Gary McClurg, FA Retired Faculty (Guidance)
the infirmary with no living room and no bedroom. We had a bed in this one room with a tiny kitchen. We loved it. In 1973 they moved us upstairs. Our neighbors in the house were faculty members, Larry-Former FA Faculty and Ellen Welch. We lived on campus ‘til 1979.” Sheila McClurg, dedicated FA school nurse, passed away in 1991. Gary and Sheila have two children, FA alums, Jim McClurg ‘92 and Meredith McClurg ‘95. Jim runs a non-profit organization in Palo Alto, California, called Eastern Horizons. He works with kids from the inner city and he refers candidates to Indian Acres and Forest Acres– about eight kids per year. Meredith got her undergraduate degree from Colorado State and now lives in Bend, Oregon. She is a nanny and is finishing her master’s in teaching.
Gary says, “There has always been a good and reciprocal relationship between Fryeburg Academy and Indian and Forest Acres. Both places are amazing – phenomenal, really. I’ve met so many great people. My best friends are from camp.” Gary retired this past June 2010 after 38 years of coaching and teaching at FA. He is 62 years old. In 2005, Indian Acres named and dedicated their baseball field to Gary McClurg. When the Gibson Gym at FA burned down in October 2005, Indian and Forest Acres made a very generous offer to open its doors for use to FA. All FA tennis practices and home matches are played on courts at Indian and Forest Acres. I got an opportunity to talk to two former campers (from away!) this past summer, Dr. Jane Rudolph, a gynecologist from Boca Raton and Andy Cornblatt, the Dean of Admissions at Georgetown Law School. Jane met her husband, Stephen Weinberg, at camp and her daughter, Hailey, age 13, is now a camper at Forest Acres. Andy was eight years old when he came to Indian Acres. “I stayed ‘til I was 44! And I recently came back to direct the co-ed plays. I was a camper from age eight to 16. Then I became a counselor, then head counselor and a few other jobs. Now my son, Nathan, 14, is a camper. My daughter went to Forest Acres. I met my wife here and my three brothers came here and two of them met their wives here as well. And, believe it or not, my mother was a camper here. The experience for us (my family) was terrific. Our memories are so great and strong.” Jane and Andy have maintained a lifelong friendship from their camp days and with Fryeburg. “We love everything about Fryeburg. We remember Solari’s; The Dairy Joy.” Andy adds, “I even remember The Clam Shell and the Volvo Tennis Tournament!” Jane says, “I just met Jimmy Oliver ‘64, the son of the original pharmacist…in Fryeburg.” Jane is referring to Bill Oliver ‘38, who ran Rexall Pharmacy on Main Street in Fryeburg for decades. When Jane returned to Forest Acres for a Reunion after a 30-year absence, she walked into the same cabin she had as a child. “The walls brought back such great memories. The same smell. The spiders. The pine needles. The great memories came flooding back. I love it all.” Written by Rachel Andrews Damon ‘76 Dr. Jane Rudolph & Andy Cornblatt Indian Acres & Forest Acres campers
-13Fryeburg Academy, 745 Main Street, Fryeburg, Maine 04037, (207) 935-2001 x 3137, www.fryeburgacademy.org, e-mail-alumni@fryeburgacademy.org