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 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 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.