Killooleet-Alumni Update

John Seeger (b. February 16, 1914), Director of Camp Killooleet in Hancock since 1949, died January 10th in New Milford, Connecticut after a short illness. He was a popular teacher at the Dalton School, in Manhattan, in the 1950s and served as Principal of the Fieldston Lower School in Riverdale, NY from 1960 to 1976. John and his wife Eleanor purchased Camp Killooleet from its founders, Margaret Bartlett and Toni Taylor, as a place where they could implement their philosophy of education and child development. A regular and cherished feature of the camp season was his telling of the history of the Upper Valley to generations of camp children at campfires by the lake. During the years they ran the camp together, they made many friends in the Valley. They retired from teaching and moved to Hancock in 1976, where John joined the Valley Rescue Squad. A few years later they moved to a house John inherited from his aunt in Bridgewater, Connecticut, but continued to run the camp and to divide their time between Bridgewater and Hancock. Singing was one of Johns great joys, and he participated in occasional fundraising concerts for local organizations in Hancock and Rochester. For decades he sang in the summer choir of the Rochester Federated Church, even in 2009, his 95th year. His wife, Ellie, died in 2003. Both Ellie and John loved their connections with campers and their families, and spending time at camp every summer kept them young. John is survived by a brother, Pete Seeger, two half-sisters Peggy and Barbara, a son Anthony, a daughter Katherine (current Director of Killooleet), and two granddaughters, Elizabeth and Hilia. Celebrations of his life will be held at 2:00 on Sunday, February 14 at the Congregational Church in Bridgewater, Connecticut, and Saturday, August 28, at Killooleet camp. In lieu of flowers, donations for summer camp scholarships may be made to the Seeger Bartlett Foundation, P.O. Box 1, Hancock VT 05748.

"As a young adult I look back on my years at Killooleet as an incredible time in my life where I learned a lot and had a lot of fun. It was a safe haven for the four summers I was there, and I am grateful to have had the experience. It''s something I''ll have forever, and that is a tremendous gift." (alum from '90ies)

Killooleet is a large family, and we love hearing from you! If you haven't written in a while, pick up a pen and write to John (15 Sarah Sanford Road West, Bridgewater, CT 06752) or email Kate by clicking below. Alumni who have gotten in touch recently have updated us on their lives for the Alumni News.

REUNIONS

Killooleet Alumni Reunion and John Seeger Memorial

August 28 and 29, 2010

Camp Killooleet

Hancock Vermont

Please join us for a Killooleet Reunion and celebration of the life of John Seeger

at Camp Killooleet on August 28 29, 2010.

Schedule

The reunion will begin officially on the morning of Saturday, August 28, when we will serve breakfast between 8:00 and 10:00 AM. The cabins will be open starting on the evening of Friday, August 27 and we invite you to remain with us until Sunday afternoon.

The celebration of John Seegers life is planned for 2:00 PM on Saturday, August 28.

Schedule

In addition to the memorial, we will have as many activities open as possible. We will also help arrange group hikes. A cookout and evening activities are planned for Saturday. Bring your instruments!

Food

We will be serving meals beginning with breakfast on Saturday and ending with lunch on Sunday. We will try to accommodate dietary requirements, but will have storage and refrigerator space for those who want to bring their own food and beverages. We will do the cooking and cleanup by committee through a signup sheet.

Children

Children are more than welcome, but unfortunately we cannot host anyone under 18 without a parent.

Places to stay

We will have the cabins open from 5 PM Friday, August 27, through 3 PM Sunday, August 29. Please bring a sleeping bag and toiletries. Spaces on campus are limited and will be assigned in the order that requests are received.

There are many wonderful places to stay off campus too. For a list of those, please visit Tom Perera's Seeger Memorial Page at: http://www.TomPerera.com/Seeger/#pts

How to Respond

In order to reserve your place, please email campkillooleet@gmail.com as soon as possible to obtain an RSVP form and additional information. We are requesting a suggested donation of $40 ($60 if staying at camp) per adult and $20 ($30 if staying at camp) per child under 16 by August 10 to the Seeger Bartlett Scholarship Foundation at P.O. Box 1, Hancock VT 05748. Approximately half of your donation will go to cover costs and the other half will be a tax deductable donation to the Seeger Bartlett Scholarship Foundation.

Killooleet 1941

DONT GET LOST! Please put Killooleet, P.O.Box 70, Hancock, VT 05748 in your address book with family, friends and doctors, and notify us when you move! If you aren't getting the Alumni News and two other letters a year, then we've lost your current address! Please get in touch! You can email Kate and we'll correct our address records and send recent mailings. Thanks!

2010 stories coming soon in your alumni news!

CAMP NEWS

Summer 2008 was notable for a great group of oldest campers, who held camp's mission, philosophy and ideals close to their hearts and were stellar leaders of camp. The staff was a talented combination of beloved returners and new staff who brought depth, skills and joie de vivre.

Softball and soccer leagues thrived with oldest camper captains and excellent coaching. Basketball, parachute games, Koob and Ultimate Frisbee were popular with campers and staff. Campers thoroughly enjoyed working on the musical Willy Wonka. Rock bands rehearsed daily in the band room behind the tennis court and dozens of campers and staff shared songs at Sings. Record numbers of campers were shooting from 40 and even 50 yards on the archery range. A ukelele playing ceramics counselor had a rotating gallery of beautiful camper and staff projects on a table in front of the ceramics room. Campers working in the shop are ready to open a gallery of their works. In the horse barn, old favorites Al, Dream, Nutmeg and Frank were joined by new favorites Magic, Cody and Abby. We enjoyed flowers and vegetables from the garden. Every cabin produced a video project.

Regular rainstorms made it feel more like Florida than Vermont, but we managed to work in hikes, ball games and swimming around the storms. Rainy dances, cookouts and sports classes are held in Ted's Shed. On August 6th, the Canada bike hike had already made it up Smuggler's Notch and other campers had added last minute items to their overnighter packs stored in activity spaces on campus. It was raining so hard no one heard the rising bell and we decided to have a sleep late breakfast. We also had a flood.

Photo of the lake taken by Kate from the Advanced dock in October 2009. It shows the lake at normal winter height, Swimmers and Second Intermediate docks, and John's island with bright green grass on it.

After a wet July and first week of August, we got an overnight rain with an extra 3-4 inches falling between 8 and 9 a.m. The brook rose quickly and overflowed its banks. At the height of the flood, the water was flowing a foot over the top of the dam in the lake and 3-4 feet deep down the driveway. The mama brook, the feeder brook and the lake were all one body of water. The maintenance shed (with ceramics room and parent's bathroom attached) floated 60 feet downstream and lodged itself between the trees on the driveway. The basketball court was destroyed, the mama brook bridge and all 4 feeder brook bridges were taken out, 4 feet of water went through Electronics and the TV Barn, several cars floated downstream and others were totaled. The lake dam held, holding back water at the height of the flood in spite of a swirling current that moved second intermediate dock upstream to Ellie's Island, but the bank behind the advanced dock wore away. As the waters went down the lake drained - leaving us with mud and gravel. FORTUNATELY, NO ONE WAS HURT. Most campers and staff stayed in the Main House singing, telling stories and playing games. Once the water went down, everyone went out to survey the damage and begin cleaning up.

Camper cabins, the Main House, softball fields and the tennis courts were not damaged by flooding. In true Killooleet style, we adapted our plans, and thanks to excellent staff and campers, finished the summer at camp. Overnighters were shortened but most trips went out of camp. Camper Counselor exchange, Barterday and the All Star game all happened as scheduled. Many campers stated it was their best summer ever.

We have been working full time on flood repair. Keith and June have removed dozens of trees that fell and have moved the Maintenance shed back on to a new foundation. We plan to rebuild ceramics this fall. Alumni have helped clear flood debris from the woods along the brooks, cut up trees, shoveled gravel, cleaned out Campcraft and Electronics and rescued saplings buried in mud. We planted 20 trees at the reunion and will work with the White River Valley Partnership to plant more in the spring. We are very grateful for the support we've received from alumni, current camp families and staff, neighbors and friends during camp, at the reunion and since. There is much more to do. It will take thousands of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars to rebuild, restore and resupply camp. We'll need the entire community. Any support you can offer will be enormously helpful.

We've set up a special account: Killooleet Flood Recovery Fund to support rebuilding efforts. Unfortunately, there is no way we can make donations tax deductible. Donations can be sent to Killooleet Flood Recovery Fund, P.O. Box 70, Hancock, Vt 05748. There is also increased need for scholarships for campers who could not otherwise attend camp. Tax deductible donations can be made to the Seeger-Bartlett Foundation, P.O. Box 1, Hancock VT 05748. If you would like to help Killooleet rise to the challenges of the 21 century, have ideas for alumni gatherings or projects,or want to help with flood clean up this spring, contact Kate.

Thank You!

Kate, Dean and John

For more information and photos of the flood, go to: http://www.Tom-Perera.com/flood For cleanup photos: http://killooleet.blogspot.com