Scatico 100

It was a summer like no other. The precamp planning, testing, and screening. Coordinating with vendors to work around shortages (think items like ketchup and archery targets). An Opening Day during which the driving range resembled an outdoor, popup vaccination site. Lots of staff training around protocols, podding, and “What ifs?”....

But then, about 6 days into camp, the final PCR results.... And the “Bubble” is official. The masks come off.... And, camp, it just feels like camp. Maybe even more camp than ever. The campfire circles even more embracing. The sunsets a little more golden. The mudslide puddles a little deeper. The dining room singing more on key (or off, depending on your preference). The late-inning Twilight League rallies even more spectacular. The Big Dipper in the western night sky more distinguished.

Campers and staff (and parents of both) told us, “We really needed this.” But the gratitude flows both ways (like the Hudson River). We are thankful for the counselors and support staff who signed on for summers with extreme limits on their times off—and then excelled in their work with children. Thankful for the parents and their leaps of faith—the more than 80 percent of our 2020 registered families who told us to just carry forward any enrollments and payments to 2021. Thankful for the Leadership team that went an entire summer only seeing their spouses or partners once or twice (if at all). Thankful for the older campers that became incredible big brothers and sisters to our younger campers at a time when they needed incredible big brothers and sisters. Thankful for all of the first-time campers who opened themselves up to a camp experience after many months of remote school and/or limited social contact. Thankful for the longtime vendors who made certain that Scatico supplies and services were in place even as they grappled with their own supply chain and labor issues....

And for the many Scatico Alumni watching from afar and sending us their positive thoughts and blessings.... It was a summer with Opening and Closing campfires; the 4th of July Talent Show and fireworks; Nat Holman basketball tournaments (even if all teams consisted of Scatico campers) and projects for the mid-summer Art Show; Color War breaks and a Carnival..... Plus, maybe most importantly, the little rhythms and routines that day to day embed camp life deeper and deeper into our beings: the bunk card games; afternoon general swims; walking to meals with friends;....

Graduating Soopers celebrate after the Color War Break.

The Rope Burn, two fires climbing in unison.

Lessons learned for future years? Maybe to be wary about writing, “It will be a summer like no other.” Though we might not know what strength we will need for years to come, we do know the unyielding and comforting strength of the Scatico community.

Tested. Test passed.

Third time’s a charm!

September 10, 2022 is the date for our rescheduled (hopefully for the last time) 100th reunion. When we do get to celebrate in Elizaville, we are excited to do it right! We want to be able come together with hundreds of Scaticonians from across generations, from around the country and the world. We thank you all for your continued patience, and encourage you to follow @campscatico_official on Instagram, and check scatico100.com for updates.

Staying in Touch

Signs of the world moving on and people resuming some aspects of pre-Pandemic life? The media may turn to a wide array of statistics, but at Scatico, reports of Random Scatico Sightings (RSSes) provide maybe a truer leading indicator. After many months of few (if any) RSSes, we have heard from....

Jeff Bukantz (1970s-80s) and Zach Polen (1990s-2000s) spotted each other in July at the Maccabiah fast pitch softball tryouts on Randall’s Island in New York City. Jeff is the president of Maccabiah USA and Zach was trying out for a team. Though Jeff and Zach never overlapped summers at Scatico, Jeff’s son Michael and Zach did from 1996 to 2004.... Jason “Squirrel” Riesel and Kate Deutsch Eichel (both 1980s) had their RSS moment at a 50th birthday party for a mutual friend....

A true COVID RSS: Doug Herzog (1960s-70s) was taking a Virtual Art Class from his home in Los Angeles when another student (in New Jersey) asked, “Are you Doug Herzog?” It was Leslie Moscou Corren. Although Leslie never attended Scatico, her three children did (Alex, Danny, and Katie—2000s-2010s) as did her brother Jimmy (and Doug had been Jimmy’s counselor in the late 1970s)....

When Ketti Krieger (girls art director and then the Admin office manager from 2004 to 2017) brought her dog in for grooming at a Petco on Long Island, she discovered that Josh Kaufman (1990s-2000s) was the store manager....

Counting the following as an official RSS: current camp mom Kate Wasserman (children Jack and Sage) was driving from her home in Hastings, NY, to Boston when: “A man and woman on Rt. 84 pull up alongside of me, going 70 miles an hour, honking and signaling to me. I rolled down my window thinking maybe I had a flat tire, but instead he yells, ‘Who goes to Scatico?’ I yelled back, ‘My kids go there!’ and he yells, ‘I went there!’ I asked him what years, he answered with a giant smile on his face, and then we both drove off. He saw my bumper magnet and just couldn’t help himself. I don’t know who it was, but he was a very happy former camper.” Anyone want to claim the other half of this RSS?...

When Jodi and Eric Kleiner hired someone to write and perform songs for the 50th wedding anniversary of Jodi’s parents, Eric (a camper and counselor from the 1980s-90s, when his mom Nancy was girls head counselor) found the performer vaguely familiar. It was Donna Lipari, who ran the Scatico theater program for several summers in the 1990s....

Two multi-generational Scatico families connected on an April hike in the Shenandoah National Park: dad Mark Stiefel (1980s-90s and 2010s-20s as a camp doctor) with sons (andcurrent campers) Noah, Ben, and Adam meeting mom and dad Judd and Iris Warren Henry (who met at Scatico in the 1980s) and their children Jordan (a current camper) and Silas (who will begin his Scatico career in2022). Throw in that grandpas Roger Stiefel and Roger Warren knew each other as campers in the early 1960s (Whew!) and you have one very impressive RSS....

But maybe not quite the most impressive (in terms of time and distance) for this issue.... Tom Sadler traveled from the U.K. to work as a lifeguard at Scatico in 2007. It had been more than 10 years since we last heard from Tom before an email exchange last March, when he shared the following story: “My mother has been the head nurse for these annual skiing trips to Italy.... Maybe 7/8 years ago, she was traveling in a convoy of coaches sitting next to a lovely guy whom she started talking with. He mentioned that every year he worked at a summer camp in the States. “Oh how wonderful,” my mother says, “my son went over and had the most fantastic time, whereabouts were you?” At this point, Jim [Hosking—longtime counselor, division leader, and one-week program head from 1998 to 2019] unzips his jumper to reveal a Scatico t-shirt. Now that’s when you can get away with saying it’s a small world.”

In non-RSS news.... Congratulations to Arlene Toonkel (1960s) who was named the only New York-area winner in this year’s Senior Planet Sponsored Athletes Competition. Arlene was recognized for her 6-day-a-week “Rebounding” aerobics routine (exercising using a mini-trampoline).... Zach Polen (same Zach as in the RSS above) has co-founded PC Sportscards, a baseball card grading business. Working alongside Zach are contemporary Scaticonians Yosuke Suzuki, Michael Lew, and (little brother) Bennett Polen....

Justin Katz (1990s-2000s), a hospitalist living and working in Vermont, e-mailed to let us know he’s available to be a camp doctor in future summers. He reported that his sister Nicole runs an exterminating business on Long Island.... Calvin Washington worked in the camp kitchen from 1986 to 1988 and sends greetings to all from San Antonio, Texas, where is a Home Preservation Analyst for Wells Fargo.... When head counselor Cory Schwartz (Scatico career 1988 to 2021 and counting) attended the Mets-Yankees game on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, he and a friend brought a sign to honor those whose lives were lost. The photo to the right appeared in the next day’s issue of USA Today....

Glenn Parker (1950s) has co-authored, Positive Influence: The Leader Who Helps People Become Their Best Self.Glenn is a consultant and motivational speaker who has authored 16 books....Adam Schefflan (1980s) appears with the band “Dealers of God” on their recent album release (playing the flute and contributing background vocals). Adam’s review: “Guaranteed to be the weirdest, the most baffling, and the most challenging collection of sampleadelic, post-rock ambient, hip-hop, vapor-wave, shoegaze that you have ever heard.”....

Bert Holman (1960s) is a startup investor in Eastern Standard Provisions, which makes “expertly crafted, one-of-a-kind artisanal soft pretzels, artfully blended sauces, and gourmet flavored salts and sugars.”.... Alley Foster (2000s-2010s as an art and ceramics instructor and head of the CIT program) was a finalist in the Owl Canyon Press Short Story Hackathon #4. Submissions all include the same first and last paragraphs and writers then fill in everything in-between....

Paul Seebacher (1990s-2000s), an engineer, heads the Raptor Engine Production team at SpaceX.... Avinash Patil traveled from India to teach tennis at Scatico from 2015 to 2018. He just opened a tennis club in his home country “with 4 clay courts and 211 members, ages 5 to 55-plus.”.... Jack Seidenberg (a camper from 2005 to 2012) had a photograph published in The New York Times in February. His dad Keith (a counselor in the 1980s) who reported the photo, reflected: “I think they paid Jack a lot less than Scatico paid me in 1984 [$600]. I bought a great boom box after camp and an infinity mirror with lights that looked like they went on forever in a tunnel. I still have the mirror.”....

Mike “Maz” and Elisa Segal Madorsky (both 1970s-80s) and Erica and Greg Danford (1970s-80s) attended a Dead & Co. concert in August. Mike reports that Greg almost immediately brought up how he was robbed of a victory in the Divisional Sing in the mid-1980s when his group performed Friend of the Devil.... Earlier in the year, when Maz heard that Jon Laufer (1980s) was a manager at Mccabe’s Wines and Spirits in Manhattan, naturally a surprise visit and photo op his next time in the neighborhood followed....

After current camp mom Tracy Costigan enrolled her two sons for their first Scatico summers in 2021, she then discovered that her uncle, Harvey Breier, was a longtime camper in the 1950s.... On a recent BRN AM (Broadcast Retirement News) show covering how employees are focusing more on the financial wellness of their workers, expert opinion was provided separately (and coincidentally) by 1970s-80s alumni Cindy Dash (in Denver) and Lee Stevens (in Baltimore)....

Ben Krull (1960s-80s) had a March OpEd in The Daily News, reflecting on the political situation in Israel.... Jason Trow (1960s-70s) DJ’s a weekly radio show on KFFR Community Radio in Fraser Valley in Colorado. A spring episode was dedicated to 1960s songs from his Scatico summers.... Pat Goodman, who ran the Scatico riding program with her husband Dave in the 1950s, published her third book of poetry, Unbridled, in July (by Kelsay Books): “It tells the story of our camp horse adventures.”....

Joe Gluck, who was a camper from 1947-53, wrote to share: “I still have the autographed basketball Nat gave me for my Bar Mitzvah.”..... A Scatico memory from 70 years ago? Clearly camp does something to compress the arc of time....

Thanks to all for staying in touch—please email news, photos, and recollections for the Spring 2021 issue of the Alumni Newsletter 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 if requested. Send to: Camp Scatico, PO Box 6, Elizaville, NY 12523.

Reunions, E-mails, and Visits (REVs)

Kyungmin Park recently visited former Scatico caretakers Bren Karcich and Ian Slater (1990s-2010s) at their home in Old Town, FL. Kyungmin, who worked as a ceramics counselor from 2008 to 2010 is now an assistant professor of 3D Studio Art at Endicott College in Beverly, MA.

Visiting Colorado from New York, Pam Weiss Caldara visited with 1980s-90s Scatico friends Deb Baron Rubin and Michelle Brandt.

A Myrtle Beach golf outing with 2000s-20s alumni: Chase Madorsky and Bryce Holden (kneeling); Sam Beck, Eli Rousso, Dan Rubin, and Charlie Kramer.

Nabil Ghozzi traveled from Tunisia to Elizaville to work as a lifeguard in 2007. After 15 years working for Price Waterhouse Coopers in Paris he is back home with his wife Wissem and two children.

At the University of Wisconsin, 2000-10s campers and counselors— clockwise from top left: Halle Phillips, Alexa Jacobson, Ellie Klein, and Sammi Salmirs.

For Carrie Tendler (1991- 1995), a May visit with her family was her first time back at camp in 25 years.

When Justin Grodman, Lucas Ault, and Alexa Naas (1990s-2000s—first, second, and fifth from left to right) moved to San Francisco for jobs, they couldn’t think of better housemates than former Scatico friends. Sisters Rebecca and Megan Cohn, native Californians, visited their camp contemporaries on a recent trip home. (That is the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.)

Dinner Reunion 1980s-90s Style: Mitch Polay (takes the photo) with Ging Vann, Ross Hiller, and Doug Florin.

On a late summer pilgrimage to Elizaville, representing summers 1949 to 1963 among them, and at two of the more iconic Scatico photo locations (steps of the Admin and the sign on Route 19): Richard Gould, Dennis Rinzler, and Annie Bierman Cion Gruenberger.

Virginia Beach reunion vintage 1960s-70s: Howard Peskin, Eileen Fleder Kahn, her brother Lawrence Fleder, and Sandra Golding Peskin. Howard and Sandra met at camp in the early 1960s when he was the head waiter and she was a counselor. They were visiting their cousins.

In Memoriam

In his 24 Scatico summers (1950-73), the final 10 as the boys head counselor, Stan Silverberg powerfully and positively impacted the lives of several generations of campers and staff. Stan passed away on July 29, 2021 at the age of 89. His wife Joan joined him at camp in the 1960s; his children David and Dana were campers. Stan played basketball at the University of Bridgeport, served in the Army doing intelligence work during the Korean War, received his Masters and Doctorate in Education from Columbia University, and was a longtime basketball coach at Valley Stream South High School.

Stan as a counselor in the 1950s, with the starting 5 of the staff basketball team (who all played in college)—Larry Gershman, Jerry Smith, Nat Holman (who coached), Merv Schorr, Stan, and Sam Bernstein.

As the head counselor in 1967 with division leaders RogerLorberbaum, Bob London, Randy Shapiro, Stan, Richie Hanft, Roger Granet, and Peter Ehrenberg.

Paul Sarbanes, died on December 6, 2020, at the age of 87. Paul, a counselor in the 1950s, was a United States Senator from Maryland from 1977 to 2005. As a Congressman in the early 1970s, he was called on to introduce and defend the first Article in the Nixon Impeachment Proceedings. As a Senator, he co-wrote The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which protected investors from fraudulent financial reporting by corporations.

Randy Fadem, passed away on July 3, 2021, at the age of 75. He had been living in Israel for 7 years. Randy attended camp in the 1950s-60s with his siblings Leslie, Pam, and Jessica. His dad Marvin was a camper in the 1930s. Aunt Rose Fadem (sister of Jack and Nat Holman), who was every Scaticonian’s “aunt” in the 1960s- 70s when she ran the camp office, was actually Randy’s aunt.

Jason Camhi was a Scatico camper in the 1980s with his brother Josh and sister Melissa. He passed away on March 4, 2021 at the age of 47. At camp, Jason loved working at the radio station (back then, with turntables and vinyl—see photo to the right—and music was a passion held throughout his life). Professionally, he worked as an attorney for Skadden Arps and the National Hockey League.

Jason’s former bunkmates and counselors shared memories on a Zoom Tribute. Left to right, row by row, from bottom left: Mike Madorsky, Eric Poritzky, Brian Berusch, Gregg Rosh’s iPhone(?), Scott Levy, Mitch Cohen, Sandy Paul, Billy Goldman, Dan Deutsch, Mike Samuels, and Todd Polay.

Fresh Youth Initiatives (FYI)

Founded by Scatico alumnus Andrew Rubinson (1960s-1990s) in 1993 in Washington Heights, Fresh Youth Initiatives is committed to “empower[ing] youth who have the fewest resources to reach their greatest potential.”

Off to camp: One of two June pickups at the FYI building on 171st Street

The Scatico-FYI partnership began in those earliest years when participants and staff would travel to camp for pre– and postcamp retreats. Through the years, many FYI alumni went on to work at camp, most notably in recent years Moises Torres, a staff member from 2013 to 2019 (and the girls assistant head athletics director in 2018 and 2019).

Last winter, we reached out to create a more formal job pipeline and welcomed 9 FYI graduates (now college-aged) to work at camp (7 as counselors and 2 on support staff).

Jeff Adams’ Elizaville residency started as a 10-year-old in 1967 when his parents Al and Peggy began a run of 30+ summers as Scatico’s caretakers. Jeff and his wife Annette met at camp in the 1980s (when Annette taught art) and they now live in Florida (as do their children Justin and Samantha). We thank Jeff for the vintage 1980s-90s photos: Al and Peggy; Clem Joseph—fisherman extraordinaire (and also head of the salad pantry and then the head chef from 1975 to 2005); an early 1990s hike to Breakneck Ridge (overlooking the Hudson River); and Annette teaching art.

Calling All Photos

We are looking for classic (and even not-so-classic) photos to print in future issues of the Alumni Newsletter. Send by e-mail as an attachment to info@scatico.com or by mail to: Camp Scatico, PO Box 6, Elizaville, NY, 12523.

After a June spring visit, Scott Joseph (1960s—middle row, far right in this 1964 photo of the Sophs) reminisced about his time at camp: “After 57 years, I still have the most fond memories of my 5 summers at Scatico. Fortunately, the social hall was open and I was able to show my wife and friends my name on the MVP plaques. They may have feigned interest but I was thrilled like a child once again.... I am still able to name about 85% of the campers and counselors in the picture.”

CONGRATULATIONS

The Next Generation

Peyton on April 23, 2021 to Emily and Cory Schwartz (Scatico career from 1988 to present). We are not certain if dad has her listening to Mets games and reading Hulk comics yet....
Eleanor Joan on December 2, 2020 to Laura Kerr and Steele Rudd. Laura traveled from Australia to Elizaville to work as a lifeguard in 2016.
Gemma Grace and Rose Riis to Angela and Anthony Serina on December 5, 2020. Anthony attended Scatico in the 1990s-2000s with his brother Ray, while his mom Marie worked as the head nurse and medical director.
Lily Harper on April 19, 2021 to Zach and Lara Stahl Miller. Zach and Lara were campers and counselors in the 1990s-2000s.
Wren Goldie on March 26, 2021 to David and Robyn Polansky Morrison. Robyn was a 1992 Sooper along with.... Brooke Kalick (see next announcement).
Jagger Salz on March 27, 2021 to Jason Salz and Brooke Kalick.
Millie Noren on February 26, 2021 to Zach Noren and Kimberly Goodman. Kimberly was a camper in the 1990s.
Hanna Bloom on February 6, 2021 to Jamie and Harris Sarraf. Harris was a camper, counselor, in division leader in the 1990s and 2000s.

Peyton

Gemma and Rose

Wren

Weddings

Cam and Lucy on the steps at Boston Court House

Cam Au and Lucy Callahan on February 18, 2021. Cam, the son of boys athletics director Randy Au, was a counselor and division leader from 2014 to 2018. A lot of Scatico roots in the Au family.... Cam’s mom Lynette worked at camp in the 1990s; his sister Kael worked as a counselor and division leader from 2008 to 2016; and his brother-in-law Matty Carroll (are you following all of this?) was a division leader and assistant head counselor from 2008 to 2018.

Scatico 101

Grass has grown around home plate

But little feet will soon slide through nature’s modest memorial

To the sound of cheers from the dugout.

For the trees that stood as flagpoles for a century, their day is done

But in their footsteps a new brother and sister will greet us at reveille

Like sidewalk chalk in a summer rain

Our traditions are colorful comforts

That must be redrawn on sunnier afternoons

With new friends who have never known our ways.

In the days to come we may forget some cherished things

To make room for new stories, new legends, and a new day for Scatico.

Scatico Art Director (and Philosopher/Poet-in-Residence) Ken Vallario (1990s to 2020s and counting) read his Scatico 101 at Café Night during staff orientation. A 2020 season lost and looking forward to the next century.... The “flagpoles” refer to the pre-season replacement of the flagpoles on both sides of camp, who stood sentinel for many, many years, but were encouraged into retirement by woodpeckers and the weight of time. Ever the visionary, Ken had the old flagpoles saved and then sliced into 1-inch-thick pieces to be used as part of an outdoor art project. During this year’s Carnival, campers and staff burned their initials into the slabs for future mounting on a building wall. (Of course, first they had to enter a time machine to travel back 100 years, but that’s a story for another Alumni Newsletter.)

Rally Caps

For two weeks in September, Scatico became home for the filming of Rally Caps, a movie about (among other things) kids playing baseball at camp. The film stars Judd Hirsch and Amy Smart (although they do not appear in scenes shot at Scatico). Former Major League Baseball player Curtis Pride was on site for the entire shoot, living in bunk 11-12 with his wife and two children (who both have roles in the picture). We’re thinking the first professional athlete to sleep in a Scatico bunk since....Nat Holman. In addition to Scatico, scenes were filmed in Los Angeles and in Iowa (at the Field of Dreams baseball field).

Iconic Images from 2021

Lighting candles for younger campers at the Opening Campfire.

Opening night of Color War. Waiting to hear.... Green or Grey?

Staying Connected....

Follow us on Instagram (@campscatico_official (1800-plus followers and counting) and Facebook (@campscaticoofficial ). Visit the Alumni Section at www.scatico.com to read back issues of the Alumni Newsletter and to purchase Scatico-wear.

Fall 2021, Edition 100