News from Elizaville
Each summer at Scatico we look to find moments of magic... and then take a moment to stop, take a breath, and marvel.
Nature often provides the gift. A double rainbow arcs 180 degrees across the sky from tree line to tree line.... Roger, the resident heron, lands on the dock in the middle of the Color War swim meet and decides to just relax, oblivious to the commotion.... A prehistoric-looking turtle crawls out of the woods during morning lineup and starts digging a hole to lay eggs a few feet from the flagpole....
Sometimes the magic emerges from an activity. A candle-lighting ceremony at the Opening Campfire when the graduating Soopers talk about camp traditions.... A solo singing performance at a 4th of July Tal- ent Show that initially falters and then finds its stride, to soar and captivate.... A soccer game that reaches a sudden death penalty shootout that goes round after round after round after.....
The magic can often be found in a moment of friendship. Early August. Graduating campers stargazing with divisionmates on the ballfields or the hill of the golf course. Talking about space travel. Or something that happened a first summer at camp 8 years ago. Sensing that time is standing absolutely still—and yet always hurtling forward way too quickly....
And sometimes the magic catches us unawares and after the fact. Even after the summer. During the winter, we received an email from Larry Fleder (a camper and counselor from the 1960s-70s). Have you looked recently at the Google Satellite view of camp? I decide to go for the tension-building slow reveal. Start with the entire globe. Western hemisphere. North America. Northeast United States. New York State. Hudson Valley. Rhinebeck to Hudson.... You can see where this is going.....
When I finally got to the image of Camp Scatico, it’s an image of camp on the day of the 100th Anniversary celebration this past September. How is it possible that of all the days in all of the weeks, months, and years?.... Obviously, one answer. Magic.
Staying In Touch
As always, we will start off with RSSes (Random Scatico Sightings).... The Strauss/Koretsky and Fass families spotted each other at an Islanders hockey game. Between parents and children they represent every decade at camp from the 1970s through to the 2020s.... If you were trying to guess an RSS location for alumni from the 1990s and answered, “a Bruce Springsteen concert,” you would be correct! Dori Popkin Chait ran into (left to right in the photo) Ben Amsterdam, Jon Jacobs, Charlie Stein, Scott Kaufman, Michael Heller, David Sarraf (blocked by Michael), and Simon Schwam at an April show in D.C. (Scott with the connections for 7 adjacent seats.)....
Islanders game
Bruce concert
Scatico Chef James Wexler and his family run Two Fat Cookies (a Delray Beach, FL, bakery). When recently delivering a cake for a 1-year-old’s birthday, the grandmother and mother accepting the order noticed a certain CS triangle on Jimmy’s sleeve. It was Ellen Greystone Kalikow, who was a camper and counselor from 1965- 73, and Liza Kalikow Kirsh (a camper in the 1990s).....
Current girls head counselor Kerri Winderman (1980s-2020s) serves on the board of Soul Ryeders, a non-profit that provides support to those in the tri-state area impacted by cancer (and an organization Scatico partners with on our in-summer Service Day). Volunteering at the organization’s 1/2 marathon fundraising event in May, Kerri had an exciting RSS with Liza Gellerman (2000s-10s), the overall female winner....
Dennis Rinzler (1950s-60s) was driving in Connecticut when he spotted a Scatico magnet on a car. He snapped a photo and we put the “Scatico Detective Agency” to work. Location. Adjacent magnet with high school and sport. Confirmed. Justin Lapatine (1980s-90s), whose children Aidan and Ryan are current Scaticonians....
Kerri and Liza
A double RSS for Doug Herzog (1960s-70s): with Chase Madorsky (2000s-20s) at a UCLA baseball game and with Debbie Goodman-Cohen (1960s-70s) at the Hollywood Bowl for Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday celebration....
Doug and Chase
Doug and Debbie
Max, David, Diana and Cory
And a personal RSS. Entering “Sally’s APizza” in Stamford, Diana and I, with Cory Schwartz (1988 to present), were greeted enthusiastically with, “David, Diana, and Cory!” Incredible service—and yet how did the restaurant manager know our names? It was Max Lieberman (1990s-2000s). (Editor’s Note: great pizza.) ....
In other, non-RSS news (and non-news).... “Pop Torch”—the latest album from Ellen Woloshin (1971-74), is available on all music streaming services....
Former bunkmates Jared Simons and Sage Blumenfeld sent in a photo from their May graduation from Syracuse University.... Pavel and Maggie Parwanicka Mozga met at Scatico as staff members in 1998. Their children Nick and Natalie began their campers careers in the 2010s. As a family, they recently completed the 39-mile long BikeNYC....Justin Adams (1990s-00s) works as an Executive Chef in Bangkok, Thailand. His daily routine includes biking to work to avoid the traffic. (Not sure if he brings the dog to the restaurant every day.)....
Syracuse graduation
Justin Adams
Mozga family
Adam Schefflan (1980s) checked in with an update on his band Dealers of God: “We released our second album, “Dealer’s Choice,” on January 1 and are doing a limited-edition run of 100 CDs through the internet label Dismiss Yourself. We definitely upped the weird factor this time, but I think it’s a tighter and more cohesive work than the last album.”....
...Congratulations to Don Cohen (1960s) on the publication of “Nearby Stories”—a collection of poems.... For 3 weeks in September 2021, Scatico became the filming location for a portion of the production of Rally Caps, an as yet-to-be-released movie starring Judd Hirsch and Amy Smart. Eileen Fleder Kahn (1960s) previewed a recent screening at a February film festival in Palm Beach, FL. Her review? “It was good. The Scatico footage (admin, girls side field and tennis courts , dining hall, the boys center campus, and the interior bunks—with the camp names on the ceiling blurred out) was fun for me as I knew where everything was shot.”
Thanks for staying in touch. E-mail news and photos for future issues of the Alumni Newsletter to info@scatico.com.
Visiting Camp in the Off-Season
As a 22-year-old post-graduate social work student in the summer of 1979, Nigel Radcliffe traveled from the United Kingdom to Scatico to work as a division leader. He visited camp in April—for the first time in 44 years! “It was a great day in glorious sunshine.... I've never really been able to explain to my wife what this was about.” In NYC the following day and wearing a Scatico t-shirt, he was stopped by a former camper last at camp in 1982. (Nigel couldn’t remember the name for an official RSS credit!) Since the summer of 1979, Nigel has worked as an addiction treatment counsellor—with his practice based in Cyprus since 2012...
Brothers Eric and Danny Baron along with their cousin Andy Shapiro (1950s-60s) also made the trip to camp in April. They even made it out to the A Court so Danny could recreate his game-winning shot in the finals of the Nat Holman basketball tournament....
When Dan Feinberg (camper and counselor from 1943 to 1958) visited in May, the only photos he took were of photos on the canteen wall. He did send in this shot from the 1940s—that’s Dan in the vest.
In Memoriam
Leroy “Lee” Fadem passed away on April 20, 2023, at the age of 102. Leroy attended Scatico in the 1920s-30s, when camp was located in Wingdale, NY (prior to the 1934 move to Elizaville). Leroy’s Aunt Rose, was the Aunt Rose of Scatico fame (who helped run the camp office in the 1950s-70s and was a sister of Scatico founder Nat Holman). Lee served in the Navy in WWII (a Torpedo Officer earning five Battle Stars), had a long career as an executive in the toy industry, and traveled to over 100 countries on six continents.
Joan Greenwald Herfort Halpern passed away on March 7, 2023, at the age of 94. Joan attended Scatico from 1937 to 1949. Her three daughters Amy, Nancy, and Robin were campers in the 1960s-70s. Joan attended camp (starting at the age of 4!) because her mother grew up on the Lower East Side and attended P.S. 62 with Scatico founder Nat Holman in the early 1900s. Joan graduated with a BS in mathematics and science from the University of Michigan in 1948. After college she worked as a bacteriologist at Mount Sinai Hospital and later worked for 10 years in the microbiology lab at White Plains Hospital.
John Barman passed away on March 17, 2023, at the age of 73. John and his sister Rosemary were Scatico campers (1960s) as was their mother Marion Holman Barman (1930s). John’s grandfather Irving was a brother of Nat Holman—and Rose Fadem (see above). After graduating from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, John worked for Estee Lauder before launching his own interior design firm, John Barman Inc., in 1989. John was widely honored in the design field, including recognition as one of the “AD100′′ by Architectural Digest magazine, “The City’s Best 100 Architects and Decorators” by New York Magazine, and “Top 50 New York Designers” by New York Spaces.
Celebrating the 12523 on 1/25/23
We celebrated a unique milestone event this winter... 1/25/23 aka #ScaticoDay. It was former Boys Assistant Head Counselor Matty Carroll (2000s-20s) who first pointed out that a certain day in January would spell out camp's zipcode, and we knew we had to honor it in some way! So we took to social media, and asked Scaticonians from across the generations to submit photos from their first summer at camp. Over 100 people sent in photos, cumulatively representing many, many more bunkmates and family members. There were first summers spanning 50+ years and encompassing countless Scatico experiences and friendships. The photos below show photos of first summers for campers who began their careers between 1998 and 2011 (current ages 20 to 34). ...And, if you missed out on submitting your photo, get ready for 12/5/23 (your last chance to participate for 100 years).
Scatico Reunions
The Next Generation— Congratulations!
(for the best deal ever... send in a birth announcement and receive a Scatico onesie and bib!)
Lenny on February 6, 2023, to Matt and Amanda Kochen. Matt was a camper and counselor in the 1990s-2010s along with his siblings Jon, Jacob, and Leah. Matt’s mom Sharon Beck Kochen and grandparents George and Kara Lorberbaum Beck also attended camp (three generations of campers spanning more than 50 Scatico summers).
Kaiden Samuel on November 29, 2022, to Karl Hall and Sydney Jenkins-Hall. Kaiden’s big siblings Karl Jr. (KJ) and Kylie are current campers.
Charlie on January 8, 2023, to David and Lizzie Cohen Marks. Lizzie was a camper and counselor 1990s-2010s along with her sister Maggie. Their dad Frank attended Scatico in the 1960s-70s.
Willow on 2/6/23 to Chris and Jamie Nowak Noe. Big sister Annabelle will be a Jinter this summer. Mom Jamie was a camper and counselor in the 1990s-2000s.
Henry Elliot on February 5, 2023, to Michael Braverman and Nicki Fleischner. Lots of Scatico family here....
The Halls
Nicki and Henry
Just Married
JoJo Wollman and Michael Leoni on January 14, 2023. Jojo and her sister Caroline began their camper careers in the early 2000s. Their dad Dan was a Scatico camper in the 1960s-70s and then a longtime Scatico doctor in the 2000s-10s. JoJo sent in the wedding photo to the right in which a few Scatico bunkmates tried to recreate a vintage 4th of July photo from the summer of 2004.
Twenty years in a flash.... Left, July 4, 2004—Barrie Modica, JoJo on Julie Miller’s back, Zoe Goldstein, Emily Berger, and Sydnee Fried
.... Right, January 14, 2023—Nicki Stuttman, Danielle Liebman, JoJo on Julie Miller’s back, Zoe Goldstein, Emily Berger, and Sydnee Fried.
Ben Stern and Sophia Anderson on August 27, 2022. Ben was a camper and counselor in the 1990s-2000s. Ben’s former bunkmate Josh Wigler officiated (in a spectacular floral suit). Ben is a therapist in private practice in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, working primarily with children, adolescents, and their families.
Katie Hecker and Brian Hoffman on March 25, 2023. Katie (the current girls athletics director), and her twin sister Morgan began their Scatico careers as campers in 2003. Their parents Dick Hecker and Nancy Klyde Hecker met as staff members in the 1980s.
Ben, Josh and Sophia
Scatico friends celebrate with Katie
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.
New at Camp in 2023
A renovation and expansion for the Health Center will add 600 square feet (built out towards the dining room), adding 5 semi-private rooms, 2 full bathrooms, and a lounge area. Elsewhere at camp, the relining of tennis courts and addition of portable net sytems now provides 6 pickleball courts. Scatico will compete in its first-ever pickleball tournament with other camps this year.