How about Gabriel Erasmi? I seem to remember that Jesse Strauss and I picked him up at the Fort Ticonderoga train station (about the size of an outhouse south of the Ti metropolis). Italian, obviously. I don't remember that particular international experiment adding very much to camp life.

I have a mental image of Yan-Yong leading "Henry the Eighth" at a campfire. Probably staged for the movie. Wasn't he sponsored by some sort of gov't. sponsored "people-sharing" program?

Funny. Gary Lowen (Cabin 10 1965) used to do an impression of Herman of Herman's Hermitts and do "Mrs Brown" and "Henry the Eighth". That's probably where he learned it.

On 5/18/09, QT - Bri Clifford <qtopic-39-ecqSvx6KPpmvC@quicktopic.com> wrote:
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and of course, haneka spits from holland

i think bri is correct... it didn't do much for camp life

On Mon, May 18, 2009 at 10:56 AM, QT - Bri Clifford <
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Bill Rice, DC, LAc, DCBCN
Wholistic Health Center
Acupuncture, Chiropractic & Nutrition
In Practice Since 1977
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Tony Mitchell was the Aussie if I remember correctly. What an athlete! He was never on water skiis and after just a few times was skiing backwards. I remember him taking one of the neighbor's daughters - they lived to the left of the camp when facing the lake - out on a date in Flonacher's GTO. And boy, was Jim pissed off when the back seat came back all messed up the next day.

Dave Longmeyer's machine was the "Dudley Machine."

Dicky Haydel [summer of 1964]went to LSU

Dick Fruth and Tom Vanatta: Creators of TVA

i want mike on my team for Paradox trivia nite!!

On Sun, May 24, 2009 at 8:29 PM, QT - michael salnick <
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Bill Rice, DC, LAc, DCBCN
Wholistic Health Center
Acupuncture, Chiropractic & Nutrition
In Practice Since 1977
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I remember Dicky Haydel and John Bloodwell arriving from their (1/2) cross-country trip (all the way from Lous-iana) in John's Austin Healy 3000 (top down). It was a pretty tight fit with all their stuff onboard, and the car rode very low, too. Those cars were quite low to the ground (unloaded) – allegedly running over a crushproof Marlboro box could damage the muffler – not very good for some of the roads in the Paradox environs in those days. Ah, but with the top down, and that tailpipe "vrooming" it was quite the "ride."

Dick Fruth was a really nice guy, but sometimes let the stresses of dealing with his bunk (of, I think, 9 year olds) get to him. I wonder how many staffers remember the staff meeting where he "just lost it" telling about the recent problems in his bunk. That seemed to pull the plug not only on his built-up stresses, but on those of many others, too. People were hysterically laughing with tears running down their faces for quite a few minutes – to the point that L.C. got a little pissed at us.

When mentioning the "overseas" staffers, I was only talking about Yan-Yong and Gabriel Erasmi. I think they got more from the experience than they were able/chose to give to the camp. I've heard that many camps mostly recruit from overseas since young Americans today seem unwilling to work for the low wages most camps pay. We started at $300 for the summer (9 weeks+, 6 days/week). We did get some travel money (depending on where you lived), and "free" room and board, laundry, and medical coverage for the camp season. Even at the state college rates in those days, working at camp meant that we had to pick up all sorts of jobs while at school to close the "income gap." All that said, it was certainly worth it!

So TVA means "Tom Vanatta"? I always thought it meant "Total Vantage Activities"

FYI
Dicky Haydel was a dick. Two faced. Nice guy out of the cabin- maniacle in the cabin. I remember Larry's visit during the following winter to my parents house for dinner- he asked. I told. Dicky was not invited back. thank god.

On 5/24/09, QT - michael salnick <qtopic-39-ecqSvx6KPpmvC@quicktopic.com> wrote:
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and Dicky's co-counselor- Bob Thurston. Tennis guy. Woosy boy goes camping with an electric blanket.

I guess we all had good and bad. I had Sammy Shore and Bob Coluni. You couldn't ask for better guys.

And I loved GER.

And I thought TVA was named after Tom.

On 5/24/09, QT - michael salnick <qtopic-39-ecqSvx6KPpmvC@quicktopic.com> wrote:
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I only said who created TVA, not who it was named after. Heard the same thing about Haydel that Jeff did. I wasn't in his cabin but heard he was not great to live with.

Yep, named for Tom Vanatta. He is even credited in one of the "colored" books. Tom had a great idea which created an opportunity for a nice mid-season break and one which could offer activities that took more time than the regular ones.

Interesting perspective on Dicky. I only remember him as a "good old boy-Southern frat boy" type – I guess that there wasn't much substance under the "hi y'all" exterior. While we had our share of great counselors, we also had more than a few that had to stretch to reach mediocrity.

Memorial Day remembrance of a great PX staff member (Vietnam Wall rubbing)

Thank you for that picture of John's name on the Memorial, Bri. I remember a moment with John when we were driving back to camp one night. John did some maneuver to get around a mail truck. The driver of the truck somehow pulled us over and read John the riot act. He told John that his automobile antics were interfering with official government business! John snapped right into military mode. He was quite clear about the gravity of what he had done and didn't want it to reflect on his record in any way. It was a shock for me to see him so serious and respectful to a postal driver. But it showed me there was a very deep side to John and his love and respect for this country.

Several years later I recall watching television and there was a crawl on the bottom of the screen with the names of fallen soldiers that week from the Veitnam war. I saw the name "John Bradman" inch across the television, and I lost my breath. It was so sad. My mind tried to find a way to not have it be true - "John Bradman sounds like a fairly common name. Maybe it was somebody else..." But in my gut I knew it was him.

Thank you, Brian, for remembering John on this Memorial Day. Thank you, John, for good memories and your sacrifice.

My wife asked me for more information on John Bradman, because we did a training with the Army last summer. We trained a group of Army psychologists and Master Trainers in The Power of Play Approach: Applied Improvisation - the Strategy of Relief. Our goal is to work with returning Veterans dealing with PTSD.

When my wife asked me more about John's background, I realized I didn't have too much information beyond the few hazy Paradox memories. So, she asked me to do a Google search. And bingo - I found this very moving webpage.

http://www.virtualwall.org/db/BradmanJF01a.htm

A photo of John here: http://tinyurl.com/o4cofl
He's the guy in the back with the big hat.