Big Appreciation for Alumni Associations

by Michelle Beaver, '99 - '04

You go to camp, your mind expands, you make friends, a community, a family, and then you go home. 

And feel lonely. And maybe you cry. 

It’s called camp sickness. The best cure: an alumni association! In its base form, an alumni association gives former campers and staff members a new version of camp, a lasting “part two” after a transformative experience. Alumni associations provide a common ground and a meeting space for people who share a place, ideas, and experiences. 

Members of alumni associations understand how powerful camp can be. They also know the same songs and understand references to, for instance, “Mandy Day,” “Cabin Hill” and “Emily Dickinson Hall.” And of course alumni associations are integral in choosing participants for the next season of camp. 

An alumni association can be as small and informal as three people from the same state getting together for coffee once a year. Other alumni associations, however, go way above and beyond that modest prospect. The Danish Alumni Association, for instance, is so large, organized, motivated and creative that they started a camp. 

Several other groups of alumni have also made big contributions to the Camp Rising Sun community and can always be counted on for help and insight. One such group is the Minnesota Alumni Association.  

Members of the Minnesota Alumni Association have served on the Louis August Jonas Foundation board of directors and several committees. And members of the association, Nita and Rick Luis, have been incredibly generous with their donations. 

Recently, this fine group of Minnesotans compiled a sustainability report about how the group helps LAJF. They wrote this in hopes that other associations can learn from what the Minnesota group has experienced, said Minnesota member Dan Pierpont, who was a legacy camper in 1992 and 1993 and was the art counselor in 1996.

“My hope is that it will show others a path to raising more money for LAJF, staying passionate about CRS, and having fun with your fellow Rising Sun brothers and sisters,” he said. Many alumni associations spend their energies selecting campers, but that is only the beginning. Some associations fund travel expenses for their campers, but a few exceptional associations have led fundraising efforts to support the Camp program. In Minnesota, there is a board member dedicated to organizing and leading fundraising efforts to support LAJF. 

Dan added that he believes alumni events lead to more engagement and giving. 

“Alumni associations need a few dedicated people to make gatherings happen and stay in good communication with the local alumni,” he said. “There area people that care enough about CRS to do something about it and spend whatever time it takes to get the job done.”  

Another alum, Dorothee Pass, agrees that it’s important to designate someone to lead events. Pass, a 2000 Clinton camper, a 2001 Stendis camper, a counselor at Red Hook in 2006, and a member of the German alumi association, said a successful association “is not a one- or two-man show.”

She added that it can be hard to find people who can commit to what they want do for camp, but that even in that case, alumni associations continue friendships and form new ones, particularly across generations. 
“Although it has been 16 years since my first and 10 years since my last summer at CRS, I remain bound by heart,” Dorothy said. 

Harry Hamstra, director of the Dutch Alumni Association from 1999-2007, and a long-time board member of the Dutch alumni association, agrees that having at least one very dedicated person makes a big difference. 

“For a successful alumni association it is vital to have a few persons that like to invest in keeping people connected, by personal contacts, by newsletters etc., and by organizing at least one association meeting per year,” he said. 

The Dutch groups meet at least twice a year. During the fall meeting, the association members ask the newest campers about their experience. The tradition continues …

According to Harry, the main point of these groups involves, “Sharing of the special emotions that one has at camp, with people that really understand, and finding a group of interested and interesting people of different ages and backgrounds—with a common base in their CRS experience.”

It all makes coming home from camp a little easier. Thank you to all of our alumni associations! If there isn’t one in your state or country, please consider starting one. You could end up being the sachem every association needs. 

Why I Give, by John Mattera '94

In the Spring you may have noticed the campaign led by the NYAA…We raised more than $50,000 in about one week’s time. I gave $5,000 which was a much larger gift than I’ve ever given to any organization. Why now? I have remained involved with Camp, however, only recently did I begin to understand the magnitude of Camp's financial situation. Camp has an amazing tradition of providing amazing campers with an amazing program... for free. And while the experience may have been magical, it was money, not magic, that made it happen.

I decided I wanted to do something to help. I contacted the Foundation and said that I wanted to give $5,000 but that I wanted my donation to encourage others to give. That inspired the NYAA President (who also happens to be my sister) to also pledge $5,000. She then contacted other NYAA members to join us in providing $5,000 matching gifts. Before we knew it, we had $25,000 in matching funds. Then we contacted the 2,000 New York alumni to help us get to each matching level.

The good news is that more alumni are giving now more than ever. At this critical juncture in the life of our organization we must look at our own capacity to help. Look at your situation at this time, think about the investment camp made in you. How have your career, family and friends been impacted by your experience at CRS? What is that worth to you? And what is it worth to you to give that opportunity to the next generation? 

Some alumni have said, “no one ever asked me to give.” Well, I’m asking you now. Please make a donation. Camp will be sustained if we invest in the future of our organization

Donate to Camp here.

Join the CRS 2016 Staff Team!

I am so excited to announce that we are officially accepting staff applications for the 2016 season! Though it feels like summer is ages away, soon we will be welcoming our 2016 campers for seven weeks of triumphs and challenges. We need a strong, encouraging staff team to support our next group of 120 campers.

I had the privilege of working on summer staff twice: at Clinton in 2011 and in 2015, for both the boys' and girls' sessions. I was humbled by campers' courage and insight. Though my staff years were markedly different from my years as a camper, I still felt that same powerful community spirit.

I hope many members of our alumni community will apply to be a part of the 2016 staff team. It is a wonderful way to stay involved. You can read about our summer staff employment opportunities here.

Applications for Camp Directors and Assistant Camp Directors are due on January 15th, 2016. The form can be found here.

Applications for general staff will be accepted on a rolling basis. 

• If you worked at Camp in 2015, fill out the returning staff application. 
• If you worked during any other Rising Sun summer and/or are a new applicant, please complete the staff application.
• If you would like volunteer this summer, please complete the volunteer staff application.

Warm Regards,

Yena Purmasir

Program Coordinator

Building and Grounds Update from Tom Spurge

We had a productive day at RH last weekend as we began the process of "clearing the way" to allow our professional partners access to the mundane yet necessary elements of our infrastructure which require attention. A great big hao-hao to all the volunteers who showed up in support of our efforts and who worked hard to dig through decades of dust and memories to clean out the attic of the old house and the crawl space of ED Hall of lots of stuff which had been accumulating, seemingly forever. 

We have much more to do, but at least the process has physically begun and we can look forward to an earnest middle from our auspicious beginning. 

Thanks also to all of the B&G committee for their efforts thus far, especially to Mickey Seabrook for traveling from South Carolina to be with us. Also a shout out to Christina, Helene and Damian for joining us for the Committee meeting and augmenting the conversation with layers of thoughtful ideas and input. 

I would also like to personally recognize the ongoing efforts of JC Calderon in helping to keep the issues confronting us in the fore and for mobilizing and ushering the ongoing fundraising efforts through the larger community.  Thanks to our neighbors Susan Hinkle and Brian Williams for engaging us and their offers of help and support.

We are happy to report that the RFP's (request for proposals) have gone out to select firms for purposes of choosing a professional firm that will evaluate the site conditions and facilitate the production of the design and construction documents necessary to effectuate the reconstruction of the RH campus. We expect to have those back in a manner consistent with our expressed timeline therein, so that we can begin a vetting process, choose a firm and enter into a contract as soon as possible. 

Stay tuned for more!

Here are links to a lot more information from the Buildings & Grounds Committee:

1. Request for proposals (RFP) sent to area architectural firms
2. Letter sent to several architects
3. June site report - 169 pages, along with photos, detailing the facilities needs for Red Hook and Clinton