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.
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| 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.
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