Guest Contributor: Alex Gordon
Compiled by Katie Cukerbaum
Hi all! Excited to take over this space for the month while Louis and Maggie are enjoying their first few weeks with Sunny. Given that this column highlights all the cool and interesting things going on with the camp family, I thought I’d take a couple of minutes to talk about the camp family from a friendship perspective.
Former co-director Adam Kaplan was in town recently, and while we were out to breakfast he reminded me that another former co-director of ours, Nardie Stein, referred to camp as a “friendship factory.” Having been a camper, counselor, family camper, and village director for a good deal of the past 47 years, I can report that despite domestic manufacturing’s decline during that time span, camp’s friendship factory has never been chugging along more strongly, three shifts a day.
And though it is somewhat ironic to be talking about this in a camp newsletter, given that one of the true benefits of camp is leaving technology behind for a month or two, nowhere is the robust state of that factory more evident than on my phone.
There are numerous text threads with various groups of camp friends, ranging from a never-ending discussion of whether this is the summer the three of us pull off another Boundary Waters trip (it’s been 20-plus years), to a thread where we primarily share sports memes (so much so that I missed it when one of my oldest friends shared news that his oldest son got engaged). There’s a thread where three of us share our daily Wordle and Connections scores, and one that began as a way to communicate if anyone wanted to paddle board at camp and has evolved into a close-knit way to share our family milestones.
When I see something that reminds me of camp, say a giant utensil on the wall in a restaurant, it’s 10 minutes of me texting various camp friends a picture just to share the same silly joke: “It looks like we have to save our fork for dessert tonight.” None other than famed Sapolio lecturer Chauncey DePew appeared as a minor character in a show I was watching recently on Netflix, and I had to immediately pause the show with the subtitles on and text a dozen camp friends a screenshot.
And beyond texting, there are fantasy football apps (thankfully dormant now as I lick my wounds and try to figure out where it all went wrong for my teams—plural), reminding me I am in a league with my oldest camp friends from my camper and counselor days, another with friends who were on staff when I came back as a push in 2010, and another with recent and current counselors. Sure, there is a little prize money and some bragging rights on the line, but more so, these leagues are about maintaining friendship and camaraderie and of course trash talking.
Seemingly everywhere I go on my phone there are reminders of that friendship factory. The social media apps, of course: Facebook for everyone of a certain era, Instagram for everyone not of that era, and heck, I love seeing on LinkedIn all the cool new work things everyone is up to (especially the wait-that-guy-was-just-a-JC-how-is-he-finishing-law-school moments). There are friends who are in bands who show up in my Spotify algorithm, friends who are writers whose Substacks I subscribe to, and friends upon friends on my camera roll. And while not friends, my lock screen on my phone is a photo of the lake at sunrise from the white rowing benches and my background is a late-afternoon shot down Range Road, both of which remind me of all the great friends I have made over my many summers at camp and who, thanks to technology, are always just a quick text away.
And that’s a long way to encourage all of you to take the time and reach out to your camp friends just to say hi. Why not scan the list of news items below and congratulate someone on their accomplishment? A uniquely glorious quality I have found with camp friends is that whether it’s been 30 minutes, 30 days, or 30 years, camp friendships pick up right where they left off.
As the song says, “Camping friendships strong and deep, till we meet again.”
IT MAY INTEREST YOU TO KNOW… Down in Boca Raton, Sammy Firestone is hitting the pitch with his club soccer team. Out in the Bay Area, Bradley Rittenberg stepped into a big role as a starting cornerback for his high school football team—as a freshman—while Jackson Rubin has been swinging away in club baseball. In Seattle, Gage Holloway is rolling the dice as leader of an after-school Dungeons & Dragons Club, and Aiken Colman is taking to the court with his club basketball team. In Phoenix, Tristan Lipuma has been logging serious piano time and is thrilled with how much he’s improved in just the past month. Around Phoenix’s lakes, Gabe Brown has been reeling in catfish left and right. Back in Chicagoland, Ari and Ethan Barnett are lacing up for travel hockey, with Ari heading to Duluth this month for a tournament hosted by the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Dylan Wolf is making music with his school band as is Levi Budin, while Ben Wolf has been sharpening his pickleball game—and is already looking ahead to the Camp Nebagamon courts. Carter Gray will be holding down second base and catcher for his club baseball team this spring, and is spending the winter playing club flag football. Josh Wallenstein is splitting his after-school time between golf and tennis, and Grant Hall has been playing both sax and guitar in his school band. Beckett Bernfeld is keeping busy with travel basketball, track, and soccer, while Max Yarbrough is playing trumpet in the school band and had solo and ensemble performances in January!
In Bridgman, Michigan, David Levick is representing his peers as a student council rep at school. Out in Colorado, Hadley Goldsmith has been golfing for his school team and feeling good about his iron game. Rollie Cohen built an awesome replica TGP game and has been tending goal for his school soccer team. Max Brine has been playing second base and pitcher for his baseball team—and carving out time for mountain biking—while Aaron Brine has been patrolling center field. Tejay Reddy has been bass fishing, playing pickleball, and starting on his basketball team.
IN THE BIBS AND DIAPERS DEPARTMENT… It’s a boy, Vincent Robert Nevins for John (Chicago/Hampsted, NC 2000-2006, 2008-2014) and Kate Nevins born, January 8, 2026. It’s a girl, Sabine Rose Jacqueline Goralnik, for Mikey Goralnik (St. Louis/Austin 1996-2002, 2008-2009) and Casey Nelson, joining big sister Magnolia on February 5, 2026. It’s a boy, Caleb Jack Deutsch, for Ben (Atlanta, 2002-2007, 2009) and Sophie Koff Deutsch, joining older brother Ezra on February 8, 2026. It’s a boy, Sunny Simon Olive, for Louis (Chicago, 2005-2010, 2012-2015, 2017-present) and Maggie Olive, born February 16, 2026.