Alumni Reunions
On April 10-11, 2021, Killooleet hosted 7 Alumni reunions by decade, going from the 50s all the way up to the 2010s. If you missed them, register your email with Killooleet so you don't miss the next round, early in 2022.
What an amazing and heartwarming weekend of reunions we had! Not everyone who wanted to come was able to make it: timing, work, covid shots, young children, birthdays and life in general don’t always make it possible to join. A wonderful thing about the virtual reunions was that people didn’t have to travel to see their friends, former counselors or former campers! People joined from many parts of the U.S., including California, Oklahoma, Ohio, Florida, New York and New England, and from all over the world, including Ireland, Japan and Australia. As requested, we will hold virtual reunions again, perhaps next winter, and we will space them out over a few weekends to avoid the later hours. We will be able to give you more notice also.
It was very exciting for me to see you all. Here are a few highlights. Tom Perera had current photos of camp for the 50’s and 60’s groups, many of whom hadn’t seen Killooleet in years. The importance of the summer to each person was voiced in different ways, but the core was that, whether you came as a camper or as a counselor, a summer at Killooleet was important and often life changing. So many stories: “Gat” Gahagan’s car became the jalopy, which figured in so many oldest boy photos and Jonas Littman’s song “Mabel, my Model A”; favorite pets – goats, horses and dogs as well as adventures with wild animals; “Unk the Skunk” or close encounters with bears on overnighters. All these and more kept the Killooleet story-telling tradition alive.
In the 50’s Tony and Judy sang “Oh You Can’t Get to Heaven,” a tribute to Ed Badeaux, and Guy Davis did a great rendition of “Kisses Sweeter than Wine.” In the 70’s, Kim Wallach played “Apple Picker’s Reel” and shared verses of “Blues Run the Game” with Kate, and we sang songs for Smitty (“Sammy’s Bar”) and Calvi (“Precious Friend”). “Pipers Refrain” and “Walking down the Line” were sung in other decades. Killooleet versions of these songs and many others are on Killooleet playlists on Spotify. Also, recordings of campfires and Sings are on the Killooleet website. Check them out now! Some of them will have to come down when we open camp again in June.
Campers and counselors, particularly in the older decades, enjoyed the adult-to-adult connections, and former campers said how important counselors had been to them. Themes crossed the decades, including hiker’s lunch, the lake, the cargo net, commando raids. It is striking how many alumni still pack hiker’s lunch when headed out for a hike or paddle! The camp sins came up often, particularly the ones about scapegoating and breaking group concentration. The philosophy and educational practices of Killooleet have gone out into the world as alumni have been supervisors of others, run organizations, been principals of schools or founders of therapeutic schools or communities. Pete DalNegro said it well, (rough paraphrase by Kate): “Killooleet is a way of life, thought and heart that runs through and sticks with you.”
If the weekend made you nostalgic for camp, whether or not you attended a virtual reunion, please consider making a gift to Killooleet or the Seeger Bartlett Foundation. We still need your help. And please, check with former cabinmates and Killooleet friends to be sure they have given us their email address. Thanks!
