For the first half of my life, writing was so intimidating to me. I could handle a thank you note, but beyond that, it was agony. I had no confidence in my ability, and my required freshman year writing course instilled me with fear. Math and science were much better friends to me! Thus, it is odd that I find myself the current author-in-residence of the Keystone Blog.
My father was a great public speaker, and he encouraged me to write like I speak. So, to produce a blog, I spend a lot of time talking to myself. I also find it incredibly helpful to turn on my Fleetwood Mac Pandora channel to its top volume while I write. I guess that serves two good purposes: 1. It signals to the rest of the office that I am blogging and should not be interrupted, and 2. It covers the fact I am talking out loud to myself to make sure what I am writing sounds okay. Writing still isn’t easy, but I have found a way to make it work.
The months since camp closed have given us all time to reflect. We spend hours around the conference table breaking down the summer. We discuss everything from activity supplies to program changes. We make lists of the things we want to accomplish over the off-season, from staffing to construction, and we make so many plans to improve what we are able to offer you. We zoom out and consider camp as one complete organization, and then we do a deep dive and look inside each building and each activity. As you have heard from me before, our goal is to do our job better with each passing day, month and year.
We experienced significant transitions in our management team in the past year, and we have a terrific team in place that has just been finalized for 2023. I will continue on in my role as Executive Director as I look forward to my 40th summer in leadership at Keystone. Jazz Whyatt, who served as an Associate Director this year, was named Camp Director at our last campfire at the end of the August session. Stacey Rice is the Administrative Director, and Izzy Hall is our Associate Director.
We are pleased to announce the arrival of another Associate Director, Catherine Lemel. Catherine is a graduate of Barnard College of Columbia University with a degree in Sociology, and yes, Catherine is my daughter. She is a long-time Keystone camper, and has always wanted to work at camp. She returns to us after working for The Washington Post in their marketing division. Catherine will be leading efforts in social media and with our alumnae among her other programmatic duties. Needless to say, we are very proud to see the 5th generation of the family come into leadership.
Family is important, and I am not speaking just of relatives. As many of you know, the Keystone family is a tight group. Camp is often a waypoint as our staff travel back and forth to school. We were thrilled to see Liz Hamilton for a day on her way to Florida for Thanksgiving. Just yesterday, my cell phone pinged with an exchange of 20 texts from a group of alumnae just a few years older than I. They currently live in cities spread across the country from Alaska and Washington to Virginia and Florida. One alum had been to visit one of our program directors from the 1970s, and the conversation began. Pictures were shared, as well as love and good wishes. These are camp friendships that have spanned over 50 years, and I have no doubt they will all be in attendance at our 105th(+2 for Covid) reunion that is being planned for the fall of 2023.
Once you are a Keystone camper, you are one for life. These alums in the texting chain were all very close with my parents. You have heard me use the term “my girls” many times to refer to the many campers who have attended Keystone in my 39 years of leadership. When I think of those of you who came to camp and are now older, I remember you as the age you were when you were last at camp. That often makes it hard for me to realize how old you might be now. It is always a great surprise to have an alum get in touch. Even more special is to have an alum send their own daughter to Keystone. Over 31% of our July 2022 session consisted of legacy campers, our highest number yet.
I know I have not been good at being in touch this fall. Since you now know what it takes to tie me to a keyboard, I hope getting an update will be a treat for you. Look for updates through the coming months on what we are doing to get Keystone ready for the best summer EVER.
