MINUTES OF CAMP TECUMSEH BOARD OF TRUSTEES
April 27, 2017
A Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees of Camp Tecumseh was held at the law firm of Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, beginning at 4:40 p.m. on Thursday, April 27, 2017. Participating in the meeting were the following Trustees and guests:
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Lee R. Allman
Richard P. Allman (Phone)
Peter A. Benoliel
Walter Buckley, III
Walter Buckley, Jr. (Phone)
Paul Colistra
James L. Crawford, Jr. (Phone)
David P. Delaney (Phone)
Michael F. Gerber
John Gillin (Phone)
Robert L. Gray, IV
James B. Gribbell (Phone)
William G. Hamilton
Michael Kain (Phone)
William W. Keffer
Douglas Knight
Charles Kurz, II
Daniel Leibovitz
Campbell Levy
Giampiero Mazza (Phone)
Cornelius Merlini
Brian McClosky
Gerry McGinley, Jr. (Phone)
Peter Shoemaker (Phone)
Henry B. Smith
Peter G. Stanley
Hall Vetterlein
Bob Zullinger
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CALL TO ORDER; APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Chairman Gray called the meeting to order at 4:35 p.m. He began the meeting by welcoming the Board and, as the first item of business, Mr. Gray requested approval of the Board minutes from the November 9, 2016 meeting which had previously been distributed to the Trustees. Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board approved the minutes as presented. Mr. Graymentioned that his plan for this meeting was to go through some reports and spend the majority of the meeting talking about the various ideas people had to improve Camp.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
The Director mentioned that Camp was full and he was pleased with the enrollment numbers. He then talked about the staff for the upcoming year and he indicated he thought he had a very good staff for the season. He mentioned that AJ Duffy was coming back to serve as the trainer and his wife was going to be the nurse. Mr Knight then spoke about the 3 ½ week program versus the 7 week program. A brief discussion was held regarding this topic.
PROPERTY COMMITTEE
Mr. R Allman then gave the property committee report, which he had distributed to everyone prior to the meeting.
Mr R. Allman mentioned that a storm that occurred at Camp knocked down the Lookout cbin and it was in the process of being rebuilt. Mr. R. Allman acknowledged the good work that Mr. Vetterlein was doing with the insurance carrier. Mr. R. Allman also mentioned a number of other projects that were going to be completed, including the resurfacing of the basketball courts, the installation of an irrigation/sprinkler system at Stanley Field. He also talked about how the porches at the lodge were repaired.
ALUMNI AND DEVELOPMENT MATTERS
Mr. Keffer then introduced Kathleen Watson, from Schultz & Williams. Ms. Watson made a presentation to the board about her firm’s capabilities and how her firm could assist in helping the board with its fundraising activities. There were many questions and much discussion regarding her presentation. The board thanked Ms. Watson for her presentation.
GENERAL DISCUSSION
The balance of the meeting was then spent discussing various thoughts and ideas raised by board members on ways to improve Camp. Some of the thoughts/ideas mentioned were as follows:
Having campers in each cabin and their families somehow spend time together during the final weekend to try and create a bond among the families and the campers to get to know each other better. In general the thought is to create a way where the campers become and stay more connected to the campers in their cabins.
Another idea included establishing a formal mentor program throughout camp including establishing a mentor program for recent college grads
Another idea was to offer a program so counselors and seniors could become certified lifeguards.
Someone mentioned the concept of adding a ropes course, a climbing tower and obstacle courses.
A discussion was held about the number of mountain trips that each age group has. The number of trips that occur and whether or not they could be held each week for all age groups was discussed. There was a great deal of discussion about the types of activities that create memories and many felt that memories from mountain trips were the kind of “stick to the ribs” memories that people rember long after they leave camp.
Suggestion was made that someone do a webcast of Pemi day. It was mentioned that many alums follow follow Pemi day via email and a webcast woud be followed by many.
There was talk in general about Pemi day and whether or not it needed to be reevaluated or improved.
There was discussion about what to do on Sundays at Camp and whether or not the current progam needed to be reviewed.
There was a lengthy discussion held about the 3 1/2 week program versus the seven week program and what things could be done to make the first 3 1/2 week program similar to the second 3 ½ week program.
There was conversation about whether or not the senior baseball diamond or the junior baseball diamond as fields could be improved.
There was discussion about more photos being out on social media during the camp season.
There was a suggestion made that perhaps Camp could engage a trainer or strength and conditioning type person who could help campers who wanted to be improve their eating habits and focus also on strength and conditioning.
There was conversation about establishing a program where campers could work on a project that would result in some kind of service to camp.
ADJOURNMENT AND NEXT MEETING
Following the executive session, at approximately 6:50 p.m., upon motion duly made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting is scheduled for August 13, 2017 in New Hampshire.
Respectfully submitted,
William W. Keffer
Secretary
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