Organic Roots Winter 2021

EDITOR

Shaun Kittle

LAYOUT & DESIGN

Kelly Hofschneider

MASTHEAD

Gail Brill Designs

COVER PHOTO

Gabe Dickens

CONTRIBUTORS

Emilie Allen

Christie Borden

Karen Culpepper

Katie Culpepper

Emily Eisman

Shaun Kittle

Becca Miller

Todd Ormiston

Marian Osterweis

Naomi Peduzzi

Barkley Stuart

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Nancie Battaglia

Marcos Fernandez

Shaun Kittle

Becca Miller

ILLUSTRATIONS

Gavi Mallory

EDITING

Lisa Bramen

Katie Culpepper

PRINTING

Print Management Pittsburgh, PA

COVER

Eighth grader Isha tackles the “Hock’s Blessing” climbing route at the Crag.

contact: communications@ncstreetops.org

www.northcountryschool.org

www.camptreetops.org

www.rock-e.org

Inflection

point

BY TODD ORMISTON Executive Director

Outside of a math classroom, I’m not sure I’ve ever used the term “inflection point” before last spring. As a former math teacher, I know it’s the point in a smooth plane curve where the curvature changes its sign or direction, but inflection point has also become an everyday term used to describe many of the events of 2020. Over the past several months, I have found my-

self reflecting on our own inflection points, and what they mean for Camp and School organizationally, as well as the impact of Camp and School on generations of children.

It is clear to me that our perspective as a society has changed, perhaps forever. A global pandemic and an unapologetic demand for social justice have gripped our country and the world. As we have been communicating with our North Country School and Camp Treetops community throughout summer and

fall, we have realized that every individual has been affected by these events in different ways. But together we have confronted these educational, cultural, and health-related challenges with compassion, open minds, and a vision for the future.

Moving forward, we are focused on the next 100 days, 100 months, and 100 years. The past nine months have taught us that the delicate balance of a remarkable School and Camp can be affected by threats we couldn’t predict. But just because challeng-

es are unpredictable doesn’t mean we can’t prepare for a stronger future, one where we are better able to withstand the unforeseen. With an eye on our future, we are in the early stages of building our next Strategic Plan, which will chart the goals and initiatives that will continue to provide a life-changing experience for our children.

While considering recent events and their consequences, I’m reminded of the thousands of personal inflection points that have occurred at North Country School and Camp Treetops. Remembering that an inflection point is the moment when a change in trajectory occurs, I know that every child who has experienced Camp and School has had at least one, if not multiple, moments where their trajectory has changed forever. That could probably be said about most counselors and teachers who have worked here, too.

The beautiful thing is, changing trajectory has always been woven into the Camp and School experience, but those inflection points are different for everyone. It could be diving into the cold water of Round Lake for an early morning swim lesson; a challenging relationship with a tentmate or roommate; passing your “clothesliners;” your first 46er ascent; paddling against the wind without making headway; writing the essay that won’t write itself; or being away from the comforts of home.

Adolescence is not a smooth plane curve as described in the math version of an inflection point. Instead, it is a winding, seemingly random path responding to influences...inflection points. Those moments are when growth happens. Trajectories are altered. We believe Camp and School are some of the most important influences in our young students’ and campers’ lives, leading to character growth, resilience, empathy, resourcefulness, persistence, and a connection to community. I'm sure you—a past camper or student or a teacher, counselor, or parent—have your own inflection points. The question I ask is, “How did you respond and where did the trajectory send you?”

Our world is still living through a devastating pandemic, and the conscience of our society has been shaken. We are forever committed to ensuring our children are healthy, safe, and continuously learning how to find their own voices in the global community. Wherever their trajectory eventually leads them, we want the shores of Round Lake to be a nurturing place to learn, grow, and transform.

BY KAREN CULPEPPER Camp Director

As Rachel Carson writes in The Sense of Wonder, “There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter.”

These days, assurance feels like it's coming in small doses. Moments of comfort and healing are too often truncated by troubling news or simply the continuation of all of the unknowns. It's in times like these that it feels necessary to get back to the elemental. When much else is in some state of upheaval, it's the natural systems—the rhythm of seasons—that may be all we can count on. And of course nature can be unpredictable as well. Comfort from nature may feel far off for those facing wildfires in the Western United States or for those in the parts of the world most prone to hurricanes. This summer saw record-breaking temperatures and severe drought, even in many parts of New England. Yet still, despite the challenges, or even devastation, that nature can hold, there remains a pulse, like a metronome keeping time with music. There is resilient predictability to be found in nature that punctuates an otherwise frenetic world.

I remember early this spring, and many springs before, finding great delight in the sounds of the first peepers. Of course, the start of the chorus of these small frogs signifies warming nights and that Camp is coming, which brings a great deal of joy all on its own, but there’s more to it

than that. The familiar peeping each spring is also something to count on—something to show that, even when daily routines are upended and normalities are shifted, some things are constant. I have kept a nature journal for several years and each spring I record the first sound of peepers. This April, the start of that familiar sound of chorusing from the reflecting pond came within just one day of last year’s first peeps. It’s a small comfort perhaps, but it’s there. A little later, the song of the white-throated sparrow comes as a sure sign that summer is almost here.

After a summer of bountiful garden vegetables and our sheep grazing in Dexter Pasture, there was certainty in the change of seasons—nights became colder and the days shorter. The Canada geese, who seem to have been quite content this summer to be able to take up residence on the Lake Hill without any interruption from campers running down for swim class, started to feel the chill of the evenings and knew that it was time to get moving toward warmer climes. They may not be quite as predictable as the peepers, but there is certainty, at least for now, that they will go each fall, honking all the way and in that familiar V formation. We know, too, that we will see them back here in the spring,

often decidedly hissier toward us as they give their young goslings the lay of the land.

The natural world may provide some foundation to build from even when the ground feels shaky. Though winters, especially here in the Adirondacks, can be long, cold, and dark, we know that the ice will melt from Round Lake (and that I’ll be in the water the same day!). We know that summer will come again, that we’ll sweep off the tent platforms and hang canvas—gestures that welcome a fresh start and a new perspective. We know that the maples, branches bare for now, will bud again—providing inspiration to be resilient, to keep fighting. We know that before too long, campers will lie on their backs on the Lake Hill again watching the same night sky we can see now—a reminder of how connected we all are. As we hurdle through this immensely difficult time, these natural rhythms, like the call of the spring peepers, may be the needed comfort that there is light at the end of the tunnel, or at least warmth after a long winter.

There is resilient predictability to be found in nature that punctuates an otherwise frenetic world .

Reimagining Our Reopening

BY SHAUN KITTLE

A community should feel like home, like a place you return to again and again. But community is more than a location. It’s working together for the greater good. It’s group songs and outbursts of laughter. It’s compassion, it’s collaboration, and it’s resilience.

In March of 2020, the place that is our community was upended by something we never could have imagined: a pandemic. As a result, many of our students were forced to remain off campus, and Camp Treetops was cancelled for the first time in 100 years. Our 220-acre mountain campus suddenly felt very different, but that sense of community—our community—never wavered.

The COVID-19 pandemic reassured us that the very principles of North Country School and Camp Treetops are more relevent now than ever, and it also forced us to take a look at everything we do through an unexpected lens. Our children are adaptable, we knew this, so the question became: How do we offer our unique blend of hands-on, outdoor-based education while keeping our students and faculty safe?

The answer was a lot of planning. As soon as the spring semester ended—with its virtual graduation and online showcases of students’ work—faculty and staff began meeting and researching. Welcoming students and faculty

back included health screenings, testing, and quarantining to meet New York State and Center for Disease Control guidelines.

“The philosophy underlying our planning was to maintain and preserve North Country School’s traditions the best we could,” said NCS Director of School Matthew Smith.

Many of the ingredients NCS needed for a safe reopening were already there; the school just needed to develop the right recipe. Since our educational philosophy hinges on nature as a master teacher, things like outdoor classrooms and even more time outside were an easy fit for teachers and students.

Other aspects of life here were not so simple.

“A lot of schools were shutting down the dining room and instead doing single-service, where you pick up a bagged lunch and go back and eat in your classroom,” Matthew said. “The dining room is the heart center of our campus and our community, and we wanted to preserve its role.”

Meals are traditionally all-community affairs at NCS. The dining room space wouldn’t allow for everyone to be present and socially distanced, so faculty and staff did the next best thing. First, plexiglass barriers were installed on every table, so two people could share a table and still be physically separated. Second, MERV 13 air filtration devices were installed to keep the air filtered and fresh. And lastly, the lunch period was split in two to accommodate smaller group sizes at a time.

Now, students and faculty can maintain the tradition of sharing a meal together. Students get to connect with the kitchen staff, hear announcements from their peers and teachers, and, perhaps most importantly, share time with each other.

Similar to dividing the meal periods, faculty and staff at NCS also decided to arrange classes so students would be interacting only with children in their own grade level.

Outside, nine new outdoor classrooms enabled children to be socially distanced and mask-less, if they desired. Inside, every grade level has its own space, classrooms, and teachers, and passing times between classes are staggered. This has resulted in small class sizes, and faculty being stretched a bit more.

“In the past, the goal has been to get students in the same spaces at the same time,” said NCS Director of Teaching and Learning Dave Steckler. “This year, it’s been the opposite. It’s a very different way of looking at scheduling.”

There are traditions that haven’t been affected, though. Happenings like garden harvests, barn chores,

the Halloween celebration, and work jobs are still building the NCS community, even if they look a little different. Children are still climbing at the Crag, hanging out in Upper Field, painting on the Bog Bridge, participating in WARP, and hiking to Balanced Rocks.

Matthew and Dave agreed that the reopening went smoothly, and that the school is poised to handle any new challenges that might occur in the upcoming months and years. But for them, the biggest success is the happiness of the children. It’s true our students haven’t escaped the realities of COVID-19 by coming to our Adirondack community, but they have found a safe place to learn, play, and grow, together.

“The kids are really happy to be here,” Matthew said. "There's joy attached to school right now—school as a concept. They’re in person, they’re together, and they really appreciate it.”

CHILDREN’S GARDEN

Root Veggie Fridge Pickles

BY BECCA MILLER

As someone who nearly always picks savory foods over sweet ones, there are few snacks I love as much as a pickled vegetable. Quick fridge pickles are the perfect snack or side dish when you’re looking for a crispy addition to your plate, are great tossed into fresh green salads, and add a zesty kick to a bowl of potato salad.

This root veggie pickle recipe is adaptable to whatever vegetables, herbs, and spices you have on hand. I like to use flavors like dill and mustard seeds with turnips, radishes, and beets, and flavors like ginger, star anise, and coriander with carrots. The batch of pickles shown here was made using Chioggia beets—a beautiful, spiralled Italian beet grown by lots of local farms nowadays—and includes red onions, garlic, and dill. Feel free to experiment with a medley of different vegetables, herbs, and spices depending on your family’s preferences and access to ingredients, and don’t worry if you don’t have Mason jars. Any lidded container will do just fine.

Ingredients

The recipe makes 1–2 quarts of pickles depending on the size of your veggie pieces and how tightly you pack your containers.

The brine

1 ¼ cup water

2 tsp salt

2 cups vinegar (either cider vinegar or white vinegar, or any combination of the two you have available)

¹/3 cup sugar

The flexible stuff

1 lb of any combination of the following root vegetables: beets, carrots, radishes, or turnips

The optional stuff

1–2 small red onions, sliced thin

2–4 cloves garlic, quartered

1 tsp dried dill or 3 fresh dill sprigs

½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp whole black peppercorns

2 star anise pods

¼ tsp coriander seeds

½ tsp fresh ginger, chopped

Directions

1. Peel the vegetables if desired. Slice off the ends and cut roots into ¼-inch sticks, rounds, or half-rounds.

2. Mix the root veggie pieces with any ginger, onion, or garlic you are using

3. Tightly pack all the veggies into a quart-sized jar or container. Leave an inch of space at the top.

4. Combine water, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar and salt.

5. Lower liquid to a simmer and add seeds and peppercorns. Simmer for a few minutes, then remove from heat and add in fresh or dried herbs.

6. Ladle the hot liquid into the vegetable container until it covers your vegetables by a ¼ inch.

7. Cover the container and allow it to cool on the counter. When the pickles have reached room temperature, label your container with the date and move it to the fridge. Your pickles will be ready to eat after a few days, and will last several months in the fridge.

Note: If you have any leftover brine— the liquid that turns your vegetables into pickles—you can store it in a jar in the fridge to make another batch of pickles in the future (just heat it through again). You can also use it as a vinegar replacement in homemade salad dressings or potato salads.

Back to the Land

BY BECCA MILLER

At North Country School and Camp Treetops, our values of community, collaboration, and connection are woven into our everyday lives, and these concepts are rarely more evident than during our daily farm work. Whether it be while picking the annual carrot crop or moving the heavy bales of hay used to feed our animals, so much of the NCS/CTT farm experience is anchored in the concept of working together for the collective good. Though this past year has brought with it many changes and challenges, both within the NCS campus and across the globe, we have found great comfort in our time spent in our barns and gardens. Each day we are grounded in the knowledge that the vegetables in our fields must be harvested and stored, the eggs must be collected, our barnyard animals must be cared for, and that these tasks are all the more joyful when we complete them together.

PauletteCelebratingPeduzzi

BY NAOMI PEDUZZI (NCS 12, CTT 06-11, staff 14, 18–19)

The growing, preparing, and sharing of food is so wrapped up in my mom’s personality, I couldn’t separate them if I tried. To nourish others is simply her nature. This fall my mom, Paulette, retired from NCS/CTT after 26 years working in the kitchen. She became Head of Kitchen in 2008. She has provided countless meals to the campers, students, staff, and faculty of this place,

fueling growing bodies and minds, year after year. She planned menus, coordinated with our farmers and food-packers, got special projects off the ground, ordered ingredients, searched for new recipes, guided children working in the kitchen, and managed the kitchen staff. That’s all on top of the fundamental part of her work—the cooking and baking! Walk into the kitchen and you would find Paulette baking homemade bread, turning our garden produce into fresh salsa, rolling out sticky buns, or chopping vegetables for soup. She did

everything with a grace and ease that came from living her entire life in communion with food—from its source in the dirt to its place on the table.

Paulette grew up on a family dairy farm in Rice, Minnesota. The farm was essentially self-sustaining. Her family raised chickens for eggs and meat, baked fresh bread every day, and harvested, canned, and froze enough vegetables from their large garden to last through the long, cold winters. Paulette was involved in all of it. She took care of the calves and chickens, worked in the garden, and helped in the kitchen. Being connected to the food she ate was simply a fact of life.

In her 20s, Paulette lived and worked at a restaurant and campground in Greece for six years. The food that supplied the restaurant was bought fresh every day. Fishermen on motorbikes came by pulling carts of fish caught earlier that day, and vegetables and fruit came in from local farmers. In the off-season, when the campground restaurant closed, Paulette and her friends found work picking mushrooms or oranges. The local women taught them to make spanakopita with homemade phyllo and foraged greens from the mountains. Her world was full of simple, delicious food whose ingredients could easily be traced back to their source.

A few years after leaving Greece, Paulette and her friends started High Peaks Base Camp, a restaurant and campground in upstate New York. She worked in the kitchen, making food that locals recall with admiration to this day. It was there that she perfected the art of stretching out pizza dough by tossing and spinning it—a trick that she brought with her when she joined the NCS/CTT community as a cook in June 1994. By that time, she had married my father, Mark Peduzzi, and my older brother, Luke, was a year old. NCS/CTT offered a reliable, steady job, and the organization’s philosophy and emphasis on farm-based, local eating made it an easy decision. Paulette was a kind, strong, and steady presence in the NCS/CTT kitchen ever since.

I spoke to Paulette shortly before her retirement, and asked her a few questions about her career. This is what she had to say:

Naomi: What do you find most rewarding about your work?

Paulette: I really enjoy being able to utilize what we have grown and raised here on the farm. I am constantly learning and looking for new ways to use as much from the garden as possible and make sure those ingredients are transformed into meals that taste good! It’s very rewarding to know that we are

giving the kids healthy, local food that is going to nourish them.

Naomi: What’s it like cooking for an international population of students and campers?

Paulette: I really enjoy eating food from all over the world and trying new things, and I enjoy the challenge of trying different recipes and using ingredients that are unfamiliar to me. When we make food from different cultures and countries, like at the yearly holiday banquet, we like to get suggestions and recipes from kids and their parents to make them as authentic as possible. It can be hard because I’m not always sure what the end result should taste like! Getting access to authentic ingredients and having the time to really commit can also be a challenge. But it’s always a fun one!

Naomi: Do you have a favorite meal to make?

Paulette: I love the Thanksgiving meal. It is always a lot of work, but it’s also very rewarding because so many people help to make it happen. In the weeks before, students come in and help peel apples for pies and faculty helps with other prep, and then on the actual day there’s really full support from everyone. The community feeling is really strong. The work doesn’t feel like too much because there are so many people helping. And the kids are so happy because their families are there! That always feels good.

Naomi: What will you miss after your retirement in September?

Paulette: I will miss the community of people a lot. Even though I was in the kitchen, I was able to work alongside and talk with everyone so much—the children, the kitchen staff, the people working in the offices, the teachers, and the farmers. Everyone felt like good friends.

Naomi: How are you feeling about leaving after all those years here?

Paulette: It’s time. I’m feeling good. I am ready. I want to get out and explore the Adirondacks, do some hikes, work in my garden, and really slow down and enjoy living in this beautiful place.

And Paulette deserves it! She has poured 26 years of her energy, time, and love into feeding the bodies and hearts of this community. NCS/CTT will not be the same without her amazing food and gentle, giving presence. I could not be prouder to be the daughter of such a truly incredible person.

THE CONFIDENCE TO LEAD Learning and exploring in the outdoors

BY SHAUN KITTLE

The six-million-acre Adirondack Park is many things to many people. A striking landscape of towering peaks, rocky gorges, sparkling waterways, and mile after mile of unbroken forest, people take to this wilderness to find reflection, relaxation, recreation, and respite from a busy world. At North Country School and Camp Treetops, the Adirondacks are all of that and more. Here, this land is also a place for education; a dynamic, living classroom where we can learn as much about ourselves as the world around us. And it all begins with going outside.

At Camp Treetops, spending time in nature has been the way of things for 100 years. It’s a timeless tradition, one in which campers are immersed daily in the outdoors, both on and off campus, and learning about the flora and fauna is central to the entire Camp experience.

“Doing things in the outdoors, we don’t have to make up challenging things because they’re right there,” said Camp Treetops Director Karen Culpepper. “For some, it’s learning to swim. For others, it’s hiking a mountain or canoeing in a strong wind and realizing they can do it. Nature brings those

challenges right to them.”

When Treetops counselors bring campers into the woods, they take full advantage of teachable moments, everything from mini field ecology lessons, to proper stewardship of the land, to building the skill set necessary to guide a trip. It’s all there for children to experience, explore, and embrace.

“We see kids gaining confidence—gaining confidence in themselves and in what they can do,” Karen said. “Maybe it’s an enjoyment or a passion for something. Once they have more knowledge, they’re more interested.”

North Country School’s philosophy is similar. Here, nature is the master teacher, a guiding star that weaves together disciplines like science, art, math, and music. Nature delivers endless opportunities for play as well, but the mountains can be intimidating, especially for those who are new to the outdoors.

That’s where the school’s new Outdoor Leadership Program comes in. The program allows students to take the traditional Outdoor Program a step further. Launched this fall, the first-year curriculum is modeled on the premise that a child can plan, guide, and make informed decisions during a trip, and the program is a way for students to gain the knowledge and confidence necessary to do just that. Along the way, students will earn CPR and First Aid certifications from the American Red Cross, become certified Leave No Trace trainers, and learn how to help people who are injured in the backcountry.

Jessica Jeffery was instrumental in developing the Outdoor Leadership Program, and she’s also the teacher. Jessica’s certifications include Wilderness Advanced Life Support, Wilderness First Responder through Wilderness Medical

Associates International, and First Aid/CPR instructor for the American Red Cross. She was on the Whiteface Mountain Ski Patrol for five years, and she spent seven years with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation working as a backcountry caretaker and serving on the Adirondack Trail Crew. Through her work, Jessica has rescued people in the backcountry, and has handled emergency situations that involved hypothermia, broken bones, and hikers lost in the woods. Now, she’s passing that knowledge on to her students.

“These students are learning the skill, and a lot of times they’re transferring it and teaching other students,” Jessica said. “Having a full understanding, enough to be able to educate somebody else, really builds leadership and confidence. Generally speaking, being in an environment where you’re not comfortable initially, but knowing you can take a step back and feel like you can take care of it, that you can be OK, is where we’re going with that.”

Eighth-grader Inyene first came to North Country School three years ago. She calls New Rochelle, NY, her home and her only prior experience being in the woods was a camping trip she and her mom went on when Inyene was six. The Adirondacks, a place where loons call into the night and rocks and trees outnumber people, was a whole other world. Inyene said she still doesn’t like sleeping outdoors, but activities like hiking and skiing are now a regular part of her life.

“I never thought I’d try things like skiing and rock climbing, but I’ve done both since I started coming here,” Inyene said.

Building on those outdoor pursuits, Inyene has learned important leadership skills like how to use a

OUTDOOR LEADERSHIP PROGRAM, 2020–21 SCHOOL YEAR

Fall: Backpacking, Land Navigation, Wilderness First Aid, Leave No Trace certification, and Intro to Rock Climbing

Winter: Avalanche Training, Winter Camping, Backpacking, and Trip Planning and Co-leading

Spring: Rock Climbing, Paddling, Backpacking, and Trip Planning and Co-leading

map and compass, build a shelter, and respond to an injury in the backcountry. Leadership isn’t just for guiding trips in the mountains, though. During an Outdoor Leadership Program discussion on social justice and ethics, Inyene and her classmates noted that some outdoor gear companies do a bad job of representing people of color in their advertisements. Wanting that to be addressed, the students wrote letters to four of those companies.

“We were seeing all of the things they are doing wrong, the people they aren’t representing,” Inyene said.

Access to nature is also on Inyene’s mind. She wants other kids who live in cities to be able to experience the Adirondacks and, with help from her mother and NCS faculty, she is hoping to make that happen. If all goes well, kids from schools in the Bronx will have the opportunity to spend a couple of weeks in the Adirondacks.

Eighth-grader Landon, from New Jersey, is a firstyear NCS student who isn’t new to the outdoors. When he was 11, Landon was in a program in North Carolina in which a group of kids hiked five days a week with 65 pounds on their backs. He’s comfortable in the woods, but many of the skills he’s picking up in the Outdoor Leadership Program, like how to navigate with a compass or perform CPR, are new to him.

Landon said he doesn’t know how much time he’ll spend in the mountains after he leaves NCS, but the desire to help others is something he has always carried with him. And his favorite part of the Outdoor Leadership Program, he said, is learning how to do just that.

“I think it’s pretty cool to learn how to do these things, and to learn how to help people when they’re struggling and need help,” Landon said. “I have had so many people help me. I want to be a firefighter when I’m older so I can help people, too.”

NEW FACULTY & STAFF 2020

1. Lilly Bianchi Academic Intern

2. Colleen Blanchard School Counselor

3. Elyssa Connolly Academic Intern

4. Shaun Kittle Communications Associate

5. Hania Lincoln Lenderking Garden Intern

6. Serena Seiler Barn Intern

7. Matthew Preston Smith Director of School

Trustee Transitions

We are grateful to Caroline Kenney (CTT 82–83) for her twelve years of service on the Board of Trustees. Caroline joined the Board in 2008 and served with distinction on the Development and Plant Committees. Her family has deep connections to School and Camp and father, David, continues to serve as Trustee Emeritus.

As we bid farewell to Caroline, fellow trustee and Governance Committee Chair Matt Salinger (NCS 74, CTT parent 04–08) said “Caroline’s great good humor and even keel always gave her a ready and very welcome smile as she approached her board work (and life!), which she accomplished with a light, deft touch, and yet fierce and heart-felt commitment.”

Thank you for your time, energy, and talents, Caroline.

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5.

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3. 7.

David Kenney (CTT parent 81–97, NCS parent 83–84, trustee 87–07), Caroline Kenney (CTT 82-83, trustee 08–20), Helen Kenney (CTT parent 81–97, NCS parent 83–84), and Edward Kenney (CTT 93–97)

Not pictured: Marcos Fernandez NCS staff, CTT 05–08, staff 15–17

A SUMMER WITHOUT CAMP Treetops at Home

BY KAREN CULPEPPER

I spent a lot of time this spring thinking about how to help our community maintain its connection to Treetops and its traditions, even when we’re not gathered here together. Through the uncertainty of that time, I was consistently reassured that the spirit of place, of this place, is not contingent on geographical location. I was also certain that the philosophy of Treetops was not going to be nurtured by a virtual camp experience. How antithetical to the ethos of this place, to ask young people to boot up their computers and interact with a screen? Instead, I thought about how we might encourage an authentic Treetops-y experience within a summer at home. To start, we put together a care package. With a camp napkin, pancake mix, a square of retired tent canvas, postcards, and more, we strived to encourage campers to make and nurture connections to their family, to their friends, with nature, and even with Treetops, from afar.

As I explored this idea of connectedness, my mind returned to the first days of a typical Treetops summer. Campers make connec-

tions with one another, with new smells and tastes, with the way their feet feel on the gravel as they walk to the garden. I wonder at the ease with which campers do this, year after year, at how quickly the unfamiliar becomes familiar. As we all faced a summer that was entirely unfamiliar, I looked to the connections we make at Camp to help us navigate a summer at home.

At Treetops, we connect through food. By growing, weeding, harvesting, and cooking together, we make connections to each other, to the land, and to the cycles of nature. We take time to reflect on those connections before each meal, when we stand quietly together as a community before digging into the wholesome food at our tables.

We connect by making things. Since the start of Treetops, handcraft has been an integral part of our program. In the pot shop, the wood shop, the craft shop, or anywhere else in between, we connect to ourselves and to the materials we are using, we make gifts to connect with loved ones, and we work together to connect with peers. We make canoe paddles, we make music, we make campfires.

We connect by spending time with nature. Wheth-

er we are lying on the Lake Hill watching clouds, in a swim class in the lake, hiking up a mountain, or visiting the sheep in Dexter Pasture, we are building relationships with the natural world.

So, in each week of this summer’s Camp Journal, I included an update of my experiences, observations, and reflections from my far-from-normal Treetops summer. Each entry also included ideas to inspire campers to eat good food, make and do things, and spend time with nature. To see the full weekly Camp Journals from last summer, visit www.camptreetops. org/blog.

Bob Heays remembers Treetops in the 1930s Memories Timeless

BY SHAUN KITTLE

Learning the constellations, paddling into a strong headwind, and mountains, mountains, mountains. There’s a lot to love about a Camp Treetops summer, and Bob Heays (CTT 31–33, staff 34–38, Balanced Rocks Circle) still cherishes all of it.

Bob’s Camp memories go back almost a century. On Sept. 9 he celebrated his 100th birthday, making him about the same age as Camp Treetops. Bob grew up in midtown Manhattan, and it was in the big city that his Treetops journey, and his love of the Adirondacks, began. When he was in 5th grade his teacher, Helen Lacey, offered Bob and his family a scholarship for a place called Camp Treetops in Lake Placid. Helen would later become Helen Haskell—she and her husband, Doug, were cherished Camp directors for about 40 years.

It’s safe to say Helen’s offer changed Bob’s life. Bob, then 10 years old, first attended Camp in 1931, and became one of about 40 campers, along with a dozen counselors, two cooks, and a handyman. Bob fondly recalled how Treetops operated a little differently back then. There was no electricity, so kerosene lamps were used in the Main House and kerosene lanterns were used everywhere else. Ice cut from Round Lake was stored in an ice house and used to keep the two walk-in ice boxes cool. Food was cooked on a wood-burning stove, water was piped from a brook on Pitchoff Mountain, and a coal stove heated water for laundry and showers.

Even by 1930s standards, the world of Camp Treetops was quite a shock to a young boy from the city.

Bob’s transition to the Adirondacks wasn’t smooth. He had never been away from home before, and to make matters worse, everyone around him was a stranger except Helen. Homesickness quickly set in.

“I’m not sure if it was the first or second night,” Bob said. “They had a big bonfire down by the pavilion. All of the kids were sitting around it singing Camp songs, and one of the counselors was playing a guitar. They were all having a great time, and I just remember the tears streaming down from my eyes, I was so unhappy.”

That wasn’t the last time Bob would feel uneasy about being so far away from home. Pavement, signs on every corner, and the familiar grid pattern of a city map were now a world away. The narrow, winding state trail to Balanced Rocks was intimidating, and the young Bob pushed himself to keep up with his fellow hikers for fear of being left behind in the woods.

And then something transformative happened. The hiking party emerged from the dense evergreen forest, and Bob was greeted by another sight unfamiliar to his eyes—a sea of jagged mountains, rising like rocky waves from the deep valley. There he was, standing on the rock outcrop he’d seen so many times from the meadows below. Cascade Mountain was almost close enough to touch, and looking down he saw Round Lake and Camp Treetops, where the hike began. Like many who came before him, Bob was hooked.

“I love to hike; I love being on top of a mountain,” Bob said. “I learned to love the country and country life. I probably wouldn’t have had an appreciation for it if I didn’t go to Camp.”

Bob’s first summer at Camp was the beginning of a

lifelong relationship with the Adirondacks and Camp Treetops. Back then, Treetops only took children up to 12 years old, so once Bob was too old he was offered a job as a handyman. He spent a total of eight summers at Camp. In that time, Bob learned carpentry under Devon Dennet and he learned photography, developing and enlarging photos with Doug Haskell. Bob carried both skills with him, and has had six photos in New York City’s Museum of Natural History.

Even though Bob transitioned from camper to handyman, he didn’t leave the joys of Camp life behind. In fact, Bob still went on trips and participated in many of the things he had grown to love about the Adirondacks. Bob said his most vivid memory of those eight years is a canoe trip with Bob Bliss in the Saranac Lake region.

“Bob (Bliss) was always studying the map, looking for a new trip to take,” Bob said. “He found Pine Pond, and we started early in the morning with him in the stern and me in the bow. We had to go through tall grasses that grow out of the water (on Oseetah Lake), and we had to push through vegetation to get to the shore.”

Pine Pond is about a one-mile walk through the woods from Oseetah Lake. When the explorers reached their destination, they found a quiet waterbody ringed by a sandy shore that was perfect for swimming. Other canoe trips were not so idyllic, though.

“It was part of a four-day canoe trip, and we were crossing Middle Saranac against a strong headwind,” Bob said. “The waves were coming over the top of the canoe, and someone in the middle kept bailing

the whole time. We had to go at a 45-degree angle to get through the waves.”

But that’s what life is like in the mountains, and it’s perfect for teaching the strength of collaboration. Sure, challenges can come and go with the weather, but everyone chips in and gets through it together.

After the summer of 1938, Bob went on to serve in the Army in World War II, and he worked for 30 years as a facilities engineer for Republic Aviation in Farmingdale, NY, but he never truly left Camp Treetops. Twelve years after his last Camp summer Bob bought a car, and the first place he drove to was the Adirondacks. That was in 1950, and Helen was still in charge. The pair visited, and Bob spent time exploring Camp once again.

Bob returned to his beloved summer camp many times since that first reunion, making appearances at Friends’ Weekends and keeping up with what was new. After a reunion, Bob was inspired to include Treetops in his will, becoming a Balanced Rocks Circle member.

A lot has changed since the 1930s—there are more buildings and electricity has taken the place of kerosene lamps—but some things will never change. Community is still the beating heart of Camp, and nature is its lifeblood, providing challenges, lessons, and beauty to generations of campers.

“I learned to love the mountains,” Bob said. “I learned to love that country and appreciate nature, that’s why I kept going back. We learned all kinds of things I didn’t learn in the city. We’d talk about the stars; we’d live without electricity and use kerosene lamps. It was a wonderful life.”

IN PURSUIT OF THE WITCH KING

HOW WARP COMBINES ACADEMICS, IMAGINATION, AND FUN

BY SHAUN KITTLE

The clash of foam swords on shields reverberates throughout the forest amidst pronouncements of triumph and glory. The Witch King is determined, and his band of monsters are willing to fight tooth and claw for victory. A flash of red means Invincible is once again on the move, a weapon in each hand. The creature sneers at any attempt to vanquish him as the wisps do damage control, healing injured warriors so they can continue the fight.

Things are beginning to look dire, with no clear path to victory. That is, until a red gem appears from behind a warrior’s cloak…

There is nothing quite like Wilderness Action Role Play (WARP) at North Country School, but to truly understand it one must first don a cloak and choose a shield for protection. Battle and glory are a small part of what WARP is, though. As students travel through the WARP—WARP is both the name of the activity and the world in which it takes place—they must work together to solve riddles, protect each other from monsters, and figure out where to go next.

In this year’s iteration, the quest began

with a nervous guide named Chimney the Fire Sweep, played by teacher and WARP enthusiast Larry Robjent, leading the group to a pile of shields. Chimney then entrusted them with a wooden box adorned with strange markings on its lid. Wonder and fascination did the rest. The students gathered closely around the mysterious, prized object, and carefully opened it to reveal an amulet and other items whose purpose was unknown.

Chimney explained that the WARP is dangerous, and that working together was the only way to get through it safely. He then showed them the honeycomb, a co-operative move in which the students spread out with arms extended and fingertips touching their neighbors’ fingertips. The honeycomb, he explained, would allow them to communicate with some of the WARP’s characters and make them invisible to the land’s more villainous monsters.

And monsters there would be. It turned out, the Troll King from last year’s adventure had been seen associating with a bad lot—the Witch King and the crimson-cloaked Invincible. The Wisps of the Woods were frozen and a spell had befallen Digitor. The root of these

problems was anybody’s guess.

“The Troll King used to be good, but this year we’re not sure. He’s been hanging out with the Witch King, so is he evil? We’re not sure. Is he poisoned? We don’t know,” said Larry. “The groups may end up destroying the Witch King, we’ll just have to see where the story goes.”

WARP started about 10 years ago, after a Live Action Role Play group visited the school. NCS Director of Teaching and Learning Dave Steckler said the event was fun, but he thought faculty could make it more personalized.

“I always thought LARP was cool, but theirs was very much about the story,” Dave said. “I felt like we could do something that knows our property and its special features. I wanted it to be a game that encouraged students to explore the campus, something tailored to NCS.”

The first WARP was comprised of a loosely formulated story, complete with characters to meet and challenges to complete, then students and faculty were decked out in costumes befitting of a fantasy realm and set loose to meet the denizens of the land and resolve any nefarious plots that were brewing. Dave admits it was a bit chaotic, but it was also a blast.

“WARP is a playful time that encourages everybody to

get in the mode of developing this community and this story,” Dave said. “There’s an opportunity here, where every time you interact with someone you can have a memorable moment. There are those heroic moments of rescuing a friend, chasing something off, or discovering a treasure together. It’s just childlike fun.”

WARP is traditionally an all-day event that happens on the weekend, a sort of rite-of-passage in the NCS experience that brings the community together under one big, ridiculous tent of magic and make-believe. It is such a tradition that elements of WARP have become part of the NCS landscape, like Rebel Ridge, Spider’s Web, and Dagobah.

This fall, because of restrictions imposed by COVID-19, WARP looked different. Instead of the full-blown event, smaller groups of students participated by grade during out-times. There were 10 total sessions and each group played twice, with the story wrapping up on the second play-through.

The brains behind the re-thinking of WARP was 9th-grader Ella, whose first foray with the event was playing the Healing Fairy at four years old. Ella has played many characters since her inaugural performance as a healer of injured characters, but this year she collaborated with her father, Larry, and academic

intern and WARP veteran Marcos Fernandez (NCS 08-12, current staff, CTT 05-08, staff 15-17) on how to maintain the WARP tradition while adhering to COVID guidelines.

Besides hatching the plan to spread the event out, Ella also wrote the main storyline and worked with teachers to add an academic element to the quest, with many of the puzzles touching on classroom lessons. Haikuman demanded onthe-spot haikus before the group could pass; a large shrimplike creature named Digitor was the victim of a spell which could only be broken by answering math problems scrawled on the sap-bucket chitin that comprises the poor creature’s tail. Digitor was created last year by then-9th-grader Sky (NCS 20), who made the costume as his final love letter to WARP.

“It’s kind of like we do a theatrical show every week,” Larry said. “We’re in character with the kids; we’re in character with each other. Ella has written a show that we’re performing.”

Ella didn’t just work behind the scenes. She also played one of the two Wisps of the Woods, characters integral to the storyline. A clue instructing the adventurers to gather stones that don’t belong in the landscape—a little nod to geology lessons—sets the children on a treasure hunt that ends in the freeing of the wisps. The wisps then helped the adventurers by leading them to Rotunda, a WARP-dweller who trained them in the ways of safe combat using pool-noodle swords.

“We knew there needed to be some magical creature that was good that could guide the group if it got stuck,” Ella said. “It was just a way to keep the story moving."

Speaking of rocks, things in the WARP are never etched in stone. The participants are just as much a part of the story’s evolution as those who created it behind the scenes, and that can lead to unexpected twists in the plot. It’s all a big, glorious experiment.

Now, a decade after the first WARP warriors took to the forests, Walter Breeman Performing Arts Center is home to a whole collection of student-made WARP costumes and the world’s storyline is just as malleable as it ever was. The plot isn’t what’s important; there is no pressure to make it from point A to point B. WARP is about creativity, it’s about collaborating to solve a set of mysteries occurring in a land where there is no homework or due dates or alarm clocks. At its core, WARP is a form of play capable of breaking the spell of mediocrity to engage the mind and set the imagination free.

“WARP is a playful time that encourages everybody to get in the mode of developing this community and this story.”

Wonderful WallyPAC

Masks. Social distancing. Pandemic.

This year those words became part of everyday life, unavoidable topics as we continue to adapt and move forward, together. But even through that fog of uncertainty, some things have joyfully refused to be redefined.

Inside Walter Breeman Performing Arts Center, there’s music in the air. The workshop is abuzz with the sound of power tools, and the sunlight streaming through the Don Rand Theater’s magnificent windows casts students’ shadows across the floor. WallyPAC is alive—in fact, it’s thriving—and it remains the kind of place that brings people together. Students have spent the fall semester using the space to create music, Design and Build class projects, and the annual student-written, -produced, and -performed Impact! play.

Someday, we’ll once again be able to pour through WallyPAC’s doors, congregate in the building’s heart space, and pack the theater to cheer on another brilliant student production. Until that time comes, WallyPAC will be there, waiting patiently to feel our energy within its walls.

Treetops Cente n nial Fu n d

Honoring the long tradition of providing access to the Treetops experience for as many children as possible.

Gifts to the Centennial Fund help position Treetops as a leader in providing need-based scholarships for campers of today and tomorrow. The Centennial Fund, a component of the Annual Fund, will also strengthen our endowment.

Please make a Centennial Fund gift today. Visit www.camptreetops.org/100fund or contact Emily Eisman at (518) 523-9329 x 5450 or eeisman@ncstreetops.org

IN MEMORIAM

Thatcher M. Brown III

1936-2020

Thatcher M. Brown III (Trustee 82-89, CTT parent 76-84, Grandparent) passed away on June 25, 2020. A native of Rye, New York, and a graduate of the Westminster School, Simsbury, CT, Tim spent a memorable year at the Stowe School in Buckinghamshire, England, returning to attend Yale University, Class of 1958. He enlisted in the US Army, MP Battalion 728, serving in Seoul, South Korea, until 1960, when he joined the Wall Street office of Brown Brothers

Harriman & Co. Tim received his MBA in Business and Finance from New York University's Evening Division in 1966. At a waltzing party in 1961, Tim first met his second cousin Sarah (Sally) Louise Brown. They were married in 1963. Their dance together lasted 56 years and was enlivened by three children, Geoffrey Hewlett Brown, Thatcher

Gihon Brown, Eliza Eleanor Brown, and six grandchildren: Alexander Staunton Brown, Elizabeth (Elsie) Adams Brown, Hollis Burling Brown, Crosby Doubleday Brown,

Stephen Keiser

1958-2020

Stephen Keiser (CTT 70-74), a lifelong resident of East Aurora, NY, passed away May 22, 2020. Mr. Keiser was an audiophile, inventor, and entrepreneur who went to Clarkson University and became an electrical engineer. Soon after college, Mr. Keiser began building amplifiers and marketing them to audiophiles. Under the B&K brand name, he sold hundreds and acquired a reputation for building natural-sounding amps at a reasonable price. Mr. Keiser loved science, particularly astronomy

and astrophysics. He would often venture out on cold nights with his telescope. Mr. Keiser hooked his nephews on science and astronomy, too. He loved to opine on the physics of the early universe. He is survived by his brothers Michael (Rosalind), Bruce (Helena), and Thomas (Victoria) Keiser, and many loving nieces and nephews.

NCS ALUMNI/AE

1945

Donata Coletti Mechem

Like everyone we are sheltering in place, wearing masks, social distancing, hand sanitizing, and praying for an end to all this death and suffering, most of which could have been minimized or avoided. Our two granddaughters, Sophia and Lucy Carroll, devoted Treetoppers, are missing their counseling summer, but possibly next summer they can do it.

1961

Fred Rea

I finished building a traditional Adirondack Guideboat last winter and have been enjoying rowing often on the lake in front of my house in Maine. Fred

Bryson Coe Correa Brown, and Nathan Magoun Correa Brown.

Rea

Thatcher M. Brown III

Stephen Keiser and family

NEWS & NOTES

1996

Carla von Trapp Hunter

(Also, trustee 16–present)

Amidst the pandemic and much-revised plans, David Rothenbucher and I were joyously married on July 11 with a very small group of masked and socially distanced family and friends in attendance.

2003

Evan Johnson

Started at Glass House and now I started a business in 2014 called Glass of Water, designing and creating awesome things. I got married in May. I talk about my NCS life all the time. Brief but impactful. Changed my views on life completely.

2012

Marcos Fernandez

(Also, current NCS staff, CTT 05–08, staff 15–17)

After a short hiatus, I have returned to North Country School. I am currently taking a semester off from college to gain some teaching experience from my friend and—I’m stoked to say—colleague, Larry Robjent. I am in the process of completing my BS in geology from Northland College. You can usually find me in WallyPAC designing and building, or at the Crag throwing down! When I am not working, I enjoy hiking, rock climbing, ice climbing, cross-country skiing, spreading the gnar butter on the shred bread (a.k.a. skiing), melting metal, and giving back to the com-

munity I love, NCT. If you have any rock identification questions please seek me out!

2015

Joe DePaola

This will be my third year as a volunteer firefighter in my local fire department in Westchester, NY. In February, I achieved my certification as a NYS Emergency Medical Technician. Since then I’ve been spending a lot of my time with my local ambulance corps, serving my local community.

When COVID hit shortly after I became an EMT, I began working with a private ambulance company in the Bronx, assisting and transporting patients from all over the city in the middle of the COVID crisis. At

(Above left) Carla von Trapp Hunter (NCS 1996, trustee 16–present) with husband David Rothenbucher. ( Above right) From left to right: Sammy Martin (NCS 08–10), Marcos Fernandez, Anabell Corwin (NCS 08–14, CTT 07), and Anthony Fernandez (NCS 06–10, CTT 05–10, staff 04–15).

the start, three patients a day were COVID positive. The hospitals were stretched thin. Eventually, though, after a month or two of the worst, things began to get better, and eventually I would only have one COVID patient a week, if that. New York pulled through in so many ways.

After working there for three to four months, with COVID being somewhat controlled in NYC, I decided to enroll in Westchester Community College, where I currently study with a major in paramedicine. I will hopefully be a NYS paramedic in November next year!

As I’ve grown older, I’ve found that NCS played an essential part in my childhood, and helped make me who I am today. My current passion to serve others and my community, I have found, started back at NCS.

2017

Audrey Wilson

I graduated from Vermont Academy in 2020 and I am now attending the University of WI/Oshkosh. Initial plans are for the nursing program.

CTT FRIENDS

Malcom Willison

CTT 41–43

Fellow camper Eric Wagner (NCS 38, CTT 41–43) has been painting for years, landscapes and visual expression of mathematical concepts—he's been a lifelong mathematician. And Bill Kinzer (CTT 42–43) has been composing music. I published a book of poems, A House of Her Own: Poems on the Afterlife of Elizabeth Bishop’s House in Key West, and a short play, A House of One's Own, which was produced in Key West and in NYC. I am now working on a longer version. We escaped Key West in late June for upstate New York and the Adirondacks.

Susan Richards

CTT 59–63

I am a New York Times bestselling author of three books. I live in Kennebunkport, ME, with two pups. Camp Treetops was the defining experience of my life, my happiest memories.

Mary Hordubay McKenzie

CTT 71–74, NCS staff 82–83

Making the best of this new way of life. Enjoying having a full house for the first time in six years. Spending quality time with Sam (25), Sarah (20), and Sam’s dog Finn, all who would otherwise be working and going to school in D.C. We were planning on Friends’ Weekend to celebrate the centennial summer. Hopefully we will get to do that next year instead. Best to all and be well. We miss the North Country!

Trish Harris

CTT 93–99, staff 03–06

Living and working in D.C. is treating me well, even in 2020. As a graphic designer in Democratic politics, I scored big with a career that is both creative and impactful. Last October I got married in a whimsical and colorful ceremony to my husband, Bryan. This October our band Bound released our second album, “Haunts,” to warm

(Above left) Joe DePaola (NCS 15). ( Above right) Left to right: Rebekah Horowitz (CTT 92–94), Moira Horowitz (CTT 92–97), Bryan Buchanan, Trish Harris (CTT 93–97, staff 03–06), Taylor Harris (NCS 91–95, CTT 93–99, staff 03–06), Laura Harris (NCS parent 91–95, CTT parent 93-99, trustee 2000–present)

NEWS & NOTES

reception, including a small nod from NPR Music! We wistfully look forward to the day we can play live shows again to promote it. As always, I miss the Adirondacks and Treetops hugs most of all.

Davlyn Mosley

CTT 96–98, trustee 20-present

On May 28, my husband Kyle and I welcomed baby Balthazar (“Baz”) to our family. We look forward to his first visit to Treetops!

FACULTY/STAFF

Meredith Hanson (NCS faculty

12–present) led the development of Concordia Language Villages’ inaugural Japanese Virtual Village high school credit program, where adolescents across the U.S. gathered via Zoom to learn one year’s worth of high school Japanese in four weeks. This was her 18th summer with the Language

Villages. The Language Villages are currently offering school-year credit programs as well, in multiple languages.

Director of Marketing and Communications Emilie Allen, her

husband, Patrick McAvoy, and son, Everett, welcomed daughter Fia to their family on September 28 in Burlington, VT.

NCS/CTT FRIENDS

Bethany Dickerson Wynder Trustee 12–15

Bethany joins St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH, as the director of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. She previously was in Washington, D.C., where she served as coordinator of special events and programs and director of outplacement and community outreach at Beauvoir: The National Cathedral Elementary School.

Peter Curran Trustee 17–19

Peter was selected to be the next Head of School for Blair Academy in Blairstown, NJ. Peter had previously served as the Associate Head of School and Dean of Admission at Blair.

From left to right: Malcolm Willison, Bill Kinzer, and Eric Wagner at Friends’ Weekend 2017

Emilie Allen and family

FROM THE TREETOPS ARCHIVES

Can you identify the people in these photos? If so, please email communications@ ncstreetops.org

Dear Friends,

This letter and the Annual Report that follows cannot and does not adequately capture the profound commitment we have felt from you, our community, this year. It is deeply inspiring to see how you have come together to support Camp and School with your characteristic creativity, generosity, and resilience. From handwritten notes to emails to donations of all sizes, we are overwhelmed with your care and love for this place. We could not be more grateful.

When we made the difficult but necessary decision to cancel the 2020 summer of Camp Treetops as well as Friends’ Weekend, we knew that we would miss our campers singing at Council Rock or sharing a meal in the Main House. And, we knew that we’d miss you, our alumni and families gathering for Friends’ Weekend—reminiscing and reconnecting during garden harvest or while hiking Balanced Rocks.

We also knew that, like many other non-profits, we would be facing financial difficulties and a strained budget. The Board and leadership began looking at financial scenarios last spring. Since then, we have exercised fiscal prudence and prioritized taking care of our people. It is no surprise that, for the first time in nearly 20 years, we are ending our 2020 fiscal year with a significant deficit. Your generous giving has helped mitigate the impact of that deficit. We continue our promise to be excellent stewards of your philanthropic support.

During this fiscal year, which ended on August 31, your generous gifts helped us exceed our Annual Fund goal and raised $1.4 million from more than 1,080 donors to bolster Camp and School during these challenging times. The Annual Fund is our emergency fund. This year, it helped us sustain Camp and keep our farm and garden running through the unusual summer. It also helped us prepare for a safe reopening of School by funding new air filtration systems, making adjustments to our dining room and classrooms, and providing better technology for our teachers.

We were reminded of the importance of a strong endowment this year. Many families and individuals have chosen to invest in Camp and School by establishing named funds or leaving a legacy gift in their will. Realized planned gifts and other generous giving have helped our endowment grow to over $14 million, which helps fund scholarships and program opportunities every year. As we look ahead, a healthy endowment will help ensure a bright future for School and Camp.

Know that Camp and School are here. Because of our community, we are resilient. We believe that the world needs our intentional, place-based, connected learning more than ever.

Thank you again for your generous and loyal giving. Please continue to stay in touch—it means so much as we embark on what promises to be another challenging year.

Best regards,

Barkley Stuart

Todd Ormiston Chair, Board of Trustees Executive Director CTT 69-72 parent 03-07, NCS parent 09-11

INSTITUTIONAL LEADERSHIP

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

2019-20

Barkley J. Stuart, Chair

Pamela B. Rosenthal, Vice-Chair

Matthew Tuck, Treasurer

Laura Thrower Harris, Secretary

Lisa R. Beck

Ed Biddle

Barry Breeman

Peter R. Brest

Guillaume de Ramel

Nicholas P. Hewitt

Carla von Trapp Hunter

Caroline Kenney

Roger S. Loud

Greg Marchildon

Jennifer H. Maslow

Davlyn Mosley

Stefan Nowicki

Robert Parker

Pat Kramon Pincus

Matt R. Salinger

David Stewart

Mara Frankel Wallace

Emanuel A. Weintraub

HONORARY TRUSTEES

Joan K. Davidson

Colin C. Tait

Richard E. Wilde

TRUSTEES EMERITI

J. Matthew Davidson

David Kenney

Rose Kean Lansbury

Sandy Gray Nowicki Sumner Parker

ADMINISTRATION

Todd Ormiston

Executive Director

Emilie Allen

Director of Communications and Marketing

Christie Borden (NCS 92)

Director of Advancement

John Culpepper

Director of Facilities and Sustainability

Karen Culpepper

Camp Treetops Director

David Damico

Director of Admissions

Fritz Sabbow

Chief Financial Officer

Matthew P. Smith

Director of School

OPERATING FUND STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES YEAR ENDING AUGUST 31, 2020

HIGH PEAKS GIVING LEVELS

Our world faced many challenges and uncertainties this year. We are extraordinarily grateful for you, our community of alumni, families, past and present staff, trustees, and friends, who came together to support our work of educating and inspiring children. Thank you to the more than 1,000 individuals, families, and businesses last year who invested in our campers and students through a philanthropic gift.

MARCY (5,344 FT)

$50,000 AND UP

Keith and Peggy Anderson H

Keith and Peggy Anderson Family Foundation

The Estate of Neal W. Andrews

Barry, Pam, and Marion Breeman H

EJMP Fund for Philanthropy, Elizabeth "Lisette" Prince, Trustee

Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund

The J. M. Kaplan Fund ◆

Rose K. Lansbury ◆

Sandy Gray Nowicki '57 ◆

Marian Osterweis ◆

Mr. and Mrs. Sumner Parker '41 ◆

Elizabeth "Lisette" Prince ◆

Barkley Stuart and Ann Glazer ◆

Hui Zhao and Jianbei Chen

ALGONQUIN (5,114 FT)

$25,000-49,999

Lisa Beck and Mitch Seider ◆

Matthew and Amy Davidson ◆

The G&S Foundation

Paul and Eileen Growald ◆

Adam Guettel

Jennifer H. Maslow ◆

Bob and Margaret Parker ◆

The Estate of Jane Crowell Rieffel

The Estate of David Rockefeller

Drs. Pamela Rosenthal & Sam Wertheimer H

Silicon Valley Community Foundation-Wallace Family Fund H

Mara Frankel Wallace and Rick Wallace H

HAYSTACK (4,960 FT)

$10,000-24,999

Anonymous (4)

Isabel Huffman Belden ◆ Benevity Community Impact Fund

Andre Braugher and Ami Brabson

Peter Brest ◆

Pai C. Cheung and Ayano Yamamoto ●

Judith L. Chiara Charitable Fund

The de Ramel Foundation

Guillaume '89 and Molly de Ramel H

Ian Desai

Rohit and Katharine Desai ◆

Vanessa Desai and Doug Semmes H

Rohit and Katharine Desai Family Foundation

Joe Edmonds '84 H

Fullwood Foundation, Inc. H

Growald Family Fund

The Gruben Charitable Foundation

Josh Harlan H

Laura and David T. Harris ◆

Conglin Huang and Yuehong Yang ●

Caroline Kenney H

Mr. and Mrs. David T. Kenney ◆

KLA Foundation

Lake Placid Education Foundation

Eric & Simone Lang H

Eric and Simone Lang Foundation

Jane Lang ◆

Anna Levine and Andrew Rosenblum H

Carol S. Levine ◆

Sara Levine H

Michael E. and Carol S. Levine Foundation

Yufeng Li and Feng Qian

Ruling Liu

Elizabeth Macken ◆

The Maslow Family Foundation

Mimi Muray Levitt ◆

Stefan and Courtney Nowicki H

Diana Oehrli H

Catherine Oppenheimer H

Dee Osborne

Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh

Henry Posner III and Anne M. Molloy H

Matt and Betsy Salinger ◆

Steven Saslow

Bill Savage ◆

Schwab Charitable Fund H

Shames/Argo Families ◆

Shames Family Foundation H

The Stuart Four-Square Fund

Daniel and Katia Szor H

Courtney and Matthew Tuck H

Vanguard Charitable H

Sam Weinig

Chunming Yang and Wendi Liu ●

Xiangsheng Zhang and Huaye Qiao

Rex Zhu and Jenny Shen ●

SKYLIGHT (4,926 FT)

$5,000-9,999

Anonymous

Adirondack FoundationMeredith M. Prime Fund 2

American Endowment Foundation

Bill Barton H

Ed and Ridgely Biddle H

Davis/Dauray Family Fund

Brian Eng and Renee Bourgeois H

Elizabeth Eng and Benjamin Botts H

Joan K. Davidson

(The J.M. Kaplan Fund) ◆

Kenneth and June Eng H

Eng Family Charitable Trust

The Fernandez Family

Navah & Robert Frost H

Nick and Ruth Hewitt ◆

HIGH PEAKS GIVING LEVELS

Tessa Huxley and Andy Reicher ◆

Susie Jakes and Jeff Prescott H

Jewish Communal Fund

Kenan and Ping Ji

Bruce Keiser in loving memory of Stephen Keiser ●

Philip Kneisl '75

Jianzhong Liu and Rong Yu ●

The Neaman—Santomasso Family

The New York Community Trust ◆

O'Donnell Iselin Foundation

Ken Okin ◆

Brian Orter and Michael DiMartino

Susan W. Read ◆

The Rodgers Family Foundation, Inc

R. Rubin Family Foundation ●

Nathaniel Rubin

Salesforce

John and Susan Skovron ◆

David Stewart and Rene Yang H

Hume R. Steyer ◆

Manny Weintraub ◆

Timothy Wennrich and Jessica Griffiths H

Edward B. Whitney and Martha C. Howell ◆

Kevin Williams H

Jun Zhang and Bei Zhu

WHITEFACE (4,867 FT)

$2,500-4,999

Anonymous (3)

Eden and Phil Anker H

Bank of America Charitable Foundation

Brimar Industries, Inc.

Alice Brown H

Florence V. Burden Foundation at the recommendation of family members Will and Meg Burden ●

Meg and Tobe Carey ◆

Shujen and Hua Chen

Shiu-Kai Chin ◆

Yu Dai and Jing Chen ●

Brad and Lynne Davidson ◆

Jenifer Hale Deming ◆

The William Ewing Foundation

Deirdre Farley ◆

Micah and Marla Goodman H

Aaron Jakes

Karen and Peter Jakes ◆

Ralph Jones ◆

Robin McAllister Ketchum H

Patrick and Katherine Lally

Rui Li and Hao Xu ●

Susan Localio ◆

Roger and Pat Loud ◆

Meimei Ma '70 ◆

Weiying Mao

Davlyn and Kyle Mosley H

Brian and Amy Naftal and family

Robert Davila and Carmen Nigaglioni H

Robert Opatrny and Susan Sutherland ◆

Glenn and Carol Pearsall

Adirondack Foundation ●

Gretchen Phillips

Anne Preven

Phyllis W. Reicher ◆

Royal Little Family Foundation H

Jason and Jennifer Ryan ●

Melissa Brown and David Siegel H

Helen Stein ◆

Shu Tao and Yingqiu Chen ●

Ms. Louise D. Walsh and Mr. Charles L. Rupp ◆

John Whitney and Victoria Escalle H

ROOTS

William Whitney H

WRIGHT (4,580 FT)

$1,000-2,499

Anonymous (7)

Jamie Abbott ◆

Rica and Cyrille Allannic ◆

Jenny Ewing Allen ◆

Henry* and Nancy Armstrong ◆

Armstrong/McKay Foundation

D.J. and Ken Baker ◆

Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation H

Wing Biddle '75 ◆

Wolcott R. Blair

Mr. and Mrs. Perry J. Bolton ◆

Paul Brest

Martha Brooks

Suzanne and Geoffrey Brown ◆

Burnham Financial Services, LLC

Ms. Francesca Calderone-Steichen

Danforth Cardozo ◆

Amanda Carmel ●

David Carter H

Cory and Elizabeth Clechenko ●

Georgia Close and Benjamin Spencer

Community Foundation of Sarasota County

Ann Cooper ◆

John and Karen Culpepper H

Sally Powell Culverwell ◆

Jim and Sharon Cushman H

The Damico Family

Jacqueline Davies H

Mary Diana Davis

Joss Delage and Robin Mendelson ●

Kathy Della Fera

David and Melanie Dumont ◆

Nicholas Flanders '66 H

Sarah Stahl and Harry Foster H

Don Gallo

Jennie Gosin Goelz H

Greater Washington Community Foundation

Ziyi Guo and Yi Li

Elizabeth Harlan ◆

Davina Harris Swann

Jim Hayes and Jenny Mullins H

Bob Heays ◆

Molly Hunt Heizer ◆

Donald and Diane Hewat ◆

Sam and Elsa Huxley

Janet Spiegelberg Hyman '49 ◆

Judson H. Irish Jr. ◆

Yuyang Jiang and Jian Ming ●

Elise E. Keely ◆

Rebecca Arvidson Kelly

Michael and Danelle Kelly ◆

William Kenney H

Liza Ketchum and John H. Straus

Andrew and Yuko Kirk H

Jeanne Bergman and Anna Kramarsky

Ellen and Kord Lagemann H

Randi Land H

Amanda B. Moniz and David L. Lenter ●

Lolya Lipchitz and Harold Kasimow ◆

Chris Lloyd and Vassie Sinopoulos

Glenn P. Lyons and Anita M. Bodrogi

The Mabee Family Foundation

Michael Mager ●

Jean P. Maissa and Chantal

Minang Essone ●

Jean and Jerry Marchildon ◆

Marcia Mason McClellan ◆

Yaron Minsky and Lisa Minsky-Primus ●

Deborah Model & Joe Falkowski H

Network for Good H

Dylan, Kathi, Javier, Galen, & Serena Norton

Laura Okin H

Todd and Elizabeth Ormiston

Ethan and Julia Ostrow ● Park Avenue Charitable Fund

Cola Parker ◆

Francie Parker '82 ◆

Pat Kramon Pincus ◆

Mr. Jan and Dr. Joan Popkin H

Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc.

Katherine & Coulter Richardson

Anthony Root

Marjorie P. Rosenthal H

Eric Rosenthal and Debbie Meyer ●

Mark Sands

Saxton Family H

Judith Krones and David Schorr

Ben Schwerin ●

Dan Schwerin

Josh Schwerin H

The Estate of Marcia Siegal

The McHugh Silva Family

Nicholas Solley

Philip and Marcia Steckler H

Dorian Stedman and Heidi Pelkey

Roberta Taggart

Kyra Tirana Barry H

Michael J. Urfirer ◆

Lucia Vail ◆

Carla von Trapp Hunter and David Rothenbucher

Ben Watson and Ruth Izraeli ◆

Claire Weisz

Susan Welch Williams '54

Holly and Jim Wilson

Claire Bonahoom and Charles Woods

Xuejun Xu and Wenjing Li

Peter Yamin

Linda Young

Your Cause

SADDLEBACK (4,515 FT)

$500-999

Anonymous (11)

Adirondack FoundationSweeney Family Fund

America's Charities

American Recycling Technologies Inc. H

Katie Bacon H

Meryl and Erin Baker H

Lionel and Deborah Barthold H

Lynda Bernays and Stan Smith ◆

Amy Bodman H

Tyras Bookman H

Zachary Bookman H

HIGH PEAKS GIVING LEVELS

Matt Brest and Mira Rapp-Hooper H

Thatcher M.* and Sally B. Brown ◆

Mr. Garbriel Calzada and Ms. Karen Maeyens ●

Marcelo and Alexandra Castro

Michael Chase

Danny Chiu

Maureen and Charles Cohen

David and Jane Condliffe

Kate Condliffe and David Chen

Susan and Robert Console ‘62 ◆

Dudley H. Cunningham H

Mr. Howard Davidson

Cassie Levitt Dippo ◆

Sarah H. Lambert Dolan '86 H

Matt Donahue

Chelsea Eakin and John Hanrahan

Ted Ewing ◆

Lee and Ann Farnham

Eric Fetz H

Simon Fielder ●

Katharine Knight Flebotte ◆

Nina Goodman ◆

John R. Goodman H

Eugene and Jolinda Grace

Andrew Green

Noah Harlan & Micol Ostow H

John Herrera H

Eliza Hewat '65 ◆

Rachel Hiles

David Hochschartner and Selden West ◆

Eli Z. Kramer H

David Kraus ◆

Tom Krouwer ◆

Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Lambert III ◆

Stuart & Mary Lollis ◆

The Losam Fund H

Nicholas and Cassandra Ludington H

Tim Mabee

Cynthia MacKay, MD

Gregory Marchildon H

Nathaniel Mason

Lauren McGovern and John Sweeney H

Debra M. McPhee

Soren Meischeid

Abigail Mellen ◆

Danianne Mizzy

Alan and Alice Model ◆

Jonathan and Kristin Adomeit Moore ◆

David and Leni Moore Family Foundation ◆

Bonnie & John Morgan 65 ◆

Morgan Stanley Gift Fund ●

Mr. Richard K. Ochs and Ms. Susan A. Arnold H

Kent and Robin Palmer

Rob Parker

Tracey and Thomas Parker

Jenny and Jon Pearlman H

Pew Charitable Trusts H

Dr. Victoria L. Pillard ◆

Pillard Gonzalez Family Charitable Fund at Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts

James R. Pugh ◆

Alice Reich

Susan Elman and Joe Ronson H

Stewart Rubenstein and Christina Parker

Fritz Sabbow and Rob Hastings

Chiara Saldarini and Bruno Sartorelli

Scott and Amy Sanderson H

Santa Barbara Foundation

Jay Scott ◆

Richard and Carol Seltzer

Zach Siegel

Douglas and Esther Sloane

Joy Stafford

The Stanley-Hunt Family

Sarah Adams Steinberg and Peter Steinberg

Joe and Rachel Stern ●

Strayer Family

Brad and Fran Taylor

Marilyn Jordan Taylor H

Peter A. Thacher & Sarah J. Sherbrooke ◆

Cornelia and Joseph Tierney ◆

Triskeles FoundationSAMA Fund #39

Amy Turner

John and Alida Vessey

Karen Waddell

Bill and Patty Waddington

Jim and Jean Weber H

Jennie Weiner H

Ronald and Vicki Weiner H

Harry Welch

Maggie Westergaard H

Kai Xing

Peter J. Zimmerman H

ROCKY PEAK (4,420 FT)

$250-499

Anonymous (9)

Robert Abramowitz and Susan Stewart ◆

Amazon Smile Foundation

Todd and Pam August H

Allegra Harris Azulay ◆

Alison Taggart-Barone and Larry Barone

Anne Leland Benham H

Charles Biddle H

Phillip Brest H

Megan and Josh Briggeman

Brian Bronfman ◆

Jim Brooks

Thatcher G. Brown H

Peter and Michelle Bullock

Ingrid Caruso and John Christian H

Kate Chasson H

Glen and Elizabeth Chidsey ◆

Michael Churchill ◆

Maggie Close

HIGH PEAKS GIVING LEVELS

Helen Cohen and Mark Lipman

Chris Daunt ●

Peter M. Gilbert

◆

Kalle Condliffe H

Tony and Nancy Corwin ◆

John Crowley-Delman

Julie Curtis and Keith Gerstenmaier H

Mandy and Craig Dana Sr.

Jim Darby ◆

Josh and Jennifer Davis H

Ellen and Jim Diamond ◆

Mr. and Mrs. William Domenico

Claire Douglas H

Mary Lynne Eakin

Payton Fireman '72 H

Marcus and Jennifer Fox ●

Doug Gallant ◆

Diana M. Hawes ◆

Bruce Hodes ◆

Christina Honde ◆

Ellen Hornstein & Denis Cioffi ◆

Ken Hornstein ◆

Richard and Jo Hull

Ted and Julie Kalmus

Jonathan Kerlin ◆

Alexander and Zoe Khalap

Ted Killiam H

Bill Kinzer

Jessica Koster

Richard and Kathryn Lenter ●

Nan Lindsay

Bill and Jan Localio ◆

Rachel Lowenthal H

Krsiten and Robert Maccini

Jane and Dudley Mairs ◆

Joseph and Mary Kathleen Maria

Melanie Maslow-Kern and Chip Kern

Lisa May H

Leo Mondale and Sarah Patton

Richard and Barbara Moore ◆

Alice Morey and Harvey Weinig H

Nils and Kara Morgan H

Lynne and John Morgan ◆

Carolyn Mullins

Clary Olmstead and Kathleen Heenan ◆

Vivian and Paul Olum Charitable Foundation

Joyce Olum-Galaski

Omidyar Network Fund, Inc.

David Pettengill H

Hilary Platt

Hannah R. Pocock

Suzy Prudden '58

Don Rand ◆

Fred and Roz Rea ◆

Jane Regan and Ayanna Morel

Ciara Robinson

Ella and Peter Robjent H

Jim and Cathy Robjent

Dana Rogers

Maggie Dara and Jeffrey Edward Rosenbloom

Peter and Lisa Rowley H

Peggy Sand and Jonathan Kronstadt

Chuck Schwerin and Laura Bronstein ◆

Rachel Schwerin

Nicole Been Siskind H

Margaret Sloane H

Dan Slutsky ◆

Shari and Jim Smart H

Benjamin Smith

Jenny Smith-Yuen H

Jim and Liz Steyer ◆

Stuart and Susan Topper

Karine Toussaint ◆

J.T. "Skip" Tubbs ◆

Constance Tucker ◆

Barry & Teri Volpert Foundation

Teri and Barry Volpert ◆

Eric G. Wagner ◆

Jon Walsh

Sarah Weber

Bonnie Welch H

Janet Dunn Wentworth, NCS '68 ◆

Sarah Cooper Williams and Martin Williams

David and Nell Wing ◆

Charlie and Nancy Wise

The Yarinsky Weisser Family

Jesse Zanger

BIG SLIDE (4,240 FT)

$100-249

Anonymous (24)

Lynda Lees Adams

Sam Adams

Adirondack Educational Center ●

The Allen Family

Emma Allen

Emilie Allen

Maddie Ames

Robert Anctil ●

Andrew August

Betsy August M.D.

J Balcerzak ◆

Baltimore Community Foundation H

The Barnett Family

Claire Basescu ◆

Nancie Battaglia

Harold and Natalie Been ◆

Petrona Benitez

Herb and Erica Bergamini ◆

Fern Beschler

Alexandra Bley-Vroman

Charles A. Bookman ◆

Christie Maria Borden NCS 92 and Ken Borden H

Nancy H. Paine-Borden

Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth P. Borden, Sr.

Conway Boyce

Elizabeth Bradley H

Kevin and Teresa Brady

Christian Brammer and Jane Haugh

Ellen Thorndike Brawley '52 ◆

Eric Brest

Richard and Paula Brewer H

Alex Moffly ●

Cali Brooks '85 and Galen Crane H

Margot Parsons Brown '51

Eliza E. Brown

R. Dede Brownstein ◆

Jim Brush and Donna Foley

Alice Gresham Bullock H

The Chris Burden ('56) Family

Lisa Busch H

William Campbell ●

Lewis Canfield H

Joey Carey H

Hope S. Childs ◆

Eva-Marie Chopra

Kay Faron Ciganovic ◆

Brenden Clark

Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation, Inc. ◆

Ansley Coale

David Cohen H

Barbara Condliffe and Matthew Fleck

Tutt Cook II

Stephanie Copelin and Mark Abboushi H

Ms. Jennifer Crisp ●

Stephen Crome

Catherine Crowley-Delman

Katie Culpepper H

Robert Curry and Carrie Moodie

Laurie M. and Samuel W. Cushman ◆

Charles Darwall and Victoria Stoneman

Addie Davis

Frances Davis ◆

Louis and Laura De Olden ●

Anne Dealy H

Peter Delman and Maureen Crowley

Paya deMarcken

HIGH PEAKS GIVING LEVELS

Beth Dennison H

John and Libby Doan H

Mark Dumont and Lynn Mehlman ◆

Nolan Dumont

Hannah Edwards H

Noni Eldridge ◆

Alan Eldridge

Bliss Eldridge ◆

Lois Elting

Ari Epstein and Rima Shamieh

Kitty Fair H

Gwen Storey Feher H

David Feldbaum

Pier Fetz-Scimeca H

John W. Filkins, Jr.

Joanne M. Fiumara ●

Michelle and Niclas Fjälltoft

Laney Lacey Fleischer H

Mr. John A. Foley '70 H

David & Denise Fritchey

Elaine H. Gascon ●

Rose Gellman

Talitha Giarratani

Brigit Loud Gilkey H

Leo Glickman and Debby Nabavian ●

Alice Woolsey Godfrey H

Elizabeth and Lloyd Goldmark

Ann Goldsmith ●

Lily Gordon

Michelle R. Grant

Kimberly Corwin Gray '95 H

Gay Booth Greenleaf

Florence Grieb ◆

Richard Hahn ◆

Christine Hall

Meredith Hanson

Mickey Hardt

Kitty Hay '63 ◆

Dinah Lauterbach Heller '43 H

S. Hennemeyer

Dawn Henry ●

Jeffrey Herrmann and Sara Waisanen H

Kent Hewitt ◆

Catherine (Cathy Fetz) High H

Frederick W. Hilles Jr. ◆

Jeanette Gaston Hooban ◆

Rich Hornstein

Claudia and Harvey Horowitz ◆

Moira Horowitz

Kristen Hoyt and Russell Morris

Betsey Huffman

Gabriella, Ben, Tony Wan and Tori Hunt

Margaret Hunt ●

Derek and Deborah Hunt H

Fran Huntoon H

Anne Runyon Hurd H

David Husing

Jane Hyde ◆

The Indium Corporation & Macartney Family Foundation ●

Devon and Meredith Jacobs

Jessica and Nate Jeffery

Evan Jenkins H

Alexandra Johnes

Frank Johnson '62 ◆

Sarah Jonathan

Fred Jones ●

Carolyn Jones ●

Lennoth Joseph H

Bill and Hamtamu Karg and Reese Fayde

Johanna Kasimow

Sophie Kasimow and Seth Shames H

Vicki and Casey Keller

Curtis and Mary Beth Kendrick

Thomas P. Kenefick H

Bradley Kerr H

Lily Killiam

Sara Kirby ●

Aaron and Rachel Kless ●

Diane, Sam, and Bethany Kletz H

Andrew B. Knox H

Mr. Stephen Kolbert and Reverend Ingrid Marcroft ●

John and Meg Kotler H

Meredith Kovach and Sam Eaton

Sarah Kramer

James Kramon

John Kress

Susan Masters Kyger

Mr. Thomas H. Land Jr. H

John and Kathy Lanza

Maria D. Lawson

Greg and Bunny LeClair H

Hope Jensen Leichter

The Honorable Pierre N. Leval H

Adrienne Ward and Dan Levy

Vannesa Houghtlin and Walter Linck

Tarky Lombardi Jr. H

Barry Mallis

Brenda D. Frank and Albert D. Malmfelt H

Molly Malmfelt-Frank H

Scott Tower Maloney

The Honorable

Ellen H. Maloney ◆

Diana Marin

Hilary Maslow

Leslie Maslow

Marsh McCall ◆

Lauren M. McCarty H

Jill McCullough

Drs. David Grant and Lynn McKin-

ley-Grant H

Richardson McKinney

Edward and Libby Faron Mell

Hilary and Harold Meltzer

Becky Rice and Don Mesec ◆

Theodore Metzger and Robin Fleischner H

Lisa Ernest Mierop

Lisa and Keith Miller-Samber

Henry F. Minnerop

Scott and Stephanie Miscione

Dr. Charles E. Moisan H

Ryan Moore ●

Brendan Adomeit Moore ●

Daniel (Pinball) Morel

Fred C. Morgan

Lila C Mortimer

Danikka and George Moses

Terrance and Margaret Moy H

Barbara Mulvey

The Namm Foundation, Inc. (Andrew Namm '42) ◆

Brigitte Gordon and Dino Nappi

Kim Narol H

William and Louisa Newlin H

Frederick S. Nicholas Jr.

Sarah Nicholson '72 ◆

Isabelle N. Nicks H

George G. Nimick, Sr. H

Carin Kuoni and John Oakes

Jeffrey Odell ●

Jimmy Lee Ormiston ●

Kaitlyn Orr

Dan Ouderkirk H

Borka Pap

Thomas and Victoria Patterson

Sherm Peale H

Thomas G. Penchoen

Dixianne McCall Penney

Bucko Perley

William and Carrie Perley H

Brook and Taylor Phillips

Dale Ferris Phillips ◆

Abby Pines

Doralynn and Jeffrey Pines ◆

April Eiler Pinney

Arthur Platt and Janet Fink

Barbara Plimpton H

Torrey (Newcomb) Podmajersky

Steven Pologe H

Patty Pond

Lizabeth N. Pope H

The Portal Family

Barbara Posner ●

Lauren Olitski Poster '71 ◆

Kate Kubert Puls ◆

Lindsay Putnam ◆

Jenny Rabinowitz

Laura Rappaport H

Steve Rau ●

Nancy Reder and Peter Pocock H

George and Joanne Reed ◆

Wynde Kate Reese

Douglas and Erin Reid

Aimée Reveno ◆

Jonathan and Julia Rhoads ◆

Susan Richards

HIGH PEAKS GIVING LEVELS

Wende (Liz) Richter

Philip Rickey ◆

Ashley Rieger ●

Alison Riley-Clark H

Rebecca Rohrer

Mark A. Romney

Mrs. Oren Root H

Michael and Maj-Britt Rosenbaum

Victor Rostow H

Ben and Susie Runyon

Theodore Rupert

Mark Sahler ●

The Schierman Family H

Anthony and Nino Schierman

Chris and Emily Schlichting ●

Nat Polish and Ellen Schorr

Kristin Schwenk

Shelah K. Scott ◆

Rhoda and Norman Seider H

Noah Shaw and Karen Barone ●

Lauren Shaw

The Shelby Family H

Kate Shepherd

Daniel Silin

Fiore and Caitlin Sireci ●

David Sanyour

Betsy and Favor Smith H

Matthew and Reid Smith ●

Timothy and Janet Smith ◆

Aubrey Lynn Snowden

Ted Sonneborn

Dave Steckler H

Charles and Eve Sutton ◆

George Tait

Bob Tam ◆

Tashman Family H

Loran Thompson

Lindell Thorsen-Nagel

TIAA Charitable ●

Amina Tirana H

Nathaniel Tomlinson

Jane Isaacs Toussaint ◆

Mrs. Martha Trowbridge

Jessica Tuck ◆

Helen Stuart Twiss ◆

Willa Vail H

Marcy and Marcus Veno

Nick Waddington

Donna, Jake, and Olivia Walsh

Rebecca Warner ◆

David H. Wells

Jill Werfel H

Laurence and Irma Werfel H

Stephanie White ●

David Sloan Wilson ◆

Tiffany Wilson

Randall and Lisa Wint ●

Edith Wislocki and Alfred Darby ◆

Bob Witsenhausen

Helen Witsenhausen

John Wood '73 H

Mary Woolsey and Mark Peterson ◆

Marjorie Wright H

Lee Wright

The Wynder Family

Rebecca Yamin

Melanie Younger

CASCADE (4,098 FT)

GIFTS UP TO $99 AND GIFTS IN-KIND

Anonymous (22)

Anne Aaboe

Matthew and Shira Ackerman

Ian Adomeit

Aetna Foundation, Inc. H

Raul Aguirre and Emily Eisman

Grady Allen

Amgen Foundation

Caroline Andrew

Richard G. Arms, Jr.

David and Liana Aronson

Lurline Aslanian H

Kate Tuttle Asselin H

Daniel August

Elliott August

K. Willow Ayers and Jamie Yu-Ramos ●

Lauren Baker H

Joan Barbier

Meg Gallant Barclay

Sarah Blunt Barnett ◆

Craig Barney ●

Tyler Barr

Maria Basescu and Mary Rodriguez

Megan Beck ●

Samuel Becker

Norman and Lori Bellingham ●

The Benner Family ◆

Pippa Biddle and Benjamin Davidson

Kathleen V. Bliss

Sherrill Blodget

Mary Doerflein-Bohus and Robert Bohus

Jean Bookman

Douglas Booth

Benjamin Bradford ●

Evan Bronstein-Moffly ●

Bill Brothers

Heather (Thornton) Brown '61

Katharine Calder ●

Liz and Chris Carroll

Sophia Carroll

Rachel Carter

Patrick and Lois Caulfield

Dorothy Changelo

Garth Cilley

Emily Clark

Christy Clark

Ace Clarke-Fisher

William and Carol Collins

Margaret D. Cooley

Susan Cooley

Cor-A-Vent ●

Penelope Corbett ●

The Costello Family

Gerri and Bill Cotter

Melissa Csengeto ●

Leslie Daniels

Lucy L. Davidson ●

Sarah Davidson

Tom Davis H

Raul and Emilie De Brigard H

Jerry and Amy de Rham

Dr. Winifred M. DeLoayza H

Anna Dumont

Anne Eldridge H

Rebecca Emerson

Charles W. English ●

Tess Faller

Casey Fish ●

Tiana Fishler ●

Dorothea Flink

Mr. and Mrs. Michael S. Forman H

Edward W. Fox Jr. '57 H

Linda Bird Francke H

Martha Fuller ●

Reilly Gadwaw ●

Arleen Gilliam ◆

Max Goldberg

Deborah (Churchill) Goodell ◆

Amy Gordon H

Gordon W. Pratt Agency

Shashana Govan

Reggie Govan

Sierra Grennan

Mr. & Mrs. Siegfried Haenisch ◆

Piri Halasz ◆

Chantille Harris-Jenkins

Nancy and Charles Hatfield

Angela Hawley

Peter Heller and Kim Yan ●

Peter Helmetag

Alberta Hemsley ◆

Adam and Carol Hewitt H

Holly Hinds

Erica Hirschfeld ●

Steve and Natasha Hissong ●

Jean Hoins H

Rivers Holtzman

Kaityln Hop ●

The Hordubays ◆

Rebekah Horowitz

HIGH PEAKS GIVING LEVELS

Ian Hughes ◆

Jeremy Hughes ●

Mr. & Mrs. William O. Humes ◆

Zina Huxley-Reicher

Alex Hyde ‘88 H

International Cellulosa Corp. ●

Joplin Wistar and Alison James ◆

Lawrence Jay

Margo Rice Jay ◆

Sanford & Beth Jewett ●

Bryan and Danielle Johansmeyer ●

Lucy and Tracy Johnson ◆

Elsbeth S. Johnson ◆

AJ Stone Jonathan

Johanna Kalmus

Karla Kavanaugh

Dorothy A. Kenny ◆

Rachel A. Kind

Hannah Kirkpatrick ●

Mr. William A. Kissam Jr.

Bethany Kletz ●

Elenor and Thomas Klosterman H

Dr. and Mrs. Martin W. Korn H

Sarah and Jack Koster

Samuel and Linda Kramer

Madeleine Futterman Krasnow ●

Max Kronstadt

Jennifer Ladd ◆

Carol LaMotte ●

Mr. & Mrs. Sherwood Laporte

Dana Lindsay

Frances Littell

David Localio

Hugh Cooke MacDougall

Susan Mahaffy ◆

Dave and Denise Martin

Sarah Martin

Joseph Mayer ◆

Amalia and Joseph McGavin

Bruce Collins and Maggie McGovern H

Mary Hordubay McKenzie ◆

Sophie McKibben

Donata Coletti Mechem ◆

Aaron and Cheryl Megliore

David Miller

Ellen Mitchell ◆

Mitsubishi Electric Cooling and Heating ●

Charlotte Mondale

Caitlin Morgan ●

Adele Morgan and Michael Curran

Willard Morgan and Jenn Barton H

Sage Morgan

Camille R. Mosley ●

Anna Mould

Susann Moyer

John and Patty Mueller

Jenny Mui

Denise Myers and Michael Chaback ●

Nick Newlin

Britt Nielsen

S. Celeste Nossiter ●

Martha O'Leary

Ini Obot

Leslie Oplinger

Lucky Mae Ormiston

Maddox and Chase Ormiston

William and Jennifer Pabst

Joan Pachner

Paradigm Window Solutions ●

Jane C. Patterson ●

Ann Paull

Paulette Peduzzi and Family H

Caroline Hlavacek Perry

Jennifer Perry

Mary Louise Pierson H

PPG Architectural Coatings ●

Jane M. Purcell ●

Nancy Ginsburg and Bill Purdy

Daniel Quinter

Elie Rabinowitz and Becca Miller

Maya Radiconcini H

Mr. Augusto Andres Ramirez Ruiseco

Janine Alpert Randol

Beth and Chris Reed ● Regeneron Matching Gift Program

Lisa Robin

James Romm and Tanya Romm Marcuse

Adam Rose

Benjamin Rosof

Hannah Runyon ●

Kia Salehi

Peter and Emily Samton

Paula Sanders ●

Lisa Sands and Joan Balash H

Kristen Sayers ●

Natanya Schorr

Betsy Schrader

Tinya Seeger and Raiden DeGeare ●

Dan Sherman

Norman Shore ●

Simpson Strong Tie ●

Eliot Sloan

Jack Smart

Jay Smart

Marcia Smith

Batya Anne Sobel

Hetan and Helen Somaiya

Keith Spence CTT '63–'65

Frances Starn

Hadley and Ricardo Stocker ●

Emily and Jason Straight ●

Katie Sulham ●

Barbara Tam

Sheila Tavares

Russ Taylor

Hugh Taylor

Carly Terreberry

Paul Theimer H

Katina Thornock ●

Micah Turner

Renata Uzzell ●

Isaac Vesery ●

Charity Vitale H

Roberta W. Waddell ◆

Olivia Walsh

Jeremy and Judith Walsh

Nathaniel Walsh

Tim and Katie

Eldridge Weaver '78 ◆

Susan K. West ◆

Weyerhaeuser Company ●

Thomas and Christine Whitney

Penn Wilder ●

Herb Wilkinson ◆

Malcolm Willison H

Patricia Winter

Liz Wise H

Carol Witherell

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Witmer

Chris Wood

Jane Woodburn

Henry Woolsey

Lorraine and Eli Yamin

Leah Yoes

Please note: this report includes gifts, pledges, and pledge payments made from September 1, 2019 to August 31, 2020. Gifts received after August 31, 2020 will be listed in next fiscal year’s Annual Report. Despite our best efforts to avoid errors and omissions, they do occasionally occur. If you contributed and your name was omitted, misspelled, or listed in the wrong category, please accept our sincere apology, and do let us know by calling the Advancement Office at (518) 523-9329 ext. 5450.

KEY TO SYMBOLS ● first time donors H 10–19 years giving ◆ 20+ years giving *deceased

Meimei Ma and Jamie Chao

Organic Roots recently spoke to Meimei Ma (NCS 68-70, parent 13–16) and Jamie Chao (NCS 13–16) to learn about how their experiences at NCS have shaped them.

Meimei, how did you end up at North Country School?

MM: My father was a professor teaching in Thailand my 7th-grade year, and my mother was interested in going with him. I didn’t want to go to different schools each year for 7th–9th grades, and since I’d been attending summer camp for years my parents knew homesickness wouldn’t be an issue. My mother and I visited NCS toward the end of 6th grade, and after an hour I knew I wanted to go. My mother, who had a PhD in social work focused on child development, talked to Leo Clark and she must have agreed with the Clarks’ philosophy on raising children.

Did you have particular experiences at NCS that were formative in bringing you to where you are today?

MM: I’ll always remember a time my classmate Nick Hewitt (CTT 64, NCS 70, trustee 04–present, Balanced Rocks Circle) and I built a snow cave out on the Upper Field, and some boys wanted to take it over. I walked right to Walter’s office to complain, with Nick following, and Walter looked at us and asked, “Do you like the fort?” We said yes, and he told us, “Well then, go defend it.” So we went back out, made some snowballs, and had a fun snowball fight with those boys. Walter just leaned back and let us handle it. It was Walter being Walter.

Jamie: The faculty are always teaching you how to care about others, whether at the barn with the animals or with each other. In Larry Robjent’s Earth science class we would talk not just about science, but about how to live in the present and not worry about

things you can’t control. We talked about how kindness will serve you later in life. Katie Weaver always reminded me to be patient. John Doan taught me how to telemark, but he also told me that I could quit if I didn’t like it. He encouraged me to try something new, and made sure I knew that I didn’t have to keep doing it if it wasn’t for me.

Meimei, why was it that you wanted Jamie to have the NCS experience as well?

From left: Jim Chao, Jamie Chao, and Meimei Ma

MM: I always wanted any children I had to go to NCS if it was a good fit. Jim and I saw early on that Jamie loved the outdoors. I brought her on an admissions visit and she loved it right away. By then she had already enjoyed Friends’ Weekend quite a few times. It is such a special place for kids, and I am absolutely tickled that my good friend’s daughter Langlang is a current NCS 7th grader. She had the same reaction to the place during an admissions visit for her older brother a few years ago. That was reinforced while her family stayed at Rock-E House with us this summer. She climbed at the Crag, she got to ride horses, she liked weeding in the garden. It was fantastic. My desire to send kids that are a good fit to North Country School goes beyond my own family. Academics are important, but what’s really unique about NCS is everything else.

Is there a particular spot on campus that you feel most connected to?

Jamie: The art room. I love the couch where you can see the barn and the trees, and there is so much natural light. Katie Weaver was my art teacher and we still send letters back and forth to each other every few months. Also, Larry’s old shop in Flushing. There were times in the winter coming back from the shop that my hands were freezing because it was so cold, but working with your friends, you didn’t care.

MM: My favorite indoor space was the chimney in the library. I spent a lot of time reading there, and playing hide-and-seek up in the chimney. That chimney is a very good hiding place.

What is it that brings you back to campus so frequently?

MM: Going to Friends’ Weekend is going back to the mountains, which are their own draw. That started back in 1981. After Jamie graduated in 2016, it was also about everyone we can visit in Lake Placid. Some of Jamie’s friends were day students. It’s a place that’s important because I loved my time as an NCS student, but also because of all the current friends we see when we’re there.

Jamie: It’s definitely about the people. Seeing every-

one you talk to during the year, but also people you don’t talk to but when you do it’s like you’ve never left. I feel like I learn about my teachers as people every time I go back. This summer I got to watch Garth playing with his baby daughter. Courtney’s kids were little when I was there and they’re so big now. It’s great seeing the campus kids running around having fun.

Meimei, you have been a supporter of School for many years as a leadership donor to the annual fund and most recently with a capital gift to the Teaching and Learning Kitchen. Why has North Country School been a philanthropic priority of yours?

MM: That’s a carryover from my parents. I didn’t realize until well past college that my parents continued to give every year after I left. I started giving at least a little every year in college. With the Teaching and Learning Kitchen, I wanted to do something where I could see the impact. I like the fact that the TLK is used for School and Camp, but also for the larger community. I give to my other schools, but I’m most dedicated to NCS because my experience there was life-changing. I don’t know if I would have had a drastically different experience if I’d gone elsewhere for high school or college, but I have no doubt that my two years at North Country School fundamentally changed the trajectory of my life forever. It colored everything.

Do you have a final memory or thought you want people to know that we might have missed?

Jamie: Hock’s justice talks. Once a week Hock would talk to us about how to navigate the world and how to be a good person. We talked about ethics and kindness. So much of the faculty and staff are really wise and knowledgeable, but they are humble about it. As a kid you’re like, “I want to be like you when I get older.” And then you get older and you hope that you’re implementing the stuff that they taught you.

MM: Those ideas, the philosophy of the school that Walter and Leo established so long ago, they have continued throughout its entire history. That fundamental core of North Country School and Camp Treetops is there, and it hasn’t wavered.

The faculty are always teaching you how to care about others, whether at the barn with the animals or with each other .

TREETOPS CENTENNIAL FUND

To celebrate 100 years of Camp Treetops, the Board of Trustees established the Treetops Centennial Fund. This fund helps honor the long tradition of providing access to the Treetops experience for as many children as possible. Gifts to the Centennial Fund help position Treetops as a leader in providing need-based scholarships for campers of today and tomorrow. The Centennial Fund, a component of the Annual Fund, will also strengthen our endowment.

We are grateful to the community members who have made a gift to the Treetops Centennial Fund in fiscal year 2019-2020. If you would like to honor the centennial with a gift, please visit www.camptreetops.org/100fund or contact eeisman@ncstreetops.org.

Anonymous

Rica and Cyrille Allannic

Eden and Phil Anker

Lisa Beck and Mitch Seider

Harold and Natalie Been

Charles A. Bookman

Alice Gresham Bullock

Amanda Carmel

David Carter

Margaret D. Cooley

Katie Culpepper

Anne Dealy

Rohit and Katharine

Desai Family Foundation

Ian Desai

Rohit and Katharine Desai

Vanessa Desai and Doug Semmes

Jerry and Amy de Rham

Ari Epstein and Rima Shamieh

Linda Bird Francke

Rachel Hiles

Bruce Hodes

Rich Hornstein

Tessa Huxley and Andy Reicher

Liza Ketchum and John H. Straus

Elenor and Thomas Klosterman

Jessica Koster

John and Meg Kotler

Maria D. Lawson

Lolya Lipchitz and Harold Kasimow

Chris Lloyd and Vassie Sinopoulos

Elizabeth Macken

Debra M. McPhee

Amanda B. Moniz and David L. Lenter

Marian Osterweis

James R. Pugh

Jane Regan and Ayanna Morel

Phyllis W. Reicher

Andrew T. Rieger

Maggie Dara and Jeffrey Edward Rosenbloom

Scott and Amy Sanderson

David Sanyour

Gabriella, Ben, Tony Wan and Tori Hunt

Rebecca Warner

Mary Woolsey and Mark Peterson

The Yarinsky Weisser Family

Jesse Zanger

Reflections on Camp by Marian Osterweis

(CTT 53–57, staff, grandparent 2013–present)

TREETOPS SHAPED MY CHARACTER and my passions. It reinforced important family values, especially the expectation that I should respect all people regardless of race, religion, wealth, or profession. “Take people as you find them,” my mother used to say, and that was good advice. As a camper and a counselor, I met people from all kinds of backgrounds and made

lasting friendships, some of them lifelong. Treetops exposed me to an expanded emphasis on community through weekly jobs, (the oft-dreaded) garden work, and the teamwork necessary in so many activities, perhaps especially on overnights. I felt that my help

Fourth from left: Marian Osterweis, taken in the late '50s

really was needed and necessary to the smooth functioning and well-being of Treetops in a way that sank in deeply. It was different in scale and consequence than being asked to wash the dishes at home, and it was beautifully modeled by the adults everywhere on campus from the kitchen, to the garden, to the barn, to the hike house, and beyond.

I developed a passion for nature, especially for the mountains and woods, that remains strong today. I still remember seeing mountains for the first time on the drive up to Camp, and the views from the tops of them once I started hiking. As a little kid on mountain trips, I would start in the front of the line, drift to the back, end up in tears because I thought I couldn’t go any farther, and then at the top I was totally awestruck by the views. I would skip back down and raise my hand at morning council soon thereafter to go on another mountain trip, and repeat the whole process. I still remember the smell of balsam on my first overnight at age eight; I have a little balsam pillow on my bed today. I will never forget the beauty of a lake covered in blooming water lilies at the end of a difficult

Treetops life, both as a camper and a counselor. When I was at Camp there were a number of professional and semi-professional musicians on staff, and good music was outside the dining rooms and in various Sunday night venues. Folk songs, freedom songs, classical music, and pieces especially composed for the motley group that comprised the Treetops orchestra filled the air. As a counselor I played flute in some Sunday night concerts with Don Rand accompanying me, which was a special treat!

I learned incredible skills at Camp. As a kid I learned to ride and tack a horse, sail on windy lakes, canoe down rapids, climb mountains, pitch a tent, build a fire (even in the rain) and cook over it, tie all kinds of amazing knots, splice ropes, and milk a cow. As a counselor I learned how to teach some of these skills to the next generation of campers, and how to share the less tangible Treetops’ philosophy and values with them. I also learned some new skills and had responsibilities that blew my mind then, and still astound me now. The two examples that have stayed with me most vividly are from my last summer as a counselor

canoe portage. I took to heart the messages about the importance of environmental preservation, a message that was way ahead of its time.

Perhaps the most striking nature experience I had at Treetops was on a sketching trip with Hans Hoffman, Helen Haskell’s brother-in-law, who was a successful painter in New York City. I was maybe nine and he seemed ancient. He took a group of us to Raspberry Knoll, sat us down next to a boulder and asked what color it was. Well, duh, it was gray. “Look again,” he said. As we looked, we saw bits of green, white, yellow, black, orange, red. When we finished with the rock, he did the same thing with the bark and leaves of a nearby tree. No, bark isn’t just brown and leaves aren’t just green. I couldn’t sketch that day and I can’t sketch now, but from that day forward I looked at my natural surroundings differently. What I learned from Hans on that day long ago has also had a profound influence on the way I look at art.

Music was another big and important aspect of my

in 1967 when I was 22. I was asked to be the head riding counselor because they needed one of us to be of legally responsible age. The first pre-Camp day, Walter Clark handed me $150 in cash and told me to go buy two more horses. I’d never bought horses before and $150 didn’t seem like enough, but off I went to the place he recommended, and bought two horses, one of which was actually pretty good! That same summer, again because I was over 21 and also had my Red Cross Senior Lifesaving certificate, I was asked to go on a four-day canoe trip. I was a fairly experienced canoer from my camper days, so that part was fine. What I hadn’t expected was being asked to drive a VW van filled with kids and gear and tow a trailer behind that was loaded with five or six canoes. What trust; what responsibility.

The prime mover in all of this was Helen Haskell. I recognized this subliminally as a child and grew to appreciate her power more concretely as a counselor. I adored Helen. She set the tone, she modeled the

I developed a passion for nature, especially for the mountains and woodds, that remains strong today.

values, and she hired amazing staff, many of whom were there for many years, so I got to know them both from the vantage point of a camper and later as peers when I was a counselor. At Treetops I felt supported and stretched by people who expressed confidence and trust in me, and my self-confidence blossomed.

When Helen died I took the train from Washington, D.C., to New York City for her memorial with four lifelong friends from Treetops: Reggie Gilliam, with whom I’d first gotten to be friends climbing mountains when we were nine; Jeanie and Jerry Marchildon, with whom I was a counselor; and Reggie Govan, who was a camper when the other four of us were counselors. We were a diverse group of friends from different backgrounds. We were all sad together, reminiscing for four hours about the profound impact that Helen and Treetops had on each of us.

As an adult it seemed to me that there were two obvious things to do with all these wonderful memories and gifts. One was to ensure that my family could experience them. Unfortunately, my daughter was not able to attend Camp but my grandchildren, Ceci and Toby Rivkin Brennan, are enthusiastic Treetoppers. Ceci spent six summers there and became a 46er her super year in 2018 (I’m just a 36er); Toby is hoping camp will be open in 2021 so he can return to senior camp. The other thing I could do is to support Treetops financially. I recently contributed to the Treetops Centennial Fund to support campers of today and tomorrow. I am of the age where I am thinking about legacy giving, and I’d like to see my contributions have an immediate impact. I truly love Camp Treetops, and since I am now able to contribute, now seems like the perfect time to give.

From left: Ceci Rivkin-Brennan, Marian Osterweis, Mark Brennan, Toby Rivkin-Brennan, and Sara Rivkin

Community Giving Week by the numbers

Goal: 200 DONORS

54 First time Donors 9 Different Countries 37 States

"I would not be the educator I am today without having worked at Camp Treetops. The philosophy has filtered into so many parts of my life and I am extremely grateful for that."

—Rachel Lowenthal

(CTT staff 10, 12–14)

You achieved: 360 DONORS and earned the $50,000 challenge gift

More than $150,000 raised

65% of you gave $100 or less

"The world needs Treetops."

—Maria Basescu (CTT 65–71, staff 77–79)

“It makes our hearts glad to continue to support NCS as we are able. We have such a deep and abiding belief in the mission and the way that NCS grows young folks to be their confident and authentic selves.”

"This school and the staff are amazing. It has been a game changer for our family allowing our daughter to be successful. We will forever be grateful to the NCS family."

—Justin and Jamie Weiler (NCS current parents)

—John and Libby Doan (NCS parents 00–07, faculty 00–18)

ENDOWMENT

THE NORTH COUNTRY SCHOOL AND CAMP TREETOP S endowment is one of the institution’s greatest strengths. In these uncertain times, it provides financial resiliency and is a solid foundation for the future.

We are grateful to the individuals and families who have made the extraordinary commitment of establishing named endowments. Thank you, as well, to those who have made contributions to those endowments. These funds honor a friend or family member’s legacy in a meaningful fashion while benefiting North Country School and Camp Treetops in perpetuity.

In the 2019-20 fiscal year, we were honored to add two named funds to our endowment:

• The J.M. Kaplan Family Maintenance Fund was created by the Kaplan and Davidson families in honor of Matt Davidson’s years of service on the North Country School and Camp Treetops Board of Trustees. This fund will provide an enduring resource for our facilities and maintenance work. We are grateful to the Kaplan and Davidson families for their generous support for Camp and School and for their forward thinking in establishing this endowment.

• To honor the Camp Treetops Centennial, the Board of Trustees established the Camp Treetops Centennial Endowment . The annual distributions from this fund will provide for need-based scholarships for Treetops campers.

If you have questions about a current fund or would like to discuss establishing a new fund, please contact Christie Borden, Director of Advancement, at (518) 837-5402 or cborden@ncstreetops.org.

GENERAL ENDOWMENT FUND

Bob and Margaret Parker

MEMORIAL ENDOWMENT FUND

Memorial gifts support the general endowment fund

Milton and Liesa Allen Fund For Faculty Salaries

Neal W. Andrews Fund

For CTT Scholarships for children for whom English is a second language

The Estate of Neal W. Andrews

David and Peggy Bailey Fund

In honor of the founders of Woodstock Country School

Beck Seider Family Fund

For CTT Scholarships

Lisa Beck and Mitch Seider

Beyond the Mountains Fund For Faculty Development

Bob Bliss Fund For Waterfront Improvements

Bramwell Family Fund For NCS & CTT

Mildred Brooks Nature Program Fund For CTT Salaries

Camp Treetops Centennial Fund For CTT Scholarships

The Estate of Jane Crowell Rieffel*

Marian Osterweis

Robin McAllister Ketchum

Leo and Walter Clark Fund

For NCS & CTT

Tim Mabee

Brion Crowell Fund

For NCS & CTT

Kitty and Carl (C.D.) Dennett Scholarship Fund For NCS Scholarships

Dumont Scholarship Fund For CTT Scholarships

David and Melanie Dumont

Mark Dumont and Lynn Mehlman

Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund

Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc.

Harry K. Eldridge Scholarship Fund For NCS Scholarships

Bliss Eldridge

James R. Pugh

Feather Foundation Fund For Gardens and Greenhouse

Eric Feldsberg Memorial S cholarship Fund

For CTT Scholarships

Garden Fund For Program Enhancement

Reginald Gilliam

Mountaineering Leadership and Scholarship Fund For Mountaineering Program

Support and CTT Scholarships

Arleen F. Gilliam

Michael and Danelle Kelly

James R. Pugh

The Wynder Family

Govan Family Fund For CTT Scholarships

Tsu Hansen Fund For NCS & CTT

Philip Kneisl ‘75

Harlan Family Fund For NCS & CTT

Elizabeth Harlan

Noah Harlan and Micol Ostow

Doug Haskell Fund For CTT Scholarships

Anonymous

Helen Haskell Fund For NCS & CTT

David Hochschartner and Selden West Fund For NCS & CTT Scholarships and Professional Development Adirondack Foundation

-Meredith M. Prime Fund 2

The Estate of Marcia Siegal

Elizabeth Harlan

Josh Harlan

Noah Harlan & Micol Ostow

Kaye Clark Hoins Fund For NCS & CTT

Mr. John A. Foley '70

Lindsay Johnson Fund For NCS Scholarships

The J.M. Kaplan Family Maintenance Fund in honor of Matt Davidson For Facilities and Maintenance

Matt and Amy Davidson

The J.M. Kaplan Fund

Adlin and Sherman Loud Scholarship Fund

For NCS Scholarships

Edward and Libby Faron Mell

Anne Martindell Gardening Fund

Restricted Endowment

The Master Teacher Fund For Faculty Salaries

Peter W. Merle-Smith Fund For CTT Scholarships

Kate C. Moore Fund For CTT Scholarships

Christopher Nicholson Memorial Fund For NCS Scholarships

Diana E. Oehrli Fund For CTT Scholarships

The Gruben Charitable Foundation

Diana Oehrli

Okin Fund For Maintenance on Capital Improvements

Ken Okin

Laura Okin

Olmstead Fund For NCS & CTT

Arthur W. Parker Fund For NCS & CTT

Fullwood Foundation, Inc.

Bob and Margaret Parker

Francie Parker '82

Mr. and Mrs. Sumner Parker '41

Barkley Stuart and Ann Glazer

Susan Powell NCS 51 Fund For NCS & CTT Anonymous

Sally Powell Culverwell

Prince/ de Ramel Charitable Trusts Fund For Faculty Salaries

Joyce Pearson Prock Fund For NCS & CTT

Richard Rockefeller Fresh Start Scholarship Fund For NCS & CTT Scholarships

Barkley Stuart and Ann Glazer

Peter A. Thacher and Sarah J. Sherbrooke

Cheryl “Rusty” Rolland Fund For the Performing Arts

Smith Family Foundation Fund For NCS Scholarships

Sylvia Pool Sperling Animal Husbandry and Barn Fund

Restricted Endowment

Spiegelberg Fund For Scholarships

David A. Stein NCS 52 and Allison Stein Robbins NCS 74 Fund For Riding Program, Farm, and NCS Scholarships

Elizabeth Claire Stein Scholarship Fund For CTT Scholarships

Helen Stein

Strong Roots, High Peaks Faculty Support Fund

Strong Roots, High Peaks Greening and Renewal Fund

Strong Roots, High Peaks Scholarship Fund For NCS & CTT Scholarships

Margaret and Randolph Thrower Fund For Greening and Renewal

Frank H. Wallace Fund For Faculty Enrichment

Anonymous

Jerome P. Webster III Fund For NCS & CTT

Herbert and Maria West Fund For NCS Intern Salaries

Whit Whitcomb Teacher Opportunity Fund For Faculty Development

Winter’s Children Fund For NCS Scholarships

John O. Zimmerman Fund For NCS & CTT

BALANCED ROCKS CIRCLE

We are grateful to the community members who (as of August 31, 2020) have told us their intentions to make a planned gift to North Country School and Camp Treetops, thereby becoming members of the Balanced Rocks Circle.

Planned giving provides an avenue for forward-thinking donors to make a meaningful legacy gift that extends philanthropic influence beyond donors’ lifetimes. In this way, donors can help ensure the long-term financial health of Camp and School.

We were honored to be the recipient of realized bequests this year from Jane Crowell Rieffel (CTT 34-36) and Marcia Siegal (NCS parent 02-05, CTT parent 04)

If NCS and Treetops are included in your estate plans and your name is not listed here, or if you would like more information about legacy giving, please contact Christie Borden at (518) 837-5402 or cborden@ncstreetops.org.

Anonymous (12)

Dennis Aftergut

Jenny Ewing Allen

Neal W. Andrews*

Judith Bardacke*

Peter Brest

Cali Brooks and Galen Crane

Alice Gresham Bullock

Walter E. Clark*

Dr. Georgia Close and Dr. Benjamin Spencer

John Byrne Cooke*

Sally Powell Culverwell, NCS 51

Dudley H. Cunningham

Samuel and Laurie Cushman

Amy and Matthew Davidson

Sally M. Dennett NCS 39*

Claire Douglas

Brian Eng and Renee Bourgeois

Ann and Lee Farnham

Henry Gardiner*

Suzanne Glickman

Reggie Govan

Gay Booth Greenleaf

Lisa Gulotta

Elizabeth Harlan

Laura Thrower Harris

Bob Heays

Nick and Ruth Hewitt

Catherine (Cathy Fetz) High

David Hochschartner and Selden West

Amy and John Isaacs

Elsbeth S. Johnson

Jan Johnson

Ralph Jones

Liza Ketchum

Philip Kneisl, NCS 75

Meredith Kovach and Sam Eaton

Monika and Steven Lang, NCS 53

Rose K. Lansbury

Lorna Livingston, NCS 50

Bill and Jan Localio

Susan Localio

Roger and Pat Loud

Anne Martindell*

Dwight N. Mason

Lauren McCarty

Mike McCrary, ‘50

Susan Read, NCS 70, CTT parent 04–05

Jane Crowell Rieffel*

Cheryl "Rusty" Schick Rolland *

Maggie Rosenbloom

Matt Salinger

Kate Shepherd

Marcia Siegal*

Mike Smith

David and Linda Stein

Helen Stein

Barkley Stuart and Ann Glazer

Hugh Thacher

Matthew and Courtney Tuck

IN MY TIME AT TREETOPS, I NEVER THOUGHT 60-PLUS YEARS INTO THE FUTURE; I was too busy doing as much as I could during those summers. I was making so many new friends, and the counselors had so much wisdom to impart, that there was never enough time for it all. And there was the rustic beauty: spare wooden cabins above Round Lake, Balanced Rocks and Pitchoff behind us, Cascade looming to the south and MacIntyre, Wright, and Van Hoevenberg in the distance.

Jessica Tuck

Mary Loeb Umlauf*

Frank Wallace

Louise Walsh and Charles Rupp

Janet L. Wentworth (Dunn) NCS 68

The daily chore routine gave us learning experiences to ready us for more adult responsibilities. Helen led with cool calm, more than ably assisted by Bob Bliss, Bill Cunningham, John Booth, Kola and Bernard Heiden, Van Van Arsdale, and many more.

Jill Werfel

Mimi B. Muray-Levitt, NCS 57

S. Celeste Nossiter

Sandy Gray Nowicki, NCS 57

JoAnne Olmsted*

Brian Orter

Elizabeth Packard

Meredith M. Prime

Don Rand

Mr. & Mrs. James Rea Jr.*

Christopher Werler '84

Francis Whitcomb*

Martha C. Howell and Edward B. Whitney

Treetops instilled important life lessons in us to complement what we were taught at home: treat people like you want to be treated, stay positive, be thankful, give a helping hand, be kind to animals—so many things we were at the right age to absorb.

Hilary and Scott Wilkinson

Susan Welch Williams NCS 54

John O. Zimmerman*

* = Deceased

As I ended my career as a financial advisor and thought about my time at Treetops, I found that retirement actually put me in a position to help CTT/ NCS more. Rolling over my 401(k) into my IRA quintupled my IRA required minimum distribution from one year

Camp Treetops

North Country School

Rock-E House & Basecamp

4382 Cascade Road, Lake Placid, NY 12946