square dances on weekends. One year we exhibited our square dancing in New York City, so good we were, for a new thing called TV. We engaged in sing-alongs every week around campfires outside or around the open hearths in some of the buildings. I still know the songs. I held a girl’s hand for the first time in a sing-along when I was a senior. I remember that, too. I don’t think she did. continued on next page Photo: Derick Nicholas on the Lake Hill, 1947 camptreetops.org | northcountryschool.org page 16

WHY LAKE PLACID? There were stairways in the houses, but because there were also waxed wooden slides that ran alongside of all stairways, we nixed the stairs, and slid down on our butts, or standing up, lickety-split, corners and all. Girls and boys were housed in the same building in separate bedrooms for two, and in some cases used the same bathrooms. The counselors read to us at night in our PJs in the living rooms of the houses, and the books were sometimes full of ideas and words that would have shocked our parents, then and now.

There was still school every day. We had homework and went to classes in math, English, and current events.

One year I had at least six boys and girls in my English class. The workshop was big, and two counselors taught us every week to saw, hammer, plane, glue, chisel, paint, build models, and boxcar autos. The same two taught us science, and we all had to watch slicing up a dead possum or raccoon from time to time to understand slimy organs. We had to hold them. Yuck!

As for athletics, we had a ski team, a horse riding team, a baseball team, all boys and girls together. Two members of the ski team, who were seniors when I arrived, made the U.S. Ski team in 1956. Check ’em out: Sally Deaver Murray (NCS 44) and Doug Burden (NCS 44, parent 72-73). The starting pitcher of the baseball team was a girl who threw curve balls. With her we beat the Lake Placid Middle School boys. I played catcher, pads, mask and all. Her fastballs were all fear and trembling. As for music, if you didn’t play an instrument, you had to play a recorder. The school had 20, all kinds.

When the adults thought we kids knew our way around, we were allowed to go off for the day on the weekend, fishing the streams or walking the woods, on the buddy page 17 Organic Roots Summer 2015

system. Take a box lunch; be back for supper. At every meal before sitting down a counselor checked our hands for cleanliness. Our blue jeans, long underwear, and flannel shirts smelled like the barn, but we ate clean.

Although my experience was really unusual for its time, it would still be unusual for today. Much of what I remember is nostalgia for my youth and for a different America, innocent, confident, and optimistic after World War II. Of course NCS has changed—much older, much bigger. I have changed, too—much older, much smaller.

As I knew it, it was wondrous, but that place and time have long gone. On the other hand, my memories and the emotions attached to them have not gone.

I was nine, but after a weepy summer, I was homesick for only one day at NCS. At Christmas vacation in my first year I was so homesick for the school, I could not wait to get back. It was that way for the four years I was there.

When I went to St. Paul’s after graduating from North Country, I was home sick for three months at age 14.

North Country instilled awe for nature, a thrill and euphoria in communal living with all ages, a taste for freedom while conscious of responsibility, and the beginning of a sense of the independent me. North Country School was one of the most important things in my 80year life. I want y’all to see it.

That’s why.

Derick is a long and happily retired businessman who lives in Stonington, CT and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico with his partner Harriet Ballard, a painter. He writes from Mexico that he enjoys his peripatetic life and is developing a sensitive taste for fine tequila.

A DIALOGUE ABOUT THE WAY WE EAT Author Tracie McMillan Visits NCS

By Mark Richards, NCS Librarian North Country School recently had the pleasure of visiting with Tracie McMillan, journalist and award-winning author of The American Way of Eating. During her time here, Tracie chatted with students and staff, spoke at a public gathering in her honor, and even helped out at the barn. She was extremely engaging and inspired students to think more critically about the way we eat.

While researching The American Way of Eating, Tracie went undercover as a kitchen worker at Applebee’s, picked vegetables with migrants in California, and stocked the shelves in the produce department at Walmart.

She used these experiences to discuss American eating habits, as well as ways we might work together to make food healthier and more affordable for all.

Tracie arrived on a Sunday afternoon in time for barn chores. She eagerly jumped in to help corral a stray sheep and assisted with feeding and watering the animals. She admitted that this was something new for a city girl like herself, but one wouldn’t have known that from watching her.

During Monday classes, Tracie visited with every student, taking the time to answer questions and provide more information about her book and the writing process. Perhaps the most

frequently asked question was whether or not she had received any retribution from the companies she wrote about. Tracie responded that she was just a small potato, so the big corporations didn’t pay her any mind.

Later that evening, Tracie was the keynote speaker at a community event and book signing presented by North Country School at the Green Goddess Market in Lake Placid. Also sponsored by the Bookstore Plus, the event generated discussion around why not everyone in our country has access to local and sustainable food. Following Tracie’s remarks, NCS and Treetops farm educator Katie Culpepper spoke about our farmto-fork philosophy and ESY [Edible Schoolyard] program. She shared with the audience “Challenge by Choice,” a short video featuring our chicken harvest. A wide variety of tasty, locally sourced appetizers was served to approximately 50 guests.

We even attracted the attention of our local assemblywoman, Betty Little, who dropped by the event.

Overall, it was an amazing visit. Tracie McMillan touched the lives of our students and the larger community.

She started a dialogue about the way we eat that will continue long after her departure. And her praise of our work here is a testament to the dedicated professionals and hardworking students and campers of NCS and Treetops.

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M

page 19 Organic Roots Summer 2015

“Don [Rand] instilled in me one of the greatest gifts I ever received from a teacher—a deep love and passion for music of all kinds. He actually convinced me that I could sing and act.

Whether playing the role of King Arthur in our senior play in 1980 or the part of Narcissus in the Thanksgiving show that same year, I have Don to thank for my continued love of music and theatre. He is an institutional gem! If the rest of the world knew Don, he’d be a national treasure.”

MUSIC

at NCS & Treetops

Greg Marchildon CTT 74-79, staff 83-86, 10-15, parent 08-12, 14-15, NCS 80, staff 12-13, parent 12-13 Don Rand instructing Eileen Rockefeller (CTT 63, NCS 66, Trustee 76-84, 92-98, CTT parent 97-99)

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TWO-MAN SHOW: NCS Music with Don Rand & John Doan

By Emilie Allen

Music teacher Don Rand turns 90 in December. He has been at NCS and Treetops for more than 50 years. In fact, he still teaches piano three days a week. Not only is he sharp, his sense of humor is remarkably intact. “At this point,” NCS music teacher John Doan says, “he has taught multiple generations. The kids love him to death.

Even the kids that don’t take lessons with him love him.

He’s like ‘Grandpa Music.’”

Don’s legacy at North Country School is a long one. A Lake Placid native and LPCS graduate, he left the region to pursue classical piano at Syracuse University. There he earned a master’s degree, continuing on to the PhD program before accepting a prestigious fellowship in musicology at Indiana University. In these circles, Don met Bernard (CTT staff 45-61) and Cola Heiden (CTT staff 4561), who spent their summers teaching music at Treetops.

At the time, Don had been employed as a professor at Florida State University and wanted to move on. As it happened, Bernard was planning to take a hiatus from

page 21 Organic Roots Summer 2015

students enthused beyond the classroom. On Tuesday mornings, Level I and II kids circle round in the dining room and sing folk music, accompanied by John Doan on the guitar, Level I teacher Dion Cook on bongos, and ESL teacher Meredith Hanson with the ukulele.

The kids sing along, plucky and full of joy, a little bit naughty at times.

But everybody sings. It’s not a formal classroom setting, though they all join in, and the feeling is infectious.

That’s what makes music at NCS so engaging—it brings together the community in such a simple, joyful way, and it has a whole lot to do with John and Don.

Treetops that summer, 1954. He introduced Don to Helen Haskell, who hired him immediately as a counselor and music instructor. Don stayed on at Treetops for a dozen years, leaving only when Helen retired in 1965.

He still credits Camp for inspiring the Clarks’ emphasis on music at North Country School, where he was hired in 1958. As music teacher, Don gave instruction in strings, piano and vocals. He also taught Level I, woodshop, and more, had a stint in publications, and covered admissions for ten years. Of the twelve adults on staff at the time, three including Don were professionally trained classical musicians. Bob Mark was a violinist and Janet, his wife, a flutist. Don, of course, has always insisted that children learn to read music. But with his generous wit and kind warmth, he makes classical music accessible. The twinkle in his eye has endured.

So has the musical nature of this community. A number of musicians and music lovers on our faculty and staff keeps

If you listen to John talk about it, most of us have music inside. We just need to find a way to let it out.

This simple but positive message infuses his teaching philosophy.

With some passion and practice, everyone can play music. John tells kids to relax and let it come. He applies the same idea to his own music career. Outside the classroom, John plays with local musicians in a band, Big Slyde, whose members include his two children, Hannah (NCS 05) and Jake (NCS 07). “John has an innate ability to nurture and bring out the unique ‘voice’ of each musician he plays with,” bandmate Christina Grant told me. “It’s rare that someone so experienced and technically skilled can still revel in sharing the pure joy of music with musicians of all skill levels—from total beginners to professionals.”

John Doan first came to North Country School 15 years ago as the garden manager with his wife Libby, who was hired as a teacher at the time, and a much younger Hannah and Jake. Though he describes his formal education as more “horticultural than musical,” John also came to NCS an accomplished musician. He has spent the better part of his life playing guitar, banjo, and the Dobro. After reviving many gardens around campus, John moved continued on next page

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into his current role as music teacher. Over the years, he has also been integral in leading the ski program, and is equally popular on the mountain. His students love him.

Alumni musicians like Joey Schultz (NCS 04) return to NCS to perform with John on a regular basis. In fact, both Joey and alum Trillium Macario (NCS 14) will be recording banjo and bass, respectively, on John’s new solo album at BluSeed Studios this summer.

Writing music for students to play is a treat for John. He takes advantage of this every year during the spring theatre production. This year students incorporated Beatles tunes for a twist on Swiss Family Robinson. John offered a Beatles course to provide kids with a little background study and to help them develop ideas for the production.

As always, he composed original music for the play. “The instrumentation is always changing depending on the kids,” John explains. He might write a piece on the banjo for a horn player. “One year we had an electric cello. There are always a couple guitars, ukulele or Native American flute.

The plays themselves are unique and creative, so it makes for a really great package.”

John’s talent for composing original music for the spring

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play follows Don Rand’s own legacy. In his day, Don wrote original and innovative scripts, as well as accompanying music. Even more meaningfully, he created and cast parts specifically for individual children. By all accounts, they were brilliant.

Dimitra Dreyer, an NCS alum who recently returned to teach at School, recalls Don’s tremendous influence on her. “I sang a little before I arrived, but Don totally helped me find my voice. I was a shy kid, but he gave me the lead role, Guinevere, my senior year. Public speaking, selfawareness, confidence, joy—he taught me all those things.

somewhere in the basement of Clark House, a spectacularly large head, with distinctive blue eyes and snow-white hair, sits in the archives, the perfect likeness of Don Rand as “Oz” in Wicked (See left.)

Larry says, “Don is part of the fabric of the performing arts here. He always says, ‘the fun is in the doing.’

He’s done so much over the years, working tirelessly to get kids up in front of audiences, having them enjoying and being proud of what they do. Don rocks.”

Of course, Don’s own sense of humor was always on display in the productions he created. This spring I was lucky enough to get a taste of it. When we sat down together to discuss the past, Don spontaneously sang a final chorus from the finale to a Little Red Riding Hood, which he put on eons ago. “We here deny the theologists who brand the wolf a sinner. We here salute the ecologists who know the wolf’s a winner,” he belts out with gusto right on the spot. This is pure Don Rand, off-thecuff, unrehearsed. [You can hear Don singing about the big bad wolf and other NCS music from the past at soundcloud.com/north-countryschool.]

He was my ‘guardian angel.’ I still remember the lyrics from my fourth grade play by Don Rand to this day. He is one of the single most influential teachers in my educational history. He’s why I came back to North Country School to teach.”

Every year, science and theatre tech teacher Larry Robjent pays tribute to Don with his set design for the spring production, incorporating him somehow into the visual landscape of the play. For this year’s musical, Swiss Family Robinson, Don takes shape as a parrot in a palm tree. Last year, he was painted onto the face of “The Donna (Mona) Lisa,” as backdrop for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. And

While Don’s formal education is in classical music and John’s approach is more folk-based, together they make a remarkable team. Both are deeply admired by generations of NCS graduates, as well as their peers. Beyond a talent and passion for music, they share the innate ability to inspire. Each cultivates within others a deep joy, a creative spark, and the persistent desire to pursue both. Each has dedicated his career to the idea that music makes for a great teacher. And everyone who knows Don and John would agree.

Happy 90th birthday, Don.

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MUSIC

page 25 Organic Roots Summer 2015

at Treetops

by Greta Konkler, CTT 00-07, staff 12-14

I can still close my eyes and hear The Circle Game as a Junior Camper. My early years at Treetops were formative to my life-long passion for music. I learned to love the Grateful Dead and Cat Stevens. Like many other campers, music at Treetops encouraged me to step outside my comfort zone and pick up an instrument for the first time. First it was guitar. Then, a few years later, it was the violin. Back then, I had no idea that I would be playing it at morning council as a counselor many years later, let alone learn the violin solo in the beloved Wagon Wheel.

Music brings together the community, whether singing songs at morning council, on an overnight canoe trip, or during tent cleanup. It embodies the timelessness of Treetops. A camper today sings the same songs a camper sang decades ago. The song sheet may even be the original—the things that matter most about Camp never really change. I’m sure I’m not the only one who considers the aged, burlap song sheet a precious artifact. I love thinking about how many small hands had the opportunity to hold it up during council throughout the years and feel the heirloom material between their fingers.

The warmth of acoustic guitars emphasizes the importance of finding joy in simple things. The natural sounds of acoustic instruments help us leave behind the technology and disconnection we feel in the outside world. A lone guitar, maybe even a little out of tune, accompanied by a capella voices is a beautiful thing.

Music is and has always been an essential component of life at Treetops. It encapsulates a camper’s experience and reflects the values and philosophy that make Treetops so unique. In the dead of winter, a favorite Camp song can bring back the feeling of cold grass on bare feet, Adirondack air laced with pine, the distinct smell of a canvas tent while rolling up the flaps. It brings us back to the love felt being part of the Treetops community.

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I N LUM

S T N EVE

i ng y. Visit r t n u o ec on the ro s s t h s c a n r s u e t i cit de the 15 seven ys , m a 0 a l n 2 i p s you in t G n f n e N o e e I v s e R e r P ith e’ve y mo AND S ro a d w l o rs , w h man t e i R e s h w E n t u T p n o ng u dc 15. ar o WIN c atc h i 23, 20 ulty an ting ye o i c 9 t 1 c a f x d t r e s r a n rw ugu rme been a look fo end, A and fo k e , e s W t e . n It h a s r W e ds’ par et h e ed tog t Frien lumni, n a a i r d h e t i d m w d an su m n, wine ly this i l a a t i c n e u mo esp come, o t s h m o nt

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1

2

6

3

5 Photos: 1) Much Ado About Nothing Stage in Ashland, OR; 2) Alta group photo (l to r) Elizabeth Harlan, Lisa Beck, Bonnie Morgan, Karen Culpepper, Wendy Culverwell, John Morgan, Kimberly Corwin Gray; 3) Saratoga Springs (l to r) Anna, Richard and Paula Brewer; Kurt, Eden, and Harper Terrell; Larry Gibbons; Rachel Morgan; Jean Hoins; Laura Rappoport; Amy Weaver; Tim Mabee; 4) Current trustees Nick Hewitt and Brian Eng enjoy the fresh powder at Alta; 5) Portland: Everyone gathers at the Bad Habit Room for a bite to eat before an update on how Camp and School are thriving; 6) David Vasquez and Marsha Guerrero join us for an evening in San Francisco.

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By Susie Localio, CTT 55-56, 58-59, staff 65-80, 89-94

CTT 65-68, staff 77

ALUMNI PROFILE Jim Steyer

Summer of 1966, morning swim class on Round Lake. The day was cloudy, the lake not warm. Jim was a skinny kid, so when he began to tread water, blue lipped, on that swim from dock to rock, it seemed prudent to haul him into the boat. Wrapped in towels, he shivered and shivered, even when deposited on shore. He was taken up to the Senior Camp nurse’s station to thaw out. The next morning he was back at swim class, uncomplaining. This was a gutsy and determined kid.

Not much has changed except the kid part. A national leader on children’s and education issues, a best-selling author, attorney, and activist, Jim Steyer has spent his adult life determined to make this world a better place. He attributes his commitment to children, civil rights, the environment, and education to lessons he learned as a child and young man from his mother, Marnie—and from Treetops.

After she got married, Marnie Steyer taught remedial reading at schools in Hell’s Kitchen, Harlem, Brooklyn, and the South Bronx. Although she and her husband, Roy, sent the boys to The Buckley School, Marnie was not a typical Buckley School mother. Much to the consternation of the school’s headmaster, Mr. Hubbell, she decided to send her sons to Treetops. “Don’t send your children there,” the headmaster exclaimed. “I hear they dance in the nude!” Marnie sent the boys [Jim and his brothers Hume, (CTT 63-67, parent 02-09, Trustee 99- ) and Tom, (CTT 65-68)] anyway.

“Treetops had by far the biggest influence of any educational institution on my values and what I have done with my life,” Jim told me with certainty. Camp’s focus on nurturing children fit well with his decision to spend part of his senior Photo: Jim Steyer, 10 years old at Camp Treetops page 29 Organic Roots Summer 2015

year (he had finished his course work at Phillips Exeter early) working with his mother at Haaren High School, a place so rife with drugs that it was dubbed Heroin High. Later while an undergraduate at Stanford, he tutored disadvantaged kids in East Palo Alto and East Oakland. Treetops’ commitment to serving children from different racial and socio economic backgrounds influenced his work as a civil rights attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, as did his founding (while he was still at Stanford Law School) of the East Palo Alto Community Law Project, which provided legal services to low income clients.

All those hours spent in the garden at Camp, both as a child and then as a counselor, led him much later to connect his friend Alice Waters and her Edible Schoolyard project to NCS and Treetops. Concern for the environment absorbed at Camp influenced his founding (along with his younger brother Tom) of the national non-profit Next Generation, dedicated to solving problems of climate change and diminished prospects for families and kids. For the past 25 years, Jim has been a popular professor at Stanford, where he teaches courses on civil rights and children’s issues. Both of his widely heralded books, The Other Parent: The Inside Story of the Media’s Effect on our Children and Talking Back to Facebook, address issues of kids’ media and technology.

But it is to Common Sense Media (CSM), of which he is CEO and founded in 2003, that Jim devotes his primary commitment of time and energy. Its purpose is to give children and families the tools they need to handle the challenges presented by media and technology. “We can’t cover their eyes, but we can teach them to see,” is one of CSM’s ten beliefs.

I first heard of CSM about a year ago while visiting my nephew Donald (now in year five at Treetops). “Are you sure this movie is okay for Donald,” I asked my brother. “Absolutely!” he replied. “I checked it out on Common Sense Media.”

Months later in the Port Townsend library in search of books for our grandchild, I overheard the children’s librarian say to a patron, “Oh, you need to explore Common Sense Media.

It’s a great resource.” A few weeks later I listened to Jim being interviewed on NPR. When I made my way to the Common Sense Media website, I felt as though I had come upon a huge patch of ripe blueberries on Mt. Baxter. The site reviews books, movies, TV shows, video games, apps, and websites for their suitability for children of various ages. It also gives advice to parents on everything from internet safety to guidelines for judging when a kid is ready for a cell phone. It answers questions like, “My kid texts constantly, what do I do?” There are many different ways to browse: age, genre, parent recommended, popular with kids, award winners, editors’ picks. Some reviews include film clips and some come with verbal commentary; some are written by kids and others by parents.

The rating system is so much better than G/PG/PG-13 that I don’t know how any parent lives without it.

And in fact many don’t. Common Sense Media has 50 million unique users annually. In addition 85,000 member schools are provided with a free K-12 curriculum on digital literacy and citizenship. CSM’s new platform, Graphite, helps educators find the best apps, games, and websites for their classrooms. As Jim put it, Common Sense Media is the Consumer Reports for media, not only for parents but for teachers, principals, school superintendents, and state policy makers.

“We are big players in the field of technology education,” he acknowledged. “We rate, advocate, and educate. And most important to me, we are the most powerful, independent ad-

vocacy voice for kids in the United States.”

I asked Jim about the role Treetops has played in his life’s work. “As a child I internalized the values of Camp. As a counselor I really understood them. For me the benefit of being both a camper and a counselor was huge.” As a counselor, Jim learned he could organize and plan and be a leader. He discovered the importance of building culture and community. “I saw that a leader’s values set the tone of an entire place.”

And then there were girls. Coming from an all-boy family and attending all-boy schools, Jim first spent time with girls at Treetops. He points to the healthy environment there, where boys and girls live together and where strong women and girls flourish, as an important part of his growing up.

“Treetops is a unique educational institution whose values and culture live with you forever,” Jim said. And from these values learned at home and at Treetops came a guy who believed he could make a difference. Jim dreamed big, wanting to create an organization that would improve the lives of children and families. And he did.

Jim still swims. He surfs and dives for abalone. No longer blue lipped, he is wet suited or in warmer waters. But he is still gutsy—and determined to make the world a better place not only for the kids of today but for generations to come.

For an in depth look at Common Sense Media, explore commonsense.org.

Susie Localio lives with Daniel Brodkowitz in Port Townsend, WA, where she hikes and gardens and plays with their grandkids.

Photos: Hume (7), Jim (4), Tom (3) Steyer; Tom and Jim camptreetops.org | northcountryschool.org page 30

CTT 03-07, NCS 08

YOUNG ALUM PROFILE TIERRA JONES

In her two summers at Treetops, Tierra Jones discovered a love for horseback riding and homegrown, farm-to-fork living. As a boarding student at North Country School, Tierra developed a talent for dance and performance, which she later pursued at The Grier School and in college. In May 2015, Tierra graduated with a degree in international studies from the University of Oklahoma. She credits the cultural diversity she encountered at Treetops and NCS with inspiring her academic and future professional career. This summer, Tierra will complete an internship in the Creative Minds at Cannes Program at the Cannes International Film Festival in France.

How did you discover Camp Treetops and North Country School?

I grew up in DC. I would come home from school and say, “I’m bored. I didn’t learn anything today.” It happened quite a few times, so my mother wanted to find a private school for me. I went with her to a Black Student Fund event to look at a bunch of different boarding and private schools.

NCS was there. While my mom looked around, I stopped and talked to the admissions director at the North Country School table. I was around nine years old, and in fourth grade. She and I talked the whole time. That’s how I found out about School and Camp. Eventually, my mother came over and I said, “Hey! Look at this place!” So, first, I went to Treetops for two summers. Then I started at North Country School in sixth grade. I spent four years there.

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Describe coming to Treetops and NCS. At first, I had a hard time away from home. I was nine, away for seven weeks for the first time. That adjustment was hard. At the beginning, I wanted to go home. But by the end of both summers at Camp and all four years at School, I didn’t want to leave.

What do Camp and School have in common?

I loved them both, though obviously they’re different from each other. But I loved that at both NCS and CTT, there were always all kinds of activities to choose from. We were always keeping active. I learned activities that I never would have been able to try in DC, like rock climbing. It was hard for me, but I liked doing it. I skied for my first three years and then I switched to snowboarding my last year; that was awesome. Hiking is not my best activity, or one I love doing. But I still remember hiking Owl’s Head and picking blueberries, and then we came back and made blueberry pie. That was really cool.

Cooking! I was always in the kitchen with the cooks, helping cook the eggs, seeing how they made the bread. I loved the farm-to-table aspect of Camp and School. When I moved on to my second boarding school, after I graduated NCS, the food wasn’t organic or homegrown. At CTT and NCS, things were home grown. We were growing food ourselves. We could see the whole process, particularly with chicken harvest. It was definitely a learning experience the entire time.

What memories from your education at NCS have had the greatest impact on your life?

My most meaningful memories of NCS were of the times when I was given responsibility, when I was trusted with a role, and felt important. As seniors in 9th grade (Level V), we were the ones who carried the turkeys to harvest. So, I got to carry the turkey, to have it on my lap, to make sure it was okay. I was given a role, a responsibility. They trust kids at NCS. I think that’s why I feel so independent today.

Also, I still believe in hands-on learning. I get that from North Country School. That’s how I still think today. I need to do things. I like to be hands-on. I like getting out there and doing it.

What’s next?

Since North Country School, I’ve loved performing – acting, dancing, etc. I’d like a job with a talent agency or production company. I am planning to move out to LA in August or September. I’d like to learn the ropes, and eventually, create my own internationally based talent agency or production company.

NCS gave me a sense of competence and accomplishment at an early age. A small and skinny child, I learned at School that I could do almost anything a bigger person could if I put my mind to it. I like to say that I grew courage while I was there. NCS does a great job of encouraging risk while teaching children how to care for themselves through good decision-making and learned skill. Having this philosophy in my world as a kid has stayed with me all my life. It’s helped me overcome obstacles in my personal and working lives, while also informing how I parent my son, Grady, who is now a Level IV student. He loves it, as did I. Being the parent of a camper (this coming Super summer will be Grady’s sixth) and now a student has given me a whole new perspective on the place. To see my son grow and develop his own relationship to Camp and School has meant the world to me. He has blossomed in so many ways.

He has become an enthusiastic hiker and an accomplished snowboarder. He’s comfortable with a band saw and a Hobart dishwasher. He’s overcome his trepidation around horses. He is eager to participate in his classes in new and robust ways. This year he started writing a novel!

From your perspective as a trustee and a parent, what are your hopes for the future of NCS and Treetops?

As we work to complete the final phase of the Strong Roots, High Peaks Campaign, my hope is that we can spend the resources raised for capital projects that honor the incredible architectural history of the place that we all hold so dear. At the same time, enhancing the programmatic and safety features of campus is important. Great progress has been made already in areas that are less obvious to the naked eye: greening the physical plant, stabilizing the electrical grid, replacing worn carpet, and rebuilding the old bridge near the barn. [Director of Facilities and Sustainability] John Culpepper knows the campus better than anyone and has done a masterful job getting the biggest bang for every buck raised through these special fundraising efforts designated for campus upgrades.

TRUSTEE PROFILE JENNY EWING ALLEN

How have your various roles with NCS and Treetops influenced you through the years?

NCS 84, CTT parent 10-present, NCS parent 14-present, Trustee, Balanced Rocks Circle Member

Jenny Ewing Allen has served on the NCS and Treetops Board of Trustees since 2006. She attended North Country School, and her son, Grady, attends both School and Camp. Jenny has served in leadership positions on numerous other boards including, most recently, serving as president for the Contemporary American Theater Festival. She lives in Shepherdstown, WV, where she is vice chair of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission.

I also hope that we can sustain the excellence of the faculty we have now. The adults on campus have near never-ending workdays and weeks. The education and care of the kids is an around-the-clock deal at North Country School and Camp Treetops. It could not function without such a dedicated group of adults. I am humbled by their commitment and really appreciate everything they do both in and out of NCS and CTT. We are a place that sticks to its values, given to us so many years ago by the Haskells and the Clarks. These principles guide us in everything we do and provide the framework for the kids’ days and nights at both Camp and School.

That won’t change, I can promise you that.

Why did you join the Board and what do you enjoy most about your service?

I profoundly enjoy being part of the future of a place that has meant so much to me and to my son. As a group of invested laypeople, the board is responsible for keeping the organization focused on its mission. We make sure, in every way we can, that there is sustainability in our program, in our leadership, in our admissions model, on our campus. I get to be a part of this important work while spending time with some of the best people I’ve ever known. The board is made up of extremely dedicated, devoted and generous souls. I’ve made some of the best friends I could ever ask for by serving as a trustee, and I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to do so.

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From the Archive page 33 Organic Roots Summer 2015

GRADUATION

2015

The School’s 77th Graduation weekend was highlighted by longstanding traditions and events. Guests were treated to routines by the drill teams, a musical recital, and a production of Swiss Family Robinson (see cover). Title Trek winner Maeve Brammer and Jamieson-Roseliep Work Award winners Addie Friedlander, Emanuel Flores Garcia, Zina Asante, and Peia Douglas-Dufresne were honored at the ceremony, and Perline Feng’s piano solo, E Major Etude op. 10 #3, captivated an appreciative audience. As is the NCS tradition, each graduating senior was recognized individually by his or her advisor and also given an opportunity to acknowledge family, teachers, and peers.

NCS alumna, School and Camp parent and trustee Jenny Ewing Allen addressed the graduates. Below are excerpts from her remarks. …What I want to do today is to talk to you about where your power lies. I want to talk to you about something important that has been cultivated in you the whole time

you’ve been here – even though sometimes you may not have realized it. It’s something that is yours and only yours.

What I’m talking about is your own moral authority. Do you know what I mean when I use this phrase? It begins with your sense of what is right and what is wrong – but it is not limited to that. It’s making good decisions. It’s good character, it’s virtue, it’s courage. It is always courage. It’s at the heart of who you are as a person and who you are becoming. And no one can take it from you – unless you give it to them.

So take this part of you, your own moral authority, and nurture it. Protect it. Be proud of it. And don’t get me wrong – you can’t use a moral authority argument with your parents to negotiate whether you can take out the car. That ain’t gonna fly, I can tell you that much. But you can surely use it in other parts of your life wisely. Maybe you use it like a compass, to help you find your way.

Maybe you will use it like a blanket, to comfort others.

I hope you will always use it like a lantern, to bring light to the world.

Class of 2015 Moving Forward Maeve Brammer Keene Central School Morgan Broderick Northwood School Joseph DePaola Brewster High School Baoying (Perline) Feng Westtown School

Sunny Fincham Montclair High School Adaline (Addie) Friedlander The Ethel Walker School River Friedman Miami Beach Senior High School Chongyu He Marianapolis Preparatory School

page 35 Organic Roots Summer 2015

Reece Jacobsen St. Paul’s School Man Kit (Jack) Kong Trinity-Pawling School Tobias (Toby) Nadell Buxton School Madeleine (Maddie) Nicholson Darrow School

Sung Yeon Park Trinity-Pawling School Gabriel Smith The American School of Guatemala Erielle Washington Undecided Tolgat John (TJ) Weber Salisbury School

camptreetops.org | northcountryschool.org page 36

Jeffrey Jonathan Tribute continued from page 8

with Tsu Hansen, the business manager. He took careful notes and kept thorough records on everything.

Jeff looked at the garden and listened to people like Tessa Huxley. It was clear we needed a full-time garden manager. The issue had been brought up before; but Jeff pushed the board hard, and finally at one meeting, Baird Edmonds turned to the other trustees and said, “We’ve been talking about this for years. Let’s get it done.” Without telling anyone or asking permission, Jeff drew up a flier and sent it out to every land-grant college in the United States. A few weeks later John Culpepper saw the announcement posted on a jobs bulletin board at the University of Tennessee. He took it home to discuss with his wife and sometime later ended up on campus for an interview. Jeff and Julia hosted the couple in Meadow House, and in 1990 the Culpeppers came to Treetops, John as full-time garden manager and Karen as full-time mother of three young children. In the 25 years since, no hires have resulted in greater contributions to Treetops than those of the five Culpeppers.

In his last months in the hospital, I spent a good deal of time with Jeff. For two weeks in late January-early February I house-sat, taking care of his dogs and visiting him

page 37 Organic Roots Summer 2015

every day. I returned several times after that. We talked a lot about Camp – he was still engaged and deeply interested. But as the weeks went on and he never got better, he recognized what was coming.

I saw him last six days before he died. He was in the ICU. As I said, “Goodbye, I’ll be down in a week or two,” he took my hand. “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be here,” he told me, his voice suddenly clear and calm. He wasn’t afraid. He was as objective as ever. “I know,” I said, and quietly began to cry.

Many years ago I came across a quote from Raymond Chandler. I liked it enough that I saved it. After learning of Jeff’s death, I dug it out. It seemed a perfect description of Jeff: “He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor, by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it, and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world.”

Goodbye, my friend. You have given us so much.

STRONG ROOTS, HIGH PEAKS CAMPAIGN UPDATE The $25 million Strong Roots, High Peaks Campaign continues to climb to new heights. Through the dedicated support of over 2,700 alumni, families, and friends, we are pleased to announce that we have surpassed the $18 million mark. None of this

2 more donors giving a total of $2.7 million

is possible without your support.

20 more donors giving a total of $2.6 million

$8.1 million committed by 35 donors 40 more donors giving a total of $1.2 million 60 more donors giving a total of $420,000 78 more donors giving a total of $80,000

$1.88 million committed by 210 donors

$4.4 million committed by 3 donors

$2.4 million committed by 68 donors

$1.22 million committed by 2,384 donors

GIVING LEVELS

Up to $4,999

$5,000+

Funds needed: 200 more donors giving $7 million over 3 to 5 years

For more information or to make a gift, please contact Kurt Terrell, Director of Advancement kterrell@ncstreetops.org or 518-837-5446.

$25,000+

$100,000+

$1 million+

Funds committed: 2,700 donors have given $18 million

The final $7 million of the campaign will: Bolster the Annual Fund, providing for financial aid, competitive staff salaries, program support, and sustainability initiatives ($3 million); Provide for facility upgrades including work on the Hill Houses, the Main Building, and the Treetops Hike House ($3.5 million); Strengthen our endowment to serve future students and campers ($500,000).

camptreetops.org | northcountryschool.org page 38

Gail Schumacher Tribute continued from page 10 Back when, Sunday mornings were for letter writing; Gail would be present at the longest table in the Main House, pens and boxes of Camp stationery at hand.

She would smile, firmly cajole, raise a teacher’s single eyebrow, help once and again with spelling, but even from the most reluctant Super boys, those letters DID get written!

People were her true joy. The word hobby is often treated as trivial, yet for Gail, meeting new people, learning their interests or aspirations, making them feel included and significant — this was her singular hobby. These acts came so gracefully to her; they were her guide star, her true north.

When Peggy Skinner, native of Florida, announced it was her last summer at Treetops, Gail found a blank journal with delicate sketches of pine boughs, blue herons, Queen Anne’s lace, talismans of their treasured Adirondacks. After weeks of quiet planning, every staff person had signed the book with a message for the Skinner family; the keepsake Gail created was a “graduation gift” for Peggy and Ivan.

Gail’s organizational skills were formidable, and enduring. June 1971: the memory of her moving our family of five from one home to another downstate in Hamilton, closing up her then multi-level classroom at the end of the school year and settling us smoothly into Bramwell House, all within less than eight days.

This has served me well in adult life!

She had vision, and compassion. I will always find it cruel that a person with such fluidity, who found such creativity in written communication and extemporaneous speaking, was struck by Parkinson’s. Since January of this year, numerous condolence cards shared examples of times her patient listening helped a counselor over a rough patch — stories her direct family knew not, yet each made a vivid difference to those who confided in her.

Over many, many summers, Gail gave much verve, her seemingly boundless energy to Treetops, yet she often said the more than 45 years Bob and she shared in the mountains were an ongoing gift to them, and to their children. Precise and insightful — as in so many things — yes, she is absolutely right.

page 39 Organic Roots Summer 2015

MARCY VENO, daughter

CTT 73-78, staff 13-14, parent 13-14 Treetops was very dear to my mother: the people, place, and memories made over 50 years. I noticed something funny in one of my mother’s annual holiday letters (1988) when she wrote: “After 25 Lake Placid summers in 32 years, we think we’ve retired from full season camping with children at Treetops…” That was not to be the case, as by 1990 my parents were back at Treetops during the summers, just a bit removed from camper responsibilities (I think), where they would stay for seven more years.

Below is an excerpt from a more recent holiday letter (2005): … Summer found us enjoying our wee Lake Placid house for 3 sunny months. Again we were with the Camp Treetops staff. A highlight was when we were surprised by a most pleasant party celebrating our 50th summer working with so many fine adults and children. We surely appreciated and continue to enjoy the special memory book Karen presented with many kind tributes written by Treetops friends. An inscribed glass table piece commemorating our work contributions at The Boat House and in The Office warms our hearts this winter, as do Brad’s kudos in the alumni magazine. Since 1956, when we were college students in Buffalo, Treetops truly and significantly has nurtured our family as much as we have mentored others.

DICK WILDE

CTT staff 61-83, honorary trustee 83-present

SARA WILDE

CTT staff 69-83

We first met Gail in the early 1970s and were immediately struck by her efficiency, thoughtfulness, and generosity. She streamlined and implemented office procedures that are still in place today. Whenever Dick or Colin asked about the progress of details about counselor letter writing, camper transportation, etc., etc., etc., Gail had already taken care of them.

Through the years we stayed at one another’s homes to celebrate special occasions, and our friendship deepened. When we worked at Treetops and even after we left, we looked forward to Gail’s phone calls, cards, and notes. She never failed to send us pertinent copies of Adirondack Life and annotated lists of campers, counselors, and Friends’ Weekend attendees.

they had mail the next week. Gail was thrifty with supplies long before recycling was a buzzword. Gail took care of all of us: notes of appreciation, little gifts, kind words always—all while juggling the myriad details of getting the birthday list right, coordinating travel arrangements, and helping lost raincoats find their owners on Visitors’ Day. Gail was Camp’s warmest welcoming committee.

ELMA (ELLIE) AND CARL METZLOFF CTT grandparent 12, CTT staff parent 14

We realize that we are not the only recipients of Gail’s gifts, as she was very active in her community and loving to all of her family, friends, and co-workers.

We cherished our friendship with Gail, and when we count our blessings, we always think of her with great affection—and count her twice.

RUTH HARZULA

CTT staff 77–08, 14, parent 99-09 Gail’s love for Treetops was demonstrated in her work by keeping the Treetops Family, past members and present, connected. She served as our social glue, sharing our joys and sorrows. Though efficient with details and office work, she had a twinkle in her eye and could be counted on for a laugh, as for example, when she turned up at a Junior Camp Backwards Day dinner in her slip. We will miss her.

DEBORAH (DJ) BAKER

CTT staff 81-08, 12, parent 97-03 I was lucky enough to work with Gail both when her children were youngsters in Camp and again later when mine were. Gail, who ran the camp office with an unparalleled efficiency, had the ability to greet anyone walking in the door and within moments introduce them to everyone within reach, helping us all make connections to old friends and new faces. It was like she was the Facebook page for Treetops long before social media was invented. Gail kept track of which children didn’t get much mail and made sure

Gail Stephenson was my sorority sister at SUNY College in Buffalo, NY, where she held various offices in the sorority and in her class. She and Bob were responsible for bringing my husband Carl (a recently discharged veteran) and me together. Gail and Bob also introduced us to Camp Treetops and were our housemates for several summers after we joined the staff. Gail was my dearest and best friend. She would call every week with happy news of her family and our mutual friends. How we missed those calls when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. She was like an Aunt to our sons, Chris, Kurt, and Kyle. She was so friendly and thoughtful — always remembering their birthdays, graduations, etc. Chris told me that Gail was one of the top 10 people in the world he admired the most. The whole family feels that same way. I’ve struggled with writing an adequate eulogy for Gail, a person we loved and admired so very much. Her desirable qualities were so numerous, we have chosen to list some here that spell her name

G GENEROUS A ADAPTABLE I INNOVATIVE L LIKEABLE LEADER S SYMPATHETIC S SINCERE C COMMUNICATIVE H HELPFUL U UNDERSTANDING M MODEST A ACCOMPLISHED C COOPERATIVE H HONEST E EFFICIENT R RESOURCEFUL

camptreetops.org | northcountryschool.org page 40

IN MEMORIAM Christopher James Haley, 35, of Jay, NY, passed away on

where he spent many years living and working at Camp

Wednesday, March 11, 2015 at his home. Chris was born

Treetops as director of the camp program. Jeff completed

on February 1, 1980 in Plattsburgh to Nancy and Robert

his master’s degree at Columbia University, then found an

Haley. He attended Ausable Valley Central School,

application for his administrative passion as Headmaster

graduating in 1998 as Ssalutatorian. He went on to attend

at Cold Spring School in New Haven. Loved and admired

Juniata College in central Pennsylvania and New Mexico

by many, Jeff led the Cold Spring School community for

Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, attaining a

many years before retiring in 2011. He will be missed by

master’s degree in geology.

all who had the opportunity to share these loves with him

His heart, however, was in the Adirondacks, where

over the years.

he went to work with his father and brother at Haley Plumbing and Heating. Chris was called upon dozens of

Mark Peduzzi (CTT parent 02-12, NCS parent 05-12), 63,

times to resolve a multitude of issues at North Country

passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, February 15th, 2015.

School, from routine renewal and replacement jobs to

The spouse of NCS/CTT head cook Paulette Peduzzi and

diagnosing and solving emergency situations in the middle

parent of School and Camp alums Luke (CTT 02-08, staff

of the night.

11, NCS 08) and Naomi (CTT 09-12, staff 14, NCS 12), Mark

Chris is survived by his wife Mairead (NCS & CTT staff

was a familiar face on campus, even serving as Santa Claus

13-15); daughter Maeve (5) and son Roan (2); his parents

during the winter holiday celebration. He worked at Ward

Nancy and Robert; and brother Seth.

Lumber in Jay for nearly 30 years and was a tremendous asset to his local community, co-founding the Jay

Jeffrey R. Jonathan (CTT staff 85-93, parent 02-11), 58,

Entertainment and Music Society (JEMS), coaching youth

of Guilford, CT, passed away on Monday, March 16, 2015.

sports, volunteering for the Ironman, and participating

He was the husband of the late Julia Taft Jonathan and

in the Knights of Columbus. Ever the devoted father, he was so proud of his children, Luke, who graduated from Johnson State College in Vermont this spring, and Naomi, who graduated from Keene Central School in June at the top of her class.

Gail S. Schumacher (CTT staff 56–97, parent 64-71, 73-87), 79, died peacefully January 10, 2015. Gail is survived by her husband of 58 years, Robert S. Schumacher; her children, Marcy Veno (Marcus) of Rochester, NY, Jay Schumacher (Sonya) of Concord, NH, and Jane Purden (Joe) of West Lake Village, CA; and grandchildren, Quinton, Anthony and Trevor Veno, Ian and Lindsey Schumacher, and Nicholas Purden.

devoted father of three daughters, Eliza, Sarah, and AJ.

After graduating Bennett High School in 1953, Gail

Jeff graduated from the Horace Greeley High School in

attended the State University College for Teachers at

Chappaqua, NY, in 1975 and then attended Middlebury

Buffalo, graduating in 1957 and 1965, with undergraduate

College, developing a love for hiking and backpacking

and master’s degrees. In her 35-year career as a teacher,

before graduating in 1979. Always a teacher, Jeff taught

Gail touched many students’ lives in the communities of

at Hamden Hall School before relocating to Lake Placid,

Hamburg, Hamilton and Waterville, NY. In July of 1956,

page 41 Organic Roots Spring 2015

NEWS & NOTES NCS ALUMNI/AE 1959

Paul Brouha

Gail joined the staff of Camp Treetops, dedicating 50 years in support and care for children. Gail left a legacy of kindness and love for her family and friends. In addition, Gail is remembered by her contributions of service and leadership towards many civic and charitable causes.

Roland “Bob” Urfirer (CTT parent 61-76, trustee 91), 93, passed away peacefully on August 27th, 2014 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, NY, from natural causes. Bob attended Lake Placid Central School and graduated as the valedictorian of his class in 1938. He went on to Harvard College, where he graduated cum laude with a degree in government in 1942. Bob joined the U.S. Navy in 1942 as an ensign during World War II, and rose through the ranks to lieutenant senior grade. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1949 and for a short period of time worked at a law firm in Poughkeepsie, NY, before returning home to practice law in Lake Placid. He served as attorney for the Village of Lake Placid and the Lake Placid School Board. He received the honor of carrying the Olympic torch to the Lake Placid Winter Olympics opening ceremony stadium as part of the worldwide Salt Lake City 2002 Olympics torch relay and was presented with the “Key to the Olympic Village” for his 90th birthday in 2011. Predeceased by son Steven Urfirer (CTT 71-76), he is survived by his son Michael J. Urfirer (CTT 67-72) and daughter-in-law Doni Fordyce-Urfirer of Lake Placid,

“Still living in Sutton, VT, fighting the industrial wind energy scam! One highlight of interest to classmates is that I was warming up after ice fishing one cold winter day in Craftsbury, VT, and who should walk in but Frances “Whit” Whitcomb (NCS staff 52-60, CTT staff 56-57, Trustee 69-75 & 97-10, Balanced Rocks Circle), one of our NCS teachers. I recognized him immediately despite not having seen him since graduation and he being 90 something. He and his wife live in nearby Albany, VT, where he has a farm and still runs his sugaring operation every spring.” Pictured is Paul last fall with daughter Dr. Anne Brouha in the background.

1963

David Sloan Wilson “NCS was one of the most positive factors in my development.”

1964

Douglass “Tim” Mabee “Deeply involved in many genealogical and hereditary societies. Having fun with great folks.”

1966

Nicholas Flanders “I retired in October 2013 back to my home state of Vermont following eight years of working overseas in Ghana, Senegal, and Turkey. I’ve never been so busy. I have been fixing up my old farmhouse, building gardens, and planting an orchard.” continued on next page

NY, and Greenwich, CT, and six grandchildren. camptreetops.org | northcountryschool.org page 42

NEWS & NOTES 1971

Daisy Rhoads “Still living in Park Slope participating as a practicing bioenergetic psychotherapist and school counselor. Clara turned 30 this year. She is pursuing her career as an artist and director of her self-created arts organization in Ithaca, Complimenta.”

five years now doing project work as a business analyst in the Information Services Division. I enjoy the teams I work with and the growth I have been able to achieve. In other news, I am still living in Cambridge with a pair of black cats. Also, I am trying to convince my sister that my nephew George would benefit from some time at NCS. Perhaps we can dip his toe in the pool with some Treetops experience this summer?”

1972

1989

Susan Mahaffy “I’m still teaching kindergarten and loving it!”

Bridget Brown

1974

David Wells (also CTT 71-74) “I really enjoyed Friends’ Weekend 2014 after a 40-year absence from Treetops!”

1977

Elizabeth (Betsy) Randolph “On January 18, 2014, I married Louisa Peartree, my partner of 20 years. Our two kids, Lyla (12) and Finn (11), have the hiking bug and have each climbed 20 46ers. We spend time in Keene Valley every summer.”

1981

Aimee Reveno “I have been working at Boston Children’s Hospital for over

“Still enjoying life at 9000’ in the Wasatch Mountains. Our daughter Natasha is 3. She loves skiing, skating, riding her mustang pony, and pulling carrots out of our garden. Basically, she is ready for NCS!”

AROUND HERE, WE TRY NOT TO COUNT OUR CHICKENS BEFORE THEY HATCH…

But we do count on you to support the Annual Fund. Please join the Be Counted

by Friends’ Annual Fund drive today.

By the time we gather for Friends’ Weekend at the end of August, we need 1,100 people to give $1.2 million.

To make a gift, please visit: northcountryschool.org/giving or camptreetops.org/giving or contact Emily Eisman at eeisman@ncstreetops.org or 518-837-5450.

NEWS & NOTES 1995

John is on the National Ski Patrol. He graduated from Gould Academy on June 6, 2015 and has been accepted at the University of Dayton. He’s pictured here (far left) at the NEPSAC Nordic Championships with fellow NCS alum (l to r): Hyelom Love (NCS 13), Hannah Runyon (CTT 05, 09, NCS 12), Lucy Hochschartner (CTT 06-08, 11-12, NCS 13), Anabell Corwin (CTT 07, NCS 14).

NCS STAFF

Members of the class of 1995 gather in New York for dinner and drinks. They are looking forward to their 20th class reunion on campus this August. Pictured (back row, l to r): Kimberly Corwin Gray, David Anderson; (front row, l to r): Alissa Fitzgerald and Samantha Naftal.

2007

Scott Cohen Scott is a senior at Clarkson University (with a 3.8 GPA!). He will be graduating with a major in Global Supply Chain Management in Statistics, Project Management and Economics.

2011

Henry Davies

Leslie and Elaine Cox NCS staff 60-61, CTT parent 94-07, NCS parent 95-97, Balanced Rocks Circle “The Cox family is doing well! Leslie is farm director at The Trustee of Reservations in Massachusetts. Elaine is a nurse at Mercy Hospital; Chloe (CTT 94-96, NCS 94-97), Phoebe (CTT 96), Evan, and Hillary (CTT 05-07) are all working. We also have a grandson, Hillary’s son, Trevor.”

CTT FRIENDS Robert Heays Camper 31-38, Balanced Rocks Circle “Hope to be in Saranac Lake and make Friends’ Weekend again this summer.”

Sally Powell Culverwell Camper 45-47, NCS 51, NCS staff 60-61, CTT parent 77-80, CTT grandparent, Balanced Rocks Circle

Henry visited Ryan Joyce (NCS staff 08-10) in Arizona for four days. They spent some time hiking the Grand Canyon.

2012

John P. Canning

“I’m looking forward to having all three grandsons at Treetops in 2015. Andy is starting at Treetops this summer. Reed will be a Super.” Pictured (l to r): Sally Powell Culverwell, Hilary Culverwell Wilkinson (CTT 79-80, staff 89-92, 98, NCS staff 90-91), Andy Culverwell (CTT 15), Allan Culverwell (CTT 78-80, parent 12-14), Reed Culverwell (CTT 12-14) continued on next page camptreetops.org | northcountryschool.org page 44

NEWS & NOTES Dixianne Penney Camper 49 “My summers at Treetops were the happiest times of my childhood.”

Steven and Monika Lang Camper 50, NCS 53, CTT parent 81-86, Balanced Rocks Circle “Still alive, playing hockey and jumping horses. Also active with the transportation museum in Maine as a trustee.”

Liza Ketchum Camper 58-60, staff 65-67, parent 85-87

Alberta Hemsley CTT parent 84-90, staff 86-90 “Enjoying a rich retirement including visiting David Winkler (CTT 85-91) and Jenny Winkler (CTT 84-87) and her two sons, ages 4 and 6.”

Jennie Weiner Camper 88-93 “Living in Boston with my husband and 3-year-old twins, Rufus and Manny, and looking forward to the day they can come enjoy Treetops!”

Jeffery Herrmann CTT staff 91-97 “Moved to Seattle last summer to become managing director of Seattle Repertory Theatre. My wife Sara, our 2-year-old son Jonah, and I are loving it. Hope to make it to Friends’ again soon!”

Christopher M. Parker Camper 92-97 Christopher is an assistant professor of political science at Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana. He celebrated the birth of his son Andrew Shaw Parker on September 3, 2013. Andrew’s grandfather and great grandfather are members of the NCS and Treetops Board of Trustees.

Matthew Brest Camper 93-97 Matthew has lived in New York City since graduating from Stanford in 2006 and works in finance.

In April, NCS had the pleasure of hosting Liza as a visiting author. Liza has published 16 works of young adult fiction.

At NCS, she led writing workshops with students in Levels I-IV. She shared her sources of inspiration, including how experiences at CTT influenced her writing.

Helen Witsenhausen CTT parent 73-76, 80-81, grandparent 14 “We now have two generations of Treetops campers.

Grandson Eli (CTT 14) followed dad Bob’s example (CTT 7376, parent 14) and had a great first summer in Junior Camp.

He hopes to be back this summer for Senior Camp.”

Geoffrey and Suzanne Brown Camper 76-78, staff 83-84, parents 09-14 “Sadly, this was our last year as Camp parents, as Elsie (CTT 10-14) finished her Super year. Our son Alex (CTT 0911) spent a month building trails in Denali National Park in Alaska with the Student Conservation Association. Please look us up if you are in Washington, DC.” page 45 Organic Roots Summer 2015

Phillip Brest Camper 95-02 After graduating from Stanford Law School, Phillip worked briefly in corporate litigation in Washington, DC, and is now clerking for a recently appointed California Supreme Court justice in San Francisco. He can be contacted at phillip.brest@gmail.com.

Eric Brest Camper 99-06 After graduating from Syracuse University, Eric worked for the San Antonio Spurs during their 2014 Championship season and is now in Washington, DC, working for a basketball agency. He’d be happy to hear from fellow campers (ebbrest@gmail.com).

JOIN US FOR FRIENDS’ WEEKEND AUGUST 19-23, 2015 Reconnect with classmates, tentmates, and other friends. Whether you want to help with barn chores, take a hike, or sing songs by the bonfire, we look forward to seeing you. Bring the whole family, and make new NCS and Treetops memories. We will take time Saturday to remember Jeff Jonathan and Gail Schumacher.

Register online at: camptreetops.org/fw15 or northcountryschool.org/fw15

For details, contact Emily Eisman at eeisman@ncstreetops.org or 518-837-5450

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

PITTSBURGH, PA PERMIT NO. 35

Welcome back Treetops Campers 2015