A Legacy of Camp Treetops

Lisa Beck (CTT 70-73, parent 03-16, staff 08-present, trustee 08-present)

SPENDING SUMMERS In the mountains wasn’t necessarily something Lisa Beck planned on falling in love with. Coming from bustling Manhattan, Lisa could not imagine replacing her city bus trip to school with an early morning walk on a dirt road to the barn. She would be trading the gleaming chrome and glass of automats for wooden benches in the dining hall and freshly collected eggs.

As garden beds replaced the concrete sidewalk beneath her feet, Lisa struggled to find her footing. Tending animals, sleeping in a canvas tent, and sharing her living space with three other girls was foreign to her, as it is to many first-time campers at Treetops. She was immediately homesick.

“I cried for the first week, but the counselors helped me through it. Camp became my new home for the summer, and what I learned that summer and the three following it about myself, other people, animals, and the natural world has enriched my life ever since,” Lisa said.

“As a camper, I had adventures and experiences wholly different from those of my daily city life. The mastery of new challenges gave me—and other campers—a wonderful sense of competence and confidence.”

Lisa tried a lot of new things her first summer at camp, and she didn’t like all of them. Hiking was a no-go and so was climbing, but riding, canoeing, and the craft shops were all a joy. So were her new friends who hailed from around the world and from all walks of life. She has since realized that Treetops imparted values that she and her fellow campers were blissfully unaware of at the time: they were all on equal footing and no one’s backgrounds mattered.“ There was no difference; we didn’t bring the outside world in,” Lisa said. “We didn’t have any of the material signifiers of wealth or lack thereof. We were just there with our six pairs of blue jeans, our flashlights, and whatever else was on the packing list.”

Reflecting back on her time as a camper, Lisa doesn’t recall specific memories so much as the seemingly ordinary (for Treetops) daily activities she cherished. There were foraging trips that ended in blueberry-based desserts from the kitchen. There was everybody working together to stack logs or weed the garden. There was “Fund Lunch”—eating a simple meal every Monday— so the money saved could go toward a charitable cause at the end of the summer. And then there were the horses. Lisa began a lifelong love of horses and horseback riding at Camp, which she has passed on to her daughter.

“In 2008, I returned to Camp as a riding counselor. My daughter, Pippi, very young at the time, came with me as a day camper,” Lisa said. “Her early exposure sparked her passion for horses and riding, and she went on to become a nationally ranked hunt seat rider. Treetops gave me the opportunity to work with horses and that joy has continued to the next generation.”

Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has inspired Lisa to work toward setting up a non-profit in her community to feed people in need and keep struggling restaurants in business. The model, which was introduced to her by Portland-based former camper and board member Brian Eng, is a multifaceted approach which feeds the hungry and bolsters the battered restaurant industry. Anticipating the long-term prospect of food-insecurity, Lisa is seeking the support of (Continued on page 41)