Alumni Gong 2008

Dear Alums,

Greetings from the beautiful desert in Tucson, Arizona. As we enjoy our nice winter weather down here, sunny and mid 60s, and gaze out at the Santa Catalina mountains, we know that, at this moment, the winter is very real up at camp. So far, camp has been blessed with a thick blanket of snow, and we are hoping for much more. Our caretaker, GREG FUS, has been sending us photos periodically of camp covered in snow, and it is a beautiful sight to see. The winter months are quiet at camp, but Greg stays very busy. More on that later.

Speaking of busy, it has been a hectic few months for us here in the wild world of camp directing. In the few weeks leading up to the holidays, Mike managed to visit kids in St. Louis, Denver, Louisville, Nashville, and Houston. You know you’ve been traveling a lot when the gate agent for American Airlines asks you how your enrollment is doing! Lots of traveling, and lots of great kids means we’re going to have another fantastic summer ahead. Some of our new kids are coming to us from folks like you. For instance, after many years without any Dallas kids, we’re now going to have a few thanks to a phone call from alumnus STEVE SCHACHTER. Exactly the same thing happened last winter with JIM HIKEN in Louisville, and last summer we had 4 great kids from there, including two Hiken boys. We’re very proud of the geographic diversity we have represented at camp. In 2007, we had campers from Phoenix and Tucson, AZ; Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA; Denver, CO; Wilton, CT; Boca Raton, Fl; Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Indianappolis, IN; Louisiville, KY; Minneapolis and Red Wing, MN; St. Louis, MO; Williamstown, NJ; New York, NY; Cincinnati, OH; Tulsa, OK; Bryn Mawr, PA; Memphis and Nasvhille, TN; Houston, TX; Milwaukee and Clinton, WI. Not to mention our international flavor, bringing in kids from Chihuahua and Mexico City, Mexico, and we also had 2 boys join us all the way from Hong Kong, China! And we’re also very pleased with the number of 2nd generation kids we have now at camp. These are kids whose father also camped with us. A list of those names appears later in this newsletter. Read on!

The summer of 2007 was wild and crazy and was, by far, the dryest summer we can remember. The entire summer saw only 3 or 4 activity periods lost to “heavy dew” (it never rains at camp.) It didn’t take long for the athletic fields to show the stress and turn an inviting shade of brown. The lake also suffered a bit, and reached the lowest level we have seen in our many years up there. That’s why we get so excited when we hear about snow and rain hitting northern Wisconsin this winter, and hopefully much more this coming spring. Lake Towanda is thirsty, so we hope January, February, March and April showers bring May...showers too.

Of course, the warm dry weather was great for the kids, and they had a blast! The newly renovated Rec Hall came in so handy so often. It started on the very first day of camp....the only full day of rain all summer long. When the buses with the kids rolled in, it was a monsoon! So, we just pulled the buses up to the Rec Hall door, and unloaded in there. No sweat! Throughout the summer the newly re-invigorated radio station, KTIM, was rocking and rolling. As we had hoped, the kids were newly enthused about broadcasting and there were some great shows. One camper had a periodic show during Rest Period when he would spend an entire hour talking about fishing! Yes, he was from Wisconsin. Another of our older guys had a night time show called “Lights Out” when he would play some laid-back music and tell stories to help the younger guys fall asleep. But guess what we learned? Campers no longer bring radios to camp! They bring MP3s and iPods. So, after all this work and investment to build the new KTIM, we also had to run out and buy radios for every cabin. *sigh*.

Are ya wondering what’s in store for 2008? We’re glad you asked! Ongoing maintenance is...well...ongoing. More upgrades in the Lodge, in this case, rennovating one of the bathrooms with a nice ceramic tile floor. The same has happened already in the bathrooms in Arapaho and Shawnee cabins. Wolf cabin is sporting all-new windows all the way around, and we’ve added a bunch of windows in there, particularly on the lake side of the cabin. Some of the less obvious work Greg will be doing will include adding some custom cabinetry in the Manor offices, and in the Staff Snack Room in the Lodge. Perhaps the most notable and visible improvement will be our main baseball diamond. Baseball is, once again, huge at camp, and we’ve decided it was time to level the ballfield. So, we did just that...brought in some heavy machinery, and leveled the baseball field and replanted grass. No more Timber-hops on the infield! There are lots of excited kids about that. And this summer we will introduce a new instructional Volleyball program to our already huge selection of activities.

We are also preparing to launch our brand-new, completely re-designed website. The new camptimberlane.com is being designed and developed by former camper and CIT SAM ROSEN. Sam’s company, One Design Company, has some big-time clients, and we’re happy to be one of them. The new alumni section will include, among other things, an email directory so you can keep in touch with camp friends of old. The site will launch soon, so please check it out.

With their grandsons at camp, the temptation must have been great to cruise on over in their pontton boat, but HAROLD & SHARON HIKEN gave the boys some space, only spotting them at the social at Camp Agawak....as far as we know, anyway. They continue to spend their summers on Lake Towanda, and their winters enjoying the warmth of Florida. JIM HIKEN continues his practice as a radiologist in Louisville.
1960s - 1970s: BENNETT MILLER is making a comeback from some life-changing events. He has started a new business and is moving forward. BRUCE GOLLUB lives in Santa Fe and runs a family medicine practice. He is a proud new grandpa of a baby boy (perhaps a future camper?), and his other daughter will be getting married in the fall. HAROLD WAXMAN is a dentist in St. Louis, and travels with his boys Dillon and Daniel to Tucson and Utah for periodic family vacations. STUART TURNANSKY’s son Matt had a Bar Mitzvah this past January. Stuart spent a little time with HH in Milwaukee this past summer.

1970s - 1980s: STUART SPEER lives in Houston with his 2 sons, his eldest who is over 6 feet tall, plays year ‘round baseball, and has a smokin’ fastball. MARTIN LYNCH moved from Boulder, CO to Los Gatos, CA where he has a new position as the Executive Vice President of Operations at 2Wire (www.2wire.com). FRED HELLER writes “ I live in the Boston area (Belmont) and work in M&A for a software firm, Nuance. Have not started sailing again since the move from CT, but the Timber sailing experience stays with me; less so my duties as a clown in the TimberBats.” JAN SWEET lives in Madison, where he is an urban planner, architecht, and ecologist. BILLY FRIED continues as the owner/director of Camp Agawak, as well as his civic leadership roles in the greater Minocqua metropolitan area. JON “PUD” HELLER is still involved in medical sales. selling and servicing the state’s largest nursing home chain and a many others with the nation’s largest institutional pharmacy organization http://omnicare.com. BOB “GAZZOO” GASSEL is keeping up the good work on his camp-related website, www.tushball.com. BRIAN “WILLY” WILLIAMS is the VP of Development at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. He writes, “I have a very cool 16 day trip lined up for friends of The Children’s Museum to Egypt in late March and early April 2008. We’re led by an Egyptologist who is friends of the head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt and who gets us some behind the scenes tours of tombs that are otherwise closed to the public, etc.” Brian has teamed up with Bob Gassel to try and raise money for the Camp For All Kids Scholarship program that Timberlane supports. Joining in the cause also is MIKE PIERCE. Mike lives in Milwaukee in the winter months, and still spends his summers in the North Woods on the staff at Agawak. These 3 fine folks believe our alumni can help finance a camp summer for 3 underprivileged campers. If you’d like to find more about their effort, please logon to www.tushball.com. Thanks. ROB SARRA lives in the Chicago area and is getting married this year. TOM CALLAHAN and Mardi are still together after 25 years and have a daughter. Tom is still doing TV lighting and they have started a new business called “Up North Image”, which is custom and personalized art enhanced photos printed on wood. PHIL STILLERMAN is married and living in Indianpaolis, where he spends time with many Timberlane alumni. On a sadder note, MATT & JON HEALY’s sister, Ellen, was killed in an accident in Boulder, CO in late October. Matt & Jon are both doing okay in coping with their loss.
1980s - 1990s: JEFF LEIKEN lives in the Bay Area with his wife and his relatively new daughter, Peyton. He continues to train teachers, camp directors and staff, and youth workers, and he has a private mentoring practice. Jeff provided training to our staff at camp again this past summer. DOUG BARLOW is an Industrial Arts teacher at the high school in Red Wing, MN. He has two boys at camp now, and spends a few days in May putting his construction skills to use at camp. SARA MARINO just finished directing a documentary on Richard Leakey and elephants, filmed in High Definition in Kenya and Tanzania -- will likely air on National Geographic or Discovery Channel in the U.S. She has two boys, and a daughter on the way soon. Since last year, DAVID RASKIN moved houses, finished a book manuscript, and earned a brown belt in judo. He occasionally runs into DAVID SUSMAN and BOB GASSELL and their families out and about in Oak Park. FRANK FEHRENBACH lives in the Chicago area, doing AV work with Presentation Services. He has a 9 year old boy, a one year old boy, and the 3rd on the way this May. Sounds like a very busy house. KEITH ADLER lives in New Orleans and is doing well. His commercial real estate buisnesses were largel spared the destruction from Hurricane Katrina. DAN HOWARD is also in commercial real estate in Atlanta, GA. where he lives with his wife. LARRY REIFLER is married and living in Scottsdale, AZ. He and his wife are expecting their first child in May, and they already know its a boy! We can look forward to another camper capable of hitting the baseball into the campfire area on the fly. DARRIN INGRAM lives in Aurora, IL where he works for a fence manufacturer and distributor. He buys inventory from Asia, Mexico, Canada, and around the US. BILLY SIEGEL now lives in Milwaukee, where he is Assistant News Director at WISN-TV. ZACH GILHOOLEY has moved to Middlesex, VT where he now lives with his wife, Lauren, and daughter, Samara. Zac, will be working at the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps as the Youth and Ag instructor of the alternative education program. BOB & ALEXIS BERK live in Nashville, TN. with their two boys. Bob is the head of the Akiva School, and was recently honored for his 5 years of excellent leadership at the school. Alexis is a rabbi at The Temple in Nashville. BARRY & DANIELLE KALLMEYER live in Highland Heights, OH where Barry is a teacher at a private school, and Danielle works as a speech therapist. BRET COHN is a senior loan officer with Franklin Loan Center Los Angeles. He is married and starting a family. MARC RABIN writes, “I have hung up my drama mask and now am a breeder and owner of several racehorses and mares. Sharing time between Illinois and Kentucky. My company Best Kept Secret Racing LLC is doing well.” Marc also works with the Make a Wish Foundation using his horses to help make kids’ wishes come true. He has also climbed Mt. Ranier this past year. DANNY NIEDER works as a filmmaker and still photographer in San Francisco, and will be married in April! DAVID SIMON lives in Gilbert, AZ with his wife. He reports that he, survived the Sub-Prime meltdown and is currently a Loan Analyst with Wells Fargo. BRADLEY SELZER lives in Greenwood Village, CO., and was recently married in Estes Park, with some camp alums in attendance. IAN SHAPIRA is a journalist with the Washington Post, living and working in DC. Brother ADAM SHAPIRA is a cardiologist, is married, and lives in Chicago. JAMIE COHEN works for the Post Dispatch newspaper in St. Louis, and will be married later this year in Cancun. GABE CHERNOV is co-director of BirchTrail Camp for Girls in Minong, WI. He was married last April in Milwaukee. In attendance were Timberlane alumni BRIAN COHEN, and ALEX & JORDAN VON KLUCK.

1990s - 2000s: JOSH BERTMAN writes, “Since graduating from MIT in June 2005, I have been trading mortgage derivatives at Credit Suisse in New York. I would love to see some Timberlane alums if anyone wants to stop by or needs a place to stay in New York ever.” BRIAN WEINSTEIN is engaged, and will be married later this year. He also bought a new house in Ft. Collins, CO. where he works at Whole Foods and spends his free time climbing. BRADLEY HALPERN is a certified Wilderness First Responder, and did some SCUBA diving in Belize over witner break. COLLEEN CARIGNAN is alive and well and living in Chicago. A waterski outing to the California desert last Spring, included the likes of BILL BERK, DAVE FINK, JEREMY SILVER, and JEFF SALLEN, along with our current Associate Director, JOHNNY WASZCZAK and with FLETCHER JONES. They had a great time and were appropriately sore for the next week. BILL & DEBBIE BERK own and operate Children’s Choice and Outer Limits pre-schools and child-care centers in Tucson. They just welcomed their second child, a girl, to the family this past summer. DAVE FINK lives in LA and works with Coolsavings.com. He paid us a visit at camp this past summer. JEREMY SILVER lives in LA and is a song writer, singer and guitarist. Jeremy recently released an EP called “Always, Sometimes, Never.” You can learn more about his music at jeremysilvermusic.com. TODD KESTIN is a clinical social worker living in the Chicago area with his wife, Karen, who is a rock star. GREG KESTIN lives in Cleveland, OH with his wife and his new baby girl. Greg works in commercial real estate. BRIAN KESTIN lives and works in the Chicago area. BOBBY KAMERMAN lives in Phoenix where he is pursuing his MBA. DARRYL SHER is in Vail, Colorado for the winter working for the snowmaking department. He works under the stars and watches the sunrise every morning on the mountain. JAKE BERLIN is in business school at NYU preparing for a career in renewable energy. JESSICA MONSON will be student teaching this spring, and then looking for a high school Social Studies teaching job in the Fall. She lives in Cumberland, WI. DAVID STRAUSS is a third year medical student at Duke, but is taking two years to do full time research in cardiology at a combination of Johns Hopkins and Lund, Sweden. ADAM KOHN lives in Longmont, CO with his wife and daughter, and is a high school counselor. KEVIN FRIDUSS works in Chicago with a nightclub and bar event planning company called “PartyCentral Chicago.” He is is searching for a full-time job with a PR or marketing firm. Kevin’s camp experience has lingered with him, as he is now into climbing and mountain biking. EVAN MOFFIC is a rabbi at Sinai Congregation in Chicago, and his wife is a rabbi in Wilmette. Last March they welcomed their first daughter. The very next month, Rabbi Moffic officiated at the wedding of GABE CONROE. Gabe was married in the presence of may camp alumni, including his brother DAN CONROE, KEVIN FRANKEL, DAVE FINK, ANDY KAPLAN, TODD KESTIN, JAKE BERLIN, BRIAN COHEN, BRAD FINGER, and ERIC HOLUBOW. It was a truly enjoyable event. We hope Gabe’s wife thinks so too! Gabe is an attorney in the Public Defender’s office north of Chicago. Dan has achieved his MBA and is job-seeking. ANDY KAPLAN is married and just welcomed his son into the world. KEVIN FRANKEL is married, living in Houston, and expecting his 2nd child this February. HEIDI PEARSON SHACKLEFORD was married last year (must be something in the water!), and is living in Indianapolis with her husband and daughter. BEN CRANE is an orthopedic doctor living temporarily in Louisville, KY. He and his wife and their son will be moving to St. Louis this summer, where they’ve already bought a home. PHIL LUCOFF is in the process of moving to Omaha for a new job with First Data as a service analyst. Phil has already made the move, but his wife and two boys are still in Minneapolis trying to sell their home. Quite a commute. CHUCK LUCOFF, will be married this spring, and he and his future bride will likely relocate to her home town of....Omaha, Nebraska! Chuck currently works as a HR manager with a company in Phoenix. MIKE BRODY lives in Chicago where he runs Illinois’ Homeland Security Market Development Bureau, which commercializes new homeland security technology in Illinois. PAUL ARABIE has started a new job with Chicago Public Schools at a teacher training school. He helps train new teachers and place them in under-performing schools in the Chicago area. MATT KRAUSE lives in Augusta, GA, where he is in the Air Force and is “working on becoming a famous brewer.” STUART COWLES is in Asheville, NC where he is the man behind Climbmax Climbing Center, Climbmax Mountaing Guides and Earthsports Design. Stuart is married and has 2 step kids. If we play our cards right, we may have the opportunity for him to do some training with our climbing staff this summer. HARRY MOLLIGAN graduated Tulane University in May 2007, and will attend LSU Medical School in August 2008. RANDY KAMERMAN lives in Woodland Hills, CA where he has been working in some independent films and theater. He is getting married in November to the same woman he has dated since high school. MICHAEL COHEN is at Ohio Wesleyan studying Govt. & Politics and Sociology. He is an intern for US Senator Cliare McCaskill, and will be in charge of the intern program this spring. TOM “DUTCH” COHEN works in a Diabetes Type 1 lab at UC, San Diego, working toward his PhD. He is also VP of an entrepreneur organization, promoting and marketing scientific ideas. CINDY KIRKPATRICK WINSTON is a nurse in Scottsdale, AZ, but is mostly busy being a mom to her 2 year old son. STEVE HEISLER works at Time Out Chicago magazine as the comedy and tv/dvd editor. He’s also doing some work for SAM ROSEN’s website design company. SARAH THIBODEAU GAGNON is busy with her toddler son, and works as a skin therapist in North Waterboro, ME.

2000s - Present: DAN FILLIUS lives with his new wife in California, and is preparing for his life as a small farmer. KENT CRANE is an airforce pilot, stationed here in Tucson when not deployed. He’s married and he’s one fine outfielder on our softball team here. ASHER HECHT is a junior in high school in New York. He spent last summer at NOLS doing a great mountaineering-rock climbing course in the Wind River Range of Wyoming. He will be co-captain of the varsity tennis team, and is involved with Model Congress. DAN MAJOR attends the Indiana University and hopes to get into the business school. ADAM SILVER will graduate from USC this spring with a BA in neuroscience and a combined minor in Pysch and Law. After a year off, he plans to head to medical school. BETH SLATER teaches skiing for Aspen Skiing Company on Snowmass Mountain, and works at Colorado Mountain College’s campus in Aspen. BILL HENDERSON lives in Boston and works in health care auditing doctor’s notes. Last summer he joined a Division one Ultimate Frisbee team. CHELSEA MOORE is working on her masters in community health and international development. Last summer she worked with Aboriginal youth in northern Canada as the youth and cultural director on an Indian Reservation. CHRIS PEAT is working on two different dairy farms in New Zealand. Combined, he works with 1300 cows. CINDY SCHOLTEN works as a nurse in an oncology doctor’s office in Chandler, AZ. COLIN DALY is serving in Panama with Peace Corps, working on community health in an indigenous town. He returns to the US in October, and is considering becoming a teacher. HARRY WORNICK is a freshman at Harvey Mudd College in LA. JAKE REUTER will graduate from Colorado College this spring. He is currently in Cameroon, where he is doing the field research for his senior thesis. JORDAN EPTON lives in Chicago and works in his family’s jewelry business. JARED STABINER is a junior at the University of Pittsburgh where he is a Marketing major and was elected President of the Entrepreneur’s Society. JEFF COBURN is a high school student in Houston where he’s doing debate and playing football. JEFF FRETWELL is in his last semester at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, majoring in Sports Management. After graduation he will work in Hilton Head Island, SC working with Van Der Meer Tennis Academy as a tennis instructor. JEREMY PARK lives in Seattle where he works at Outdoor Research as a Hardgoods orderer. He also leads two trips a year for a drug treatment facilitiy in Port Townsend, WA. JOEL FENSTEMAKER spent last summer hiking the entire Pacific Crest Trail. He started on May 11th and finished Sept.10th. It was an incredible and challenging experience for him. JOEL SILVER is in Washington, DC where he has passed his Series 7 Securities License Exam. Once he passes the Series 66, he will be a full Stock Broker. AARON HERSH has gotten big into triathlons these past few years, and last year he was ranked 5th in the nation for his age group. JON GATELY lives in Vail, CO and works with the Beaver Creek Ski Patrol. JON LEOPOLD got married this past summer to the woman he has dated since the 4th grade. In attendance were JON SCHLESINGER, JOEL SILVER, ROBBY BOYER, LOUIS WEINSTEIN, and STEVE HEISLER. Jon works at an Italian restaurant in Chicago, and plans to make his career in the wine business. DAVID LEOPOLD graduated from Purdue University in May, with a degree in Industrial Engineering. He works for Accenture in Chicago. JONO GLUCK will graduate next December from the Univeristy of Michigan, and plans to go to dental school to become an orthodontist. DANIEL GLUCK graduated from Wharton, and is living the fast life in New York City working for Goldman Sachs. JON SCHLESINGER has decided against architecture, and is pursuing his Masters degree in Counseling at DePaul in Chicago. Last summer he worked as a Program Director at a camp in Massachusetts. JOEY “NINK” “IOSEF” KELLNER is in the midst of a very cold, but very educational year living in Russia. He teaches English there, and travels the country trying to avoid any international incidents. JUSTIN LACK is back in college studying to be an X-Ray Tech, and also doing comedy in Chicago and playing and teaching drums. KIMMY HOLLAR has moved to Chicago. She is co-founder of Susan Brown’s Baby, a natural skincare line, in over 100 retail locations (www.susanbrownsbaby.com). JASON & KIM KNAACK live in Park Rapids, MN with their 3 kids. Jason works at Wal-Mart. JOSH KOLOF lives in the Chicago area, and has become an avid outdoorsman, participating in several outdoor adventures in the summer time. NIKI & CHRIS KOLB have left the west coast and moved to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. Niki has taken a new job as Assistant Director at Camp Lake Hubert in Lake Hubert, MN. Chris has a job working Prime Source Building Supplies. OLYA KARAMISHEVA lives in Moscow with her husband and new baby boy. She founded a language center in Moscow, teaching English to corproate executives. She also helps a local charity teach English to underprivileged children. OTTO KRAUS has been accepted into the Teach for America program. He spent much of last summer doing an internship in Chile. PETE MAGGIO is a married man, and works as a National Park ranger. He spends his summers on Amygdaloid Island, just off of Isle Royale, and his winters in Big Bend National Park as a river ranger on the Rio Grande. ROBBY BOYER is working on his masters degree in Urban Planning at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. He’s also writing songs and doing imporov. MICHAEL BOYER will graduate from the University of Illinois this spring. He is the captain of the Gymnastics Team. ROBERTA MCCLURE is back in school getting her masters in Environmental Geology and Hydrogeology. EMILY SACK EIDE and her husband had a baby boy last March. They live outside of Las Vegas, NV. SARAH GIESZELMANN is working as a nurse in St. Louis, and last we heard was getting ready to buy a house. STEVE ROBITSHEK is a sea-kayak instructor for NOLS, working down in Chile. When warmer weather arrives, he plans to work with NOLS in Alaska. SAM LIBOWSKY is going to attend Vanderbilt University in Nashville next fall. TOM ROBINSON lives in Kent, England, and is doing post-graduate research work in Neuroscience. DOUG CHOD will attend the University of Michigan next year. He’s playing varsity baseball for his high school team in St. Louis.

You have a whole year to fill us in on the events of your life. You can do it so easily right from our website. Please make the effort to keep connected with us. Your camp family loves to hear about you. Have a safe and happy year! Till next time...

Benches up,