Camp Jeanne d'Arc
Blue Sparks...from the Camp Fire of Jeanne d'Arc    
Celebrating Over 90 Years of Camp Spirit
Spring 2014
In This Issue
Quick Links
Letter from the Director

Dear Jeanne d'Arcers -
 
Welcome to our Spring 2014 edition of e-Blue Sparks.   

This will be my 10th summer as the Camp Director and I am pleased to report that the state of our camp is good. Maybe I should qualify that. The good news is that our camp enrollment is up and ahead of where it has been this time of the year for the last six years. That is huge! Understandably, the recent recession took its toll on families and, ultimately, Camp Jeanne d'Arc.
 
I had hoped that by now we'd be busting at the seams and building new buildings. As the enrollment rebuilds, we are adding new programs, both to diversify and to meet the changing interests of today's campers. We are reopening Camp Lafayette for boys down on the "Big Lake" at Lafayette Beach. And we are offering three 10 day trips with the very well regarded National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS.)  These trips are being offered to three groups: girls finished 8th and 9th grades, girls finished 10th and 11th grades and women 18 and older. I was thinking that last trip might make a terrific mother-daughter adventure some day. Or a good way for two old camp friends, excited to get back to the Adirondacks, to reconnect.  
 
I'm excited for both the Lafayette program (did you know they had "dragon teams: back in the 30's and early 40's and we are bringing back the dragons?) I'm thrilled about the NOLS program which reminds me of the 6 day canoe trip we took in 1973.  That is one of my best camp memories! I remember touching the water wherever we were at 10:00 every night so we wouldn't lose touch with our friends back at JDA.
 
With these Blue Sparks and other alumnae mailings, reunions, Facebook, Twitter and other social media, we stay in contact with many of our JDA friends and alumnae. I hear from alumnae all the time that their memories of camp are among their most cherished. We are building a group of Jeanne d'Arc Torch Bearers to help us spread the good word and our JDA stories to families and friends. Are you interested in helping us out? Can you help us find one new camper this summer based on your good memories? If so, check out our Torch Bearers section in this newsletter.
 
We are doing a lot of other neat things and have a great bunch of campers and counselors coming in Summer 2014. Did you know that we have fully sponsored 3 girls from the Refugees to Camp program based in Albany, NY for the last two summers and that we will again this summer? We also welcomed two girls from the Mohawk Nation through the auspices of the Ogdensburg(NY) Diocese We believe that offering the multi-national, multi-cultural traditional camp experience that Colonel envisioned so long ago continues to have value today and will resonate positively into the future. Several of our young alumnae who are working in the philanthropic and not for profit fields tell me that their experiences at camp helped shape their goal of helping others on an international level. This is also the impetus for the creation and development of the Ruth Israel McIntyre Foundation which will have at its core the message that world peace and multi-cultural understanding is developed through shared experiences at a young age.

We're doing our best to "think globally and act locally."If you would like to share your stories with today's Jeanne d'Arcers this summer, please email me.  
 
Warmly,
Jehanne  
 
jehanne@campjeannedarc.com

Save These Dates
Saturday, 3/22/14
Waldorf, Astoria, New York City
Annual Reunion
R.S.V.P by March 18th

Fri. - Sun. 6/13/14 - 6/15/14
Volunteer Weekend at Camp
Alumnae and Friends! 

Saturday 6/29/14
First Day of Camp

Saturday 7/12/14
Mid-Half Parents Visit

Friday 7/25/14
Parent's Day

Friday 8/15/14
Parent's Day

Saturday 8/16/14
Camp Closes for the Summer

Fri. - Sun. 8/22/14 - 8/24/14
Alumnae Meeting at Camp 

And if you really want to plan ahead...

Fri. - Sun. 8/19/16 - 8/21/16
95th Alumnae Reunion! 


Reunions
The goal of these reunions is to rekindle friendships, meet our Jeanne d'Arc families and share camp stories with prospective campers and their families.

Saturday, 3/22/14
Waldorf, Astoria, New York City
Annual Reunion
R.S.V.P by March 18th

Fri. - Sun. 6/13/14 - 6/15/14
Volunteer Weekend at Camp
Alumnae and Friends! 

Fri. - Sun. 8/22/14 - 8/24/14
Alumnae Meeting at Camp

Contact us if you are interested in helping us at one of the reunions!
92nd Annual Reunion on March 22nd at the Waldorf Astoria NYC
Please join us for an Afternoon Tea Party on Saturday, March 22nd from 3-5pm at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. All are welcome! Campers, Prospective Campers, Counselors, Parents and Alumnae.

Bring a friend!

It's Never Too Late to Try Something New!
Jeanne d'Arcer Connie Curry ('53-'57) started figure skating when she was 60 years old. She has recently qualified to skate in the USFSA Adult Championships that will be held in Hyannis, Massachusetts. Connie skates both freestyle and ice dancing.
Jeanne d'Arcer Kate Villios Makes the Cover of Her College Paper
Kate Villios ('02-'07, Aide '08, Counselor '09-'11)  was one of only four students chosen to sit down with the college president, Margaret L. Drugovich to discuss opportunities, interdisciplinary thinking and their readiness for the future. Kate attends Hartwick College, is an art major with a minor in art history, education program. She plans to pursue her master's degree and a career as a special education teacher. We are happy to welcome Kate to the JDA Staff as our Waterfront Director this summer!
JDA Reunions 2014

We would like to thank all of our hosts and their families for hosting this year's reunions:

Meg Joyce, New Canaan, CT

Erika Moran, Newtown, CT

Marisol Ferraiuoli, Puerto Rico

Lizanne McGuinn Christen, Glenside, PA

 

New Canaan, CT Reunion January 2014, at the home of Meg Joyce

Erika Brooker Moran ('82-'88 ) and her daughter Molly, Newtown, CT Reunion January 2014
Fran and Jehanne were in Puerto Rico recently for the reunion held at the home of alumna, Marisol Ferraiuoli Suarez and daughters Andrea and Gabriela Hernandez. Other attendees included Georgiana and Geraldine Colon, moms to current campers, Georgianita Unanue and Gery Anne Mendez.  While in San Juan, Fran and Jehanne also caught up with alum Fabiola Jimenez.
Philly area reunion, March 2014, at the home of Lizanne McGuinn Christen attended by many alumnae including Molly Scanlon Kelly, Ann Murphy Spring and Lucy Pollock.
Molly Scanton Kelly, cabinmate of Frances Dellunde McIntyre, showing her 1954 JDA photo yearbook to Lizanne McGuinn Christen.

Alumnae News & Notes
 
From the 30's
Valerie Egan Burhans ('34)
remembers her summers with the Colonel at JDA fondly. She loved the horseback riding and later competed in horse shows at the University of Illinois. When her husband passed away in 1964, Valerie did some traveling.  She traveled to Australia, New Zealand, South America,  Europe, Finland and Russia.  Now at 93, she contributes her good health to her years riding horses and now exercising at the local gym.  Valerie is happy and healthy in Michigan and has 6 children, lots of grandchildren and lots of great grandchildren. 

From the 60's 
Karen Curran ('63-'64) is a retired Medical Photographer working in camera retail two days a week and doing her own Fine Arts Photography all other times. Her first solo show opens March 14, 2014 at the Art Therapy Institute in Carrboro, North Carolina.

From the 70's & 80's
Carolyn Sheehan Crosby ('76-'78, '82-'83) just welcomed her third grandchild into the family; Ronen Levi Woods, 2nd child of Madeleine Halo Woods ('97-'98). Ronen joins grandson Elijah Halo Pierre -10 and granddaughter Jennelyn Halo-2

From the 90's
Ann Marie Dzolan Young
('91, counselor '96-'98, staff and volunteer '05 to present) is a JDA Torch Bearer! She is helping Jehanne with the American Camp Association visit this summer. Her daughter Sofia, age 6, will be a camper this summer and her son, Brennan, age 8 will be a Lafayette dragon. Her younger son, Liam, age 3, will be a staff child this summer.  Ann Marie lives in Stillwater, New York, near beautiful Saratoga Lake, with her husband, Lance, three children and a new puppy named Duchess.

Dawn Reres Wilson ('90 - '98, 2009) welcomed their fourth baby earlier this year! Alexandra joins brothers Logan and Robert and sister Cassandra in their happy (if sometimes crazy) home. 
 
From the 2000's 
Anne Finn ('05-'09) spent the fall '13 semester in Ireland and was able to meet up with Irish counselors! She also ran into fellow Jeanne d'Arcer Erika Rafferty 
on a flight to Edinburg.

Send us your news for our next issue of Blue Sparks to

 

Molly McNamara ('06 - '09) is a Sophomore at the U.S. Naval Academy and plays on the women's lacrosse team.  Molly often visits her "sponsor family," Tara ('06-'08), Kat ('06-'08), Dan and Matt Hawkins.

National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and CJDA Team Up!
We are actively seeking participants for our CJDA/NOLS programs for summer 2014. 

We have three trips: one for girls who have finished 8th and 9th grades (July 12 - July 26), one for girls who have finished 10th and 11th grades (July 12 - July 26), and one for Alums & Friends over 18 (Aug 16 - Aug 30.)

Each group will arrive at JDA for 2 days of planning and bonding and then they will go backpacking and canoeing for 10 days in the Adirondack Park. They will return to JDA to share their stories and pictures with our campers. 

Leadership is learned through experiences. The CJDA/NOLS experience will be a great addition to resumes and college applications!

For more information about NOLS and their programs: NOLS Website

Camp Lafayette for Boys:
Registration Due by March 31st
We still have a few spaces for Adventurous Boys! 
Be a part of this inaugural summer at Camp Lafayette!


This summer we will welcome 12 boys ages 8 through 14 for 2 weeks of camp.  The boys will have a home base at JDA, but will spend most of their time at Lafayette.  Lafayette Beach is the last undeveloped naturally sandy beach on beautiful 14 mile Chateaugay Lake. Camp Lafayette is comprised of approximately 75 acres of wooded, waterfront property.  The site will have platform tents for sleeping and gathering and open spaces for activities and games.  Breakfast and dinner will be camp-out style at Lafayette and lunches will vary depending on the schedule. 
The boys will return to JDA every few days for hot showers and meals in the Hearth. They will have access to all of the JDA facilities on a separate schedule than the girls.
 
The program will allow the boys to choose their activities at the beginning of each week. Mornings and afternoons will include 2 activity periods. Activities will include instructional and recreational swimming, fishing, canoeing, sailing, waterskiing, wakeboarding, and SUP'ing.  Sports will include soccer, flag-football, kickball, BB's, riflery and archery, hiking and outdoor camping skills, woodworking and other camp crafts. Nerf dart tag and other special events will round out their time at Camp Lafayette. 

 

 

Dates & Rates: 2014
July 12 - July 26 
$2400 (introductory price)

 

Register for the 2014 Season by March 31, 2014

 

Call 410-647-7733

Email info@camplafayette4boys.com

Jeanne d'Arc Torch Bearers Wanted
Many of our Alums often ask, "Is there anything I can do to help JDA?" The answer is "Yes!"  We are looking for Jeanne d'Arcers to spread the word about how wonderful Camp Jeanne d'Arc is. We all know girls thrive at JDA.  They make friends, learn skills, develop leadership and an awareness of community and their own character.  We call this Camp Spirit!

We invite our volunteer Torch Bearers to assist in projects that will benefit our camp.  Here are some areas where could use your help:
  • Call 10 people you know and tell them about JDA 
  • Attend one reunion each year and bring a friend 
  • Attend a camp fair in your area and represent JDA (we'll send the stuff you need) 
  • Call your best friends from camp and plan a get together. Share it with friends, children and grandchildren.  
  • Contact your alma mater and find out who we can send camp information to 
  • Help beautify JDA! Attend our Alumnae Volunteer Weekend on June 13- June 15  

Please let us know what you would like to do. We appreciate any amount of your time.  Email info@campjeannedarc.com to get started today! 

If you know of another Alum who would enjoy our newsletter and may not be on the list, please forward this to them or send us their email address. Please continue sending in your news for our next edition.

Sincerely,
Jehanne McIntyre Edwards
Director, Camp Jeanne d'Arc