Carol Jo's Memories

You're asking a lot from a long time ago. Names of counselors? All I remember was they all seemed to hail from Michigan State U and were athletic. The other side of my memory brings up the songs we learned while sitting on the big rocks across from the dining hall 3 times a day: Baby Owlet. Ashgrove, 500 miles, Donkey Riding, Titanic, Blue, etc. Lots of songs I ended up teaching my own scouts. The 'kissing rock/Blarney stone' we could pass before crossing over to the lake if we walked 1 way. Sleeping out under the stars, grabbing for tent flaps in a rush when the rain poured, floating breakfasts, shampooing once a week in the lake, paddling canoes and not tipping them, finally making it to the advance swimming area and not being in a 'crib' anymore, no flush toilets but a community latrine. More will come as I push my brain. I probably was there every summer from1957-1964 for at least 1 month each year.
More memories: hikes to the iron mines, the bottomless pit and Flat Rock. Was there also a Bald Rock? Remember the wonderful cold water that came from the old pump by the Canteen?

Remembering the buses out of the Port Authority in NYC which was out method of transportation to and from camp each year. Rides there were a little scary at first, not knowing anyone. The rides home each year were a mixed bag......we wanted to go home, BUT didn't want to leave our friends we made (Make New Friends But Keep the Old). Bus rides home were filled with both laughter and tears while singing the songs we learned. I know there’s more.

Is anyone in this group a former Senior scout from Queens? In particular, Skipper Tracy was the leader of a Mariner troop from Flushing/Bayside, NY.

Camp Staff Manual, 1951

Glo Arrigo recently sent me a package which included a great surprise- the Camp Quidnunc Staff Manual from 1951. She said she had not looked at it since then and it had been on a shelf for the past 58 years! It included a map of the camp, instructions on how to do Camp Kapers, how to plan program, and many other tidbits. I will scan some of the pages and post them here. She also said that her memories of Camp Quidnunc "are in my heart, and comfort me." She said she saw Ellie this summer and that it was hard to leave her.

Western (Quidnunc (Re)) Union

We've gotten about 20 people who said they are coming so far. You can probably change your mind up until a few months before, you just won't be guaranteed a room in the same lodge as us but there are plenty of rooms at this facility. I say 'up until a few months before' because it is during a very popular summer vacation week, so can't guarantee anything.
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Hi Quidnuncers,


We have a temporary reservation for 10 lodge rooms at the YMCA of the Rockies Estes Park camp, ymcarockies.org, from Saturday, July 9 - Friday, July 15, 2011. It is located approximately 1 hour from Boulder, CO and 1 hour and 50 minutes from Denver International Airport. It is 10 minutes from Estes Park, where there are numerous restaurants and lots of hiking. The rooms are all located together in one hall.

Rooms and Facilities:
1. Each room has 2 sets of bunk beds and 1 queen bed, with 3/4 private bath. They sleep a maximum of 6 people/room.
2. Under our group name, individuals can register for a room online and can arrange roommates ahead of time.
3. The following prices are per person, per day, depending on how many are in a room and include 3 meals per day for each person (meals are in a large common dining room, buffet style, all you-can-eat):

6 people - $47.50
5 people - $50.75
4 people - $55.75
3 people - $64
2 people -$80.50
1 person-$130

4. We have until October 9th to give them a deposit. The deposit will be $25/room. If we drop any rooms we will lose the $25.
5. We will be given a meeting room (Troop House) for our group's use during the entire stay.
6. We can reserve one of 3 campfire circles to use for our campfire
7. With 24 hour notice, we can have them pack a lunch for no extra charge (to take on a hike)

The following activities are also available and are free unless indicated:
1. Miniature golf
2. Can hike right into Rocky Mountain National Park from the Y camp
3. Basketball, volleyball
4. Indoor swimming pool
5. Arts and crafts center (need to pay for supplies)
6. Horseback riding (fee)
7. Tennis
8. Game room (ping pong, pool table, etc.)
9. Horseshoes

Although this is a YMCA Camp, all activities are non-denominational. Details of these activities can be found at http://ymcarockies.org/home/our-locations/EPC/EPCrecreation. Every day the Y has numerous planned activities that we can also take part in, including concerts and movies.

There is a shuttle, from the airport to Estes Park. The cost is $45 each way or $85 round trip. Or...you may actually save some money, by splitting a car rental, at the airport, with a number of people. That way you could also use the car to explore the town of Estes Park, etc.

We are including a questionnaire at the bottom of this message. Please return it, via e-mail, to lindasylvester@msn.com. Please send your deposit to: Monica Tremblay, 580 Lakeshore Drive, Boulder CO, 80302. Monica (Nicki Hecht) will need the deposit by October 5, 2009, the latest. You can come up with the money in 2 ways. #1) If you know who you want to room with, you can get together with your roomates and have one person send the $25 deposit to Monica (Nicki). #2) If you don't have enough people to fill a room to your liking, or you don't know/care who you will be rooming with, you can send Monica $25, and she will reimburse you an amount, dependent upon how many people will be in your room.

Both Nicki and I have been to this camp. It is in a gorgeous location, with the Rocky Mountains right outside your door. We think it would be well worth your while to send Nicki your deposit, even if you are not sure you can make it. The most you could lose is $25. 2011 seems very remote, but this is the only way we could be assured of availability for enough rooms in one location. So, please talk to your camp friends, husbands, families, etc., within the next couple of weeks, fill out the form below, and e-mail it back to Linda at the above address. If by some chance, you were unable to read this before 9/28/09, please let us know ASAP, and we'll do our best to fit you in.

Thanks for your prompt response...

Your Quidnunc Reservations Team :-),
Linda (Mouse) Hecht Sylvester, Monica (Nicki) Hecht Tremblay, Cindy Gavrity




Name of party attending_________________________________________________________
Number of people in party________________________________________________________
Number of days I will need room___________________________________________________
Number of people I am willing to share a room with____________________________________
People I would like to room with, if known (include friends, family, etc.)__________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
I am able to sleep in a top bunk (indicate yes or no)_________
I am willing to share a queen bed (indicate yes or no)________ Applies only to people sharing a room with 5 others.
I have sent my/our deposit to Monica (Nicki) (indicate yes or no)______________

In Memoriam: Dot Marquette Lyon

Dot was everything a counselor should be. She was small, but tough and strong. She could make anything; she could fix anything, and she could out-work, out-hike, and out-paddle anyone on our three lakes. She wasn't soft or sentimental, but she knew her girls, and she cared. It was she who intervened when Miss Ford wanted to send me home (I had cut Arts and Crafts and had convinced Jerri to cut with me), but she gave me a talking-to that cut to the bone, left me in tears, but also with hope.

She was my head counselor in Sherwood Forest in 1939 and again in Neppie's Nook in 1942. She came back in 1944 (with her year-old son) to head the Prentie unit, but alas for me, I was still in Caravan. What I remember best were evenings in Sherwood. After supper, we 10-year-olds gathered in front of Dot's tent, and she read to us--all the Milne books and, a chapter a night, Bambi.

Olav Ha Shalom, Dot.

Lennie

Hard Jobs and Easy Jobs

Remember Camp Capers and Kitchen Capers? Those were the euphemisms adopted in the early '40's for what we all called Hard Jobs and Easy Jobs. The hard Job I most remember was scrubbing the wooden latrine seats with a hard brush dipped in a mixture of CN and water. This job was memorialized in the only stanza I remember hearing the Prenti Unit sing in 1943 (to the tune of "I Have Spurs that Jingle, Jangle, Jingle"):

We have work, and little kids to do it

As we scrub all the la seats in the camp,

And we sing, 'Oh, ain't we glad we're Prenties,'

And that song ain't so very far from wrong!

Oh, CN dear, oh, CN dear,

We dilute you and salute you as we never did before...

Remember? Who could forget?

Lennie

Tin Mirror on the Tentpole

Another story from the old days: our camp nurse, Gil (Betty Gilbert) was young and pretty. All the little kids loved her. Some even pretended to be sick so they could be near her. She would stand, smiling, in front of her tent, and there was a little tin mirror tacked onto the tentpole. 1942--Gil was gone. She had joined the Army Nurse Corps. We had a new nurse, Zicci (Mary Ziccarelli). She was nice, and we liked her, but we missed Gil. 1943/4(?)-I am at the Saturday matinee at our local theater. The Movietone News comes on with pictures of the war in Europe. Guns...soldiers...and suddenly, Gil, standing in front of her tent, smiling...and there was a little tin mirror tacked onto the tentpole. Lennie

I'm Gonna Sit at the Counselors' Table: Lennie Friedman

Another story from the long-dead past, the true tale of the origin of " I'm Gonna Sit At the Counsellors' Table." It was 1941 or 1942. I am inclined to think it was 1942. Jerri (Wachman) and I were seated in adjacent booths in the lower la. We were talking about the songs we had just sung (we sang songs infront of the mess hall before each meal, Tuck (Kate Kirby) leading). We had just sung, "I'm Gonna Sit at the Welcome Table," and we thought we could write one about the special life of a counsellor, to wit: the counsellors' table, red Hudson Bay blankets, iced tea and coffee... I forget the rest.

We heard a noise behind us, on the other side of the la. "Oh oh," we thought. "We're in trouble again!" I was frequently in trouble, dragging poor Jerri along. We said nothing to anyone.

That night at supper, someone (who?) introduced a new song, "Im Gonna Sit at the Counsellors' Table," which was rapturously received and was sung for many years. But we wrote it.

Lenny Kaufmann Friedman's First Story (for us)

The people I remember most were my Caravan tentmates: Pat (Spargo) Bryan, Anne (Johnson ) Cook, Ann Pfohl, and Barbara Grever, and, of course, Jerri Wachman. Here's a funny Quidnunc story. It's 1938. I am 9 years old in the Brownie Unit. One of the kitchen staff is named Helen Pick. We called her Pixie. Fast Forward. It is 1945. I am 16 and I have a part-time job in Macy's on 34 Street. Across the street in an arcade is a store called "Pick's." I go in, and there she is..Pixie. Fast forward. It is 1973. I have just been appointed to Flushing High School as Chairman of English. At the pre-school faculty meeting I am introduced to the staff, including a librarian about to retire--Helen Pick. "Pixie!" I shout, and I am 9 yearsold again.

No one would be interested in this story, but it's true. and I thought to share it with you.

Lee (Lenny) "Ajax" Price Ellis

Hi: I'm Lee Ellis, Quidnunc alum, camper and staff 1948-58.

Visited Q during my 5oth NYC HS reunion in 2004. I had heard that there had been some vandalism, but had no idea that the camp had been closed all these years. I was expecting the hustle and bustle of getting tents put up, etc. What a SHOCK! to find it not deserted, but completely removed!

Would definitely be interested in future reunions, tho I now live in CA. In 2004. I also visited ST. John's in the Wilderness. It was an unbearably HOT day - can't remember if I visited Claude's grave too. Will check my photos.

Incidentally, all of us are alumnAE of Quidnunc. I almost flunked Latin but I did learn that:

masculine singular plural

alumnus alumni

feminine alumna alumnae

plural of both males and females together: alumni

Miss Walsh would be so proud!

I'm absolutely amazed at the number of women who have the same deep feelings for Quidnunc as I. The blogspot is addictive!!

Hope to meet you at a future alumnae reunion ;)

Lee Ellis

camp name: Ajax

Lennie Kaufmann Friedmann

Hi, Kathy! I'm Lennie (Kaufmann) Friedman. I'm new at this computer stuff, and it has taken me literally months to figure out how to do this. I was at Quidnunc from 1938 to 1945, and my sister, Barbara (Bobby) was there until 1950. We both stayed all summer all those years, and we both have long and pretty accurate memories. If this reaches you, please contact me and ask me anything you want. My e-mail address is teach306310@att.net.

Both of us have stories and remembrances of people up the Wazoo. You mentioned Bridgie. Of course, I remember her. Her name was Margaret Lynch; her sister, Ethel was the camp director of Brady, and they lived together in an apartment in Jackson Heights. Once, I was in their apartment, though I can't remember why. Bridgie and Tommy (Annie Sue Waldrop) became the joint directors of Quidnunc after the death of Miss Ford (That's Constance Evangeline Ford, nicknamed Gay). Miss Ford's last year was 1942, the year I was in Neppie's. I got in trouble for cutting arts and crafts and Miss Ford sat me down on the back porch of the Cabin and told me that she was seriously considering sending me home. She didn't. I think my head counsellor, Dot Lyon, intervened. Bridgie became sole director in 1943 when Tommy joined the WAVES. Tommy left Shanty Wu (Shanty Wu was an Irish Terrier) behind her and Randy (Marjorie Holm) the head counselor of Caravan took him on. 1943 was my first year in Caravan.

There are three other prople on the "do you remember list" that I knew very well. Joan (Jerri) Wachman was a camper with me for several years. She lived in Kew Gardens, and I haven't seen or heard from her sice she left Quidnunc in"45 I think. I would dearly love to know where she is. Nancy Dunham was a prentie in 1943; her sister Jean was a counsellor that year. They lived in Jackson Heights, and she went to Newtown High School, as I did. Maggie was Maggie Magenheimer, the youngest counsellor of the three in Caravan in 1943. The three were Randy (Marjorie Holm), Stevie (Lorraine Stevenson), and Maggie. And Shanty Wu. Lennie

Glo's Midnight Swim

Glo recently sent me a letter detailing a midnight swim escapade involving Flip...

"Many hot nights when the 3 of us...Cathy, Ellie, and myself...looked for mischief. The idea was to go down to the lake for a "swim" in the Brownies crib. ( I didn't know how to swim, so my buddies were kind enough to stay with me.) One night we caught sight of a lantern moving toward us-until we saw the legs in the light we didn't know it was Bridgie. Wow, did we move fast and of course she read us the riot act. That part of our evening entertainment ceased for the rest of the season. When I returned to Cleveland I received a letter from Bridgie telling me I was fired unless I shaped up. Needless to say I apologized profusely and was able to stay on. Later we found out that Flip-Jean Allen- waterfront director had squealed on us."

Linda sends new pictures

Girls in Front of the Infirmary

Thanks to Wilma Franco for this picture!

Flip (Jeanne Allen)

Map of Quidnunc

From Last Import

Quidders from the 40's and 50's

Mary Margaret (Mollie) French (lived in Douglaston, went to Bayside HS, attended Allegheny college but don't think she graduated)

Barbara (Doc) Pesch (lived in Queens, went to Andrew Jackson HS;

Gertrude (Gigi) Gallogly

Ruth (Scottie) McPherson

Carolyn (Dobie) Dobak

Linda Ceriani

Vida Kahn

Iselyne V. (Ivy) Maughn (counselor)

Janet (Jinx) Lipschultz (counselor) was attending Brooklyn College in 1956

Enid (Edie) Pardini

Virginia (Ginny) Colbert (waterfront counselor, from down south)

Jean (Chet) Shelley (nurse)

Finnie Everhart (waterfront counselor, from down south)

Betsy Lapidus

Ann (Andy) Diamond (went to John Adams HS)

Iris Epstein

Ruth Botwinik

Carol Fassbender

Dorothy (Red) Lee

Judy (Browni) Brown

Linda (Chick) Lehr

Willie BonDurant (C.I.T.)

Cynthia (Cynnie) Hibberd (counselor)

Mickey Kabel (administrative staff)

Lennie Richardson (admin staff)

Kitsy Curtis (waterfront)

Peggy Carney (waterfront)

Gail Johannsen (waterfront)

Hazel (Phyl) Coblenz

Joan Conlon

Michele Shapiro

Linda Ewing

Joan Heller

Judy Berek

Vivian Conan (Cookie)

Ellie Alf

Cathy Lennon (deceased 1990)

Glo Arrigo

Joan (JC) Connelly

Lennie Kaufman Friedman

Ruth Healy

Linda Ardrey

Doris Biggio Manganero

Dot Deaver Long

Hilda Witte

Jeanne Allen (flip)

Lenore Price

Paula Strong

Ivy Maughan Hennessey

Louise Black

Barbara (Bobbi) Klazkin

Anyone know any of these alumni??

Wilma Franco White

Nancy B Dunham

Doris Ann Heinze

Jean Patmore

Anne Dicke

Ethel Axelson

Constance Evangeline "Gay" Ford

Margaret V Lynch (deceased in 1982 or 83)

Annie Sue "Tommy" Waldrop (former director)

Marjorie Stamler Snyder

Lennie Kaufman Friedman

Joan Smith Gaetano

Hope Smith Apollony

Judy Brandes

Madelyn Bulmer

Joan Wachman

Maggie

Dot Lyon (deceased)

Ellie's Art

Glo Arrigo sent me this copy of a drawing Ellie made for her for Christmas in 1959. Ellie is at left, sleeping at the desk. Joan Quigley is seated in the middle, Glo is at right drinking a coke and smoking, and Joan Connelly is lying on the floor reading.

Dianne Kesner Baldwin

Hello,

I am one of the Kesner girls, Dianne. I was at Quid in the early 1960s before the new Dining Hall was built and then afterwards. I was in Hundred Acre Wood and Pioneers for 4 weeks. I was also in Sports and Games. I don't remember that much but I do remember Peri and KB. I still remember the songs we sang and sing them on long car trips out loud to my 2 dogs. I also spent time at Merrywood GSC, later Henry Kaufman GSC, due to generous donations from the Kaufman Foundation.  I recently met a GS leader who is a Hospice CNA at the Nursing home where I work who goes to Kaufman even now with her troop.

How do I join the Blogging?

Dianne Kesner Baldwin

"Willie" Franco looks for Quid friends 1939-1946

“Willie” Franco, now Wilma Franco White wrote the following to me about her years at Quidnunc.

Did you know that Quid was the GS Camp for the girls in Queens, NY?  
I guess they opened it up to others at some point in time.   

Here are some of the girls I went to camp with:  

Nancy B Dunham, Doris Ann Heinze (Terry), Jean Patmore, and Anne Dickie all from Queens, NY

Another friend that I was a counselor with was Ethel Axelson.

I went to camp from 1939 to 1946.  I was in Sky Blue the first two years.

After that I think it was Caravan. The next year I was in the Apprentice training and then a Counselor.  

Does anyone remember Gay Ford?  She was the director in 1939 and 1940

I also remember Margaret V. Lynch ("Bridgie") and Annie Sue Waldrop. Does anyone remember her nickname?  They were the Co-Directors in 1941. 
 

I have lots of pictures to go through as I just found my scrapbook from Camp.  My daughter, (Carol “Daisy” White) will post them when she comes to visit.

Wilma Franco White (“Willie”)

Linda Nahum

I went to Quidnunc and Laughing Water. I was a Pot GIrl, Requisition CLerk, and Business Office Assistant. My sister Elizabeth (Beth) Nahum also was a camper at Quidnunc and Laughing Water.  I went in the 1960s I think the last year was 69.

I remember Splint, Cass, Beth Cruse (I think we bunked together and worked in Business Office) also Elyse Springer, Carol (Daisy) White - we were in the same troop and school, 

Hope all is well with you - I am sorry I missed the reunion. Hope to make the next one.

Take care and keep in touch - Linda

5240 39 Drive

Suite 8R

Woodside, NY 11377

718 /606-9918  

Cell: 917/599-6899  Email: Linda@LENsolutions.com