A Glimpse Into the Past

The project began in the late 1920s, shortly after Helen and Doug Haskell became the directors of Camp Treetops. Doug, a professional architecture critic, turned his eye to making movies of Camp life. After he had edited them, they were shown at winter gatherings of campers and also to prospective families.

In 1986, Helen brought the fi lms to Friends’ Weekend, an annual end-of-summer gathering of Camp and School alumni and families. During those showings,

those gathered picked out familiar faces and reminisced as the reels turned. Former camper Ralph Jones (CTT 54–55, sta 61–62) realized the footage documented a signifi cant development in children’s education.

“I remember turning to Bob Bliss (CTT sta 30–91, NCS sta 40–43) and asking what was being done to preserve these stories,” Ralph said.

Ralph was no stranger to fi lm. He worked in Manhattan as an audio engineer for 19 years, doing sound for media.

Bob arranged with Helen that he and Ralph would take care of the fi lms. “I remember we went to Gramercy Park, where Helen was living,” Ralph said. “While I waited in the car Bob went in, and after a bit he came out of her apartment with this milk crate full of fi lm.”

There were 12 hours of fi lm in that crate. Ralph’s colleague Charles Dexter went through it frame by frame to repair the splices and torn sprockets so the reels could be processed. All that was missing were the insights of the people who have made Camp special. To fi ll that void, with Dave Rosenfeld (CTT 70–73) behind the camera, Bob Bliss and Ralph Jones interviewed a number of people who had deep involvement in Treetops’ story.

And so began the making of three short fi lms about Camp Treetops: Treetops Roots, Shop with Shu, and Canoes with Bliss. The interview with Roger Loud (CTT 42–48, sta 54–63, 70–80, parent 71–95, NCS sta

Ralph Jones

“THE ARCHIVES ARE A LOT LIKE FIBBER MCGEE’S CLOSET,” RALPH SAID. “YOU OPEN BOXES, AND THERE’S SOME DISORDER, BUT THERE ARE AMAZING THINGS IN THERE.”

70–92, parent 70-96, trustee 94–present, Balanced Rocks Circle) became the narrative for Treetops Roots. Colin Tait (CTT sta 54 and 57, 67–82, parent 67–78), Rica Allanic (CTT 85–87, sta 90–95, 15-present, parent 12–18), Steve Burry (CTT sta 90–96, NCS sta 92–95) and others contributed insight.

Additional images came from the Camp archives. “The archives are a lot like Fibber McGee’s closet,” Ralph said. “You open boxes, and there’s some disorder, but there are amazing things in there. One time I was poking around in di erent boxes and I found this letter Doug Haskell wrote to the person who was building a new tent platform.”

Ralph explained that, in the letter, Doug was writing about the plans for a tent platform that was to be built asymmetrically to leave room for a tree. The fi nished structure would look di erent than all of the others, but to Doug the tree mattered more than conformity among tent platforms. Ralph said the atypical design was typical of Doug’s personality—a practical yet outsideof-the-box way of thinking.

There are plenty of tender moments in each of the three movies, as counselors teach children how to paddle a canoe, or as the Camp community comes together to build the original Hanging House. The fi lms give a voice to past counselors and campers as images of horse-drawn wagons, group swims in Round Lake, and camp council roll by. There is a timeless feel to all of it. There is magic and

music in the air, a joyful whimsy that, much like the sound of birdsong or the rustle of wind in leaves, has been part of Camp for 100 years.

“There is emotional value to these videos,” Ralph said. As Trustee Lisa Beck (CTT 70–73, parent 03–16, sta 08–18, 21-present, trustee 08–present) noted, “You go up there and you get to swim in a lake that looks like it did when you were a child. The place has not changed a great deal.” There is emotional value for Ralph, too, as the scenes often bring back his own Camp memories. Ralph recalled the time one of his fellow campers decided to make a dugout canoe. The camper recruited friends, brought out the axes and chisels, and they chopped away at the 14-foot tree, then carried the hollowed-out log to the lakefront for a test run. For Ralph, the most important part of that project was how the camper had the chance to see his vision through. Ralph explained that Camp is not about entertaining children, it’s about giving them the confi dence and support to try new things and to work with others to complete a project.

Perhaps the reason the dugout canoe story stands out to Ralph is because, in a short clip from one of the Camp movies he made, there are a few frames of a kid solo paddling a canoe. That’s Ralph as a camper.

“I discovered I could control a canoe thanks to Bob Bliss, and that was important,” Ralph said. “The square dances were important; the sta were important. It was all a fun, beautiful time. It was unlike anything I had ever encountered.”

Ralph’s movies keep the memories of Camp alive for generations of campers and counselors. They provide important context to footage from a bygone time, a time that still lives and breathes in the campers of today.

Watch Treetops Roots, Shop with Shu, and Canoes with Bliss at www.vimeo. com/ncstreetops.