The following articles are from the Camp Shohola Newspaper, the
"ARGUS".
These articles are written by campers and staff during the
summer of 1996.
___________________________________________________________________________
THE ARGUS
Volume 57 - Number 1 & 2
Summer 1996
Camp Shohola
Greeley, Pennsylvania
18425-9797
(717) 685-2640
(717) 685-7186 (BUSINESS)
(717) 685-4563 (FAX)
shohola@ptd.net (E-MAIL)
http://www.shohola.com (WEB ADDRESS)
Frank C. Barger - Director
EDITORS
Micah Baskir - Working Senior
Conor Dunn - Working Senior
ARGUS ADMINISTRATION
SUPERVISOR - Tom Gibson
SUPPORT EDITORS
Steve Rudman - Cabin 11
Steve Davis - Cabin 12
The Editors Present: The Introduction.
It is an honor to be an editor of the Argus. The
Argus has been a part of Camp Shohola since before
anyone can remember, and it is truly honoring to
be part of such a tradition. Yet the tradition of the
Argus is as long as that of Camp Shohola, therefore
everyone who is a camper of Shohola should be
honored. Whether or not a camper writes or edits
for the Argus does not nearly compare to the
tradition and enthusiastic spirit that Camp Shohola
possesses. Those counselors that have been here
at Camp Shohola for 20, 30, and even 40 years can
certainly identify with the tradition, having seen the
additions to the dining hall, the erosion of the hill,
the building of the ropes course and CommTech,
the development of the kayaking program, the
growing land sports program, and most
importantly, the thousands of new delighted faces
when they first arrive at camp. I am currently in
my fourth year at camp Shohola, and I am starting
to feel and realize the great traditions and the great
people of Camp Shohola. As the years go by at
Camp Shohola, anyone identifies with the old yet
strong spirit of Shohola. The sprit is so thick and
mighty it can grab a soul and never let go. This
firm grasp that the spirit takes is unbreakable as
campers come back to Shohola year after year.
They cannot leave the spirit of camp, and as those
campers mature into both counselors and adults,
they return as alumni. That tradition of Shohola
can never leave the soul of an alumni, and campers
and alumni both wonder why. The answer is
simple. The spirit is growing because of them.
They grow with the spirit, and become a part of it,
and that spirit of Shohola grows every year when
more new faces show up. I tell you this because I
hope that you can identify with my words and
realize that you are a part of Shohola, and even if
you never return, Shohola will always be a part of
you. I encourage you to look for what you love so
much about camp, and when you return embellish
it, give Shohola the addition only you can give, and
keep the tradition alive and growing.
-Conor Dunn
Being my fifth year at Camp Shohola, I can
understand and identify with much of what my
friend and cabin mate, Conor Dunn, has just
written. Shohola is a Camp that has grown with the
times and has slowly evolved into what it is today.
I can still remember my first year here. The fear of
being away for a WHOLE month, the fear that the
food would be terrible and that I would starve to
death, and the one thing that scares everyone when
they go to a new place is, if they would be able to
make friends. All of these fears turned out to be
false. I became friends with many campers and
slowly I, too, began to feel the traditions. I became
part of the whole Shohola and not just another
camper. This is something that many camps try to
achieve but seldom succeed. Coming home after
my first year, I felt like I had created another
world aside from the one at home. To this day I
find camp and home to equally important worlds in
my life. As I grew older, I started to notice the new
campers come in and see them slowly fit into the
whole scheme of Shohola. They changed from no-name
campers to members of a community in a
little over a week. This is the reason why so many
campers return every year, they feel they owe it
not only to themselves to return, but to the camp.
Now, as I sit here writing this, I find it is hard to
come up with things to write about. When you
leave a family what is there really to say? Nothing
can express feelings quite the way you want. That
is why some of the best good-byes are the simplest
ones. Above is my feeble attempt at expressing
some feelings below is my good-bye.
Someday, when this article will be some of the
only evidence that I went here, kids will be in this
exact position as me doing exactly what I was
doing. It still amazes me that in my first year, I had
admired and looked up to working seniors such as
Jason Samenow, now I am in the exact place
where he and 20 other campers were five years
ago. After five years, I have seen many campers
come and go. Now it is my turn to leave and in my
time spent here I have learned many things and met
many new friends. As I grow older, I won't forget
that much of my early life was spent up here in
Greeley. Thank you Kit and Marilyn Barger
and all the counselors who have taught me in the
past five years. Good-bye
-Micah Baskir
CULTURES COMPARED
CABIN 1
The following questions were asked to people from
different countries.
1. Do you have different social classes? If so, what
are they?
2. What is the landscape of your country like?
3. Does the government require and pay for
education? Do you have private schools?
4. What do children do in the summer?
5. What do children do for entertainment?
UNITED STATES
1. Low, middle, and upper classes.
2. Deserts, mountains, plains, lakes, and forests.
3. Government mandates elementary, middle, and
high schools. One has a choice of preschool and
college. Schools can be private or public (free).
4. Go to camp, hang out at home, go on vacations
5. Play games, sports, play with friends, and go to
parks.
SPAIN
1. Yes, almost the same as US.
2. Forest, plains, and mountains. As an animal we
have Gamucino.
3. We have institutes and private schools payed by
Government. We also have preschool.
4. We go to the beach, and have a lot of fun.
5. They play football (soccer), go to the cinema, and
they also bullfight (at least they learn how to do it)
GERMANY
1. Yes, especially in the eastern part.
2.On the southwestern part there we touch the Alps a
little bit, but the highest point is the "Zugsporte".
Many forests and rivers.
3. The schools the government pays for are called
Kindergarten, main-school and gymnasium.
4. Go to camp, go on trips, visit other countries, stay
at home, and go to the movies.
5. Play games, go to the airama, and play sports.
MEXICO
1. Yes, the same but there are a lot of people in the
middle and low class range
2. Desert, mountains, and volcanos of 16,000 ft.
Mexico is 6,000 ft over sea level and also has
jungles and rivers and a lot of animals.
3. We don't have many public and private schools.
Government requests preschool and middle school.
Almost everybody has a middle school education.
4. People go out of city but most stay and look for
summer work, so they can have fun during the rest
of the summer.
5. Soccer, concerts, bullfight, cinema, and town
parties.
CABIN TWO'S OVERNIGHT
CABIN 2
We had our overnight on July 12. We chose
Friday night because we were suppose to have the
overnight one week prior, but most people were at
the Red Barons game. It was held in the rec hall.
We had a choice between sleeping in the rec hall
and watching a movie or sleeping on Blueberry
Island.
When we were preparing for the overnight the
first thing we did, of course, was bring our sleeping
bags into the building. Then we went to the dining
hall to get our breakfast for the next morning and
the sodas for our pizza party that night. Our
counselor picked up the pizza from a local
restaurant. Evan Berenholtz said "I think the pizza
was better than camp's."
In the morning we had cereal and
a danish instead [of watching the ending of the
movie. I think everyone had a great time."
The overnight ended Saturday morning during the
big rain storm. We had to go back to the cabin in
the rain. Everything got soaked and all of us were a
mess.
GREEN VS WHITE
CABIN 3
The green and white competitions have been going
on for 55 years. First of all the camp is split up into
teams, green and white and Working Seniors become
the captains. Norman Summers and Rob Kaplan are
this year's co-captains of the green team and Jacob
Wolfsheimer and Conor Dunn are the co-captains of
the white team.
Various events make up the Green-White
competition. The events of the first month consists
of two quizzes, a mystery marathon and the
Olympics.
At this very moment green is in the lead. The
leading team gets to have their flag fly on the pole.
The winning team for the summer gets to have their
name engraved on the cup and the wall.
Here is what some campers have to say about the
competition. Jeff Schroeder cabin 4 - "I think it is
fun because you have to have a lot of team spirit to
play." Jason Klein cabin 5 - "I think that it's a great
thing for a camp to have not many other camps have
it." Mike Bomze cabin 12 - "I like how it's original.
I think more land sports events should be added."
CAMPERS SPEAK OUT: LIKES AND DISLIKES
THE CABIN 4 CONSENSUS
"What I like most is being away from my parents.
It's like you're free of them for a month and that's
cool." Said Peter Goldberg amongst the nods of his
cabin mates.
It seems the boys in Camp Shohola (or at least the
ones in cabin 4) seem to like the same things.
There's nothing out of the ordinary about what they
like: "The sports," says Sipho Simela; "the crafts, and
especially the cabin," says Eric Schatzkin.
Aside from typical camp life lay the special events
and some of the intricacies that make camp what it is.
As Steven Gulliksen says: "I like the fact that there
are so many people who are here from foreign
countries. It's good to hear them speak their different
languages and stuff.." Steven later goes on to say,
with full cabin agreement, that he likes the dances,
even if they try to make the kids sing and do knot
tricks.
One thing that stands out in cabin 4's mind is the
amount of activities that are available to them.
"Riding is awesome." says Joe Santoro-Sharkey, "and
what makes it cooler is that Matt's my counselor."
Among the other camp activities that the kids of
cabin 4 only learn at camp are kayaking,
windsurfing, canoeing, water-skiing, archery/riflery,
silvershop, woodshop and stained glass.
The next important thing about camp that cabin 4
thinks is important is the actual cabin. The
friendships and fights, along with the cabin's
identity, help to make camp special. "The people
you live with are real important," says Jeff
Schroeder, "because it's like if you have a fight with
them they'll still back you up and help you out."
That's basically it. That's what cabin 4 likes. On
the dislikes side there aren't many things.
"The dislikes include clean-up" - Jeff Schroeder.
"Canteen only three times a week."- Tanner Dierman.
"Swimming"- Stephen Gullikson.
"The retaining wall"- Eric Schatzkin.
"Getting out of bed" - Sipho Simela.
"Being called cute by Netimus girls" - Peter Goldberg.
NATURE AND CAMP
CABIN 5
Does nature affect us everyday? When Doron
Metlay from cabin 5 was asked this question, his
response was "It does,like rain when you miss
activities and the Olympics."
Thunderstorms can create a power outage and
when we get bad electrical storms the phones are
cut off in some of the camp areas. This year we
had big thunderstorms which made a lot of deep
puddles and flooded As we are writing this article
we are waiting out the outpass rain from the
hurricane Bertha.
Many people are allergic to various parts of
nature. Chris Swensen is allergic to pollen,
poisonous plants, and insects. It turns out that just
about everybody at camp is allergic to something.
Campers get to watch tomatoes and berries grow.
Each day some campers look for ripen black
raspberries and blackberries berries planted in front
of the CommTech building. The berries have been
here for at least fifteen years and ripen toward the
middle of July. This year I planted four and they all have
green tomatoes. We should have ripe tomato plants
by the end of the month if we get some sun".
THE WAY THINGS WERE . . . THE WAY THINGS ARE . . .
BY JASON SAMENOW
Cabin 6, Counselor
If someone were to turn back the clock about ten
years, he would probably see a Shohola full of
campers wearing long tube socks up to their knees
and short Addidas shorts while sporting longer hair
down to at least their necks. Now campers more
frequently are decked out in long lacrosse shorts or
khakis while wearing their hair much shorter. The
staff's look has also changed. Rather than being
mostly American, Shohola now boasts a truly
international staff with counselors from all over the
world. But what else has changed? Actually, quite a
bit.
Ten years ago there was no deck so most large
meetings occurred in the dining hall or at what were
called the "Green Chairs." The working seniors did
not have their own cabin so they slept in the "Pit"
under the dining hall. In between Cabin One and
Two there were no extra bathrooms and there was no
wall but, in that space, a cabin called the "Annex"
similar in size to Cabin 10. CommTech was half its
current size as the addition was not put on until 1990.
Camp has also experienced some other less
noticeable changes. Coke used to be served out of
glass bottles rather than cans. OD's used to inspect
cabins, now Kit does. The lake front was once
restricted by overgrown brush, now fishermen enjoy
several new docks. In addition, new lean-to's provide
shelter for overnights, while new spiffy signs give
Shohola a sharper image.
Some of the most significant changes at camp have
occurred in many of its program areas. In most cases,
the camp has expanded its activity offerings although
a few classes have been dropped due to a lack in
popularity.
Ten years ago waterfront had far fewer crafts as
land sports were most popular. Since then, however,
the waterfront has expanded dramatically adding
dozens of kayaks, canoes and windsurfs to its fleet.
The kayak and windsurfing trip programs have
particularly blossomed.
The kayakers now paddle the Big "Y", the
Potomac river, the Atlantic ocean and just added a
trip to rivers in Massachusetts. Windsurfers now
enjoy the ocean surf and have also taken trips to
Lake Wallenpaupack. Fly-fishing is the latest
addition to the waterfront and seems to be gaining
popularity. The only casualty in the waterfront has
been the rowing program which lost popularity
mainly due to the rise of the kayaking and
windsurfing programs.
Land sports have changed little in the past ten
years although a couple of notable programs have
been added. The golf program, after a long hiatus,
was brought back by Duncan Barger several years
ago. Now a number of golf classes are offered and
there are weekly trips to local courses. The newest
land sports activity at camp is lacrosse which was
added last year. This activity has proved to be an
immediate success and Shohola is already
establishing itself as a lacrosse powerhouse. A
couple of years ago, there was an experiment with
badminton but it never caught on.
The CommTech area has continued to expand
over the past 10 years. Shohola was one of the first
camps to offer computer programming in the early
1980's. Although programming is not as popular as
it once was, the CommTech program has stayed on
the cutting edge of technology by adding Internet
classes with the explosion of cyberspace. The
Videography program recently acquired a three-tube
professional camera and has added professional
editing equipment, perfect for fine tuning news
broadcasts and music videos.
The only addition in the crafts area has been
stained glass. This activity caught on quickly and is
here to stay.
Finally, the ropes course and the rock climbing
trips may be the largest activity program additions to
camp over the past 10 years. There are now several
rock climbing day trips each week as well as the
occasional overnight trip. New initiatives are added
to the ropes course each year providing new
challenges to even veteran campers.
In spite of al these changes, the old adage "the
more things change, the more they stay the same"
holds true at Shohola. Things such as the daily
schedule, green/white competition, carnival and
klondike day, canteen, biddying, inspection, muster,
campfire songs and the occasional pillow fight are
Shohola traditions which have always been here. It
is these traditions which will continue to define
Shohola's character as the 20 th century comes to a
close even as the camp's external "look" changes
with time.
CHANGES IN CAMP
CABIN 7
There are many new things in Camp Shohola this
year. New changes, developments, and people have
found their way into camp. One thing is that Cabin
10 was shut down to campers this year and made
into an office for Pepe and Duncan.
Many new counselors have made appearances in
camp this year. No doubt the new counselors will
find a place in their heart for Shohola as most people
do.
Along with the new counselors, comes the new
laws that are enforced by them. Due to the
continuous sneaking out at night, a very harsh but fair
rule has been added to camp. If a camper is caught
sneaking out, they will spend at least one hour on the
retaining wall. The same goes for cursing.
During rest hour this year, once a week an extra
shower has been added. Many kids feel that this is
unnecessary. However, most cabins might vouch for
the fact that this is untrue. Just smell them.
In the infirmary this year, Bill and Andrew have
taken over Ali Verdia's legacy and are doing a
fantastic job.
The new porch being added to the CommTech
building this year will surely add more support to
camp as a whole, not just to the building.
One of the changes that parents might notice would
be to the telephone system. We added a new phone
line (95) and when you dial the camp number and it
is busy, the new number will ring. If both 99 and 95
are busy then 97 will ring.
We have also had to change our e-mail address
effective August 1, 1996. Our Internet service
provider for the last two years went out of business
and we had to change to a new ISP. Our new e-mail
address is shohola@ptd.net. We also have registered
www.shohola.com with InterNIC. Our home page on the
world wide web is now just http://www.shohola.com.
Camp is beginning to shape up quite nicely; and
hopefully it will continue to do so.
SLUGGERS-DODGERS LITTLE LEAGUE
SOFTBALL GAME
CABIN 8
On July 11, the Sluggers beat the Dodgers 14 to 8
in Little League softball action. Matt Hill on the bad
luck dodgers said, "The game stunk". The Dodgers
played well, but were no match for the Sluggers.
Barry Frish said that the sweeping won the game.
The reason for that is every time that he played
sweeper, the sluggers either got a hit or scored a
run. Someone said that the Sluggers had a good
day. The coach of the dodgers said, "The team is
on a losing streak. The Dodgers were not doing
well today."
AN INTERVIEW WITH LARRY AARONSON
By Matt Taylor
Q: When was your first year at camp?
A: 1950. I was nine years old.
Q: Do you like it here?
A: I love it here.
Q: What year did you first become staff?
A: 1956. Cabin one and two were called junior camp. I was
counselor for cabin 1.
Q: Do you like photography?
A: Yes. I take lots of pictures at camp because it is very
photogenic.
Q: Does this camp bring back any memories?
A: It brings back hundreds and hundreds of memories. I spent
twenty out of the last forty-six summers here and if I was
not working I was visiting.
Q: What has camp added since you were a kid?
A: CommTech, Ropes, Kayaking, Wind Surfing, Fly
Fishing/Fishing, Lacrosse, Junior Camp, Dining Hall Deck,
Hockey, Stained Glass, Rocketry
Q: Were there any activities then and not now?
A: Nature program, Camp Craft which taught you how to
survive in the wilderness, Indian Lore which taught you
about Indians.
SURFING IN THE U.S.A.
CABIN 11
On Wednesday, June 26 at 7:25 a.m., a van left
Camp Shohola with six kids,
two counselors, and seven kayaks. The van was
on its way to Smith Pt., Fire Is., NY. Even though
3 days had passed since camp started, going
through the countryside still amazed the campers in
the van ride.
By 12:00 p.m., the van had arrived at its
destination. In Dan Lichtman's words, "The windy
air and smell of salt felt great after a 4 hour ride."
Rushing, everyone unpacked the van and stuffed
down their lunch to start surfing the waves. The
counselors meant for the day to be the kind of day
where everyone would learn how to surf the waves,
and by the end of the day everyone did.
For every camper on the trip (except for Jim
Cheston who went on the trip before), the day was
full of flipping in every way possible. Dan
Lichtman did an amazing pirouette. Even with lots
of bruises and scratches on the bodies, by the end
of the day everyone could surf the waves fine.
After four hours of kayaking, most of the
campers ate dinner and went to sleep knowing that
they had a big day tomorrow. "The day had finally
arrived," said B.J. Pawlowsky. A fun-filled day of
surfing waves and more was ahead. Cereal and last
night's dinner was turned into a brunch, so there
would be no stopping in the middle of the day. The
waves were small, so it was easy to teach the
campers different ways of surfing. These tricks
were done right, on occasion. Other tricks were
also done. Simon was able to surf the waves
backwards. Just riding the waves was awesome,
though.
Then there was a rest hour where some kids
looked on the beach scoping out babes. After rest
hour, the waves got bigger. The kayakers were
able to jump them. It was tiring. When the kayaks
flipped, they were dragged by the waves. When
kayaks flip, they should be pushed on to the sand,
or a wet exit should be performed. However,
almost all the campers did 360s by the waves. On
this trip it doesn't matter how good one is because
it is a whole different kind of kayaking.
By the end of the day, everyone was hungry and
tired. The campers had chili, mashed potatoes and
salad. Then they got ice cream. The next day we
packed and made our way back to camp.
A DELAYED FUN-FILLED DAY AT THE OLYMPICS
CABIN 12
On Saturday July 13, the Green-white Olympics
should have taken place. But due to heavy storms
from nearby tropical storm Bertha, they were
postponed until the next day. Morning events in this
competition included the 40, 50, 60, 200, and 240
yard dashes and relays.
In the afternoon, campers competed in archery,
riflery, softball throw, high and broad jumps, and
cross country.
HAMFEST
CABIN 13
Lee Grabois
On Sunday July 14, the members of many
CommTech classes, went to the Sussex County
Hamfest. Sadly, mostly due to Hurricane Bertha,
this year was not as good as past years, but as
always the enthusiasm was extreme. Jeff
McCloskey got three 286 computers for only $10. I
was able to get 6 keyboards for free and 3 books
also for free. Matt Genkin, Reed Dunn and Avi
Jutigar each got CB radios for less than $15.00 each.
I also bargained the Heretic CD from $10 down to
$5. Jeff Crater got a TV for five dollars. Tom
Gibson bought 23 video tapes for 25 cents each. All
fifteen of us got a lot of stuff for free. "The
Hamfest is fun and a great learning experience and
people should really try to go next year," Tom said.
The Internet class used graphic interface to the
World Wide Web for the first time this year. In the
classes we first learned about Telnet, FTP and
Gopher, and then we learned HTML and how to
create our own web page. Most of us placed our e-mail
addresses on the page with a press here link, to
access our address. We learned how to make color
backgrounds and color text. We placed links to
some of our favorite sites such as Independence day.
We downloaded sound bytes and pictures from the
net. We are able to access the net from five
accounts. They are AOL, Compuserve, AT&T, York
College and Prolog. We also learned about Hot Java
and Netscape. Camp Shohola is indeed on the
cutting edge of technology with Internet access. You
should check out our Web pages which are linked from
http://www.shohola.com. The Internet class
would like to thank Tom Gibson, and Kit for giving
us this opportunity.
WHY WE CAME TO CAMP
CABIN 14
By: Dan Mahlman and Jeff Schoengold
We came to camp to enjoy new experiences with people
from other parts of the country and in some cases, other parts
of the world. We learn of others' cultures and how to cope
with bunkmates we might dislike. Here, at Shohola, we
learn respnsibility with chores like police duties and bunk
duties. We feel what it's like to be away from familiar
surroundings and to be introduced to new ones. You can do
things you can't back home like water-skiing, ropes, stained
glass, woodshop, silvershop, CommTech, plus skilled
instruction on how to play your favorite sports better. But
above all, is making friends that share the same interests
and spending time with them.
Most of the people in Cabin 14 have had this experience
before, but Jeff Schoengold and Mike Shear have been
enjoying the Shohola experience for the first time, and they
should enjoy it and its traditions for years to come.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
WRITING FOR THE ARGUS
CABIN 15
The campers of cabin 15 feel that writing for the Argus,
like the other activities offered at camp, should be
completely voluntary.
At Camp Shohola, different campers get to choose
activities according to their own personal taste. No camper
is forced to take Windsurfing for instance, or Tennis, unless
they so desire. In keeping with the meritable Shohola
tradition of freedom of choice, writing articles should be an
act of free will.
We also feel that summer camp should be an escape from
the pressures of the due-dates and deadlines evident
throughout the difficult school year.
Biddying and cabin clean up are not activities we enjoy,
but they are necessary for the benefit of the camp and for
the enjoyment of future campers. The Argus articles that
were written in the past were written voluntarily because
campers felt strongly about certain topics. This not only
improved the overall quality of the paper, but also made the
articles more interesting. The ideal Argus provided different
opinions from all the varieties of campers at Shohola.
Although this year's Argus will be longer than ever before,
we feel that the quality of the paper will decline, due to the
fact that many of the articles are forced, and not coming
from the heart.
The Argus is a great Shohola tradition, and we give credit
to its remarkable past achievements and to the people who
worked so hard to bring it to us. But by forcing cabins to
write articles, they have disfigured the ideals that made the
Argus great.
RESPONSE
As the camper turned in this article I asked him if he felt
better "having gotten things off his chest." He looked at me
a little sheepishly and responded, "yes".
Writing, is an interest that has been declining here at
Camp Shohola. Each year when we put out the call for
articles the response becomes fewer and fewer. So, this
year, we felt a change was in order.
Each cabin was assigned a topic and most of the cabins
decided to become a team during the writing process. The
writers could choose between the paper/pen or the word
processor method to construct, what would eventually be,
their place in Camp Shohola's history.
As two campers sat down at a computer next to me, I
listened to them trying to write their piece. Two sentences
into their article a debate broke out concerning a misspelled
word. The discussion was going into overtime, when I
decided to break in. "No wonder you guys don't like to
write" I told them. "You're too concerned about the
mechanics to let anything flow from your heart. Just write
what you feel, editing will come later". That same day
another cabin began collecting ideas for their article, when
two of the campers kept shooting down a third's idea before
he had a chance to fully formulate them. It turned out the
third camper had some very good ideas when he was able to
complete them.
Writing an article occurs in stages just like any other
relationships and it is very difficult to write about something
you don't care about. Many cabins, just like cabin 15,
altered their assignment to fit their tastes. Likewise, many
articles showed insight.
And cabin fifteen..... As far as the quality of a July Argus,
this issue is in the top five (out of over 50) and you were
part of it. Congrats. to all!
A DAY OF FUN IN THE CREEK
CABIN 16
Taylortown Creek, fed by Lake Greeley, is normally
a small trickling stream that winds through Camp Shohola.
However, after a day of pouring rain, the creek flooded into
a raging beast.
Some campers high-tailed it down to the creek and
plunged into the cold and swiftly moving water for a
refreshing swim. We were having a lot of fun until we were
ordered by some counselors to get out of the water and
leave the area. We were sent away wet, cold, and happy.
We had managed to turn a rainy day into a wet 'n wild
adventure.
The following articles are from the August edition of the
"ARGUS"
Ropes
By Cabin 1
I like ropes because after you climb up, they
send you down real fast. That's what I like
about ropes. When you begin climbing you put
on a harness and helmet. Dwayne, Miriam,
John and Joe are good teachers.
When Alberto Orozco was asked about his
experience climbing the wall he said "First I
felt very tired, then I looked down and saw how
high I was and was eager to get down. I came
down the zip line which was most enjoyable."
Madison Smith says that "the ropes course is
a great experience. It helps with your mental
and physical skills. It is a great challenge. The
first time you try the ropes course you will get a
little scared but all you need is trust in your
belayer, the person whose at the other end of
the rope who is keeping you from falling."
HORSEBACK COMPETITION
By Eric Fishel & Omar Martinez
Cabin 2
At the horseback competition there were 5
groups competing, Shohola, Netimus and three
from Top Ranch.
At first Netimus was on top. Then Shohola
dominated the apple bob and ever since that,
Shohola showed there stuff.
In the apple bob, Madison Smith from Cabin 6
placed 1st, we also came home with 2nd and
6th place.
Some of the other events include walk-trot,
walk, canter, jump, stile jumps and more.
I think Netimus won the competition.
Camp Shohola Myths and Legends
By Andy Meyerson & Joe Zehner
Cabin 3
There are many legends and stories floating
around camp. I spoke with Tom Gibson, a 30
year veteran counselor, about these stories.
I asked him who made up the stories and he
said that most of the stories have a true origin
but have been embellished over the years.
For instance in the story of "The Lady in
Black", the lady is really Mrs. Quinzel, a
neighbor of camp for more than 40 years. She
is still alive and living in Elizabeth, New
Jersey and would probably be very upset to
know that she has scared so many boys at camp.
In the story of "Greeley Jack", there really
was a lumber jack working here in the 1880's.
The legend says after he was murdered by a
fellow lumberjack, his ghost wandered around
the camp cutting off campers hands.
In the story of "Wolf Man Sam", Sam was an
Army deserter from a nearby camp and lived in
the woods with the animals. Bob Gillespie has
actually seen the Wolfman along the lake road
at night.
The story about Matthew and Heather Taylor
is probably the scariest of them all. If you take
an overnight to the old Indian graveyard on the
north side of the lake you can feel the spirit of
two young kids from the 1920's.
"Hugo" has terrorized the campers in cabins
one and two for more than thirty years.
Tom told me that there are many other stories
that are told to campers like the "Humming
Moose" or "Canal Boat Carl", but you will just
have to ask him about them.
CRAFTS
By Eric Shansby
Cabin 4
Camp Shohola offers a great deal of fun and
interesting art and craft classes which include
Woodshop, Silvershop, Arts & Crafts,
Stained Glass, and Model Rocketry.
In Woodshop, taught by Tony Nunes, you
learn how to properly use hand and electric
tools to build sturdy wooden projects ranging
from airplanes & cars to lamps & shelves.
This year in Silvershop, twisted band rings
are popular projects. In this interesting class,
you learn how to solder, polish, and twist
your way into simple or intricate jewelry or
pattern projects. Your hands and tools are
used on high quality silver & metal.
Arts & Crafts projects can be simple
drawings, detailed sculptures from clay or
fimo, candles, tee shirts dipped in dye or used
as a canvas for material paint, needle point,
bead work and some times the campers get to
make edible art projects such as the GREAT
chocolate chip cookies we made last
Wednesday. Uncountable possibilities for
projects lurk in every corner at Arts & Crafts.
Soldering, foiling, grinding, and cutting
colored glass are the main skills focused on in
Stained Glass. Taught by Reino, this class is
a good choice if you are patient and want to
make neat projects such as mirrors and
flowerpots.
You can build, paint, and launch various
interesting flying aircrafts in an exciting class,
Model Rocketry. Constructing the rockets can
be simple or difficult, depending on the
modeler's experience.
As you can see, craft activities in Camp
Shohola let you explore the creative
boundaries set within your imagination.
The Little League World Series
Preview
By Ben Jacobs
Cabin 5
The Marauders and the Orioles are facing
off in the World Series this year. Both were
underdogs in the playoffs but triumphed over
the Sluggers and the Dukes respectively.
The Marauders are led by the multi-talented
Nick Williams and the Orioles are led by the
duo of Alex Davidoff and Barry Frish. The
major factors in the World Series will be
whether the Marauders pitching holds up and
whether the Orioles play like they have
earlier in the season when they went 0-5 or
whether they will play like the Orioles who
beat the Dukes, the top team in the league in
the playoffs.
Another factor is the fielding, since most of
the runs allowed by the Marauders have been
unearned. My prediction for the World Series
is Marauders beat the Orioles 7-5 with a 3
run spread.
Orioles
By Alex Davidoff Barry Frish
Madison Smith Steven Winkler
Cabin 6
"The Orioles are a softball team in Lower
Camp Little League which is played after
dinner," explained Madison Smith.
"They are a very strange team," added
Barry Frish. "In the first month of camp the
team was 0-3. During the second month's
regular season, they lost one game and won
one game. Then went on to win the semi-finals.
The finals will be played Thursday afternoon."
"In the first month we were not that good"
Steve Winkler said. "We lost all our games.
But now we got good draft picks and have a
better team".
During the second month they played the
Dukes and the Marauders during the regular
season, the Dukes for the semifinals, and now
they will play the Marauders during the Finals
in the World Series.
"The first game we played we lost over the
Dukes but we played a good game." Madison
said. "The next game we played we beat the
Marauders."
"In the Playoffs we played the once defeated
dukes and played four innings, the score 7-7,"
Barry said. "But the game was called off
because of the diminishing light. Sunday, the
next day, we resumed the game after weekly
thought. We beat them 8-7 to advance to the
world series and the Marauders,"
When Alex Davidoff was asked how he
likes being the pitcher for the Orioles he said,
"It's not as easy as it looks. The first month
didn't go that well but I'm doing better now.
It seems that little league isn't as fun any more
with all the trades and scandals. It was better
a few years ago. Still, I play and it is fun."
Traditions of Camp Shohola
By Cabin 7
Ed Schmalzle:
Everybody likes gold rush. In fact Dave Bish
only comes when we're having it. Its even fun
getting to run around in the creek for a couple
of hours looking for painted rocks. I think the
best part of carnival is being able to cash it in
and have lots of money to spend on carnival.
Electronics
By William Meyerson
Cabin 7
Electronics is a very fun activity. I
built two working kits. One of them is a pair
of "Pocket Dice" which simulates a pair of
dice using LED's (Light Emitting Diodes).
The other kit is a "Digital Bird" which makes
an almost infinite variety of sounds, including
bird calls. You can make many other kits
from a "Hidden Tormenter", a beginning kit
which annoys other people by beeping for
about 2 seconds every few minutes to a
"Digital Roulette", an advanced kit which
simulates a roulette wheel by using LED's.
However, you need the electronics teacher's
permission for this particular kit. If the kit
costs more than $15, you need parental
permission to build that particular kit, but
most of the kits cost less than $10. You need
to have a certain skill level to build certain
kits. For example, I can do beginning kits or
intermediate kits because I am at about the
intermediate level in electronics ("Pocket
Dice" and "Digital Bird" are both
intermediate kits), but I can't do advanced
kits. In electronics, you first order a kit.
Next, you learn how to identify the parts and
what they do. Finally you learn how to solder.
Then, the kits you order will show up in the
mail in around the 3rd or 7th week. After that,
you assemble your kit. At the end of the
month, you have a working electronics kit if
you follow the instructions carefully. Even if
you make a mistake Tom or Mark can almost
always fix it. I recommend electronics to
anyone who likes electronics kits or likes my
article.
A World of Differences-
A Camp Unites
By Jeff McCloskey
Cabin 8, Counselor
Among those that travel the world in search of
recreation, there is one group of people, one
nation, that consistently is awarded the distinction
of being the worlds worst tourists. That honor
belongs to the United States of America. Why is
this, you might ask? What could it possibly be
about Americans that antagonizes so many outside
the US?
When Americans leave the United States, there
is a great tendency to expect things to be pretty
much the same as at home. We want our meals
prepared the same as in America, the hotels to
look and feel the same as in America, and the
people to act the same as in America. In short, we
expect everyone OUTSIDE America to act exactly
the same as those IN America. The clear message
we send is that if something is not American, it's
somehow inferior. Years of telling ourselves we
are the super nation have convinced us that our
way is the only way, the only right way. Needless
to say not everyone out there agrees with us.
America, as we all must remember, was founded
by immigrants, people who came from other
shores to find a better life. First came the Spanish
and Portuguese, then came the British and French.
They founded the first colonies in what went on to
become the US. Ever since then the immigrants
have kept coming, from all corners of the world;
from Ireland and Scotland, from Germany and
Mexico. Each successive wave of immigrants
brought profound change to what we call the
American way of life, bringing new ideas and
traditions that blended in with existing traditions
and customs, and giving us the America we know
today.
Now, how does all of this affect us, what does
all the above have to do with Camp Shohola?
Here at Camp Shohola we have been presented
with a situation most people will never
experience. We have campers and counselors
from all over the world. People from England,
Mexico, New Zealand, the Czech Republic and
Slovakia...people who would normally never meet
each other during their lives, being brought
together and told to live with each other for up to
two months. This brings many interesting
challenges and opportunities. It also brings a
definite need for one thing above all else...respect.
Our counselors come from all walks of life, and
every one of them has something to offer to camp.
Whether it be our Czech contingent in the laundry
and kitchen, Rachel teaching horseback riding,
Nancy teaching swimming, Pepe our head
counselor, Suzanne teaching volleyball, or any one
of the other foreign counselors who grace this
camp with their presence, each one offers
something unique. Each one is equally important
to the functioning of this camp, and make the camp
a little better than it would be without them.
Each one also comes with their own concepts,
ideas, traditions and customs. This is where that
need for respect comes in. Too often in America
we ostracize and even condemn those whose ideas
and views differ from ours. We just can't stand
things that are different. This is an attitude that
needs to be done away with. In this age of rapid
transit, with the world growing smaller by the day,
we are going to find ourselves meeting people
different from us in our daily lives. Ignorance or
intolerance will not work, we need to start gaining
an acceptance of differences. We need to be able
to allow people to be who they are, not who we
think they should be.
Here in this camp, we can take an important first
step in this long process. All it takes is an open
mind, and a willingness to learn. I have little
doubt that the many counselors and campers here
would be most willing to talk to you about where
they come from, and what things are like in their
own country. Among your many goals for camp,
try to leave knowing more about at least one
country, other than your own, than when you
arrived here at camp. If Camp Shohola can help
you to understand and accept others for who they
are, then it shall truly have fulfilled its purpose.
How Mexico Differs from the U.S.
By Alberto Orozco
Cabin 11
I do not have much experience in camps but the
few camps that I have been to are different from
Shohola in many ways.
For starters the language, in particular, is
confusing but there is an advantage to knowing a
different language. You can have a private
conversation within a large group of people and
they won't be able to understand you.
The eating schedule is different in Mexico. At
about 8:00 pm we have a little snack.
In other camps we didn't have free time and
everything is done with your cabin. The
atmosphere is so excellent that sometimes I
forget that I am so far away from home.
I have a lot of friends in my cabin and a lot of
very good activities. It might seem strange but I
want to go back to Mexico and at the same time I
want to stay at Shohola.
Inter-Camp Competitions
By Tim Von Hollweg
Cabin 12
"We need to build a trophy cabinet," Steve
Rosenfeld said one afternoon during lunch.
Camp Shohola has won three Pike County
Athletic Tournaments this year with a beautiful
trophy as the prize. We competed against other
camps such as Lake Greeley, Lake Owego,
Netimus, New Jersey Y, etc.
We play almost all the sports offered including
Lacrosse, Archery, Riflery, Basketball, and even
swimming.
The Competitions are a good way for the
campers and counselors to learn good qualities
such as sportsmanship and leadership. Even if
some campers don't think they are good enough to
play, the coaches always let them play and give
encouragement.
We also get to interact with other camps that
we don't usually get to meet with.
These competitions also give us a chance to
say to other camps that CAMP SHOHOLA RULES!!
The Karnival
By Cabin 13
This year's Karnival was a great success.
Our favorite concession was ice cream, made
by cabin sixteen. We thought that it was the best
ice cream that we had ever tasted at the Camp
Shohola Karnival, they probably made the most
money.
Cabin thirteen's concession was french fries
and made a lot of money "I liked the french
fries," says Matt Auster of cabin 14. Although
the french fries were not made in France, they
were still pretty "darn tootin' good."
Shohola Surfs the Net
By Dan Greenwald
Cabin 14
In period 1-A, 4 campers selected Internet for
their schedule. In this class, we learned about
how the Internet works, how resources on the
Internet are organized, and how to make a World
Wide Web page. We learned how the Internet
works and about the different extensions that are
used. Then, we were taught HTML which is the
language of the Web.
In the second week of the Internet class, we
actually made our own Web page complete with
colors and links. It was given a link from the
Camp Shohola web site (http://www.shohola.com).
One of the campers, Corey Brickley, told his
father about the Web page. Corey's father wrote
a lot of e-mail to the campers in the class. After
that they started to get e-mail from the rest of his
family.
Camper and Staff exchanged more than 650
e-mail messages with family and friends this
summer, more than four time as many as last
year. Our Home page was accessed more than
two thousand times according to our web page
counter. There are a number of campers and staff
who are here after they found about camp on our
World Wide Web Home Page.
A New Camper's First Day at Camp Shohola
By: Julien C. Colvin
Cabin 14
It all started one night in February. I was looking
at the brochures from the camp fair my mom went to
that morning. I took one look at the brochure from
Camp Shohola, and in the pictures, I saw the perfect
camp experience; four weeks away from home,
choosing the activities that I wanted, making new
friends, etc. Finding out about this camp was a
dream come true to me, because most of my friends
go to camps like this, and tell me how much fun they
were. I wanted to experience it for myself, but I had
never found an overnight camp that wasn't either
1000 miles away, or was all sports. Everyone has
had an experience where nothing was familiar
before, and we all know what a culture shock it is.
Tony Nunes touched on this topic during the second
Weekly Thought, and I agree with what he said. He
said that we all have to get used to camp; the taste of
the water, the daily schedule, the smell of the air,
etc.
I don't know about everyone else, but on the first
day of camp, my mind was so flooded with new
experiences, I had a headache at bedtime. When I
got to camp, the first person I met was Pepe Aguilar.
Then my counselor, Joe Marchiano, came and took
my trunk up to the cabin. As soon as I walked into
the cabin, I met Ben Denenberg. He seemed nice, so
I took the bunk under him. Then Joe took Ben, my
family, and me on the camp tour. The sights I saw on
the tour, that are now so familiar to me, were
completely new and amazing. After the tour, I met
Kit Barger, the camp director. Then back at the
cabin, I met my other counselor, Ali Kinnear, and
two more of my cabin mates, Dan Greenwald and
Greg Lieberman. Then I went to lunch.
After lunch, my family left for Baltimore. For
most of the rest of the afternoon, our cabin got to
know each other, and I learned about camp, first
hand, from everyone else. At about 4:00, the
Baltimore\Washington D.C. bus arrived, and I met
the rest of my cabin; Matt Auster, Joel Segel, Mike
Santmyer, and Alex Glass. For the most part, I was
very happy with my cabin. We hung around in the
cabin until dinner. Because it was Sunday, the
whole camp had a cookout on the hill. I can still
remember the smell of the cooked burgers, which,
fortunately, tasted better than lunch. After that, we
went to Campfire. As I heard Kit's voice reading us
a story before we had to return to our cabins, I
reflected on what a great time I would have here.
After Kit was finished, we went to bed on our thin,
scratchy, and uncomfortable mattresses. Very soon
after lights out, I fell asleep, because I was so
exhausted from my very busy, but very exciting, first
day.
The Big Y
By Jeff Kozlowicki and Noam Whitman
Cabin 15
The Big Y was an incredible trip full of many
new, interesting experiences and real food. The
drive their was long and tiring, just like every other
seven hour drive, but on this drive we loaded up on
candy and stuffed ourselves with hamburgers,
fries, and sodas.
After arriving and setting up camp, we went to a
nearby natural rock slide. Everyone went down the
rock side, and all were scraped by the rocks. Even
the few who came away with minor injuries agreed
that it was fun.
The second day was the day we were going rafting
on the Youghiougheny (Yock-a-gay-nee) River.
After another drive, we split up into groups of four
to six people and were spoken to by a man who kept
on saying the Big Y was dangerous and that it was
"...not Wally World." All of the Shohola campers
were forced to wear uncomfortable helmets, but the
complaining ceased after we got onto the river.
Just before each rapid, all the boats pulled into an
eddy and grabbed the shore, and everyone was told
how to handle the next rapid. Some of the rafters
who had never experienced white water were
surprised by how difficult going down the first rapid
was; but after the first few rapids, they began to
enjoy the rafting and all fears disappeared except
for a bit of anticipation when the next rapid came
into view. We returned to camp with our brand new
shirts on our backs, and then we had a succulent
dinner and our counselors treated us to a frozen
dessert. Before we knew it, the Big Y had ended.
Radio
By David Vega
Cabin 15
This year in Camp Shohola Radio a few new
teachers were introduced plus some veterans came
back to help. Jeff McCloskey and Josh Turnbull
picked up many classes as first year counselors, as
did Jaime Calatayud who taught Spanish radio. Matt
Vilk, Jason Samenow and Tom Gibson continued
their excellent work in teaching this great activity.
Radio Broadcasting has been an activity at camp
Shohola for more than a quarter century. We were the
first summer camp radio station and were responsible
for starting a multi-million dollar business for a
company that supplies equipment to summer camps
and college radio stations.
In activity classes, campers learn how to operate
the equipment and then sign up for shows during their
free time. The most popular radio show is the rest
hour show. There were many telephone call-in radio
shows this summer. Many popular topics were
covered from sports to political discussions. The
Larry (Aaronson) King live show was the best.
The honor of being a first class DJ was achieved by
many campers throughout the summer. Brian Albert,
Jesse Abrams-Morley, Andy and Will Meyerson,
Barry Frish, Connor Dunn and Dave Greenwood all
received the Golden Disc. Eric Shansby, Jeff
Kozlowicki and Nick Williams won a Silver Disc for
significant improvement. The Golden Platter was
awarded to Julien Colvin for being most improved
and the Platinum platter was won by Rob Kaplan for
being voted the best DJ in camp by the WCSR staff.
The Evening News staff should also be commended
for a fine job, especially Steve Rudman. Dan
Greenwald did an excellent play-by play of the Little
League World Series and recieved the Ruby Disc.
Radio classes were also full of 2nd, 3rd and 4th
class DJ's, with almost one hundred qualified DJ's
this summer. Also new microphones and tape players
improved the FM station sound. All of the new and
old pieces just helped the already impressive station
continue with another great year in Camp Radio.
Why We Return to Camp Shohola
Cabin 16
Many of the people here at Camp Shohola are in at
least their second year. The same is true for everyone
in Cabin 16. So we have asked ourselves the natural
question. Why do we keep coming back? Here are
some of the answers campers in cabin 16, the best
cabin on or off the hill, have given:
"I keep coming back because I want to eventually be
a counselor here. - Eric Cacciopo
"Because I have nothing better to do."
- Dan Lichterman
"I come back so I can see my friends at camp."
- Dan Blas
"I come back because it's a great place to be that I'm
familiar with. - Dan Shinn-Krantz
"I come back because Shohola has become a second
home to me." - Dave Trachtenberg
"I come back because I like the people, activities and
everything about Shohola."
- Rodrigo Pacheco
"We also come back because we are Camp Shohola
- Cabin 16
Thank you for reading the 1996 edition of the Camp Shohola "ARGUS".
We hope you gained some knowledge about Camp Shohola from the "Boys point
of view".
Please use your browser return button to access the Camp Shohola Homepage.
Thank you,
Tom Gibson
tgibson@ycp.edu