Keeping the Cold At Bay: A Midwinter Cookout

     The weather in 2014 has left many of us thinking of ways to stay warm after several weeks with below zero degree temperatures.  The CW staff is no different.  A few weeks ago, some staffers got together to make a Camp Cookout Favorite, Door Slammin' Chicken.

In the spirit of camp, we cooked our rice in cast iron even though we had to make do without a campfire.

We used all of the same ingredients campers are familiar with from CW.

Even though this meal was delicious and helped keep us warm for the night.  It was not the same without our campers and fellow counselors to provide great company.  We look forward to seeing you all at camp this summer so we can enjoy our cookouts together!!

The Finished Product :)

60th Anniversary: A Past Staff Perspective

We were very fortunate to be able to connect with Lea Kone, who has experience as not only a Whitman camper and counselor, but has also worked as a Program Committee member.  Her interview pinpoints what makes the Whitman Experience special for campers and shows how a couple of weeks in the summer can really influence a person's life.

1. How are you affiliated with Camp Whitman?  (Were you a volunteer, camper, staff?)

Yes, all of them! I began attending Camp Whitman in 1988, during the summer before I entered 4th grade, and attended as a camper for the next 8 years!  After attending 4th & 5th grade camps, I started coming to camp for at least 2 weeks each summer in 6th grade.  My favorite camp weeks were Footloose camp (a hiking camp) and Music Camp, which I began attending in 8th grade.  The summer leading into 10th grade I went through CIT training and then began volunteering as a counselor for as many weeks over the next two summers as they would let me!  I joined the counseling staff in 1997 and 1998 and then was a Program Committee member from 1998-2000.  In recent years I have been trying to reconnect with my Whitman roots and have attended a few volunteer days and programs through my church.

2. How many years were you involved with camp for?

12 years!

3. What are some of your fondest camp memories or traditions?

I have so many memories from my years at Whitman.  My time as a camper and staff member were truly foundational in my building my character, spirit and faith.  When I think of camp, my mind drifts to sunny and breezy days sitting on the porch of the main lodge, playing tetherball, hand-cranking ice-cream that never seems to quite harden before we would be compelled to eat it, hands tie-dyed for days along with t-shirts hanging out on the line.  I can almost still hear the sounds of the crickets at night, birds singing during the day, endless verses of Johnny Appleseed and Boom-chick-boom, and the sweetest harmonies from Music camp.  I learned to quiet my mind at camp and feels God's presence in simple beauty of the camp property. I learned to open my heart to new friends, who were different than I was.  I fell in love for the first time at camp, had my first kiss at camp, and had my first heartbreak at camp. I hiked the Adirondack High Peaks with camp, learned to canoe, sail, build time-tested campfires, mastered the art of using an outhouse without having to breathe, how to calm a homesick camper, handle myself in times of crisis, be part of a team and at the same time an individual.  I spent my teen summers experimenting with poetry, sketching and exploring my faith-much different than what I could have been doing back at home.  And of course, I have hundreds of personal memories that make me laugh, cry or shake my head when I think of them now.  They are full of small triumphs, camp pranks, inside jokes, mistakes made and lessons learned.   

4. Did you remain in contact with any of your camp friends throughout the year after camp was over?

Yes, of course.  I have hundreds of letters that I still keep from years of post-camp correspondence with friends from more than 20 years ago.  We couldn't text, email or Facebook each other then, so we wrote a lot of letters between camp and short reunion weekends. I am still friends or have re-connected with many Whitman friends and hardly a month goes by that I don't talk to at least one camp friend.  

Some of Lea's pictures from her time at camp

5. Have you been involved with camp in any capacity in the years after you stopped coming?

I have tried to connect with camp in the years since I have returned to the Rochester area-but I haven't felt that there were many opportunities to do so in a meaningful way.  My years at Whitman inspired me to become a professional camp director, so I have been involved in the industry with other camps for the past 15 years and am eager to bring my passion and experience for camping back to the place that inspired me.

6. What do you think it is about Camp Whitman that has allowed it to remain popular after 60 years?

The property is one of the most naturally beautiful camp properties I have ever been to (and I've been to dozens).  The expansive view of Seneca Lake is the first thing you see as you enter the main area of camp, and that view will always make campers want to come back again!  I also think that there is a simplicity to Whitman-both in its rustic facilities and laid back programming that is so appealing in these days of too much clutter in our children's lives-they can truly unplug and connect with nature and each other.

7. What do you think might be some of the biggest differences between your time as a camper and what campers experience today?

Culturally the world and Whitman in particular have matured in the 25 years since I began attending camp. Where there were once Hogans, there are now cabins. Our cabin areas were once named an uninspiring A, B, C and D-now they are named after beautiful trees.  In the early 90's I used to smuggle in a duffel bag full of tapes, batteries and a giant boom box to play music.  I also used to sneak to the pay phone on the loading dock to call home, campers now try and find a way to sneak in their cell phones or I-pads.  A highly involved camp activity in 1990 was making friendship bracelets and boondoggle for hours-today it's advanced sailing and art programs.  Our bible study programs were simple and sparse in those days as well.  We begged for some centralized camp worship-and today the campers and staff have that opportunity and a beautiful place to worship at Sam's point. But those things are in the details.  Ultimately, I think camp today is still more similar than it is different to the camp I knew in 90's.

60th Anniversary: An Early Camper's Experience

     As we continue to celebrate Camp Whitman's 60th anniversary, we are happy to celebrate and share the experiences of any of our past campers and staff.  This is the experience that Karen Watson had while she attended camp and it is so exciting to hear that she is part of a family that has multiple generations of campers.  Do any of these traditions sound familiar?  Let us know, we would love to hear your stories :)  Thank you so much for sharing your story!!

     I would like to share with you some of my earliest memories of Camp Whitman. Although I attended camp several times during the mid to late 60's, I think that my first camping experience was the most memorable. As our family were members were members of Park Presbyterian Church, each camper received a "campership" to help defray the cost of camp for the week.   I can remember arriving on Sunday afternoon, with of course, the first stop being the Camp Nurse, and then later, having to complete the swim test in the FREEZING COLD swimming pool.   We also kept busy collecting wood and stacking it properly (tinder, kindling, etc), for our unit. Camp ended on Saturday morning, not Friday night, so it seemed like it was going to be a long week.

Back in those days, of course, there were the hogans--lovely canvas tents, with four iron bunks, and that was about it (except for plenty of spiders, mosquitoes, and other assorted insects).  If you were smart, you brought your belongings in a large suitcase that you could slide out from under your bunk.  When they told you NOT to pack snacks, they were not kidding.  There were plenty of very friendly raccoon who were happy to make your acquaintance, and to share whatever those moms had packed, the moms who thought their child might not eat all week at camp!  Outside each hogan was a clothesline for wet bathing suits and towels.

     The first year I was at Camp Whitman, we were assigned to the "B" unit, which is the furthest unit from everything!  We all got lots of exercise that week! My counselors were Bonnie Timmerman (from Arkport, NY) and Terry Coye (from Lyons, his dad was the vet at the time).  Bill and Jane Wilcox from Genesee Presbytery were the camp directors that year.   At meal times, it was always fun to see which "duty" you had for that meal.  There were cardboard cards at each table, they kind of resembled BINGO cards, and sometimes you were the "server" or the "jumper", depending on which seat you occupied at the table.  And if you were really lucky, you landed on the free spot, and had no chores for that meal!

     There was always plenty to do--crafts were my favorite (I recall this really neat paper where you could put bits of things on it--flowers, leaves, etc--you covered it with a piece of glass and left it in the sun, and by magic, there was the image of the flowers and leaves on the paper.  They made really cool postcards, on which you could write home!)  Not to mention boondoggling... The camp store was only open on Sunday (arrival time) and Saturday, for a short time, at check out. I believe we still have a Camp Whitman sweatshirt at home.

     The hike to Punnett's Puddle was another highlight of the week.  As I recall, we had brown bag lunches that day, and we hiked to the pond.  There, around the edges of the pond were all kinds of animal tracks, where we made plaster of paris impressions of the tracks.  I made one that actually had both a deer and raccoon print on it.  I was so excited to be able to make a "cast" with TWO FOOTPRINTS IN ONE, and I remember bringing it to school in 6th grade to show the teacher, where it fell off his desk and broke. :(

     I guess the MOST MEMORABLE thing that first year, however, was the sleepover on the beach by the lake.  In those days, there were no lovely wooden steps like there are now. You basically had to find your way down the hill down the well-worn path, or take the "long way"--the path over off to the side, to get to the beach.  We all laid out our sleeping bags, and after devotions, finally fell asleep.   Sometime during the night, it started to rain, and it rained hard.  We all had to grab our belongings and trudge up the path to the field, where a tractor picked us up, and carried us all, soaking wet, soggy sleeping bags and all, to the Dining Hall, where we "camped out" around the fireplace (which is now gone too). 

     I'm sure I drove my parents crazy on the 40 minute ride home from camp that Saturday morning.  There was so much to talk about and tell them.  I couldn't wait to go again the next year. 

     Years later, I became a parent, and both of my daughters, Sarah Bryant Whitcomb, and Jessica Bryant, were also fortunate to be able to attend Camp Whitman.  They have many stories of their own to share.  Last summer (2013), two of my grandchildren, Braden and Lindsey Whitcomb, attended Camp, and have become the third generation of our family to be campers there.   Our family has also family camped whenever possible, a tradition which we hope to continue.