PINES TO PALMS
YMCA OVERNIGHT CAMPS
MARSTON | SURF | RAINTREE ymca.org/camps P 760 765 0642 Volume 1 Issue 3 Fall 2018
A newsletter for Alumni & Friends of YMCA OVERNIGHT CAMPS - MARSTON | SURF | RAINTREE
Alumni Spotlight Lifeguard Relay 2018 – Traditions, The Magic of Camp
participants could feel the humidity already in the air. As a part of the alumni team this is how I remember events unfolding. Four teams had been entered in the event three made up of current staff and one alumni team. The pre-race rundown was led by Capt. Millard, the current group services director and head lifeguard for YMCA Camp Surf. The teams then gathered at the start line. I could feel the energy, comradery, and competitiveness as the starting whistle approached. I was also a little nervous as the alumni had come in dead last in 2017 and I had literally and figuratively been the anchor swimmer last year.
THE COURSE The course consisted of 5 components 1. 500-yard buoy swim 2. 500-yard buoy swim to retrieve first team member followed by a 500-yard rescuer assisted recovery to shore 3. 600-yard jetty to jetty run 4. 600-yard jetty to jetty paddleboard 5. 1,000-yard buoy back to shore swim.
The YMCA Camp Surf Lifeguard Service has continued to develop into a professional lifesaving operation since my first summer in 1993. I arrived from Canada to experience firsthand what it takes to keep children and families safe in this dynamic environment. Our mighty team of 5 back then did everything by hand, including carrying the wooden access ramps out to the towers every morning. We would stack the CB radios powered by car batteries, flags, first aid kits, hard cans and cleaning supplies on those ramps and setup for the day. These hardships developed determination and some attitude that may just be the reason why the alumni lifeguard team prevailed this year in the annual YMCA Camp Surf Lifeguard Relay. The Marine Layer had moved in overnight creating grey skies on Saturday morning August 18th, 2018. The water temperature was a beautiful 70 degrees, the wind was no-where in site, the swell was small and clean, and the
If you haven’t already registered as a Camp Alumni please do so at our NEW webpage: www.ymca.org/camps/camp-alumni
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ANNUAL BEACH PARTY Saturday, Nov 3rd from 4-9pm
! ALLSAurfBBOeaAchRPaDrty Camp
• Enjoy the sunset, dinner, live music, and dancing • Silent/Live auction benefiting camp scholarships • Great food and beverages!
www.ymca.org/beachparty
PINES TO PALMS | MARSTON | SURF | RAINTREE day we’ll celebrate this fantastic addition to Marston while reuniting with camp friends. The Buy-A-Brick campaign for the new dining hall is going great; numerous bricks have already been sold. For a gift of $250, $500, $1000 or more, you’ll have a brick inscribed with text of your choosing at the new dining hall. We’ll be mounting the bricks on a large retaining wall along the side of the new building for all to see. If you love Marston and wish to make a donation, this is a great way to do so (maybe recognize family, other staff, the year of. . . ).
By Tom Madeyski District Executive By the time you receive this newsletter, we’ll be enjoying meals in the new Camp Marston dining hall. The Marston-world is so excited for this fabulous improvement! I’ve had numerous alumni visitors drop by to see the progress. It was only four months ago that the foundations were poured, and now we are approaching completion. Hats off to Crew Construction and Foreman Scott Allen for their excellent work in keeping the project moving. Although we’ll be moving in to the new dining hall in October of 2018, we are scheduling the Dedication Ceremony to coincide with our annual Alumni Day. I hope you’ll mark your calendars for Saturday, June 15, 2019. That
Camp Surf’s 50th Anniversary is being scheduled with the Beach Party fundraiser on Saturday, November 2, 2019. It will be a grand celebration, as it should be! The past three years have been incredibly significant in Camp Surf history – we’ve built the amazing new Dining Hall and have replaced all of the year-round cabins, thirteen in all. What a wonderful time to celebrate YMCA Camp Surf!
Through the winter and spring, staff will be adding decorations and finishing touches to the dining hall. Our theme for the building is “Julian Mining Camp”. An abandoned mine shaft, old tools, Julian gold rush display and other features will provide character and charm. If you’d like to visit prior to the dedication next June, please give us a call, we’d love to see you. “Turning 50”. Both Raintree Ranch and Camp Surf turn 50 years old in 2019. As I think about the year 1969 in YMCA camp history, I’m so grateful for people like Y Camping Executive Valentine Hoy and Navy Captain Bill Fargo, both key players in founding these two YMCA camps. Val and Bill were at the helm when both camps were established. We are so grateful, 50 years later, for their work in creating YMCA Camps Surf and Raintree Ranch. Calling all Raintree alumni, both staff and campers! The Raintree 50th Anniversary event will be held on Memorial Day, May 27, 2019 (please mark your calendars). Late May
BRICKBY BRICK
LET’S BUILD A NEW DINING HALL! Be a part of Camp Marston history! As you know, we are building a new, larger, amazing dining hall. The new dining hall will add 80 dining spaces, a large outdoor deck, courtyard and new views to the east through three large dormer/windows.
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will be a great time to celebrate, the horses will be on site and excitement will be running high for Summer 2019.
Would you like to be a part of this transformational project? We’re setting aside an area of the outdoor courtyard for special personalized bricks, which you can participate in. Here’s a chance to contribute and memorialize your family name, positive message, or even add a short quote.
GIVING LEVELS $250
4” x 8” Brick
$500
8” x 8” Brick
x 12” Brick $1,000 12” LEAD SPONSOR
PINES TO PALMS | MARSTON | SURF | RAINTREE (Continued from page 1)
THE RACE Surf1 is first up against Strawberry, Wally and Celine, entry and shallow water duck dives get him out in front, unfortunately Strawberry and Wally get the inside track in the rip current and beat him to the buoy by about 15 seconds. Celine arrives just after Surf1.
OUR TEAM (L-R Cruz, Schoonmaker, Paterson, Flores, Thompson, Morris) Buoy swim – Mark Thompson (AKA Surf1), age 48, alumnus lifeguard, counselor, water front director and camp director. Buoy swim and Rescue – Jorge Cruz, age 28, alumnus lifeguard and counselor Jetty Run – Payton Schoonmaker, age 28, alumnus lifeguard, counselor, unit leader and coordinator. Paddle Boarding – Ryan Peterson, age 26, alumnus lifeguard, counselor and instructor Anchor Leg Swimmers – Steve Morris, age 36, alumnus and current Development Director for YMCA Overnight Camping. Also, Luis Flores, age 28, alumnus lifeguard and counselor.
WELCOME OUR NEW OUTDOOR EDUCATION DIRECTOR!
Hello! My name is Rich Krudner, the new Oudoor Education Director here at Camp Marston & Raintree Ranch. I have the wonderful and exciting task of job of guiding our Outdoor Education Program to further success. Here at Marston & Raintree we have a spectacular tradition of doing “6th Grade Science Camp” and I am so excited to carry on the tradition of learning and fun. I will not be on this journey alone; my wife Emily will be joining me, as well as our Cat Sunny, our Tortoise Dimitry, and our Snake Gluttony (long story about his name).
Cruz closes the gap on the swim out to the buoy and Surf1 and Cruz catch a number of waves into shore and send Schoonmaker on his run in second position. Schoonmaker has a solid run, his high school football days helping him maintain second position. Patterson takes off and has established first position by the time he rounds the south jetty. He continues to pull away from the pack and gives Flores and Morris a strong lead, catching a wave all the way in to shore for the final tag. Flores and Morris take off on the final leg, the last member of this two-man team to cross the finish line determine the placing of the alumni team. Morris and Flores are looking good on the way out, but Keaton Thompson (aka LittleSurf) has moved from fourth to second place. As Flores and Morris make the turn and head back,
Originally from Staten Island New York the plan was never to live out in the mountains on the west coast. After studying Biology and Chemistry at Stony Brook University and completing the Teacher Preparation Program there, I worked in NYC classrooms teaching Biology and Chemistry. Shortly thereafter I feel in love with the outdoors at Frost Valley YMCA and fell into their Environmental Education Program. From there I have spent the last eight years in the industry of environmental education from New York to Alabama and eventually to Connecticut where I was the Director of School Programs for Camp Jewell YMCA. Right now I know I am walking into an amazing program with an incredibly strong foundation built on years of hard work by Camp Directors, Teachers, Principals, Students, and Instructors, all who believed in the mission of what happens here during “6th Grade Camp”. I can’t wait to continue that tradition while adding a few things I have learned in my experiences in outdoor Education, and in the classroom. We will continue to take our instruction to the next level by continuing to implement the Next
LittleSurf continues to close the gap. Both alumni work hard to catch a set waves and gain a little more distance, but it looks like LittleSurf may benefit also. As Morris and Flores come up for air and start to high step in, LittleSurf doesn’t get the wave he needs, and the gap widens once again. Morris and Flores are able to get to shore and cross the finish line together before any of the other teams and clinch the first victory for the alumni team since the relay’s inception in 2012. The remaining competitors are cheered across the finish line and pictures and bragging rights for the alumni team are theirs until August 2019. Traditions are some of the most important and meaningful things that make overnight camp so special. Traditions bring people together, create bonds between the past and present, and make overnight camp the magical place it is. My fondest memory of that morning was not the race, it was watching 21 people ages 18 – 48, spanning 20 years of summer camp, celebrating the common bonds that make each of them a YMCA Camp Surf Ocean Lifeguard. Surf1 - AKA Mark Thompson Camp Director 1996 - 2012
Generation Science Standards into our science curriculum for camp. We will make sure that every student has the opportunity to discover nature, not just be told about it. While doing that we will not lose sight of our whole child approach to student’s time at camp, making sure they create invaluable connections to other students from San Diego County while they are here. I cannot wait to see our staff changes student’s lives through education and friendship during this upcoming year. While not working here at camp I am often found on my Mountain Bike exploring the wonderful new terrain of Southern California. I will also be doing loads of hiking, camping, and backpacking with my wife Emily in the near future, and I know we look forward to what sort of skiing California has to offer! I am so excited to be a part of the San Diego County community, and a part of the Camp Marston and Raintree Ranch family. Rich Krudner Outdoor Education Director YMCA Camp Marston and Raintree Ranch
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PINES TO PALMS | MARSTON | SURF | RAINTREE
MEATLESS MONDAYS
Exciting news here at YMCA Camp Surf!!!! Meatless Mondays are here and making a splash. For those of you unfamiliar with the “Meatless Mondays” program it was founded in 2003 by Sid Lerner in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In May, 2009, Ghent, Belgium, became the first non-U.S. city to go meatless. Shortly thereafter, Paul McCartney introduced the U.K. to Meat-Free Mondays. Since then the movement has spread to over 40 countries worldwide. Over 30 school districts here in the state of California have joined the movement, including San Diego Unified here locally. The movement has partnered with over 50 company partners including large corporations like Birdseye, Dole and Bushs
baked beans as well as specialty companies such as Beyond meat, Daiya and Gardain. The health benefits of taking a one day a week break from meat are numerous, including lowering risk of contracting certain diseases such as diabetes and adding more nutritious food to your diet. But the main reason we joined the movement here was it fit right into our iCARE plan. Raising meat uses a disproportionate amount of water. It takes 40 times more water to raise a kilogram of beef compared to the same amount of vegetables. In fact if you stopped taking a shower today and did not take one for 6 months you would have saved enough water to raise a ¼ pound beef! It takes 30% of the earth’s land surface to raise animals for food. The increased demand leads to loss of important rain forest and land degradation. More meat means more greenhouse gases, in fact more gases are produced by animal production than by the transportation sector.
burger (that bleeds beat juice as it cooks). There are weeks that our campers are not even aware they went without meat all of Monday until you point it out to them. Overall we are very happy with the rollout of the program and look forward to expanding the menu and sharing the benefits with our future campers. With the transition to fall and some school groups not being here on Mondays we will be switching gears and having a meatless meal during the latter half of the week so that our staff will be given the chance to share information about our meatless Monday drive the benefits it has both to our staff and guests as well as the planet. Joseph Breedlove Food Service Director YMCA Camp Surf
Some of the meals that have been a big hit here at camp include grilled cheese and tomato soup, black bean quesadillas and spaghetti with mushroom meatballs. We have also played with new exciting foods like Jack fruit (as a pulled pork sub) and the impossible
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www.ymca.org/camps/camp-alumni OUR MISSION The YMCA of San Diego County is dedicated to improving the quality of human life and to helping all people realize their fullest potential as children of God through the development of the spirit, mind, and body.
UPCOMING 2018 EVENTS: 20th Annual Halloween Carnival @ Camp Surf - Wed. Oct. 31st 5-7pm Annual Beach Party @ Camp Surf - Saturday, November 3, 4-9pm Raintree Ranch 50th Anniversary Celebration - May 27th, 2019 Marston Dining Hall Grand Opening - June 15th, 2019 I hope to see you at one of these events or hear from you soon!