A RENEWED SENSE OF MEANING AND PURPOSE

Todd Ormiston Executive Director

“Fortunately, the sun has a wonderfully glorious habit of rising every morning. When the sky lightened, when the birds awoke, I knew I would never again see anything so splendid as the round red sun coming up over the earth.”

THE ABOVE QUOTE IS FROM my favorite book growing up. If you haven’t read it, it tells the story of a boy running away from New York City for adventure, independence, and a deeper relationship with nature. His honest feelings of fear, spirit of adventure, and curiosity to learn appealed to me. And the book was set in the Catskill Mountains, not far from where I grew up. I remember running through the woods behind my house pretending to be Sam Gribley—looking for the perfect hollowed out tree to call home, “hunting” for my next meal, and attempting to befriend the birds flying through the leaves above me.

This spring, I found myself seeking simplicity during an incredibly complex set of circumstances and challenges. I don’t know how many times I read the book as a child, but our current situation led me back to it. It gave me comfort, but it also reminded me that Sam could be one of our campers or students. He is adventurous and vulnerable. Curious and kind.

The irony of Camp closing for the first time in 100 years when our children need it the most is not lost on us. Running barefoot on the Lake Hill, savoring juice ’n’ crackers, weaving a pocketknife lanyard, harvesting vegetables, or collecting fresh eggs at barn chores; these are some of the beautiful Camp experiences that would have provided a meaningful escape for our children this summer. For seven weeks a year, our campers can each find a little Sam

Gribley in themselves. While they aren’t physically here with us, we remain connected to campers, sending weekly journals with reminders of Treetops traditions and activities that can be shared with their families.

With Camp now a year away, we are focused on the opening of North Country School. We have learned an incredible amount about the conditions necessary to open a safe campus for our students and teachers. And while health and safety are always our first priority, we never lose sight of creating an authentic NCS experience. It has given us the chance to define what parts of our school community are unequivocal. Director of School, Matt Smith, and many members of the faculty and staff have been working hard to translate best practices for our model. We want to make sure to open a safe school—and a school where Sam Gribley would feel right at home.

Who we are as a community—as well as the shared ethos and values that form our foundation— remains our most vital advantage in facing adversity together. As I wrote in my Executive Director newsletter earlier this month, the state of the world and our community has taken an incredible turn over the past few months. Our physical and mental health and wellness, the realities of racism in our society, and financial instability have all had enormous impacts on many lives. If you haven’t yet had the chance, please take the time to read our updates on the institution’s ongoing work to support antiracism, as well as our planning for a healthy return to School in the fall. We remain committed to working through these recent events, without losing the enduring impact of a summer on the Lake Hill and a school year living and learning here in the High Peaks. As always, please share School and Camp with your friends and family. We welcome applications for new students and campers.

Right now, our society is seeking communities like Camp Treetops and North Country School. We are thriving today as an organization unified in working toward the same goals. We will return to the School and Camp that the Haskells and Clarks cultivated and nurtured with a renewed sense of meaning and purpose. The splendid round red sun will rise over Cascade once again.