Scatico March Madness 2022

It’s March, which means it’s time for (drumroll please) the THIRD ANNUAL SCATICO MARCH MADNESS! This year we’ve got all kinds of beloved camp activities going head-to-head in 4 tough brackets: Evening Activities; Specialty Programming; Full Camp Events; Color War Events!

TOURNAMENT PROGRESS

View Scaticonians’ Completed Brackets Here!

Daniel Kovacs

Kerri + Tyler Winderman

Ryan Derasse

Maya Ziff

Sylvie Eichel

Lolli Kahn

Chase Baruch

Skylar Baruch

Ezra Elkin

Ruby Elkin

Nicki Fleischner

David Fleischner

Mark Gretenstein

Carly Hodes

Lilly Jacobs

Parker Percival

Ryan Percival

Marlon Reitzes

Sam Ryan

Diana Wallerstein

Cooper Jacobs

Patti Press

Jake Zirolli

Joey Smilgiewicz

Ella Bernstein

Gracie + Jordan Klein

Eliza Tarlow

Eve Jacobs

Olivia Berk

Jackson Tarlow

Maya Lederman

Sophie Rosen

Noa Newman

Kylie Yurdin

Letter from Cory

Dear Scatico Families, 

As we look to the summer ahead and eagerly plan for the 101st season of Scatico, we want to share an important message from Cory, who will be transitioning from his role as head counselor this summer.  

As Cory writes: 

This is not easy for me to say, and I have gone through so many iterations of this message in my head and on paper, but I think the best way to do it is to come out and rip the band aid.  I will not be returning to camp as the boys head counselor.  I’ll be a head counselor for two this summer with Bash and Peyton, my children, as my division.  While I will not be the boys head counselor, I am working out a role with Dave and Diana that will allow me to spend time at camp and to continue to make magic and memories. 

Scatico is always home for me and has, in large part, shaped who I am today.  It is a place where I was always putting forth my best self.  Camp, since my first summer as a sub junior in 1988, helped me learn a lot about who I was and what is important to me.  That happens when you have support, role models and friends who truly care about you.  Scatico is a place where all those things were available to me and I took full advantage.  I hope that in my time as Head of Boys side, the campers all felt they were given the opportunity to feel at home as I always have.  It is all I ever wanted for all of your kids.  To be heard, to be cared for, to be seen, and to know that no matter what they wanted for themselves, we were going to get them there.  I have so many memories of every camper being their best selves and I feel lucky to have witnessed it and shared in it all. 

There is just so much more I am feeling but for now this will have to do.  To all the camp families - to everyone - it has been the pleasure of my life to experience this with all of your children. To all the Scatico campers and counselors through time that have shared in the magic - wow, are we so lucky!   Thank you for being the pulse that keeps it all beating. 

 To new beginnings. 

”We’ve only just begun”…

Love to all,

Cory

We cannot thank Cory enough for his inspiring, thoughtful, and ever-energetic leadership as the boys head counselor since 2016, when he took the role over from David. Cory helped shape Scatico for the better (and, of course, also added Mets equality to the HC Porch). As much as we will miss him in his former role, we are also so excited for him to be able to spend more time with his family and are looking forward to crafting a new, part-time (childcare flexible) position for him. He will remain a familiar face in the 12523!

We’re also excited to share that Mark, who has been at Scatico since 2018 and was the boys program director last summer, will become the new head counselor. Mark will have support from long-time Scaticonians Randy and Ken as well as Quinn Croland, Matty Carroll and Alan O’Neill, the three of whom are enthusiastically planning their returns to camp in new leadership roles after a year (or a few) away. And the dynamic duo of Kerri and Dusty will still be found in the girls HC! At Scatico, we are always tremendously appreciative of our longstanding senior leadership team. 

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season,

David, Diana and Nicki

6/24- Scatico Staff Campfire

Hello Scatico Staff 

It is my great honor to be opening our orientation campfire. 

I am going to share a few thoughts with you, then Laura will be doing a land acknowledgement we hope will become part of our campfire tradition moving forward. And so, I would like talk about acknowledgement in a more general sense. 

I want to acknowledge that on a normal year orientation is difficult. Many people come together, some who know one another, and some who do not, and must in a very short time become a cohesive community. It is an imperfect process, and will remain an imperfect process. I want to acknowledge that we are not perfect. But, I also want to acknowledge that we are good. I see so much goodness in this circle and I am excited for the children that are coming in less than 48 hours because I am very proud of the team we have built. Reach out to your teammates in the days ahead, and be there for one another. 

I want to acknowledge our purpose for gathering. 22 years ago, I sat at one of these campfires and David Fleischner stood up and said that ‘the work I was about to do would be the most important work of my life.’ I was much younger. So, it was a great surprise to me that David was right. Working with kids is the most important work I have found, and I want to acknowledge that all the work we’ve done this week, and we’ve done some hard work, is for that purpose, the purpose of providing for children a place to connect with nature, themselves, and each other. And if we do that right, we will have a great summer. 
 
Like many camp events this campfire will have its moments of solemnity and its moments of fun and play. This is the complex art of camp life. 

During the summer of 2019, Cory Schwartz gave a speech at the first sermon on boyside. It was our 99th summer and Cory was aware that our minds might drift to summer 100 and there is nothing Cory hates more than having a summer be taken for granted. So, he inspired us to call summer 99 ‘the Great One’ not knowing the events that were to come. Summer 2019 was the best summer of my life and I want to acknowledge Cory for his leadership and wisdom. 

As we look ahead at a most unexpected set of circumstances for Camp Scatico’s 100th summer I see a challenge much like Cory faced 2 years ago. But instead of the distraction coming from the future, our challenge comes to us from the past. We must decide to craft a new legend, and to face the open canvas of a summer we know will be like no other. I see a great adventure ahead and I really cannot imagine a better set of people to go on this journey with. 

 I want to acknowledge the Fleischner family and their efforts to move the arc of history a bit more toward justice. I want to acknowledge the heroic effort this week and the week’s leading up to this moment by Nicki Fleischner. I hope you have a day off on the schedule. And lastly, if you are a first-year counselor let us all acknowledge that the first year is harder for you, and there is no way around that. But, I also want you to know that you are needed, wanted, and celebrated in our hearts every day. 

Now, my partner from Arts and Crafts Laura will share our land acknowledgement.