As we gear up for Visiting Day weekend and our Annual Alumni BBQ (Sunday, July 21st from 11am-3pm–21 years and older)…it seems like the perfect time for our 2nd Edition of “Where are They Now!?”  The entries have been a terrific trip down memory lane! Keep them coming!!! Send to [email protected].  And don’t forget to join our LinkedIn Group: The Camp Towanda Network. So without further ado, here are 5 new Alumni spotlights starting with Wendy Levine Slater.  Wendy is a former camper, counselor and camp-parent!

Wendy Levine Slater:

1. Dorm Year:  Dorm 1982
2. College Attended: University of Vermont
3. Current Career: Registered dietitian
4. Did Towanda help prepare you for the “real world”? In what way? Towanda prepares you for parenthood, especially if you were a counselor. As a camper, it teaches you coping skills, independence, and how to get along with a variety of people with very different personalities and skills.
5. What was your favorite camp activity?  Dutch auction, sing-down and Apache Relay
6. What is your most memorable moment at camp? Winning Olympiad my Senior year, oh and first meeting my now husband nick at the port authority bus station on our way to camp in 1985 (I was asked my the owners to check in all the foreign counselors)
7. Give us a line or two of your favorite camp song.  “I go to camp towanda pity me, there’s not a boy in the vicinity…”
8. What words of wisdom would you share with today’s campers?     Camp is an invaluable experience. You are so lucky to have this opportunity. The things you learn, the friendships you make-You may even meet your future husband or wife! The memories last forever and every year during the last week of June my spirit is on those coach buses as they leave for Honesdale.
9. Fill in the blank: When I think of summer, hear “Rock and Roll high school by the Ramones (dorm winning airband song) watch any play we did ( grease, bye bye birdie, guys and dolls, the boyfriend) eat a turkey club, mud pie, late night pizza or fried chicken (visiting day lunches were the best- bills chicken was legendary with chips, plum and brownie. Still the best lunch ever)
10. If you could add an event for the Great Apache Relay, what would it be? You could have to say the alphabet backwards.

Craig Cooper

1. Dorm / Club Year: 1991
2. College Attended?: University of Maryland
3. Current Career: Manufacture stainless steel kitchen equipment
4. Did Towanda help prepare you for the “real world”? In what way? YES, it taught me life skill, such as getting along with others, working in groups, respect for others and independence
5. What was your favorite camp activity?: basketball/ Hockey
6. What is your most memorable moment at camp? Other than meeting my wife, breaking Olympics by arriving in a helicopter (Blue Jetsons 1995)
7. Give us a line or two of your favorite camp song. Zoom Golly Golly, Zoom Golly Golly
8. What words of wisdom would you share with today’s campers? Enjoy every minute that you are at camp, it goes by very quickly and then it is over
9. Fill in the blank: When I think of ___good times____, see__Timberland boots______, watch___summer olympics_____, hear _____American Pie____ or eat ____chocolate chip Cookies______, I think of Camp Towanda!
10. If you could add a rule for GHOST, what would it be? Hot Dog Eating

*Craig and Marnie Cooper met at camp and are now first-time camp parents!!!

Peter Walsh

1. Dorm / Club Year: AGL of the Club of 2005
2. College Attended? Saint Mary’s University
3. Current Career: Teacher
4. Did Towanda help prepare you for the “real world”? In what way? Yes it sure did, it helped me become more independent and have more confidence in myself.
5. What was your favorite camp activity? Olympics by far
6. What is your most memorable moment at camp? In 2004 the Senior Boys during Olympics played one of the most entertaining softball games I have ever seen. It went back and forth and Blue won in the 15 inning.
7. Give us a line or two of your favorite camp song. Friends is such a great song as it sums up what Towanda is all about.
8. What words of wisdom would you share with today’s campers? Be yourself, don’t change yourself, have fun and don’t sweat the small things.
9. Fill in the blank: When I think of ____summer___, see_____Olympics___, watch____certain movies____, hear ____American Pie_____ or eat ____Soup______, I think of Camp Towanda!
10. If you could add a rule for GHOST, what would it be? At the time of my last year if you caught the ball after trying to be hit one of your teammates was not brought back in so I would make that a rule.

Samantha Orringer

1. Dorm / Club Year: 2003
2. College Attended? University of Wisconsin
3. Current Career: advertising sales
4. Did Towanda help prepare you for the “real world”? In what way? Absolutely. I had no homesickness going into college or moving to Chicago (where I currently live). I’m also very independent and can take care of myself.
5. What was your favorite camp activity? Duh. Arts and crafts!
6. What is your most memorable moment at camp? Way too many! But one I think of off the top of my head is practicing dorm sing (at an undisclosed location) while no one in camp knew where we were.
7. Give us a line or two of your favorite camp song.  We welcome you to Camp Towanda….
8. What words of wisdom would you share with today’s campers? You are so fortunate to have the sleep away camp experience because at 25 years old, my camp friends are still my best friends and no one knows me like they do.
9. Fill in the blank: When I think of ____any childhood memory___, see____soffee shorts____, watch____the Olympics____, hear _____taps____ or eat _____grilled cheese_____, I think of Camp Towanda!
10. If you could add a rule for GHOST, what would it be?  My ghost memory is foggy. But perhaps if something happens, a second ball is triggered into the game?

Beth Manspeizer Schwartz

1. Dorm / Club Year: 1990
2. College Attended?  Skidmore College BS in theater. MFA from Actors Studio Drama School in Acting.
3. Current Career: Actor, Director of Education of a film institute called The Picture House in Westchester, and a Mommy!
4. Did Towanda help prepare you for the “real world”? In what way? Yes, in so many countless ways. But one that stands out: I learned to be a leader at Towanda, but I also learned how to allow others to be leaders. It was this awareness and respect for everyone’s contribution to the group, that I learned from Towanda and I have taken with me throughout life.
5. What was your favorite camp activity? So many…girls sing, cricket, porch lunch, trading stickers, jacks, being with my friends.
6. What is your most memorable moment at camp? When my boyfriend held a big box radio, over his head, outside my dorm window and played “In your eyes”. Now that’s old school! I don’t think kids these days know what a box radio is!!
7. Give us a line or two of your favorite camp song. “Here nestled in the hills the camp I love.” But I can remember mostly every camp song I ever learned and I love them all.
8. What words of wisdom would you share with today’s campers? Learn from your counselors. When you look back on your childhood, you will realize they were like little mommies to you. They taught me the importance of traditions, of taking care of myself, how to solve problems, how to push myself to achieve (one time my counselor allowed me stay at the water front for a whole day to learn how to dive…and I learned). You will remember the things they teach you and you will cherish them. From the simplest: how to sing your guts out, to learning how to make a bed with hospital corners, to putting on a pillow case…to the most meaningful: being a dear friend.
9. Fill in the blank: When I think of __singing __, see__a lake___, watch__olympic rings burn____, hear ____”is there anybody out there” or eat ___chocolate pudding with peanut butter_, I think of Camp Towanda!