The Awesome Power of Childhood Memories

The attached picture is a 1948 Bunk 2 group of freshmen. I was 7 years old and this was my first year at Scatico. I remember it like yesterday.

- Roger Goldman, Camp Scatico 1948-55

As Scatico’s 100th anniversary celebration approaches (see below), the thoughts of many alumni naturally turn to camp and camp memories. Though it’s a bit of a challenge to explain the magical relationship of neurons and synapses in the cortices of the brain (maybe leaving a few things out?) that allow us to recall in detail events from years passed (71 years ago in Roger’s case), it is easier just simply to marvel at the wonder and power of such childhood memories. In the case of camp, the memories seem to fall into three general categories. Most common and easiest to articulate? A memory of a specific event or moment. Maybe a Color War activity decided on a last-second play or an act of kindness by a bunkmate or counselor who was there for you when you most needed someone to be there.

Other memories don’t recall a specific instant etched in time, but an accumulation of things that happened repeatedly at camp or were part of the daily routine. Julian Bregman (a camper from 1953-56) wrote in June to share some of these kinds of memories: “Haircuts next to the social hall, shuffleboard outside Flick’s office, Nat beating the seniors in basketball, canteen, reveille and taps, flag raising, the BIG war canoe we used during Color War, Dave Goodman and his horses (particularly Blaze, his champion jumper). Seems like yesterday. Time went so slowly.” We all have our list.

Finally, there are those memories so enmeshed with our senses that they can be triggered spontaneously. Unexpectedly. And these are almost the most powerful memories of all. The infinity you saw (or tried to fathom) when you looked at the night sky in early August. The sound of wood popping in a campfire or bullfrogs bellowing their nightly songs along the lake path. The smell of chocolate chip cookies when you walked past the kitchen. The taste of a Mallow Cup when you were at the canteen (pre-1980s) or of a half-pint of chocolate milk at Taps (post-1990s). The rejuvenating jolt of energy you felt on your skin when you jumped in the lake at general swim on a hot afternoon. Sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. How is it that the five senses can be so bound up to memory?

At the 100th anniversary celebration at camp on October 3, 2020, be prepared for a little bit of everything. Rekindled friendships. Recollections of specific moments and daily camp routines. And even a few memories bound solely to our senses. We promise to have plenty of Mallow Cups and half-pints of chocolate milk ready for consumption.

100th Reunion— Don’t forget to register!!

Scatico's centennial is officially T-10 months away and planning is already in full swing! Comprised of three events—a Friday 10/2 reception in NYC for pre-1970 Scaticonians, a full-on camp day at Scatico on Saturday 10/3, and a Sunday "Lazy Morning" at camp for those staying in the area overnight—Scatico's 100th promises to be a weekend to remember. Register for the event, learn more about the weekend's schedule, and read up on some helpful FAQs all at scatico100.com. We're also collecting photos for the ULTIMATE scatico 100 slideshow, so if you have any throwback gems please email them to scatico100@scatico.com or mail them to: Camp Scatico, PO Box 6, Elizaville, NY 12523. We promise to send back your originals!

Staying in Touch

Stay connected with fellow Scaticonians by e-mailing news, photos, and recollections to info@scatico.com. If you prefer the regular mail and printed pictures, that works just as well. We will even return the photographs after reproducing them for the Alumni Newsletter.

We always love to hear about Random Scatico Sightings (RSSes).... Absolutely one of the best RSSes in recent memory came to us from Margie Ostrove (1978-88). Margie sits on the Board of Trustees of Temple Israel in New Rochelle, NY, and when discussion with a longtime fellow board member turned to sleepaway camp, he indicated that he had attended Camp Scatico beginning in 1927. Leroy Fadem will turn 100 in February. He shared the following: “I am still in surprisingly good health, but not as athletic as I once might have been, but still get in 9 holes of golf occasionally.”... Pam Caldara (1984-96) is on the board of the Friends of Peter Alderman, who died in the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center (and was a 1980s Scatico alumnus). At the annual dinner, Pam spotted current boys head counselor Cory Schwartz (1988 to present), who was working as the event photographer.....

Jim Moscou (1970s-80s) ran into his former counselor Andy Paymer (1960s-80s) in Boulder, CO. Joining them for the photo were Jimmy’s children (and current campers) Leah and Austin....

In non-RSS news.... On a visit to The National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, Tom Rosenberg (1965-82) found that Scatico was included in an exhibit on education. At a kiosk, visitors could look up the name of a school or camp, and the Scatico “page” featured 13 photographs (of which Tom appeared in several)....

Jason Levine (1990s-2000s) has opened Sammy J’s Kitchen & Cocktails in Boca Raton, FL. You can find him managing “the front of the house” and may even spot his parents Chas and Ellen dining and ready to talk about all-things Scatico....

Ben Krull (1960s-80s) reflected on the 50th anniversary of the New York Mets 1969 championship (and its impact on him as an 11-year-old at the time) in a recent essay in the Westside Spirit.... Jake Feinberg (1980s-2000s) has written “The Cats! Volume 1: on the Bandstand of Life with Master Musicians” (available on Amazon)....Fern Zipser Feldman (1950s-60s) received a lifetime achievement award from the United States Dressage Federation (a form of highly-skilled horseback riding performed in exhibitions and competitions)....

Checking in.... Jon Jenkins, from England, a golf counselor in 1986, worked for Mercedes Benz UK corporate hosting special events for 25 years and is now designing and fitting out operating theaters for hospitals..... Rosemarie Wilton, from Australia, a lifeguard in 2000, works on the New South Wales police force as a Forensic Supervisor and hopes to attend the October 2020 reunion with her husband and 2 daughters.... Michael Dolberg, 1980s-90s, is a surgeon in Florida and also hopes to make the 100th anniversary celebration. He shared that his brother Jordie (a fixture on the Scatico courts as a camper) played tennis at the University of Florida and won the SEC championship two times. After spending 10 years running sports and tennis centers in New York, he now lives in Ohio and is an Executive Recruiter for Action Management Services....

Elena Werksman helped run the office from 1999-2004. She stopped by camp in September (for the first time since her last summer) with her sons (and former campers) Joey and Matt (who work for Hilton Hotels & Resorts in Orlando and Nashville respectively). Elena had lunch this fall with her fellow Scatico office-mate Judy Jagoda....

Norbert Kilmer, living in Finland, ran the girls waterfront from 1992-98 and works at the International School of Helsinki as the diploma coordinator (making sure students graduate with an appropriate qualification) and Film teacher. Married and with four sons, Norbert also does public speaking and has co-authored textbooks for Finnish high school students learning English. “I wanted to say how grateful I am for those summers. I learned so much about working with others and with kids especially. I tell anyone that will listen that the two best preparations for teaching are working at sleepaway camp and teaching kids how to swim.” ....

Thanks to all for staying in touch—please email news and photos for the Spring 2020 issue of the Alumni Newsletter to info@scatico.com.

Scatico and Music

On October 14, a concert at Brooklyn Bowl featured former Scaticonians (1990s-2000s) Josh Schwartz (from the band Turkuaz), bunkmates Michael Lew and Matt Kochen (from the band Coach Z), and Sam Lisabeth (a former Scatico music counselor— from the band Guerilla Toss). The event benefited the charity GrooveSafe, which aims to create safe spaces free from sexual assault and unwanted touching in the live music community. Michael Lew engineered and organized the evening, attended by Scaticonians (and maybe not a full list) Ben Klein, Jon Jacobs, Ben Stern, Brian Helfman, Rachel Modica, Ben Hayon, Michael Bukantz, Jacob Kochen, Jon Kochen, Ben Lew, Jake Lisabeth, and Joey Smilgiewicz. Visit GrooveSafe.com for more information. You can also watch a video of the concert on the YouTube page of concert videographer MKDevo (YouTube.com/MKDevo). Ben Klein also saw Turkuaz perform this past summer in Maplewood, NJ, and sent in the photo of Josh Schwartz (on the left) playing saxophone. With Ben in the audience that night were Josh’s former bunkmates (2000 Upper Seniors) Ben Lew and Matt Brown as well as (their division leader that summer) Chris Harwood.

1996 Girls Nat with Coach Dusty Fox

1998 Boys Nat with Coach Matt Truding

New York Met Ed Kranepool visits camp in 1978 and poses with the Under-13 softball team. Ed had attended James Monroe High School in the Bronx, where Flick was the principal.

REUNIONS

Thanks for sharing news about Scatico get-togethers large and small.... When the Yankees and the Red Sox played a game in London this past June, 5 recent counselors from England and Ireland saw it as a wonderful opportunity to relive Scatico memories: Jim Hosking, Matt Hillson, Matty Carroll, Mick Devlin, and Barry Davis. Matty filed the following report: “Seven hour game, 16 pitchers, 30 runs, Yankees won.” He also shared that the infield dirt was imported from the United States....

Ten 1999 Upper Seniors and 3 of their counselors got together for a September reunion that began at camp (softball, basketball, and a general swim) and ended in a restaurant in New York City. From left to right: (seated) Scott Kaufman, Ben Amsterdam, Lawrence Thaler, David Sarraf, and Charlie Stein; and (standing) Simon Schwam, Mitch Polay, Jon Jacobs, Dan Zabar, Michael Heller, Eric Held, Ryan Meltzer, and Kyle McKenzie....

A group of 1970s-80s Scaticonians met recently for dinner and to watch the Beverly Hills 90210 “reboot.” Clockwise, from the bottom of the photo, Stefanie Friedman Feidelson, Janet Lapidus Nova, Beth Gustave Bochner, Alison Max Rothschild, Andrea Friedman Voorhis, Elisa Segal Madorsky, and Patti Klyde Press. As Alison explained: “Back in the day we used to take turns hosting dinners at our apartments to watch the shows together, when we were all living the single/child-free life in the City!”....

A November Grateful Dead show provided the venue for a reunion of Scaticonians spanning 5 decades. From left to right (roughly) Ben Klein, Sharon Beck Kochen, Jon Braunstein, Elisa Segal Madorsky, Jeff Bernfeld, Chase Madorsky, Mike Madorsky, and Wendy Schindler. (Dana Tannenbaum Savitsky missed the photo.)....

Lori Hirsch started her Scatico career as a camper in 1972; Scott Lief (a friend from home) followed her to camp in 1973. They hadn’t seen each other in 34 years when they re-connected in May. Lori lives in California; Scott in New Jersey....

An Elizaville reunion of 1990s-2000s Scaticonians not surprisingly included dinner at Osaka in Tivoli. Marko (the sushi chef) and his family joined the photo along with former campers Michael Bukantz, Justin Grodman, Ray Serina, Ben Hayon, Brian Helfman, Katie Berman, Natalie Polen, Nicki Fleischner, Fiona Wood, Joey Smilgiewicz, and Rachel Modica (and “plus-ones”).

In Memoriam

Lauren Abrams, 58, was a camper in the 1970s along with twin sister Linda and brother Jeffrey. She had a long career in the hotel industry, running marketing for many boutique hotels including the Morgans and Royalton Hotels (in New York City) and Casa Morada in the Florida Keys (which she helped found and co-owned).
Mortimer Caplin, 103, was likely the oldest Scatico alumnus at the time of his death. During the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations, he was the Internal Revenue Commisioner. His New York Times obituary detailed how he aggressively took on tax evasion, making corporations itemize all deductions over $25. As quoted from a Time magazine cover story in 1963: “The hunting lodge,the yacht, the safari, they’re going to be out.But I can see $24.95 specials developing allover the country.”
Jeff “Chow Chow” Roslow, 55, was a camper in the 1970s with his sisters Bonnie and Nancy. His dad Richard also attended Scatico. Jeff had a long newspaper career, culminating in his serving as the editor of the Polk County Democrat and Winter Haven Sun in Florida. In the photo to the right, sitting on top of the fireplace in the boys social hall in 1979: Jim Jacobson, Greg Legon, Jeff Roslow, and Michael Smiley.
Gerry Cantor, 84, met his wife Dorothy Wolf Cantor at Scatico as staff members in 1956. In the photo to the right, they are visiting camp in June 2017 to celebrate their 60th anniversary.

Larry Gershman, 83, was a camper and staff member in the 1940s-50s. As an executive in the entertainment industry, he was a former president of MGM/UA, a vice president at Viacom, and the station manager at WNBC-TV in New York. His children Leslie and Gerry also attended camp.
Jake Vandercar, 18, spent 10 summers at Scatico as a camper and tennis counselor from 2010-19. In the photo to the right, he’s receiving his 10-year fleece this past summer at the boys Sing from head counselor Cory Schwartz, while his campers give him a standing ovation.

Joel Fass, 72, was a Scatico counselor and lifeguard in the 1960s-70s, along with his wife Susan Silverberg Fass. Their children Lisa and Andy were campers in the 1980s-90s. Joel co-founded the law firm Colodny Fass in Florida in 1976 and also served as a prosecutor for the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. At camp, Joel was a lifeguard and finished his camp career as the head of the girls waterfront. He also famously was the counselor in the plane over boys campus, planning to drop a dummy filled with Color War flyers for the 1969 “break” (the mannequin crashed through a window in bunk 3A-B). In the photo to the right, Joel Fass with Randy Shapiro, Peter Ehrenberg, and Hank Alpert at a 2012 reunion in Florida.

Joan Silverberg, 78, was the wife of Stan Silverberg, who spent 24 summers at Scatico (1950-73), including the final 10 as a the boys head counselor (when Joan joined Stan at camp). Stan and Joan’s children David and Dana were campers in the 1970s; her niece was Susan Silverberg Fass.
Mark Goldstein, 56, was a camper from 1974-78 and (as reported by his former bunkmate Keith Barbarosh) known fondly as “Bear, Goldie and a brief time Pops.” Mark lived in Roswell, GA and had a 25-year career in telecommunications with AT&T and Bell South.

Planting Trees at Scatico

One of the nicer camp traditions to emerge in recent years? Alumni who have planted trees in memory of Scaticonians. This fall, a group of family and friends (organized by Steve Hanft—1955-74— donated a tree for Jack Atkins that will now provide shade behind the 3rd-base dugout on the main baseball field (a fitting location to honor Jack). Hank Alpert, Roger Granet, and Peter Ehrenberg (1950s-60s and part of this group) also gifted trees to camp in memory of Beth Gerson, Joan Silverberg, Joel Fass, Mortimer Caplin, Sam Rosenblum, and Barbara Goldman on boys campus, in front of the Pixie House, by the back entrance of the girls’ social hall, and on the girls’ athletics fields.

Like Father, Like Son

A camper-counselor exchange from last summer that we loved hearing.... Current camper Aidan Lapatine was in the canteen with his division, looking at group photos from summers passed. He pointed at a picture of the 1988 Upper Seniors and proudly told his division leader Mack Madorsky, “That’s my dad.” Mack pointed at the group leader in the picture and told Aidan, “See that guy. That’s my dad.” Twenty-one years previously Mike Madorsky had been Justin Lapatine’s division leader.

Right: Judging by the tube socks, we’re guessing late 1970s or early 1980s. The white t-shirt is now de rigueur.

1950s—fencing on the girls’ athletics fields. Green (not white) t-shirts for the uniform and the campers are wearing saddle shoes.

The Next Generation

Sasha on October 20 to Mark and Rachel Wang Levey. Rachel was a camper and counselor at Scatico in the 1990s-2000s along with her brother Andrew, sister Lauren, and dad (camp doctor and chess coach) Fred. Rachel was the Sooper division leader in 2009 and the “Future Sooper” onesie (photo to right) was sent to Sasha by Rachel’s former campers.
Quinn on September 3 to John and Maggie Cohen Landers. Maggie and her sister Lizzie were campers, counselors, and division leaders in the 1990s-2000s; grandpa Frank attended Scatico from 1965-72.
Leo on August 23 to Jackie and Michael Lipson. Michael was a camper from 1997-2000 and his mom Irene Yellon Lipson was a camper from 1964-70.

Sylvie on August 22 to Jeff and Rebecca Fleischner Tatom. Rebecca was a camper and counselor in the 1990s-2000s, along with her siblings Adam, Greta, and Jesse (and just a few dozen cousins). Grandpa Ben was a camper and counselor in the 1950s-70s.

Charlotte on July 10 to Leslie and David Sarraf. David was a camper, counselor, and division leader (along with his brother Harris) in the 1990s-2000s.
Eden on June 21 to Rachel Hollander and Michael Heller. Rachel and Michael were both campers, counselors, and division leaders in the 1990s-2000s.
Jordan on August 8 to Ethan and Lauren Sherrard Azizian. Lauren was a camper and counselor from 1996-2005.

Weddings

Amanda Cohen and Matt Kochen on September 1. Matt was a camper, counselor, and division leader from 1998 to 2011. More than 25 Scatico alumni were in attendance including Matt’s siblings Leah, Jacob, and Jon; mom Sharon Beck Kochen; and grandparents George and Kara Lorberbaum Beck.
Jaime Herbster and Steven Kahn on August 3. Steven was a camper and a counselor from 1995 to 2006. Joining in the celebration were his siblings Laura (1999-2014) and AJ (1993-2006) and mom Eileen Fleder Kahn (1960-64).
Adam David Kinory and Julie Blaufarb on September 8. Julie and her brother Jon attended camp in the 1970s-80s; their dad Gene was the boys’ waterfront director.
Jamie Fried and Harris Sarraf on November 23. Harris and his brother David were campers, counselors, and division leaders in the 1990s-2000s. Scatico contemporaries joining in the celebration represented Sooper and Upper Senior divisions spanning from 1992 to 2001 (and included 3 Scatico marriages): Zach and Lara Stahl Miller, Scott and EB Berwitt Strauss, Eric and Stacey Koretsky Strauss, Jesse Strauss, Jared Dansky, Josh Koretsky, Scott Sable, Simon Schwam, Brett Bush, Anthony Serina, Teddy Feinberg, Mike Parlato, Cory Schwartz, Ryan Meltzer, and Charlie Stein.

Vintage 1940s. To the left, Uncle Nat runs a basketball clinic on the A Court. To the right, photo from the lakeside of the top three cabins on back campus. The water tower in the background, atop the hill along the path to the campfire site, provided water pressure.

Fall 2019, Edition 99