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If you would like to keep track of changes and additions to the Camp Quidnunc blog, add your name to the Followers list at right.

Beth Cruse

Hi, I'm Beth Cruse. I was Program Coordinator my first year at Quidnunc and Assistant Director the next. I was a Troop leader in New York City for my daughter's (Vicki Cruse Sengele) Brownie troop and I brought her to camp with me those first two years. They were the best two years of my life. We grew up singing the Quidnunc campfire songs, playing them on our guitars, and Vicki has taught them to her daughter. 

Thank you for the memories. I still love singing the songs and still love the harmony parts. What a joy it would be to see the Camp Quidnunc again and to sit around the campfire. I can't wait to conect with the Alumni.

Does anyone remember how Kanawaukee lake got its name? An old Indian had walked across the country and when he got to the shore of the lake, he sat on a stone and declaired, " I kanawaukee no more!"

"Do you remember one summer during the break two counselors went to Yellowstone to camp. During the night (zipped in sleeping bags) they were attacked by a bear. He killed one (she was from a nearby camp) and the Quidnunc counselor returned to camp ith a broken arm? She was avery pretty curly headed blonde. Short. I will be able to pick them out of the picture when I find it or we get the other enlarged. I can evrn remember the sound of her voice, but not her name."

"Mother Nay Nay was our nature counselor (a bit heavy with long curly brown hair) I think her name was Jeanette.One night the campers filled the bottom of her sleeping bag with spagitti left over from dinner. Every one turned in early that night and Mother Nay Nay was the last to go. I was already assleep and did not know what had been planned. We were all concerned about snakes in our sleeping bags. When her feet hit the bottom of the bag, all hell broke loose The next day there was spagitti for 10 feet out from the door of her tent platform. Sue and Sue were the water front counselors. Ronny ( Short heavy red- blonde hair) was the Director. We had a pretty ,tall, young Rustic camping counselor whose name I can't remember. "

Vickie Cruse Sengele

Hi! I went to Quidnunc and my mom was a staff member in the 60's. I saw her in one of the staff pics and just emailed it to her. Thank you sooooo much for pulling this together. I'll start looking for pics to scan and share. have talked of going back to Quidnunc for years. We hold so many precious memories of people, activities and songs. It would be a dream come true!

One of my favorite memories was when a young visitor was in the double decker and asked "Is that a pet?" There was a huge snake hanging from the rafters! ANd no, it wasn't a pet! aaauuugh! Such a state of panic!

I have such great memories to share! I'm sure that some of you could clarify them or add your own. Let's post memories one at a time here. That way others can add to them (or correct them if they are fuzzy!)

My absolute most dramatic memory from Camp Quidnunc was when one by one people began to get up during dinner and run to the dining hall rail to throw up. They were vomiting pink koolaid and chicken chunks! I think the whole camp got sick that night. If you weren't actually feeling sick yet, the mere sound of others retching was enough to get you started. I still dream about it every once in awhile!

Marjorie Stamler Snyder, 1942

Camp Quidnunc in 1942!
by Marjorie Stamler Snyder

I'll always remember the 4 weeks that I spent at Camp Quidnunc in 1942. The campfires, the tents late at night (watching the mice run along the posts), the campfires, the sound of rain on the tent, also the open air dining room, are all treasured memories. One of the counselors played the recorder, and it inspired me to learn to play the instrument. It was probably the best summer of my life, and I'm nearly 78 years old.

Judy Ecuyer Rhodes

Quidnunc 1947-52 and 1957?
by Judy (Ecuyer) Rhoades

I went to Quidnunc from Brownie through maybe 8th grade which would have been about 1947-1952 and then returned as a counselor for a year as a college student. I have papers somewhere with the words to most of the songs and many many pictures someplace. Lots and lots of memories (although not too good on names and dates.) I was even a member of a special unit that Ellie had (as a counselor not director) that consisted of all girls who had been to Quidnunc before and we stayed for a full month and got permission to do all sorts of "special" things. And there were some cute kids who came to visit me at home after I was their counselor.

Linda Peck surfaces

I recently found your blog with all the pictures people have sent in and I can't thank you enough for posting all the comments and pictures.  I went to Quid the summers of 1956, 57 and 58 and the experiences changed my life (also worked as a pot girl at Merrywood in 59 and counselor at Brady in 60 and 61).  I still remember most of the songs we sang (still sing them and use them to concoct my various computer passwords), all my counselors' names and the names of a lot of the other girls.  I'm sorry that I did not discover the blog until after last summer's reunion.  I'm definitely interested in attending whatever is happening this coming summer.  I'm not very computer savvy so could not figure out how to publish on the blog the fact that I'm interested in being involved.  Could you put me on the list, or whatever is needed so that I am included in the get-togethers?  I live in Virginia now.  My snail mail address is 1603 Mulberry Ave, Charlottesville, VA, phone 434-979-9348, email linda.ardrey@gmail.com.  I have pictures too but I'd have to get a lesson on how to scan them into the computer and make them available.

New Pictures from Deni

Denise Maynard sent these photos in. They recently surfaced as she cleaned out her father's house. Click on the picture to the right to get to the whole album on Picasa.Denise Maynard's Pictures

Cindy's New Pictures

Ellie and Libby Kesner

Memories from Marjorie and Marianne

Camp Quidnunc in 1942!
by Marjorie Stamler Snyder

I'll always remember the 4 weeks that I spent at Camp Quidnunc in 1942. The campfires, the tents late at night (watching the mice run along the posts), the campfires, the sound of rain on the tent, also the open air dining room, are all treasured memories. One of the counselors played the recorder, and it inspired me to learn to play the instrument. It was probably the best summer of my life, and I'm nearly 78 years old.

Quidnunc- A big part of my life
by Gilda Kormes Zucker -Splint
I haven't finished reading all of the messages but I have been overcome with so many emotions. I began at Quid in Hundred Acre Woods in 1958 and was in just about every unit as a camper, program aid or counselor. My last year 1970, I was asst. Waterfront Dir. My memory for names is not as good as all of yours seem to be but when the names are mentioned I can place myself back at camp with many of those people. Unfortunately, a flood in my basement wiped out a lot of memorabilia but it is all still in my heart. I am still in touch with several Quid alumni , some of whom have posted on this site. Thanks for stirring up the memories. I still have my song books with all of our favorites and used many of them in my classroom throughout my career.

Quidnunc - A big part of my life
by Marianne Skeeter Bradford
You may not remember me (Splint) but I remember you. You were my counselor in Trails End in 1968 and it is because of talking with you that I decided to work as a counselor at camp. I was still a camper in 1969 in Caravan but then I was a kitchen Aide in 1970 and a unit Counselor in 1971. While you were on waterfront you helped teach me Senior Life Saving. I have since been a lifelong Girl scout and have been a resident camp staf for nearly 30 years. I am tall and had long brown hair. My e -mail address is Marianne. B @cox.net

Army of Women

Susan Love spoke on the Today Show about the need for healthy women to participate in breast cancer research. If you are interested in finding out more, or in being involved in finding a cure for Breast Cancer, please click on the title of this post.

Quid Vids

2009 Summer Plans

Hi Girls,

Hope all of you had a great summer and are well rested. We have big plans for the coming year. A few of us have come up with some ideas and thoughts of a way to get Quidnunc back into a working camp. It may take a while but we think it is well worth it. We would like to see it used as as alumni camp for all Girl Scouts. There isn't a camp anywhere in the GSUSA organization, specifically meant for that purpose. So, in order to get things rolling,we need to organize an alumni group and make our presence known. With that in mind, we thought it would be great to have an alumni week end at a GS camp or at Baker Camp this coming summer. It will be set up just like summer camp with a full program, arts and crafts , hiking, nature tours etc ..you get the idea...We also want to do a service project for Camp Addison Boyce and maybe Quidnunc. I have been in contact with GSCGNY and the Heart of the Hudson councils about this. They are fully behind us and will help as they can.. The Heart of the Hudson council already has a wonderful alumni group called the Green Hats.. who do similar things.. Now with all this said, I need to know who would be interested in this and would be able to make it.. The date is July 17th..2009 at Baker camp. Please let me know what you think and if you would be interested in this association.. I think it is important for girls to learn the things we did at camp and to show them what they can achieve...Look at us!!
This is open to any former girls scout whether they were staff members (remember you were all registered GS when you worked at camp) or campers.. all ages. This is a start towards getting our old camp back...I know ...big maybe..but you have to start somewhere.. We would also like to do this as an annual event, with many different ideas to come..Gilda..your name was mentioned specifically for waterfront duty..Let's get this going and show GSUSA and GSCGNY what it means to be a former Quidnuncer..!!!! Cindy PS Full program, fun and new people..Price is $65.00 each per person per day. Lunch will be $10.00 each.. Be apart of history, Girl Scout history that is, lol... More info later..any questions welcomed ...any help more than welcomed.. New tee shirts and ties..arts and crafts.etc...Hope to hear from everyone soon..

Ellen's Reunion Comments

Hi, it's Ellen Muth Davison!

You asked for comments about the reunion... Wow! It was magical, it really was--more than I even dreamed it could have been. From my point of view now, almost a month distant, what impresses me the most is the quality of the women who were there. What an amazing, accomplished, intresting, fun, exciting group of women. I am so glad to have had the opportunity to one, work at Quidnunc, and two, reconnect with old friends and meet new ones. I'm determined to keep in touch. A million thanks to all who made the reunion possible. Hopefully, even more of us will be able to get together sometime in the future. Ellen

Looking For Quidnunc Alumni!

Debbie Wood

Jeanne E. Thelwell

Gwen Jones

Peggy Johnson (Feeley)

Barbara Thomasy (Bops)

Janet "JoJo" DeCreny

"Bunky" Bailey

"Chinky" Cheryl Rose

Saadia

Belle Gross

Donna and Lynn Jeffries

Kathy Prime, of Douglaston NY, dad was tugboat captain

"Cass" the counselor in 1969

Ruth "Pokey" Williams, counselor, from Jackson, MI

If you know the whereabouts of any of these Quidnuncers, please email me and we will try to contact them. If you would like me to post any more "lost girls" names, email me at klena@roadrunner.com.

Cindy's Pictures

Hi Girls,

Is everyone back into their routine yet? Or are you still high on the weekend events? Well,we couldn't have asked for better weather if we ordered it ourselves. The adventure at Baker Camp was great, the food was good and the lodging was adequate. The lake was warmer than I remembered and still clean. It was fun swimming out to the raft there like we did at Quid, even though we had to keep our suits on. LOL.. I'm ready to go back and do it again. Thank goodness they had the coffee ready for us early.. we needed it after staying up to all hours talking the nights before.

What a blast from the past seeing friends from 40 years ago and meeting new ones. Everyone was talking, smiling and singing. What more could you ask for? I do want to send out a special thanks to a few people that helped make this a success, and for my pack basket and pins..From me to you ..thank you thank you thank you.....I would like to personally thank Linda for the camp fire program, Ruth for the help in finding a camp to have it at,,I was really worried we wouldn't find a place.and for the chocolate bars..Norma and Diana for being my wing men and keeping me sane throughout the year. Pixie and Ruth for their efforts in tee shirt making. Great Job! Doggie for schlepping the smore ingredients up from Miami..and camp Addison Boyce for the use of the camp..

Some of the girls were asking about the evaluation sheets..Please email Norma and ask her for them..She is in charge of them..Once she has them , she will let everyone know what was the outcome. For those of us who have pictures ..please send them to Kathy Lena for the web blog.. There are some on there now ..Suki has hers on there and they are great..Can't wait to see the others ..So get to it! That's about it for now. Some of us are talking about doing it again next year and some new people have popped up so we will see...Not a hike to camp or anything formal ..just getting together for fun..

Well that's it from here.. keep safe and keep close! We are Girl Scouts! we can do anything!


Quidnunc Forever,

Cindy

Click on the title "Cindy's Pictures" to access the slideshow.

Susan Graham's Words

July 20
The Quidnunc Reunion
A few months ago some women started the idea of a reunion of campers that attended a New York City Girl Scout camp in Harriman State Park. I’m not sure how it got started, but it trickled up from the younger women to those who attended when I did. Long story short, there were women at the reunion that went to the came in the 30s and 40s, as well as the 50s and 60s (the camp closed in 1972). I personally attended from 1958 to 1965, graduating from camper to Program Aide (counselor-in-training) to Kitchen Aid to Counselor. All but 2 of the Program Aides attended the reunion (one had an emergency but we saw her on Sunday) and one, unfortunately, has already passed away. The experience was, I’m sure, different for every attendee. For me, I was on a high for the entire weekend. With our “collective memory” a lot of good times were reflected on, laughed about, enjoyed as if it were yesterday. It wouldn’t mean much for me to review these things here, but suffice it to say that not only was it wonderful to see these women who share a wonderful history with me – but it is exhilarating to realize that new friendships will be going forward from here, built on the history but with much more promise than “remember when..” conversations. For the attendees reading this, check out the picture (towards the end of the lot) of Dusty I took on Sunday. She is the grandmother of 6 and looks incredibly fabulous. Also check out the “re-creation” before and after pics. (Click on title "Susan Graham's Words" to get to the website with the pictures.)

A perfect Reunion Weekend!

Remember the blazing campfire, the hills against the blue...

For you girls belong to Quidnunc, and Quidnunc belongs to you

Quidnunc Reunion Details

The First Official Quidnunc Reunion will occur July 11-13 at Camp Baker and Camp Addison Boyce. Activities and a campfire, complete with somemores and wishing boats, will occur Saturday evening. Please email klena@roadrunner.com for further details! 

Infirmary at Quid

I got the picture of the infirmary on a Christmas Card from Ellie in 1991. On the card she wrote: "I found this winter picture of the infirmary in a box of odds and ends this past summer. I have no idea of when I took it or even if I took it but thought it would make a great card for all of you gals out there who were once entwined in the spider's web." Kelly Rice

Sappy

Sappy was the camp director in 1969. That was the year she tried to rehabilitate the mildly bad girls of Neppies by telling us late-night stories of how we should be going on hayrides in Montana and quit trying to make herbal tea in our tents by boiling the water in our tin GS cups with a candle (fire hazard you know). She thought New York girl scouts lacked gumption. She gave up on us but we reclaimed our Juliette Lowe history just in time to practice our lashing skills—I think we lashed anything that moved—and put on a Winnie the Pooh skit for Sleepy Hollow.
Splint, you were the Ass’t Waterfront director then, you let me keep my buddy tag as a souvenir at the end of camp.

Patti McManamy