What's New? Click here for CWW 2008 Reunion and Photos!! Reprinted from the Fall 2008 Walt's Street Journal Letter from the Directors Alumni Feature: Josh Dorfman Staff Feature: Robin Shainberg Staff Updates Alumni Updates Dear Whitmanites... Camp just does not feel like camp when there are no people around. We just returned from camp's quiet fall majesty and it's hard to believe that just a few months ago camp was so alive with the sounds of children running, yelling, laughing, and having fun. Of course the dining hall still rests majestically at the top of the lawn and the lake still dazzles, now reflecting the full explosions of fall color. Every night that we were there the loons sang us to sleep – their calls floating through evening fog. And yet camp seemed...incomplete. Talking with each other about this over breakfast our first morning in camp, it became very clear that it is the people, and really only the people that make CWW what it is. At no time was this clearer than at this summer's 60 Summer Alumni reunion. Amongst the 600 visiting Whitmanites there was many a difference in age, but never a generation gap. Campers from all 60 years found common ground as they sang the same camp songs, danced the same camp dances, shared the same camp traditions, and all ate the same picnic lunch! Physically, much at CWW has changed over the years- our camp has grown, new buildings were built, our facilities are modernized, we added a heated pool, and we improved our sports fields. However, what Whitmanites young and old rediscovered this past August is that the core of Walt Whitman is the same. Walt Whitman's values, sense of community, recognition of the individual, and ethic of mutual respect are as essential to Walt Whitman today as they were when camp started in 1948. Our continued focus on these components of camp is the reason that no matter at which point in history someone first stepped off a bus onto the front lawn, they can always come back to camp and feel at home. One of our alumni summed it up best when she wrote, "I left Walt Whitman 30 years ago, but Walt Whitman never left me." It was these kind of stories we told each other over our toast on that quiet Fall morning at camp. As we talked, it was fascinating how much we had each heard from alumni about how camp had changed their lives. Career choices, college choices, and even marriage choices had been powerfully affected by the time Whitmanites spent at CWW. As we talked together happily in the fall quiet, we both became powerfully aware of the impact this wonderful place has on people of all kinds from all times. It is these humbling moments of realization that make us so proud to be directors of CWW: knowing that in the next 60 years there are hundreds and hundreds of future Whitmanites whose lives will change for the better. With love, Carolyn and Jed, Directors back to top Josh Dorfman - Alumni Feature Josh and Jed Dorfman have much in common. The two brothers - sons of Camp Walt Whitman's former camp directors, Jancy and Bill - share a love of sports, politics, travel, and books. They both spent their childhood summers at Walt Whitman as campers and worked as CITs. And while their careers have taken them down different paths, they each have found ways to align their professions with helping to make the world a better place. We debated about whether we should showcase another Dorfman on our alumni page and ultimately decided that Josh is doing such cool work that we had to feature him. While Jed is busily co-directing camp with Carolyn, Josh started a company in 2004 called Vivavi that retails modern, eco-friendly furniture and furnishings. That venture has propelled his life along a path that even he would have never imagined. In addition to running Vivavi, he's also the author of The Lazy Environmentalist: Your Guide to Easy, Stylish, Green Living which was initially based on a radio show that he hosted on Sirius for two years. The radio show's success led to a deal with the Sundance Channel to develop "The Lazy Environmentalist" as a reality TV series. To top it off, Josh's new book, The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget: Save Money, Save Time, Save The Planet, will be published this April in time for Earth Day. Josh says, "Essentially, I try to make it fun, cool, and easy for Americans to green their lifestyles." While reminiscing about his experience as a camper at CWW, Josh jokes about what it was like to be the son of the directors while growing up at camp, "First off, I got to eat a lot more M&Ms than most kids. And I could usually convince new counselors for a day or two that sons of the Camp Directors didn't have to do morning cleanup." While Josh loved almost all aspects of camp, his favorite camp memories includeSaturday Night BBQ and Square Dance, as well as endless games of Dice Baseball during Rest Hour and highly contested games of gaga in Titus Hall during rainy days. However, more than anything, it was the opportunity to build friendships that have lasted well into adulthood that Josh appreciates about his days as a camper. "Walt Whitman gave me so much room to learn about who I was and who I wanted to become. I felt really safe at camp and therefore probably took more risks in terms of creating authentic, honest relationships with bunkmates, girls in opposite bunks, and counselors than I might have learned to do otherwise." Reflecting upon how CWW has shaped his life, Josh says, "I think kids who attend Walt Whitman develop a sense of shared responsibility for the things that matter. I'm not sure it's entirely why I chose a line of work that's about creating a better future for future generations but it certainly has something to do with it." While the values and traditions of CWW had a great impact upon Josh, he takes great satisfaction in knowing that his work will allow our campers of today to grow up on a sustainable planet. back to top Robin Shainberg - Staff Feature Five years ago Robin and Paul Shainberg, like many first year parents, anxiously bid farewell to their son, Jonah. Reminiscing about the first bus departure, Robin recalls crossing her fingers and hoping that her gut feeling, that Camp Walt Whitman would be a good fit for her children, was right. Robin is pleased with the decision she and Paul made as "camp allows our sons Matthew (age 10) and Jonah (age 12) to be a part of an accepting community where they, like all campers, can be themselves while also learning to live, play, and laugh together." Camp has become their second home. Robin now observes the camp experience through the dual lens of being both a parent of two campers as well as the "camp mom." She associates camp to the joyous time between school finishing and bed time. The comfort kids carry as they go from varying afterschool activities is captured in the daily experiences of kids singing, holding hands, and running between activities. Working at camp, according to Robin, has shown her not only how happy the kids are to be at camp, but also how talented the staff is. "I would have never known that the staff comes in a week before the campers for an extensive training, nor would I have realized that over 5,000 applicants are viewed before the final staff selections are made." Besides the unquantifiable benefits that camp gives to her own children, Robin proclaims "the amazing campers and devoted staff are two main reasons why I come back". The Walt Whitman family is thrilled that Robin continues to return to camp as her ever evolving role has lightened the burden of many staff, and her comforting presence has calmed the nerves of many campers. Robin oversees that the details parents worry about at home are attended to at camp. Kids put clean sheets on their beds on laundry day, long hair is French braided, overgrowing fingernails are clipped, and wet towels are taken off the clothes line before the occasional rainstorm rolls over Mt. Piermont. Yet, these necessary tasks only scratch the surface of her contributions to the CWW community. Her bedtime stories for junior campers, cookie and movie nights for middle campers, and visits to the health center for sick campers fosters relationships with all campers making her an integral member of our family. Robin's maternal care allows all campers to rely on her as their "camp mom". back to top Staff Updates Loomis is keeping busy with school and editing a documentary he shot last April about a music group's trip to Florida. Rachel Ferber and Gaby Koenig went to the University of Michigan to visit Sara Veltri for the Michigan vs. Northwester football game. Alex Zarama has been learning about her family business. In her spare time, she is keeping busy with voice and violin lessons. After taking about 2 years off from serious fencing she has started up again. Besides work, music, and fencing, she is in the process of applying for her Ontario Teachers' Certificate and is attempting to find a way to swim with dolphins while in Florida over the holidays. The lead role in Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing' at the University of Portland is played by Devin Olson. He has been practicing in the theater at least three hours a night, five days a week to ensure the Nov 19th opening is a success. His double-major in Drama/Psychology is also keeping his toes a tapping. Unit leader Adam "Dirty Bird" Carr has just moved to NYC via CWW with fellow Whitmanites Jake Javitch, Charlie Brooks and James Coker. Adam has been doing production work with TV shows, film and commercials thanks to James who has been a Production Assistant on many projects for over a year and has put in many hours on NBC's "30 Rock." Jake has been busy waiting tables and working theatre production and Charlie is pursuing a career in food and writing. The four are happy to call NYC Home! Ashleigh Streng is living in Idaho working at a local Boys and Girls Club, and she will begin substitute teaching in the coming weeks. In February both Tommy Kysor and Ashley Smith are going to Auckland New Zealand to study next semester. Ashley is hoping to spend spring break in Thailand. Cat Porfert is a project leader for an Americorps' program called City Year. She is busy creating a standardized mentoring program for City Year members working in the Boston Public Schools and training corps members on how to be better mentors. Emily Ralen is currently enjoying her first year at Bucknell, where she is rowing Division One crew. Liz Mannis visited Brenley Devlin in Canada. They enjoyed local shopping, a hockey game, and High School Musical 3. If you have been in NH recently, you might have seen Matt Green who's been busy canvassing for Obama. Doug Mann has also hit the campaign trail. After Election Day, he will be traveling to Honduras Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela. Since camp ended Kate Bosworth moved back home to Winston-Salem, North Carolina where she is working at a Japanese restaurant learning about sushi. She's taken on this Asian adventure in order to finance a year long trip to Australia. After visiting family in Pensacola, Bailey Johnson began her senior year at Bates and has been spending most of her time working on her thesis, which focuses on including multiethnic literature in adolescent classrooms, and student teaching in an 8th grade English classroom. For Halloween, she was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Bailey has one more season of collegiate swimming. Best of luck, Bailey! The San Francisco bay area is now home for Nick Park, who recently started a job with NVIDIA, a tech company in Silicon Valley. He's been spending his time working, exploring California, and looking forward to traveling and seeing some Whitmanites in the coming months. Nina Holzer is back in southern Ohio pursuing her degree in Political Science and International Studies. Fingers crossed, she will be studying in France next spring while also reconnecting with family and friends back in Europe. In the meantime, she has gotten to see some really great shows from Birdhouse Factory (similar to Cirque du Soleil) to Chicago, to the Indigo Girls. Maddy Ervin is starting a new job with a business consulting firm for natural gas companies. By night and on the weekends Ben Ralen is training to become an EMT and taking some graduate classes in Boston in preparation for med school. This fall Sonya Soloway played another season of rugby for UVM. Now that the season is over, she is looking forward to visiting other Whitmanites to escape snowy Vermont. back to top Alumni News from... Barbara and Joe Keys ('90's-00's) bought a campervan and they traveled around NZ this summer. They cherish their dreams of their time at camp. Ellen (Gorfain) Polinsky ('40's-'50's) began at Walt Whitman in 1948, and came back every summer until 1958. Looking at all of the "early years" pictures on the website has rekindled so many marvelous memories. She was at the reunion in spirit on August 2nd. Travis (P-NUT) Hedtke ('00's) just finished his 4th year as a school counselor. He also was the 9th grade girls' basketball coach at Eau Claire Memorial High School. He will receive his licensure in school administration in May 2009. For now, he is enjoying his time as husband and "new" dad. Cindy Laskin Paborsky ('80's) just moved back to America after spending time in Europe and Asia. Beth Fink (Rosen) ('80's-'90's) recently married Alexander Fink on April 5 in New York City. She is excited to show Alex the camp and share her memories from 7 summers at CWW. Stephen Greenberg ('70's) is currently married with two boys, 15 & 11 and practices radiology in Manhattan while also wishing he was back at CWW. Michael Krasner ('50's) lives in southern Vermont and commutes weekly to teach at Queens College in New York City. His older daughter is a graduate student at Harvard, and his youngest just graduated from MIT. His wife is a food writer who won the James Beard Award for her book. Laurie Stuhl ('60's-'70's) is married to David and has two daughters, Rebecca, a sophomore at American University, and Rachel, a junior in high school. She is an occupational therapist who works in adult rehab on Long Island. She would love to hear from former bunkmates. David "Ha Ha" Reitzas ('70's-'80's) moved to L.A. in 1984 and ended up working as a mixer, engineer and producer on Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable", Whitney Houston's "The Bodyguard", and many Barbra Streisand projects. He has won four Grammy's and one Emmy. His wife, Aya, and he have two boys- Benjamin, 6 and Franklin, 9. Victoria Mayer ('80's-'90's) graduated from NYU Medical School in 2007. She is now a resident in the Primary Care/Social Medicine Program at Montefiore Hospital, in the Bronx. Amy Fisch (Wasserman) ('70's) loves knowing her kids love CWW as much, maybe even more than, she did! Karen Goldsmith Harrow ('70's) lives in South Florida with her husband and four children and would love to hear from anyone! Dani Meuring ('00's) has completed a post graduate degree in Education at the University of South Australia. Now she teaches Physical Education, Outdoor Education, Work Education and Drama at a secondary college in South Oz. She is campaigning to get time off of school so she can, once again, wake up where the purple lilacs grow. Julian Wise ('80's) is currently living on Martha's Vineyard and is active in Journalism and Education. Jim Foley ('70's) has been a high school Principal for 15 years. He and his wife, Christina, have three boys. It was great to re-visit Walt Whitman 32 years after being a counselor in the summer of '76. Neal Seideman ('70's-'80's) is reminiscing about bunk 4 in 1979, when none other than Dan Rosen was assigned his first cabin as a counselor. Scott "from Scotland" Torrance ('00's) is the marketing director for Scotland for CCUSA, an international summer camp staffing agency. He loves having the job of telling people how wonderful summer camp is. back to top About Camp Walt Whitman | Campers and Parents Working for CWW | Alumni | Contact Us | Home