TheCampHaleAlumniAssociation
Newsletter
MISSION STATEMENT: To build and foster positive working relationships with Camp Hale, the United South End Settlements, and all in the Camp Hale community, for the benefit and continued success of Camp Hale.
Spring 2016 Also available at: www.CampHaleAlumni.com
Mike Kalil, Sam Deeb, Bob Barrett, Ginny DePalo, Mike Cullinane and Kathy Preston at the fundraiser.
COCKTAILS FOR CAMPFIRES
Our spring fundraiser this year was a great success. I’m always optimistic about how we can better an event each year and with that said I believe we are headed in the right direction.
The fundraiser was renamed to “Cocktails for Campfires” and it was relocated back to Clery’s in the South End on Saturday April 30thfrom 6-10pm. Our first Spring Fling took place at Clery’s in 2000.
The move back to Clery’s was a strategic move in hopes of drawing local alumni and south end parents of campers.
This was also our first collaborative event between CHAA, Camp Hale, and USES. What a difference it makes to have a team with different skill sets and to apply them to one common goal.
Thank you for all that helped out.
The theme of campfires was used throughout the night. Kasey Blume led the charge with decorations and what a great job she did. We had small table tents with candles symbolizing campfires strewn around the room along with orange colored lights wrapping around the ceiling.
Karen Liberatore designed a video of Camp Hale and the campers showing what takes place in a day at camp. This video was played on the monitors in the room and many who have never seen Camp Hale were impressed. The visual effects were great and thank you Karen for all your work.
Something new this year was the use of ipads with card readers to help collect donations. We had staff walking around the room interacting with guests. This application worked well with half of all donations being processed through ipads. Thank you to Joe Shamatta for setting up the ipads and assisting with getting the staff up to speed.
The night started out with alumni greeting guests and socializing. Food stations were set up serving cold and warm appetizers. DJ Plush (Jomo King) provided music all night long. We continued with our silent auction with items like hotel stays, sports tickets, wine, and restaurant gift cards.
The silent auction brought in $3190. Tofee, Mark E, and myself worked the door collecting admissions and accepting donations. Thank you to Stephanie Hayes (Brent’s wife) for sorting out the auction items, determining winners, and assisting in handing them out.
Lastly, Mr. Jerrell worked extremely hard recruiting parents of campers who turned out to support us. It really made a big difference having that new element of South End parents in attendance.
USES provided a babysitting service to families with children. The kids were dropped off at 48 Rutland St where they were supervised by USES staff while parents went to the fundraiser. This was a great service and many families took advantage of it.
At 8PM Maicharia Weir Lytle, the President and CEO of USES spoke to the crowd about USES and the future of Camp Hale along with the long relationship they have had with CHAA. It was refreshing to hear how much she and USES value CHAA. I look forward to tightening our relationship with her and USES.
She was followed by Jerrell Cox, the Director of Camp Hale, who spoke about camp and its impact on the boys and girls of Boston that attend. Jerrell has been working diligently on modifying the programming to fit as many different sessions into the summer window. CHAA thanks him for all he does with camp and with supporting us along with including us in the process. I followed him and spoke about CHAA’s history with camp along with our mission. I spoke a little about how we fundraise to send kids to camp along with our volunteer time at camp with opening and closing it during the two work weekends. I finished with “the ask” for donations and how important it is to help impact the life of a child by sending them to Camp Hale.
The evening was a great success with about 130 attendees. I am proud to say that we had over 40 alumni attend in support of the event.
We set a goal of 16K, which the CHAA BOD decided would go toward camperships.
We ended up with 15K gross and after expenses we net 13K.
Everyone had an absolutely great evening!
A special thanks to the CHAA Fundraising Committee for the time and planning they put into this event. Your hard work and dedication made the event a success. The committee consists of Tofee Shamatta, Karen Liberatore, Mark Elbach, Wally Keniston, Kasey Blume, Jerrell Cox, and myself.
PIZZA PARTY
May 14thwe had our Annual Camp Hale Pizza Party located at 48 Rutland St. This event is sponsored by CHAA. The weather was welcoming with a sunny day and 78 degrees.
This day is set up strategically with Jerrell Cox and Karen Liberatore to have parents finish submitting needed paperwork so that their kids can go to Camp Hale. Jerrell and Karen conduct interviews and processed paperwork while the kids enjoyed the party.
We kicked off the day at 1PM by serving pizza, apples, oranges, cookies, and water.
A large group arrived to enjoy the meal.
CHAA alumni served about 70-80 people in total. Freddie Lopes, Courtland Townes, Mark Elbach, Brent Hayes, Mike Dann, Damien Fenderson, Terrence Woolfork, Barry Hayes, Young Tommy Hayes and myself helped set up and serve the food.
This was also the first chance to meet the 2016 Camp Hale staff. They look like a great group and CHAA has complete confidence in Jerrell and Karen’s choices for staff. We look forward to a great camping season.
A special thanks to New York Pizza (George Axiotis) for donating 25 pizzas. There was not one slice left at 4pm.
The families, staff, and alumni mingled all day. The children played a variety of games and just hung out with the staff getting to know each other.
It was truly a great day and successful with families registering campers.
Thomas Hayes-President of CHAA
CampHaleAlumniAssociation
453 South Main Street, Attleboro, MA 02703
www.CampHaleAlumni.org
STAYING CONNECTED
Stay connected with the Camp Hale Alumni Association throughout the year. In an effort to grow our presence online, we hope you will follow our pages and help share our main hashtag #camphalealumni. As we continue to support Camp Hale, this hashtag will help us capture important moments.
We are also working closely with the USES Development office to document stories, pictures, and comments on the impact camp has had on our alumni members and supporters. If you would like to contribute please contact Mark ElBach at
mark.elbach22@gmail.com
Visit:
www.camphalealumni.com
Facebook Page: Camp Hale Alumni Association
Twitter: @chaainc
Instagram: @camphalealumni
LinkedIn Page: Camp Hale Alumni Association
CHAA Board Meetings:held the first Monday of each month from 6pm – 8pm at the
Harriet Tubman House (566 Columbus Ave. Boston, MA 02118). All are welcome to
attend. Join us at one of our upcoming meetings!
~Mark ElBach -Secretary
FINANCE COMMITTEE UPDATE
After reaching a high point of 249,594.17 as of July 31, 2015 just $405.83 shy of our maturity goal our endowment fund currently managed by Wells Fargo Advisors slipped to a low of $214,701.14 as of June 15, 2016. Our committee is clearly dissatisfied with the course that our investment has taken over the past year. We are currently researching options to reverse this trend.
Our major spring fundraiser this 2016 year netted more than $13,000 after expenses. This represents a welcome change to the previous 2015 year that only brought in a few hundred dollars after expenses. Thanks in part to a larger participation of our male and now female members, our collaboration with USES and the inclusion of South End friends and camper family members our venue was filled to capacity.
Consequently, our board of directors have voted to donate a total of $15,000 in 2016 for the benefit of Camp Hale and Camp Hale camperships. This will leave us with barely enough to fund the Alumni weekend this year. Therefore, it is critical that we collect the dues and donations to be in a position to continue this extraordinary pursuit to provide a wonderful camping experience for inner-city children.
We have also set aside $3000.00 toward getting camp ready for the summer. Our work weekend this year was very successful thanks in part to the added support from this summer’s camp staff who helped our volunteers complete all of the weekend projects.
As your Treasurer, I am committed to providing a continued service to our organization that is well managed and that best serves the interest of the Camp Hale Alumni Association and the needy boys and girls of Camp Hale.
Respectfully submitted
Chris Attles ~Treasurer
IMPORTANT DATES
2016
Old Home Day: Wednesday August 10
ALUMNI WEEKEND: September 8-11
Closing Work Weekend: TBA
VOLUNTEER WEEKEND
This past work weekend was wildly successful, with volunteers from CHAA, USES, as well as the Camp Hale Families and Staff.
After the felled trees that littered camp were cut up by Team Rubicon, another group from the South Shore, Crossroads Athletic Club started with the daunting task of splitting the logs into firewood.
During work weekend the CH Staff and volunteers from CHAA not only split the rest of the approximately 8 cordsof wood, but also stacked the firewood up at the Council Ring, Rec Hall and Chapel Rock. And believe me it was no small endeavor.
Another group rebuilt steps or built new steps for the Dining Hall, Kids Kitchen and Tut’s. Safe walkways were added to all shower areas. And yet another group stained and painted wherever it was need, notice the D Hall and 1stlodge steps!!
A tangled web of plumbing behind the Dining Hall was replaced with new water and drain lines by Mr. Butch’s grandson Glenn Landry. He also fixed multiple leaks, drips and assorted water issues to get us up and running for the season.
Our waterfront crew was rock solid and did a great job down there. Every year they do whatever it takes to get the docks repaired and safe for anther summer of jumping and floating in Mother Squam. Enjoy!
We also started a garden in the Ball Field by the archery range (I hope not for apples) and look forward to the program that Jerell has in store for the campers.
This was an amazing weekend with parents, staff and CHAA all pitching in to do whatever we needed. And we needed a lot!
Thanks to all who participated,
Tofee Shamatta ~ Work Weekend Chairman
HERE’S TO SUMMER
Summer is just around the corner (or maybe it’s already here by the time this reaches your eyes, and you’ve got at least one good BBQ on the books), and camp season is just beginning. This will be my fourth summer at Camp Hale, and I caaaaaaan’t freakin’ wait!!
There’s just something about the breeze off Squam Lake combined with the atmosphere of Camp itself that keeps me coming back, and will keep me coming back, for years and years to come.
This year’s Work Weekend was combined with a Parent Volunteer day, and it was amazing too see so many helping hands come together to get everything ready for the campers of 2016.
It almost felt like a bunch of ants, working their hearts out. From the top of the hill to the tip of Leader’s Point, not an inch was left untouched. Alumni teaching staff, staff reuniting with campers, parents building staircases… A lot got done that weekend, and I know Camp Hale is thankful.
Hopefully next Work Weekend, a few more of you will join us… It’d be great to sit around the fire and hear your stories and songs, so that I can share it with the campers of future generations.
So much of what camp is and could be, depends on you…
Here’s to the summer, and it being the best one yet!
Kasey Blume ~CHAA Board member and Camp Hale Councilor
MR. BOB’S CORNER
Greetings Haler’s, I hope all of you are well, and getting
ready for the warmer weather. I hope everybody made
it through the winter with no issues, and I am thankful for the
great turnout and effort at work weekend.
My first work weekend was back in 1987, and it was great, (from what I can remember).
All Joking aside, not all of us can be of financial support to Camp and USES. But we can donate our time and talents, which are just as important!
Camp Hale is a very special place. (Really Mr. Bob? Tell me something I don’t know)
The experience is different for all of us, but each unique in its own way.
Camp has evolved over the past 116 years in many ways.
When My Grandfather went to Camp, they would take a train from Boston, to Ashland, then walk with their gear, to the launch on Mother Squam, and have to take a steamboat all the way across the lake, to Camp. This was a full day adventure, and by the way, they stayed for 8 full weeks. Just imagine going to Camp like that, it must have felt like it was a million miles away.
Now, in 2016, there are multiple programs utilizing Camp, in an effort to maximize the potential, and service a broader range of programs.
I’m sure all of you that have been to Camp, have noticed the dirt roads. Well back in the 70’s, and early 80;s they would spray creosote on them to keep the dust down during the drier times. Around the same time, some campers developed sore throats, and some ear aches. Many blamed the creosote, but I don’t know how valid that is, we are going to have to ask Mr. Nick Haddad what the final word was on that.
My last year as a camper, second trip 1983, I was in the Chips cabin, and my counselors were Mr. Tom Andrews, and Mr. Jomo King. We were determined to finish our 90-mile, and 6 peak awards, so Mr. Tom had the bright idea of knocking last of the 6 peaks out in 1 day, and racking up a ton of miles. Mrs.”J”(Sylvia Johnson), assistant cook, decided to go with us.
We left right after breakfast, and hiked the Squam Range, from the Holderness side, and coming down Doublehead, into the Sandwich Notch. Then, we hiked up Mt. Isreal, and came back down through Mead Base.
The van was waiting for us (I believe Mr. Bill Carriere was driving). We decided to hike back to camp from Meade Base to get the extra miles. Mrs ”J” took a pass and got the ride back to Camp.
We arrived back in Camp well after dinner and Mrs ”J” had a pot of beef stew and corn bread waiting for us. We ate, like we never ate!!
And yes we got our 90-mile award.
One of my favorite experiences at Camp was the 2 years I was a kitchen Aide, 1984 and 1985. It was that magical transition period, where you were too old to be a camper, but too young to be a Counselor.
Aside from our Dining Hall duties, which consisted of assisting in the serving and cleaning up of the meals, we also kept the Dining Hall clean, helped with basic Camp maintenance, as well as participated in activities and trips when time allowed.
In 1985, Mr. Butch Kurkjian enlisted myself, and Joe Ciampa to assist him in putting a new roof on the Hike Shack. This was an interesting thing, because I didn’t even know the first thing about carpentry.
Mr. Butch was an excellent teacher, he motivated you with a variety of four letter words, as well as shear brute force. Here are some of the things told to Joe and I while balancing on the roof:
~“Don’t tickle the f******g nail, hit it hard!!!”(Mr. Butch was able to drive a nail with one hit.)
~“Don’t worry, its not that far down.”
Mr.Butch, how do you get tar off your hands? ~“Use Gasoline!!!”
We actually did a great job and survived it, the only casualty was Mr.Nick Haddad, who fell off a ladder while performing a site inspection, and despite many rumors over the years, neither Joe Ciampa, Mr. Butch, or myself had anything to do with that unfortunate accident. It was a completely unfortunate incident, and, fortunately for Camp, we didn’t have to worry about OSHA back then.
I hope some of these stories help spark some of your own Camp memories, and I encourage you to share them with me, so we can print them, in a future newsletter.
PIERI’S CORNER
Mix ups, and foul ups would happen now and then, here is one of
the best.
It was closing day for the first trip, and only one bus shows up at 8:45 am.
A quick call to Boston confirms our fears; someone had only ordered one bus.
We load up the second lodge kids, and send them home. We only have a
skeleton group on hand, and the Alumni group is arriving that afternoon, and
we still have 28 of the youngest campers to take care of.
It will take about 3 hours for another bus to arrive.
On top of all this, it was the hottest day of the summer, we break out the basket balls, Frisbees, wiffle balls and such and tried to keep the kids occupied.
By 11am, it must have been 90 degrees. I got the bright idea to coax them down to the first pool for a morning skinny dip.
We had sandwiches and bug juice sent down from the Dining Hall. Believe me that cool water was the secret to keeping those kids happy until the bus finally arrived.
They didn’t want to go home they were having a good time.
2015-2016 Organization Chart
Board of Directors
Officers
Vote/Appointment
Term Expires
Brent Hayes
President
Vote
Sept. 18
Tom Hayes
Vice-President
Vote
Sept. 18
Chris Attles
Treasurer
Vote
Sept. 16
Mark ElBach
Secretary
Vote
Sept. 16
Joe Shamatta
Clerk
Vote
Sept. 17
Alan Abboud
Vote
Sept. 17
Frank Anthony
Vote
Sept. 16
Charles George
Vote
Sept. 16
Barry Hayes
Vote
Sept. 18
Fred Lopes
Vote
Sept. 16
Tofee Shamatta
Vote
Sept. 17
Richard Webb
Vote
Sept. 17
Kasey Blume
Vote
Sept. 18
Alternate Directors
Courtland Townes
Vote
Sept. 17
Wally Keniston
Vote
Sept. 16
Geovauni Morgan
Vote
Sept. 17
Malik Morgan
Vote
Sept. 18
Stephanie Rosario
Vote
Sept. 18
Honorary
Jerrell Cox
Contractual
Karen Liberatore
Contractual
Committees -Appointments
Committee Name
Committee Chairman, Members
Finance
Chris Attles, Alan Abboud, Tofee Shamatta
Newsletter
Joe Shamatta
Fundraising
Mark ElBach, Oscar Anthony, Kasey Blume, Tom Hayes
Membership Development
Rich Webb, Chicky George, Karen Liberatore
CHAA Events-Appointments
Alumni Weekend
T Hayes, M ElBach, C Townes, S Rosario, F Lopes
Old Home Day
Tom Hayes, Chicky George, Alan Abboud, Steve Jacobs
Work Weekend
Tofee Shamatta, Kasey Blume, Joe Shamatta
Pizza Party
Tom Hayes, Barry Hayes, Kasey Blume, Stephanie Rosario
Spring event
Tom, Brent, and Barry Hayes, Karen Liberatore, Kasey Blume
Support Personnel-Appointments
Role
Historian
Bob Nicholas, Stephanie Rosario
Internal Communications
Ira Kligerman
Additional Administrative Support
Wally Keniston
THE LAST WORD
So, how grateful are we, right?
Huge props to Mr. Jerrell and USES for joining up with our fundraiser!
Without you, it would not have been such a success. We were able to give $10,000 for scholarships and fill those beds!
The same goes for Work Weekend. At Saturday’s lunch there were 47 people. There were so many things going on at once, we ran out of tools.
The parents that came up were much more skilled than we anticipated, and were able to crank out both rotten sets of steps on both sides of the Dining Hall at the same time! Thank You, and keep coming back! (and join the Alumni Association)
The Camp Hale staff were workhorses under the leadership of Mr. Nick. You guys rocked out so much erosion control in such a short time that I think you brought Camp back to where it was 20 years ago. Now you also have the skills to maintain it so it doesn’t wash downhill and the buildings stay standing. Thank You. (and join the Alumni Association)
I have to give Tim Michaels a lot of credit and a lot of thanks. He busted his hump and got a lot of projects done. He helped Freddy, some staff and I get the docks out, built those walkways around the showers, and helped with 2 sets of steps that were needed. He’s always there to help out, and always does it with a smile.
Mr. Tofee headed up all the projects on the priority list, and he and Ms. Kasey set up the visit from Team Rubicon 3 weeks prior, which cut up all those logs lying around, and got them ready for the splitter. What a great connection, thanks. The grounds haven’t looked this clean in years.
Dave and Dave split logs for 2 days. There are about 4 cords at the Council Ring, another 3 at Chapel Rock, and another cord at the Rec Hall. Camp has enough wood for the next 5 years.
Crossroads cranked out a few projects the week before, like the pantry floor, the Adirondak outhouse, and the back steps of Tuts. Thank you guys, I hope your weekend was awesome.
The Hayes boys cranked out screens and shutters all weekend, before hitting the docks after dinner and drowning some worms. Great work as usual.
Mr. Glen did more work on our leaky outdated plumbing than has been done in decades. He got in there, started cranking it out, and didn’t stop until it was done, and done right…….. like his Grandpa taught him. Thank you.
And finally, when you think of Alumni, you think of the Foxes. Why? Because those guys have been through the gamut of Camp since the 1950’s. I can’t speak for all of them, but I know the majority started as campers, moved up to councilors, some to directorships, then on to the Alumni Association, and now are our senior members and board members.
These guys have not stopped for 60 years. Their great friendship has kept them together and they continue their unwavering support of Camp Hale and the Alumni Association. They never miss a Work weekend or Alumni weekend.
This year we had Alan Abboud, Ed Haddad, Steve Jacobs, Nick Haddad, and dearly missed the loud voice of Chicky George, the soft but serious voice of Gary Pappas, and the strange New York accent of Oscar Anthony…(just a Boston joke). I have a feeling I’ll be hearing them at Alumni Weekend.
No matter what the task is that they take on, they do it correctly and completely.
This year, they got out the paint, and with Bob Faireny and Neil Kadey they made the Camp look new again.
Brackety-Ax to the Foxes, on 3, ready? 1, 2, 3….
You may have wondered why I said thank you to all the above-mentioned people. It’s because I am truly grateful, not only for the showing of support for the Alumni events, but more so for the big picture.
We, as a small group of people, an Alumni Association, were once those small kids from this small end of town, going to that small camp on that small lake.
We have each been positively influenced in some small way by those that came before us and by the place itself.
It seems a small thing, to influence some small kid, but the effects on that kid can be HUGE.
That kid is our future.
That kid is the big picture.
Now we are the ones that come before these new small kids. We are the ones who help get them a small bed for a small amount of time.
So we try to raise sums of money that always seem too small, and we plug away at those small maintenance projects.
That money helps some kid get out of the city.
Those hours we spent fixing the place up made it a safe clean home for the summer for that kid.
It will happen for that kid, Camp Hale will change his or her life.
When you support your Alumni Association, you are helping us support that kid.
You’ll probably never hear anything from that kid, who doesn’t even know it, but is the big picture.
So, on behalf of him or her, I am truly grateful… and Thank You.
~Joe Shamatta - Clerk/Newsletter Editor (DrJoeShamatta@aol.com)
The End